Monthly Archives: August 2009
Chris Doyle, the Rangers 2008 5th round pick, continued his hot streak for the PEI Rocket in QMJHL preseason.
Doyle, a 19 year old Center, scored two powerplay goals and one assist in a 8-2 PEI win.
This capped off a six point weekend for Doyle, who also fired 16 shots on goal during his weekend series.
Doyle scored 72 points in 69 games last season for PEI.
….Doyle is an interesting prospect. He can certainly score at the level he is playing at, and maybe he can bring it to the next level. Then again, there are countless prospects that the Rangers have had who have been better then a point a game player in juniors only to struggle not only in Hartford but in Charlotte of the ECHL too.
…..Also, I can remember playing a computer game called, NHL EASTSIDE MANAGER, where Chris Doyle went first overall in the NHL draft. It was only a video game of course, but something made the game creators rank him that high at the time, because of that, I am very intrigued by Doyle.
Rangers prospects Chris Doyle, fifth round 2008, and Ryan Bourque, third round 2009, continued their hot play in the early part of QMJHL pre-season action.
Doyle of the P.E.I Rockets had three points last night, two goals and an assist, including a helper on the teams game winning goal. Doyle also fired 10 shots on goal and was named third star of the game.
He now has four points in two games.
Bourque, of the Quebec Remparts, picked up the primary assist on the powerplay early in the first, in Quebec’s 6-3 win.
Bourque also has four points in two games so far.
Monzo: Out of all the players the Rangers have drafted in June, Bourque is the one you are hearing the most about. I gotta be honest — I am intrigued.
Update 3:55 PM: According to Michael Russo, on twitter:
TAMTrib’s Erik Erlendson texted me GM Brian Lawton confirms at Lightning Fan Fest that they’ve agreed to terms w Tanguay pending physical
….So Tanguay does sign with Tampa pending a physical.
Update 12:25PM: Chris Botta, on twitter says:
An exec with the Lightning just told me his team does NOT have a completed deal with Alex Tanguay. Didn’t Alex sign with Florida weeks ago?
….And so it begins again.
Original Post: Reports out of Canada last night, are suggesting that free agent forward Alex Tanguay is close to signing with the Tampa Bay 
Lightning.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tanguay, 29, scored 41 points in 50 games last season in Montreal, where he made $5.25 million.
Tanguay had been rumored to many teams since free agency opened on July 1, but it wasn’t until Tampa Bay stars Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier contacted him, that he decided to join the Lightning.
….At the beginning of free agency, I really thought the Rangers were going to make a move to get Tanguay, but the buzz on him has always been that he hasn’t lowered his asking price for a contract, and with the Rangers where they are with the salary cap, it would be tough to fit him in. Tanguay is injury prone, but would have been a solid addition to play on the wing or even at center. His prospective role, was filled by Vinny Prospal, for what I assume is a fraction of the cost.
Monzo: Tanguay has always been more of a playmaker then a goal scorer. If this goes through, I will really like what Tampa Bay has done in the offseason — not to mention a rookie Victor Hedman and a sophmore Steven Stamkos on the roster.
Former Ranger Mathieu Schneider has signed with the Vancouver Canucks.
Schneider, 40, played 67 games last season split between Montreal and Atlanta scoring nine goals and adding in 23 assists.
Vancouver also acquire defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich from San Jose in exchange for defenseman Daniel Rahimi and forward Patrick White.
Schneider played two seasons for the Rangers from 1998 to 2000 scoring 10 goals in each season and adding 24 and 20 assists in those two years.
….At 40, Schneider is still a relatively solid player and point producer for a defenseman.
Monzo: If Schneider can stay healthy, he can still run a PP as good as anyone. His shot has always been very deflectable. He seems to get better and better as he gets older and said on NHL Live! last year he wants to play a few more seasons.
Mark Everson, of the NY Post, writes today about Boston Bruins RFA Phil Kessel and the Rangers supposed interest in him.
The Rangers are believed to have talked seriously with the Bruins about trading for Kessel, but not lately. At least two other teams are believed to have stepped up their bidding of late. Kessel is rehabbing from rotator cuff surgery, but may be ready to skate when camps open next month.
…This is where newspaper speaks gets out of control and people start to believe that the Rangers were thisclose to getting Phil Kessel. But there are questions abound about what Everson writes. Who did the Rangers talk seriously about Kessel with? Did they actually talk to their rivals from Boston about Kessel, or was he just someone that was seriously thrown around in Rangers team meetings. These “serious” talks may have happened, and most likely, occurred at the Draft where Kessel was the top buzz of the weekend., and the reason they haven’t spoken about him recently, probably because they spent $7.5 million on Marian Gaborik. At the draft, the rumor was that Boston asked Toronto for defenseman Tomas Kaberle and the seventh pick in the draft for Kessel. Those reports were then dismissed, yet if that is what the report is to trade for Kessel, it would cost a lot for the Rangers.
Once Oct. 1 passes, the Bruins would be unable to match any Group 2 offer sheets, and would thus receive draft-pick compensation for Kessel. For salaries between $4.520 million and $6.026 million, compensation is a first-, second- and third-round pick.
…The Rangers third round pick belongs to LA from the Brian Boyle trade, and Everson’s colleague and everyone’s favorite, Larry Brooks, even wrote an article about how the Rangers lost their shot at Kessel because of the Boyle trade. Which again makes me think that most Kessel trade talk occurred at the draft.
Monzo: Let’s be honest — the Rangers had no shot of getting Kessel.
The Rangers season subscriber fan fest scheduled for this weekend has been postponed until September 5th.
From the press release:
2009 New York Rangers Fan Fest will celebrate the loyal and passionate Rangers fans by treating them to an unforgettable day at the New York Rangers state-of-the art practice facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. Fan Fest will feature an open skate inside the exclusive training center rink, youth hockey clinics and forums, photo sessions and interactive games for the whole family to enjoy. All season ticket holders who renewed their subscription using their American Express Card have been invited to attend one of the two Fan Fest sessions, which will now be taking place on Saturday, September 5th. Additionally, 50 children from the Garden of Dreams Foundation have been invited to attend the event with their families.
Current Rangers Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi, Aaron Voros and Coach John Tortorella will be joined by former Rangers Nick Fotiu, Dave Maloney, Adam Graves, Ron Duguay, Brian Mullen
Randy Moller is the Florida Panthers radio play by play man. He also was a Ranger for parts of three seasons from 1989-1992. He scored seven goals and 38 assists in 164 regular season games with the Rangers and nine points in 16 playoff games.
He was traded from the Rangers to Buffalo in 1992 for Jay Wells.
Here are some of Moller’s hilarious goal calls on the radio:
(more…)
The NHL has submitted a bid of $140 million into US Bankruptcy Court to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes would play at least next season in Phoenix, but if the league can’t locate a buyer for the team that would keep it in Arizona, the league would start to look into “an organized process to relocate the franchise in another territory.”
…..This would be the best chance for the NHL to stop the Islanders to KC rumors by moving the Coyotes to Kansas City, if they can’t find a buyer.
Ice Edge Holdings though, is reportedly set to spend up to $150 million to keep the team in Arizona, pending a new lease agreement with the city of Glendale.
While neither the NHL’s bid or Ice Edge’s would assume coach Wayne Gretzky’s $8 million dollar salary, at least Ice Edge is willing to keep the Great One with the team, even as coach, but in a re-negotiated deal.
….My far-fetched dream of Wayne Gretzky coming back to be Rangers GM, seems more plausible now, except for the fact that it is most likely Mark Messier’s job next. Funny how that stuff works out.
The auction of the Coyotes is set to take place on September 10th.
According to the Rangers roster on their website, Enver Lisin, acquired from Phoenix for Lauri Korpikoski, will wear #81 this season.
Lisin was acquired on July 13th, and signed a one year deal with the Rangers on July 21st, the deal is worth $790,000.
The last Ranger to wear # 81, Marcel Hossa.
….Lets hope that Enver Lisin does a better job with #81 then Marcel Hossa did.
Derek Felska has his 2009 rankings of the top NHL fan bases, via Puck Daddy.
Felska uses some sort of formula derived from, arena capacity plus online presence plus editorial bias to calculate his rankings.
His top five fan-bases are:
No. 1: Montreal Canadiens
No. 2: Chicago Blackhawks
No. 3: Toronto Maple Leafs
No. 4: Minnesota Wild
No. 5: Vancouver Canucks
At 12, dropping five spots from last seasons rankings, are the Rangers.
His justification is such:
The Rangers will always have a distinctive advantage of being NYC’s #1 team regardless of where it finishes in the standings. If you ever watch the NHL Network’s “NHL Live” program New York Rangers fans are always quick to call in to offer their thoughts to the lucky guys (sometimes gals) working the show. New Yorkers are tough on their teams but they’re immensely loyal and that is certainly the case for the Rangers as well. However there are signs that some of that strength is eroding slightly. The Rangers lately have basically been just good enough to get to the playoffs only to be bounced in the 1st round and the fans clearly have much higher expectations and do not have a whole lot of faith in General Manager Glen Sather. For the first time in a while the Rangers failed to average a sellout for the season and that should set off some alarm bells even though the difference is quite small. It could a prelude to a more notable drop if the team does not show some definite progress and with Sather hedging his playoff hopes on the wonky groin of the often injured Marian Gaborik it does not provide a wide margin of error.
….This is bogus, the Rangers have a top ten fan-base and everyone knows it. The drop-off in tickets that he talks about, is 28 tickets. Madison Square Garden holds 18,200 people for a Rangers game, according to Felska, the Rangers averaged 18,172. I don’t think that has anything to do with the Rangers play, but more likely to do with the economy and people dropping their tickets because of that.
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