Ok, maybe the title should really have been, “Everybody but Jaromir and Pock”, but either way, you get the drift. The Rangers played a very strong game, looking particularly good was Paul Mara, and Henrik Lungfist Lundqvist. Dawes, Staal, and Dubinsky all made strong statements tonight that they belong. Staal scoring the game winner, Dawes tying it up, Dubinsky opening up the scoring.

Of particular interest to me was the play of the Flyers. As a division rival, it was good to see them ice their A team, against our A team, and have us win. They are going to be very good this year fellas. They will finally get some good goaltending, and when you couple that with some tough play, and scoring from the top line, youll have a dangerous lineup. The problem with them, at least to me, is that outside of the top 3, they really don’t scare me much at all. I would probably split those 3 up to get a more balanced attack, but I want them to lose, so im ok with that setup.

One has to wonder how much the hip flexor bothered Jaromir Jagr. He spent more time in the penalty box for stupid lazy penalties, than he did with the puck on his stick. He and Drury showed almost no chemistry whatsoever, except for when Drury saw his captain get hit, and came to his defense. I would need to see at least 2 more games with those 2, especially with a healthy Jagr, but we might end up seeing something crazy like this:

Either way, we need to give them more time before we panic and start throwing bizzare combos like that out there.

Now, the tough part, having to wait till Thursday, with no meaningful baseball for the Yanks to play, and nothing else but work to keep me busy.

I need my hockey!

-Inferno

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Now, I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I believe the Rangers have been down 2 men about 6 times this preseason. Thats in 6 games (counting tonight). That is a bit worrisome, discipline is something we need to live by, not ignore.

Still though, 3 on 5’s aside, the Rangers have looked fairly solid, with the exception of Jaromir Jagr, who is just playing terribly so far today, and throughout the preseason. Its a shame, but these games don’t count, so who cares (right?).

I thought Dubinsky looked very good in that period, but the Shanny-Gomez-Dawes combo has not looked that great, so as I said before, I would pick Dawes to get the final spot if he outplayed Dubinsky tonight, or if the both played great. If Dubinsky outplayed Dawes, or they both played poorly, I would give the nod to Dubinsky. Right now, its Dubinsky. Which is a damn shame for Dawes.

-Inferno

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If you ever wondered how Chris Drury got his reputation as a great leader even though hes so damn quiet, well you saw why just now. Jaromir Jagr got run, and Chris Drury skates right into the guy who threw the hit (was it Eager?) and throws down with him. Sure Chris lost the fight, but you know what? When Chris Drury will drop the gloves for your team, youve got a club that lives and dies for each other. They arent a bunch of overpaid prima donnas, they are a team.

Also, in the period the Rangers basically dominated the game. Literally. It wasn’t even close. The Flyers got something like 6 shots on goal, and the Rangers probably around 15. I can’t say for sure, since none of the sites out there seem to have any stats for this game, not exactly sure why.

Scotty Gomez also made a really beautiful end to end rush, which I think we will be seeing a lot more often, that really got me juiced. You also saw a lot of the “backupability” that he has, where the entire opposing team takes a collective 3-4 steps backwards to avoid having him blow by you on the rush. Thats a big deal. Getting free territory like that, just because you have this guy on the ice, is HUGE.

Jagr was kinda invisible out there. I wonder if it is because of his hip flexor, or rust, or being outta synch with his players.

Either way, I’m sure he will be fine.

-Inferno

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So, that guy who said he would never wear a Malik Jersey…Yeah, hes got it right. 2 goals against, both directly or indirectly attributable to Mr. Malik. It’s a shame because, besides those 2 plays, he was pretty decent. I don’t know if its just bad luck, or incredibly stupidity, but the guys mistakes almost always seem to end up in the back of the net.

Look at Marc Staal on the opposite side of things, he had quite a few poor plays in this game, but none of them ended up in his own net. Why? I’m not sure, but its worth looking at.

Overall it was a good game, which definitely had some improvements in system play, defensive zone coverage, and most importantly , we saw a trio that I absolutely loved. Gomez, with Shanahan and Dawes absolutely dominated out there. Sure, again, this was the Islanders B team, (mind you, I picked the Islanders to be the worst team in the NHL) but still, you had to be happy with what you saw out there.

Over on the ECSF boards a question was posed, who should make the team, Dawes, or Dubinsky, my response was as follows:

I picked option B (Dawes). And I really had to think about it.

Its not about Dubinsky not being ready, or Dawes being super impressive tonight. To me its about which player could actually play in the minors, and still improve their overall play.

Dawes isn’t getting better than he is now by playing in hartford. He is what he is, you’re not getting more from him by sending him down, you’re giving up on him.

However Dubinsky could definitely improve his play by playing top line minutes with the Rangers 2 best wingers in the minors.

Dubinsky still, at times, looks like a midget in a giants body. Its not about him being a pansy, its about him not understanding how to use his body to create time and space for his line mates. Its also a problem I see in Anisimov as well. Those things can get fixed with regular play, and good coaching.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either option to be honest, but at least if you go with Dawes, you can trade him, or Prucha, or whatever, later in the season once they’ve built some value. If you don’t promote Dawes, you’re giving up on a player who has scored 221 goals in 391 games for Hartford and Kootenay. I know I’ve been hard on the kid, and been totally pro Dubinsky this preseason, but I would just HATE to give up on the kid, I have a real tough time giving up on “numbers” like that.

So what do you guys think, could you go to war with this setup…

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AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH, I hope you got to see it. Al Trautwick interviewed some kid in the stands because apparently he has a lot of jerseys or something, and the kid says, on the New York Rangers television station mind you, that he doesn’t like Marek Malik, and would never wear his jersey. I know its kinda lame in a way, but i just fell off my chair laughing at him.

With regards to the period, don’t get too happy, sure, the Rangers absolutely dominated the period, but lets face the facts, the Rangers had most of their “A” players, and the Islanders have almost none of their A players. We SHOULD be kicking their butts, based on their goaltending alone. MacDonald and Morrison are terrible, I was amazed that he actually went a full period against us without giving up a goal, but that would put to bed in short order to start the period.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, FINALLY my boy Dawes, who is playing longer than I would have allowed, is playing a great game. Gomez and Shanahan have some unreal chemistry going. I wouldn’t break those two up anytime soon. I also was a little surprised at how good a playmaker Drury is. I always knew he had a very good overall game, but he has excellent recognition on where the puck needs to go, in all 3 zones. Hes going to be VERY good for this team.

I was a little disappointed with the play of Petr Prucha, I thought he should have been more active in this game, especially with who we are playing, and who is on the ice for that team.

Henrik hasn’t been challenged much, and has looked shaky when he has been challenged. I hope its just rust.

-Inferno

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You could tell what they were doing, couldn’t you? It seemed like the Rangers, who were embarrassed by giving up something like 20 goals in their first 4 games, wanted to make a defensive statement. That their solid goals against average last year was not just a fluke. And honestly, I think they did that. They played a pretty good period. Really it was a soft goal by yet another misplay by one Marek Malik (does he ever make a mistake that doesn’t end up in the back of our net?).

Henrik looked pretty good in the period, but he still gave up a softie, not sure what he was doing on the play, or if he was just baffled at Malik for flubbing the puck or what not, but either way, Henrik has to stop those.

-Inferno

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It was fun, I enjoyed it, and the outcome was meaningless. The Islanders basically played their opening day roster Sans Sillinger, Hunter, Witt and Sim, while the Rangers basically had their opening day roster Sans Jagr, Gomez, Prucha, Straka, Lundqvist, Vally, Tyutin, Girardi, and Mara…..ok so maybe not really their opening day roster.

Still, nothing much to say other than it was a powerplay fest which ended up being decided in overtime. If youre the Isles, you cant be happy that the Rangers carried most of the play at Even Strength, and just barely lost to your fulltime team. If youre the Rangers, you have to be very happy with some of the performances you saw, and the level of passion you saw all game long.

So, let’s talk about the individual performances, player by player, since this is the time to evaluate some of the players out there…

Dawes:Very poor showing for Nigel. A guy I desperately wanted to make this team is basically forcing me to write him off for this preseason. Hes getting every chance guys, he really is. First he plays with Jagr and Gomez, and they do nothing. Then he plays with Drury and Shanny, and he does nothing. The clock is ticking on Nigel, my guess is he doesnt make it through the next game. Expect him to be on his way to Hartford within a few hours.

Dubinsky:A decent game for Brandon after a solid outing in his first game. He dropped the gloves, which earns him brownie points from me, and he did a few nice things, but all in all he and Korpikoski really did little to nothing out there all night. He is probably tied with Anisimov in terms of 2-game effectiveness, but gets the nod because of experience.

Korpikoski:Dang it Korpedo! I stick my neck out for ya, and youre letting me down! Lauri was invisible, literally. I had to double check that he was actually suited up for this game. I think he may have touched the puck once all night. Though all the penalties probably played a role in him being invisible. I would send him down before tomorrows game.

Hossa:Very good early on, but faded a bit towards the end. As the game started, he and Anisimov showed some definite chemistry, controlling the puck along the boards, and playing well in the neutral zone to break up plays. I really like what I saw from him. Hes making progress.

Drury:Probably the best player on the ice. Scores a goal, and was all over the place. Probably could have had 2 more goals, but was robbed by Dubliwhatever several times. He and Shanny had some big time chemistry, they would look GREAT with Avery.

Shanahan:Though he is responsible for the loss by taking a penalty in OT, I thought he was great out there, and I loved the penalty he took. Yes, taking a penalty to protect Chris Drury sends a message, and its a message that needed sending. That even if Hollweg, Orr, Avery, etc are not on the ice, we as a team will stand up for each other, even a 40 year old hall of famer. LOVE IT.

Byers:A weak game for Byers. He was more or less invisible. He didn’t stand out negatively, but he didn’t make any kind of a positive impact that I noticed. I would keep him around for another game though, he has earned that much.

Anisimov:Much like Hossa, strong at the outset, and faded down the stretch. Again, my guess is all the specialty play was a big part of that, as I seem to notice him more 5 on 5, and didn’t see him at all on the PK or PP, so he may have not even been out there for all that stuff. I would play him all the way through the preseason schedule before sending him down. He has looked good, this is a good experience for him. Don’t be surprised if you see him later this year.

Callahan:The guys on the HFBoards tell me he played the whole game, but I didn’t see him after he scored his goal. At all. I’ll take their word for it, but I wonder how much of his disappearance was taking an elbow to the face a minute into the game. Give him credit though, he definitely hung in there.

Hollweg:Ryan played a very strong game. Scoring a goal, and mucking things up with Simon. He once again threw Simon off his game, and made him take yet another major penalty and yet again made him get thrown out of a game. Simon probably should get at least some consideration of a suspension for what he did in inciting a riot. Hollweg threw the body, and was a physical force out there. He played his game to a T.

Betts:Everyone says Blair played a great game, but for a penalty killer, when the other team scores 4 or 5 goals on you on the PP, you didn’t have a good game, not matter how many 5 on 3’s they had.

Orr:Orr was great, he dropped the gloves 3 times and got ejected for it, and he stood up for his teammates. He has to play every game, make no mistake, we need him.

Malik:Directly responsible for the loss with a terrible Malik like play. For the most part though he was even. Not horrible, not great, just even. Somehow though he always seems to make that 1 insanely terrible play to make himself the scapegoat and make you forget all his great plays.

Rozsival:See above, but without the 1 insanely terrible play. An even, mediocre game. Again, probably owing to not having his typical forward group on the ice, and to all the power play time. Its hard to stand out as a defenseman when youre killing a dozen penalties.

Pock:Pock had a very strong game. With the exception of one terrible turnover (which thankfully didn’t turn into a goal) he was forceful with the body, excellent with his stick, and joined the play well. I really liked what I saw. I think hes cemented a spot as the 7th defenseman.

Strudwick:Strudwick played his typical leadership game, without much in the way of standout defense. He might have even been thrown out, I’m honestly not sure. I usually don’t notice Strudwick when he is out there because he really doesn’t do much. Though he did step up for Hollweg and jump in when Simon started throwing punches at Hollweg. He probably cemented himself as the 8th defenseman, OR the captain for Hartford. Honestly, I would rather see him in Hartford if it were up to me.

Hutchinson:Absolutely flat out horrendous. And that is being nice. Hutchinson was beat on 2 of the goals, where he once again showed absolutely no strength whatsoever, and he pinched on every single shift out there leaving his defensive partner, Staal, hanging out to dry regularly. I’m sure he’s gone after this. Trade him or release him. I do not want him in Hartford showing those kids how not to play defense.

Staal:Brilliant. Some will say he made some mistakes, but I didn’t see them. He played an exceptionally strong game and was put under some exceptionally strong fire by the opposition because his partner just wouldn’t stay back. If Staal wasn’t paired with Hutchinson, the Isles would have won this one by double digits. Hes made the team in my eyes, no questions whatsoever.

Montoya:Good game, bad fight, but I liked what he did. Someone on the HFBoards said Montoya shouldn’t have fought because he knew that his team needed him. I say, if he didn’t fight, his team would have given up on him. When you see the other goalie rush into a fight and start crap up, you need to get in there and show your team you are with them, no matter what. Yes, he got his ass royally kicked, but thats not the point, he saw what was happening there, and he made a statement. He’s a Ranger (for now) and I can bet you his teammates appreciate what he did. He stays till the last pre-season game, when we will have a tough choice to make. Honestly, for once I am glad I’m not the coach, because I would have a tough time sending this kid down after the preseason he is having. Stupid salary cap.

Wiikman:A very below average performance for a goalie not really expected to do much of anything in this organization. We would have won this easily if Vally, Henrik, Monty, heck even possibly Holt was in there. As it stood, Wiikman was very tentative with his play, and left some pretty juicy rebounds. Hard to blame him for all the PP goals, but still, you gotta keep your team in it, he didn’t. Send him down after this one.

-Inferno

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A goalie fight, brawls all over the ice, Chris Simon with another late dirty hit on Ryan Hollweg, and something like 20 minor penalties called.

And did I mention 7, count em 7 power play goals scored? That is the wildest period of hockey I have ever seen in my relatively short life.

Im not even sure where to start. Well, lets talk about all the fights. Thomas Pock dropped the gloves, Marcel Hossa was close to dropping the gloves, and Al Montoya and Dipietro did drop the gloves. Speaking of the goalie fight, how embarrassing was that for scarface? Man, he got his butt kicked all over the ice. Not quite Cloutier or Salo, but still a pretty resounding ass-kicking.

Its a shame Jagr and Gomez are in for this one, youd be seeing a lot more offense from the Rangers, and remember they scored 4 goals in the period.

Its next to impossible to get any real sense of whats going on out there because of all the penalties and fights, but one thing you can definitely say, this team sticks up for their own, and they are already in the Islander-Ranger rivalry.

Also Anisimov and Hossa look great together, as do Drury and Shanahan. Sorry for all the disjointed sentences, just need to get these random and unconnected thoughts out there to you guys…

-Inferno

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I recently had a poll on the HFBoards on the importance of Colton Orr. If he should be dressed everyday, or just against teams with legit heavyweights (and a few other options). I personally chose everyday, but many more chose only when the other team plays a legit enforcer. Well, you saw in the first period why it was important to have him everyday. You saw Ryan Callahan take a vicious elbow to the face, and then Colton Orr pound the everloving crap out of Sutton as soon as he got out of the penalty box. Kudos to Colton, that is your job, protect your teammates. And protect he did. Sutton simply covered up hoping not to end up with a broken face like many other Orr foes, and lucky for him, he only left with a seriously bruised ego. Colton must have got a good 15-20 shots in before the fight was broken up.

Other than that, the period was fairly even. Both teams had few chances, with both goalies needing to make very few key saves. Both teams look hungry, but disciplined. I actually like what I’m seeing here from the Rangers, but also I see exactly what I expected from the Islanders. Strong team Defense, terrible team offense. Considering that we aren’t playing a big portion of our team (big meaning important), the fact that the Islanders played us so even only seems to strengthen my opinion that the Isles will be the bottom feeders of the NHL this year.

Let’s see how this plays out.

-Inferno

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Take away Hollweg, Callahan, Avery, Shanahan, and Staal from this team, and you see why many of the past Rangers team failed. They didnt have the guys would would muck it up, and get in the faces of the other team.

Don’t worry guys, this is just a preseason game, and you only got to see half the team. With the best prospects matched with some good NHLers last night, and some good prospects matched with many great NHLers tonight, you saw very different games. They missed the north american-ness of some of these kids. It showed, a lot.

Anyways, here are my thoughts on what the Rangers should do next, besides forget about this game…

I would send down:
Baranka
Jessiman (he got his 2 games, played well, but I think its crystal clear hes not NHL ready)
Liffiton
waive Hutchinson and Kaspar

Id still like to see Byers, Anisimov, Dubinsky (who imho is your 3C), Dawes, Korpedo, Staal, and Sauer (am I forgetting anyone?) for 1 more game before you make more cuts.

I wouldnt be ticked if they also sent down Anisimov, Byers, and Korpedo, who I dont think have any shot at all at making this team, but I think have played well enough to get to see 1 more game at this level.

I’d like to see this lineup for the next game if at all possible…

Hossa Gomez Jagr
Avery Drury Shanahan
Anisimov Dubinsky Callahan
Korpedo Betts Byers

Rozsival Malik
Tyutin Girardi
Staal Sauer.

Rest Straka(nothing to prove, give him a day off), Prucha(one of the Rangers best tonight), Mara (who was NOT good at all tonight), and Dawes (play him in the game after next, I wasn’t too happy with what I saw)

-Inferno

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