Monthly Archives: April 2009
Steve Zipay, of Newsday, writes today about the Rangers inevitable need for change in the off-season.
Among the unrestricted free agents are defensemen Derek Morris and Paul Mara, forwards Nik Antropov, Blair Betts, Colton Orr and goaltender Steve Valiquette. Several won’t return. As for the restricted free agents, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan are expected back, but decisions will have to be made on Nik Zherdev, Fredrik Sjostrom and Lauri Korpikoski.
Some current players – and pending free agents – might not want to deal with Tortorella’s personality and “conflict is good” agenda. One thing is certain: Tortorella will help shape personnel decisions, and it’s clear he wants scoring, speed and size and will run a brutal training camp to install his system, which he didn’t have time to implement.
Mike Sullivan, a former assistant coach for the Bruins and assistant in Tampa for the past two seasons, is expected to join Tortorella’s staff. Sullivan, like Tortorella a Massachusetts native, played at Boston University and for 11 seasons in the NHL. Assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld, who filled in as assistant coach and was head coach for Game 6 when Tortorella was suspended, will return to his job.
As most New York Ranger and hockey fans found out today, team captain Chris Drury played through the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a broken hand.
He broke it against the Philadelphia Flyers back on April 9th when the team clinched a playoff birth and proceeded to sit out the next two games, including Game 1 against the Washington Capitals in the first round. Drury then returned for Game 3 and played out the rest of the series.
[poll id="46"]
Listen tonight from 8-10 to hear me appear on the Outtaleftfield blogtalk program to preview the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs.
We are expected to have on number one prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Eric Tangradi to talk about the Pens and his career so far.
8-10 pm tonight, Click HERE for more information on listening and calling in.
Update: Quite a show we just had. Check back tomorrow to listen if you missed it. We spoke to Penguins top prospects Eric Tangradi on a number of subjects including the toughest player he ever played against. His answer…..Marc Staal. We also previewd all the second round series and got into a little heated debate about the NHL and its TV contract. Lots of fun though. Check back tomorrow.
We will provide thoughts and notes all offseason — unfortunately, starting today.
We’ve got plenty of ideas to keep all you guys in tuned with whats going on with the Rangers, and even ways to get you involved with SNYRangersblog.com.
We want to thank everyone for reading, voting on polls, commenting, checking us out on Facebook…
But it’s really just begun — all offseason we will update daily with good stuff and fun reads…
Continue to hit us on Facebook and get ready for an interesting offseason…
Lotta questions need to be answered:
Zherdev returning?
Where do they go in the draft?
Gomez and Drury staying?
Antropov re-signing?
It will be fun…..
Click below for some reaction from last nights season ending loss to the Capitals.
According to the New York Post, Chris Drury played the entire first round series against the Capitals with a broken hand.
That’s because, as he told The Post, the captain had played the first round with a broken right hand he sustained late in the April 9 victory over the Flyers in the Garden finale that clinched a playoff berth.
Drury, who sustained a non-displaced fracture when hit by a shot, missed the season finale in Philadelphia then the opening game against the Caps. He returned, but with now understandable limited effectiveness — unable to shoot or pass with authority, unable to play a hard game.
“It was frustrating, obviously,” said Drury, who scored the winner in Game 4, but finished the series with only that one point and a minus-five while getting just an average of 13:31 of ice. “And losing this series is obviously frustrating and disappointing, and maybe it hasn’t all sunk in yet.
“But when think back to that losing streak we had in February and where we were then, I think we can be proud of how far we came under Torts [coach John Tortorella].”
Drury played the final two games of last year’s second-round playoff series against the Penguins with broken ribs.
Michael Obernauer quotes Rangers coach John Tortorella, in the New York Daily News, about his suspension this series.
“I regret not being there – I’m part of the team,” Tortorella said following his Rangers’ season-ending 2-1 loss to the Capitals in Game7 Tuesday night. “Did I want to be there? You kiddin’ me? Of course I did. But I don’t think that had a bad effect on the hockey club, because it is about the players, it’s not about the coaches this time of year.”
NY Post: LATE FEDOROV GOAL SINKS RANGERS‘ DREAM
As in, “What if they’d played with the same passion in Games 5 and 6 of their first-round series against the Caps as they did here last night in Game 7?
What if the Rangers had taken the body, pounded the puck in deep and forced their vastly more talented opponents back in their end, pinning them on their heels, keeping the puck away from the splendid Alex Ovechkin and his playmates.
In the end, though, “What ifs” are for losers, which the Rangers were, 2-1, despite their best effort of the seven-game series they once led, if never quite controlled, 3-1.
They were losers — or were beaten, take your pick — when Sergei Fedorov pulled up off a right-wing rush, used Wade Redden as a screen and rifled a wrist shot from the circle that beat Henrik Lundqvist up top to the short side with 4:59 to go in the third.
NY Daily News: Rangers complete collapse as late goal leads Capitals to series win
They were game and they were good, but as they had been almost from the start of this first-round series with the Washington Capitals, they were second-best. And one final time, the 2008-09 Rangers were undone by an utter lack of scoring punch – that and Sergei Fedorov’s lightning bolt through Wade Redden and Henrik Lundqvist. Fedorov’s goal broke a longstanding tie with 4:59 left and sent the Blueshirts to a gut-wrenching 2-1 loss to the Caps in the winner-take-all Game 7.
That completed Washington‘s comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to win its first playoff series in 11 years. It is the 21st time a team has erased a 3-1 deficit to win the series. The Rangers – 0-5 all-time in Game 7s on the road – became the first team in club history to lose a series it had led 3-1.
“Right now, it just (stinks), it really (stinks),” said Lundqvist, who made 22 saves. “It’s going to be a long summer.”
Newsday:Rangers eliminated as Caps’ Fedorov scores late
“We had three chances to put them away,” said Markus Naslund after Sergei Fedorov snapped a 1-1 tie with 4:59 left in the third period to give the Capitals a 2-1 win last night and send the Rangers home. “It’s unfortunate. If we played the other two like this, maybe we could have beaten them.”
The other two, of course, were Games 5 and 6. In Game 5 Rangers coach John Tortorella benched Sean Avery for penalties incurred in Game 4 and the Rangers lacked a spark. Matt Bradley scored two goals in the first period, one shorthanded, in Game 5 for a 4-0 Caps’ win that was punctuated by an altercation between Tortorella and taunting fans that triggered a one-game suspension for squirting water and tossing a plastic water bottle and striking a spectator.
NY Times: The Rangers See Red as a Series and a Season Melt Away
The Capitals won their series against the Rangers, just as almost everyone originally predicted. But what a series it turned out to be.
The Record: Rangers come up short in Game 7
“We’re not an offensive juggernaut and that comes back and bites us,” said coach John Tortorella, who took over for Tom Renney on Feb. 23. “We knew we had to close down the neutral zone and we did that well for two periods, but they amped it up.”
Fedorov collected the puck in the neutral zone after a shot by Brandon Dubinsky rebounded wide around the boards. Redden, not wanting Fedorov to get past him, opted not to try to knock the puck away before Fedorov could control it.
Redden did keep Fedorov to the outside but the Russian’s sudden stop gave him enough space to shoot. The shot, which deflected slightly off Redden’s stick, beat Henrik Lundqvist (22 saves) over his glove.
Well, I didn’t think I would smile much tonight.
That said, thank you Marty Brodeur.
Canes win it, and win the series.
After a long battle, the Caps finally put the dagger in the Rangers season with a Sergei Federov goal with five minutes left in the game.
A few thoughts:
- I’m not gonna kill the refs. The call on Dan Girardi on Alex Ovechkin was weak, but nothing came of it.
- Sean Avery played his heart out and earned his roster spot.
- Wade Redden‘s lack of physical play cost the Rangers late — he needs to play the body, soft players = playoff defeats…ask Ottawa.
- Marc Staal continues to develop into a top defenseman.
- Henrik Lundqvist made five saves that again prevented a blowout.
- Hat tip to Michal Rozsival. I kill him all the time, but coming back after getting his legs busted up twice showed some pride and guts.
- Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan should be Rangers for life — but 3rd liners.
- In his limited time, good things seen out of Artem Anisimov — solid in both ends.
- Nik Zherdev played his best game, but still was a non-factor.
- This may have been the end of Derek Morris and Paul Mara, both UFA’s come July 1.
All this was positive, but the fact is, the Rangers weren’t good enough. They need to make a lot of improvements, and it starts up front.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason…
← Older postsNewer posts →
