I respect John Tortorella. Been a fan of his before he joined our team, and an even bigger fan of his now that he is the coach of our team. But I respectfully disagree with not only the way he coached this game, but in his post game comments. He thought the third line was his best line, yet they were on for all 3 goals against. He said AA is missing “everything” from his game right now, yet he has nearly double the points of any of the 3rd line players. Has AA been struggling a bit as of late? Sure. That’s as much his fault as it is Derek Stepans fault who hasn’t been playing all that well either. The fact of the matter is, I think Torts started to meddle with the lines when that really didn’t need to happen. The Rangers dominated the first period, and played a pretty even 2nd period. It wasn’t until Torts started screwing with all the lines that the momentum really shifted in their direction. I just didn’t see the need for it. I think we praise Torts a lot for being proactive with stuff, but it’s not as if the Senators were just overwhelming us with pressure and Henrik was a one man gang back there. No, the fact is, We probably should have been leading this game till Torts started to play musical chairs with the lines. I really think this is a game that Torts lost for us. Both with his line meddling, and with his overuse of the 3rd line. Just because they kept the puck in the opposing zone for long periods of time doesn’t mean they played a great game. They were all minuses across the board. Brian Boyle couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn right now. I think THAT is the line that needed a little tinkering. Get someone who can finish on that line. Maybe put Richards between the other 2 for a few shifts just to see how he does there. Carl Hagelin was carrying that line anyway. His speed and his board play are superb, he works so hard, and outmuscles guys who physically dominate the 6’7″ center on that line.

This game isn’t going to change my opinion of the coach 1 iota. I still think he’s one of, if not the best coach in the NHL. I still believe in his philosophy, and trust him completely. But tonight, I think he screwed up.

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I was getting ready to write an article about how, sometimes, you play a really great game and lose. The Rangers have certainly been on the reverse end of that scenario many, many times during Henrik Lundqvists reign as king of NY. But, turns out I need not do that. Instead, the Rangers showed patience (get it, it’s a virtue…get it? I’m here all night folks) and poise, and manage to squeak by Mike Smith who was unquestionably the best player for either team on the night. Smith made some truly remarkable stops, particularly his grand larceny save on Marian Gaboriks penalty shot attempt. Frankly, I’m not sure even Henrik Lundqvist could have made that save. Though, to be fair, Henrik probably doesn’t bite on Gabbys fakes either to put himself out of position. Regardless, Smith recovered for what will surely be a contender in the save of the year race that TSN does every year.

1 questionable move was Torts putting John Mitchell in the shootout. Not sure I get that one. The guy has very few points, and while he seems to be a very smart player, and a good puck handler, I definitely don’t think of him as the guy I want leading the shootout parade. I would have gone with Richards there, but then again, Richards didn’t exactly fare much better than Mitchell as both players lost control of the puck before shooting.

Anyone else groan when Brandon Dubinsky didn’t show up for the 2nd period start? I know I was concerned. Dubi was a force the past ~dozen or so games, but it looked like he was a little bit tentative after his hit. Hopefully he recovers next game. If the Rangers want to keep this going, they are going to need Dubi to be solid. On the flip side I think Artem Anisimov needs to be moved down to the 3rd line, and maybe put Hagelin up there on the top line to play with Stepan and Gabby. AA could use a few games to get his head back on straight. He’s not playing bad hockey by any means, but he’s not doing anything to truly impress you either. He had 1 scoring chance today off a great feed from Stepan, but Smith robbed him on the shot, beyond that he really didn’t do much except get plastered into the boards by Morris on 1 rush attempt. I know classical thinking has you sticking with what’s working, but sometimes you need to shake guys out of funks. I think this is as good a time as any to do that.

OK, that’s all from me for now. See you all on Thursday.

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“It looked early on like we were a team that was saying, `Uh, oh, we’re tired, we’ve won a lot of games here lately, this may be just our bad night,’ ”

John Tortorella has such an unbelievable feel for the game. His in game adjustments, his foresight, and his ability to get the most out of his players are just a few of the many, many reasons I love this coach. It’s no secret that I was very much against Tom Renney, the reasons being, the guy just had no sense for the game. The guy we have now, does. In spades. In a whole heaping bucket of spades.

You guys heard the commentators gushing over Tort’s in game adjustments during the winter classic, and tonight you probably saw an even better example of the same. With the Rangers on their heels he called an early time out. It didn’t seem like he just tore into the team, it was more of a wakeup call than a screaming fit of rage. The team reacted well enough to earn themselves a win. Their 9th in their last 10, their NHL leading 56th point, propelling them 3 points ahead of the next closest teams (albeit Boston does have 2 games in hand). Pretty tough to be upset with the team tonight despite their lackadaisical start.

Yesterday I mentioned how the Rangers have 3 legitimate superstars. Well, their biggest and brightest was in the net tonight, and he put on a show. I was stuck with the Pittsburgh feed and their announcers were just gushing over Henrik, and rightfully so. Henrik was outstanding, showcasing a glove hand not really seen prior to last season. The lone goal he gave up was one he’d like to have back, but he made up for it on several occasions flat our robbing the Pittsburgh forwards at every opportunity. On the flip side MAF had the gaffe of the month by basically giving the Rangers a goal for free. Thanks man, we owe ya!

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My server literally just came on, hence why this is so late coming up. The common phrase you hear among sports people, no matter what sport you are watching, goes something like this:

For us to win, our best players need to be our best players.

Who are the players you could classify as elite players on the Rangers? To me, there are 3. Henrik Lundqvist, who was out tonight, Marian Gaborik, and Brad Richards. Richards assisted on the 2nd goal, and Gaborik scored the winning goal. Also, if Henrik Lundqvist was in net tonight, you know this game never would have even gone to OT as it is.

I love Marty Biron, the guy is a class act, is great in the locker room, and plays a very good, simple, game. But Henrik Lundqvist he is not. He doesn’t rob guys of goals. He doesn’t make you shake you head 2 or 3 times a night where you just say, how on earth did he stop that. No, Biron usually makes the saves he should, he doesn’t give up many softies, but he doesn’t take away goals off the boards either. Tonight, he gave up 2, but I honestly feel Henrik would have stopped 1, if not both of those goals. Be that as it may, Biron did what he has done all season long. Give this team a chance to win a game.

I’m loving the fact that we now have 2 lines that you could say are legitimate top lines. Both lines, AA – Stepan – Gabby & Dubi – Richards – Cally are playing at an elite level. It seems like on any given shift at least 2 of those guys are dominating. From shift to shift you can’t really tell who it’s going to be, but the trios are playing really well together. Sadly it seems like Carl Hagelin is moved down a little which is unfortunate because the guys hes playing with, Boyle and Fedotenko, just don’t have much offensive skill at all to play with a guy like him. Hagelin is a smart player, but he’s nowhere near good enough to carry a line. He’s a supplemental player you want to put out there with better players. If the Rangers ever want to be the team to beat, they probably are going to need to put together a strong third line to supplement these 2 bona fide top lines. Getting Chris Kreider here would be half the battle, the question is, who plays between them? JT Miller? He’s probably a year or 2 away sadly. Will be interesting to see what the Rangers do to address this situation going forward. Wojtek Wolski would be fine, except you still have the situation where Brian Boyle becomes an offensive boat-anchor to those 2 guys. I’d love to see what he can do out there though, as I think Fedotenko isn’t nearly as crucial to this teams success as Torts seems to think he is.

That’s all for now, off to bed I go!

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Had to share this…what a frikkin awesome read:

http://rangers.lohudblogs.com/2012/01/03/winter-classic-rangers-flyers-in-review/

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You know it was a horrendously reffed game when the winning coach makes a point of mentioning that it almost looked like it was rigged. I agree with him.

Really that is all I could take away from this game, how blatantly it looked like the refs were trying to get the Flyers back in the game. The non call on Gabby, the unbelievable delay of game call, the call on Cally while the stick is at his throat, and the disgusting penalty shot awarded when Ryan McDonagh scrambled to stop a puck. Unbelievable. I blame the NHL personally. How on Earth does a guy raised in Philadelphia get to be the ref at a game, in Philly, with this kind of fanfare. Stupid, stupid, stupid decision by whoever schedules the refs.

Give a ton of credit to coach John Tortorella, once again his incredible feel for the game helped earn the team a crucial 2 points allowing the Rangers to have the best record in all of hockey as of this moment. Wow. Torts split up the struggling second line that was not playing well, and helped get the team a win by playing the guys who were playing well at that moment. Smart coach. Stanley Cup winning coach. There’s a reason.

Torts made sure to mention how important the “glue guys” are to this team. Guys like Rupp, Prust, Fedotenko, etc. While he is right, those personalities are important, they sure as hell better contribute to the success of the team because no amount of glue is going to be able to keep a guy playing who doesn’t do squat offensively. I like Rupps game, and I think he has a lot to offer, but again, if he isn’t playing a whole helluva lot better than he has so far this season, I dont think the glue aspect of him means all that much. Luckily Bobrovski had an off game, and Rupp was able to put 2 in the net. But he needs to play better, don’t be fooled by the 2 goals. Next season, when you have Chris Kreider knocking on the door, those lower end spots are going to be harder, and harder to come by as better players are forced to play on the lower lines.

OK, that’s all for now people, I gotta be awake in….ugh…4 hours….zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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The old adage is what…it’s better to be lucky than good. Fortunately tonight the Rangers were both. They came out and blitzed the Florida Panthers jumping out to a pretty quick 4-0 lead, and then they got very fortunate with the Cats hitting several posts (maybe 3?). Had those post shots gone in, the Rangers could be in a very different position right now. What position would that be? Somehow, despite not having Marc Staal for 1 second of playing time so far this year, without having nearly any production from their leading scorer from last year, Brandon Dubinsky till the last 5 games, without having any kind of a decent power play, with having major injuries to their defense, the Rangers find themselves, today, a few days before the winter classic, with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

The small caveat being that the Rangers have yet to play the Boston Bruins, who have 2 games in hand on us, and we still have a bunch of games against the Pens, Flyers, and Devils to come. Granted, we have played all 3 of those teams very well, but regardless, those are tough games to win no matter what.

Getting back to tonights game, you do have to at least kind of acknowledge that the Rangers only ran away with this one early because the Panthers backup goalie, Clemmenson, was terrible. He seemed to make himself very small in net, and wasn’t doing a good job of staying square to the shooters or challenging the shooter whatsoever. Brad Richards saw a ton of net when he had his chance, and easily put one by the Panthers goalie. Theodore was a lot better, but by the time he came in the Rangers clearly were looking forward to the winter classic, and at that point, the game was pretty much over. The Rangers sat back, the Cats came on strong, but Henrik Lundqvist closed the door. You don’t like seeing that from this team, the checking out of a game early, but they managed to escape with a win. Lucky, for sure.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! I know I did!

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Just when I was getting all over Brandon Dubinsky, the guy comes through and gives the Rangers a much needed boost. It wasn’t even about the goal he scored, his presence on that 3rd line helped the Rangers roll 3 lines all night without a problem, sprinkling in some 4th line action as well. That is the way John Tortorella wants to run a hockey team anyway. It’s the way he won a championship. Big minutes to the top line. Semi-big minutes to the 2nd line. Medium minutes to the 3rd line. Very light minutes to the 4th line. I’m ok with that to be honest. The Rangers are better when their better players play more minutes. Most teams are. Now if you could get me a 4th line that could actually contribute, I wouldn’t have a problem seeing them 8, 9, 10 minutes a night. But as it is, Rupp, Prust, and Fedotenko shouldn’t see more than 5 or 6 which is pretty much what they got tonight. It will be interesting to see what this team does with Chris Kreider next year. You’d have to assume the kid would have a helluva shot of making this club right out of the gate. How will they do their lines then? These things have a way of sorting themselves out though, so let’s not worry about that right now.

Getting back to the game, I felt the Rangers were really in control of this for the most part. Sure, Biron had to make several outstanding saves to keep the game close, but the Rangers had just as many high quality scoring chances, and you know that this war of attrition was going to be won by the team with the bigger guns. Marian Gaborik, take a bow.

OK, I have to run now, Have to be up in 4 hours to start driving to Indiana. Like I said in my last post, I will be out of town till Wednesday, so no post game wraps till then. Hope you all have a happy holiday season, and here’s hoping the Rangers win all 3 of these games! I also will be recording the World Junior Championships for Team USA, as I want to watch JT Miller closely. This kid really has some promise, I could see him being a Ranger within the next 1-2 seasons.

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For all the praise being heaped on fill ins like Bickel, Erixon, and Stralman. For all the kudos being thrown at the Rangers and what a great job they do backchecking, blocking shots, getting in passing lanes, etc. The cold hard truth is this. This team will only go as far as Henrik Lundqvist will take them. Tonight, he took them to a 4-1 win that is a very, very deceiving score. Yes, it’s true the Rangers hit 4 posts (1 a few moments before a goal was eventually scored anyway), in addition to putting 3 goals past Uncle Daddy (and an empty netter). But the Rangers were outshot 31-21, and were probably outchanced by a 2-1 margin. Henrik Lundqvist was completely on top of his game. Moving side to side at blazing fast speeds, showcasing picture perfect form, being square to the shooter at all times, and forcing the opposition to be too fine with their shots, therefore making them shoot wide. He was a monster. Brodeur was a slug. Slow, predictable, and completely deserving of the loss he took. The Rangers didn’t beat the Devils. Henrik Lundqvist beat Martin Brodeur, end of story.

Give lots of credit to Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, and of course Dan Girardi. The remaining Rangers regular defenseman played HUGE minutes and played outstanding. Michael Del Zotto was again a +2, and is a whopping +17 out there, nearly double the next closest Rangers player. This is not by accident. This is a combination of MDZ being matched up against lesser opposition, combined with his ability to transition the puck up the ice quickly and effectively, allowing the Rangers to maintain more offensive zone time. Ryan McDonagh is emerging into a true blue #1 defenseman. This is with the Rangers already having 2 # 1 defensemen in Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. Thanks for that trade Montreal, what the hell were you guys thinking.

I think it’s also obvious that Carl Hagelin has secured himself a spot for the rest of the season. The speedy Swede is making an enormous impact on the Rangers, and once Chris Kreider makes his way to the Rangers you could see the Rangers being a lethal speed team.

Brandon Dubinsky on the other hand continues to drive Ranger fans mad. Still only 1 goal on the season, and you see his offensive game regressing badly. The kid is flat out afraid to shoot. He just has zero confidence. I liked what Torts did out there in putting him on with the Devils net empty, but Dubi never got a chance to finish. The kid really needs to pick up his game. I don’t think he’s expendable, exactly, but he certainly isn’t untradeable with this seasons performance…Derek Stepan on the other hand, well, he’s getting close to being in the untradeable department, and that is saying something. Wow, what a steal this kid has been.

OK, that’s all for now. Just a heads up though. I will be leaving Friday morning for Indiana to spend the holidays with my fiancee’s family. I won’t be back till next Wednesday, meaning I will miss quite a few games. I do plan on recording and watching them, but I won’t do writeups on them since it will be so far after the fact.

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I’m not quite as old as some of the bloggers out there. But I’ve been watching the Rangers, and hockey in general for about 25 years now (from the age of 6), and I have never, ever, seen anything like tonight. A goal with 0.1 seconds remaining? I’ve seen a few 7 second goals. I’ve seen a few dramatic game winners. But 0.1 seconds to go? That is just incredible. The presence of mind that Brad Richards has shown during his short time with the Rangers is just remarkable. He has such a strong feel for the game. For what to do, when to do it, and when to not do something. Sure, there was some luck involved as the puck clearly deflects off of the skate from the defenseman of the next team to be relocated, but the ability to get a shot on goal with the clock expiring, that shows an incredible awareness for the moment. If you’ve never played hockey, and hell, even if you have played hockey, you know sometimes you can lose track of exactly what time is left in the game. How much time is left in a PP, a PK, a 4 on 4, anything. It’s not easy to always tell, even if there are clocks all over the place, your attention is usually so focused on the moment that knowing the peripheral information isn’t easy. Somehow, Richards just….gets it.

The truth of the matter is though, that this game never should have gone to that final 1 tenth of a second. I personally felt the Rangers dominated this game, and even when the next team to be relocated surged, they didn’t allow very many quality scoring chances until they went down 2 men.

Speaking of being down 2 men, do the Rangers have the worst 5 on 3 powerplay in the league or what? I seriously can’t remember the last time the Rangers were able to execute these with any consistency. What do they have, 1 5 on 3 goal all season? Awful, just awful. The inability to bury teams when they take these penalties is extremely frustrating. You would think a team that is playing relatively well on the PP would be able to do something with a 5 on 3, but the Rangers just don’t funnel near enough pucks to the net with low shots looking for rebounds. It’s so annoying.

OK, that’s all for now. Have a good night all!

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