New York Rangers

[Gaborlick]

nice post Lucifer, I was excited for the Rangers this season and well, the disappointing start left a bad taste in my mouth. it was nice to see them step up their game mid week. The Gaborik hat trick and then 4 point night was nice. Hope they keep it up tonight and on Thursday against the Pens.

[kevinsrangers]

in one article on dobbs it said nyr only have 4 more back to backs this season? is this true/
getting them over with early may allow lundy to play a lot more down the stretch too.

[lucifer316]

nice post Lucifer, I was excited for the Rangers this season and well, the disappointing start left a bad taste in my mouth. it was nice to see them step up their game mid week. The Gaborik hat trick and then 4 point night was nice. Hope they keep it up tonight and on Thursday against the Pens.

Thanks. Much of the start has to do with the number of new forwards this season. Couple that with no training camp for them to learn the system and we have what we have. Prust, Fedotenko and Dubinsky played a big part in our defensive system last season, they accounted for 144 out of our 572 blocked shots or 25% and they accounted for 437 out of our 1627 hits or 27%. Those three were also 3 of the 5 forwards who played against a positive quality of competition and having a majority of their starts not in the offensive zone. You don't just have players walk in and replace that with a short camp and no preseason. It will be interesting to see if they can find a way to balance all of this out this season.

[lucifer316]

in one article on dobbs it said nyr only have 4 more back to backs this season? is this true/
getting them over with early may allow lundy to play a lot more down the stretch too.

It is possible there are only 4 more, I do know the Rangers had the lowest number of back to backs this season.

[lucifer316]

Jim Cerny ‏@JimCerny

Henrik Lundqvist in goal for #NYR tonight...Stu Bickel replaces Steve Eminger on blueline...Kreider (ankle), Eminger, Gilroy scratched


Andrew Gross ‏@AGrossRecord

#NYR lines in warmups: Nash-Richards-Gaborik Hagelin-Stepan-Callahan Pyatt-Boyle-Ferriero Rupp-Halpern-Asham


Andrew Gross ‏@AGrossRecord

#NYR D-pairs: McDonagh-Girardi Staal-Del Zotto Bickel-Stralman


Jim Cerny ‏@JimCerny

#NYR starters: Lundqvist, Staal, Del Zotto, Gaborik, Richards, Nash Scratches: Kreider (ankle), Eminger, Gilroy


LET'S GO RANGERS!!

[lucifer316]

The Rangers have only blocked more shots than their opponents in two of their games so far this season. Both games were against Boston. They are still near the top of the league in blocks, however they were near the top of the league in shots against last season while they are in the middle of the pack so far this season. This needs to be figured out because if they are going to continue to overload their first line they are going to have difficulty finding secondary scoring. Their defensive play is a big reason why they were on the positive side of their one goal games last season, they will need to find it if they hope to do the same this season.

Last nights game was the first game the Rangers didn't take a dumb momentum killing penalty in the first 10 minutes of the game, three games saw them take a penalty within the first minute and a half. This is typical Rangers of course, but wasn't Torts supposed to be the cure for this. The myth and legend was supposed to be that he would instill discipline and these things would be minimized. 3 bench minors in 6 games and a penalty to Boyle for running his mouth tell a different story about the level of discipline on this team. Those of us who are Giants fans as well are all too aware of this, even though Coughlin comes with the same myths surrounding him that Torts does, like the Rangers the Giants seem to have a difficult time not taking stupid undisciplined penalties. A penalty kill that has dropped from top of the league to middle of the pack cannot afford the level of undisciplined play we have seen.

All but two games saw the Rangers on the wrong side of the giveaway equation. It's only slightly worse in terms of last season, however I believe that if they continue to rely on the 'home run pass" to break out of the zone we will see it get worse. One of the big reasons we saw a regression in Del Zotto in his second season was that everyone figured that pass out. With Staal now healthy and Nash on this team there is no reason one of them should not be carrying the puck out of the zone.

That's not to say there is nothing good about the Rangers so far this season, however when a Cup favorite starts slow, as the Rangers have, there are more things to be critical of than happy about. The above must be corrected though if the Rangers are to have success this season, because if there is one thing a Ranger fan knows it is that sometimes no matter how hard players are playing goals can be tough to get. Adding a 30-40 goal scorer doesn't automatically provide the team with 30-40 goals more than last season so we need to tighten up the other areas of our game to better weather the inevitable scoring droughts.

[newper114]

Not sure if its been discussed but what to make of Matt gilroy. Will he become a constant or is he press box material all season? He seems to beable to generate minimal offense but i only need those small additional points.

Thanxs

[lucifer316]

Not sure if its been discussed but what to make of Matt gilroy. Will he become a constant or is he press box material all season? He seems to beable to generate minimal offense but i only need those small additional points.

Thanxs

to be honest i think he is just a body for them so they dont have to call someone up in the event of a number of injuries

i just dont see torts trusting gilroy except under the most dire of circumstances

sauers absence is something that is really hurting the rangers at this point

they might have a top 4 that most teams would envy but their 5/6/7 would struggle to get top minutes on many ahl teams

[lucifer316]

Andrew Gross ‏@AGrossRecord

#NYR practice lines: Nash-Richards-Gaborik Hagelin-Stepan-Pyatt Rupp-Boyle-Ferriero Bickel-Halpern-Asham


MRI for Callahan this afternoon.

Gross says Kreider did some light skating today.

[lucifer316]

Steve Zipay ‏@stevezipay

Good news on NYRs Callahan 10 days to two weeks. Shoulder subluxation. Not major

[lucifer316]

Steve Zipay ‏@stevezipay

Bickel is in forward jersey as is Ferriero, Stepan, Halpern. Gilroy, Eminger in d-red jerseys

[loco man]

Is Hagelin worth a flyer?

I have been out of country for the majority of the year, so really out of the loop. However I find myself in second place so looking for production.

Hansen about to get the axe and am wondering if Hagelin is his replacement and maybe a nice keeper option (over Tlusty, Prospal, Andrew Shaw, Winnek, Dubinsky)

Thanks

[lucifer316]

hagelin isnt producing right now and its tough to say when that is going to change

the kid was buzzing last game using his speed to create offense and to cause turnovers yet all torts seemed to be able to focus on was his penalty

who knows what his ice time looks like as a result for the next few games

[loco man]

Thanks - may chance Tlusty who just got bumped to the top PP

I'll keep my eye on CH though

[The Comish]

Thanks - may chance Tlusty who just got bumped to the top PP

I'll keep my eye on CH though

Hey loco man,

Personally, I'd go with Dubinsky, Prospal, then Hagelin.

Dubinsky averages 18:15 and 2:00 PPTOI
Prospal averages 17:05 and 3:53 PPTOI (hmmm, in a points only pool, I take Prospal)
Hagelin averages 16:28 and 1:12