You know it's a good night when you keep the best player in hockey off the scoreboard. You know it's a better one, one that screams "this season's Rangers," when you score 4 of your own goals (a feat we accomplished only once in scoring only 11 in a seven-game series against this team last spring), and when 2 of them come in a 2:33 span from the guy you're paying to score goals.
Oh, and the penalty kill wasn't bad either. In a 60-minute game that saw 14 2-minute penalties assigned (9 of them, including 6 in a row, to the Blueshirts), the Rangers gave up only one shorthanded goal in 13:19 of shorthanded ice time, including 1:33 of 5-on-3. Blair Betts, out with a 4-week-minimum shoulder injury after his third game for Philly, was unavailable for comment.
Yes, this was a game that would have seemed completely out of reach to look at the Rangers only a summer ago: without any of Betts, Fredrik Sjostrom, or Paul Mara, our PK was simply astonishing. Meanwhile, we managed to battle back from deficits twice, including one that came from - gasp! - a bad mistake by Lundqvist, and win the game in regulation time by scoring more goals than our opponents. We forechecked, we passed East-West instead of North-South, and we battled for pucks along the boards. All game, consistently. We didn't win this game by getting lucky, having King Hank, and surviving, like we did in the playoffs so recently - we won it by battling hard and shooting the puck.
Who are these guys??
Chris Drury (yes, Chris Drury) played a fantastic game of hockey, sacrificing his body to make plays and putting himself in the right place all the time. Last night, I saw the Drury I've been hoping for since he made us look silly in Buffalo back in the 2007 playoffs. Quite sure we would have given up at least one on our first 5-on-3 without his heroics.
Ryan Callahan, playing "injured" (?), was another hero. Killing a 4-on-3, he made a beautiful move to strip the puck and come down with it, but the defender got there and stopped him, so, exhausted, he went back to kill more penalty and made the same move again, scoring this time, to tie the game at 1. It was a thing of beauty. He continued to dominate all night.
In fact, that whole line was great. I have been loving everything I've seen Chris Higgins do as well. He and Prospal are my most pleasant surprises right now: I'm happy every time either of them has the puck. Dubinsky needs to start making a few smarter decisions, but I'm confident he will, and meanwhile, he keeps hitting people, a lot. Like, almost to a fault. So, that's awesome. Obviously, Gaborik did his job - no questions there. The third line? Well, besides the obvious Kotalik's goal, Anisimov, finally started to bloom a little - I've been thoroughly underwhelmed by him so far, and last night I finally started to see a good hockey player in there. So that's nice.
Torts can NOT be happy with his fourth line: we took a number of dumb penalties throughout the game, starting with our opener, Dubi's punching minor. But when your fourth line takes two dumbass minors in the third - one in a tie game, and one up by a goal with 5 minutes left - you can't be happy. Brashear, seriously, every time you make 3 good passes and I try to not hate you, you make me hate you somehow. Stop it.
Speaking of Torts not being happy, you may have noticed an abominable little defensemen wearing #33 from the bench throughout the entire third. I am exceedingly excited about this. Maybe he will finally learn that if he keeps playing shitty hockey, he might not be allowed to play hockey so much anymore. Granted, this would hold more weight if we had more than six defensemen...but still. I liked it.
Other than Rozsie, our defense played a solid game (yes, even Wade Redden). Hell, we had to, to kill all those penalties. It turns out Torts was right: regardless of how "defensively-minded" you want your club to be, it's very hard for the other team to score when they don't have the puck (though not impossible, Backstrom).
I'm out of stuff to talk about, this game was just so fucking great. This is how you fight back for a victory against a tough team - this is exactly how I want my club playing. The Good Ship Tortorella sails on! Holy shit I'm happy about hockey!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
We didn't even have time to miss him!
Apparently Cally had some kind of "minor upper body injury" during practice this morning, and he's listed as questionable for tonight. Awesome. Welcome back to Evgeny Grachev, recalled from Hartford as a response to this injury (cause, well, we don't exactly have a lot of spare manpower on our roster). We'll see how this plays out. Let's go Rangers!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Reports from practice
Word from Steve Zipay and Andrew Gross is Avery is practicing in a non-contact jersey and has ruled himself out for tomorrow's game in DC. He also apparently said that barring anything unforeseen, he should be ready to go for our next game, when the Ducks visit the Garden on Sunday. Reports are unsurprisingly that the practice lines and pairs this morning were the same lines and pairs we've been playing all season.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Oh yeah! And...
Some guy named Sean Avery could be coming back into the lineup for Thursday's game. If he does, it seems logical that Lisin will sit. I imagine Prospal will stay right where he is, and Avery will either come in and replace Lisin directly or bump Higgins down to the third line. I'd prefer to see Avery on Drury's line, but either one works.
The only other possibility in my mind would be sticking Avery on the first line, moving Prospal to third line center, and sitting Anisimov. But that seems less likely than sitting Lisin, and the only reason I'm even bringing it up is that Torts may see something in Lisin that we don't, what with all the Power Play time he gave him.
Three games in four nights. I'm spoiled. Is it Thursday yet?
The only other possibility in my mind would be sticking Avery on the first line, moving Prospal to third line center, and sitting Anisimov. But that seems less likely than sitting Lisin, and the only reason I'm even bringing it up is that Torts may see something in Lisin that we don't, what with all the Power Play time he gave him.
Three games in four nights. I'm spoiled. Is it Thursday yet?
Opening thoughts
So, four points in three games later, the season is well underway. And I'm somehow pleased. We're a very young team, we're learning to play in the NHL at all, let alone with each other, and we lost to the defending Stanley Cup Champions opening night by one goal, then won two in a row. It's a relatively good time to be a Ranger fan.
For the first time in a very long time, I really really like our whole first line. I've liked up to two thirds of it a great deal, but I really like the whole thing right now. Gaborik has been doing fantastic things with the puck, which everyone in the world said he would, but that's never actually meant much before. Dubinsky, a man with something to prove, has been playing like a man with something to prove. His stick work is as smart as it was last season, but he's also been throwing his weight around significantly more, to significant effect. Also, his shot looks really good now. I'm very happy there. I'm also very happy with Vinnie Prospal. Again, forgive me for sounding surprised, but I'm not usually impressed by a mid-30s free agent signing. I know it's early, but three games in, Prospal has, like Gaborik, been everything he's supposed to be. He's really strong on the puck, and I keep being surprised by situations in which I expect him to get stripped and then he winds up on the other side still with the puck. I love what these three guys are doing.
Our second line wings have been the stars of the second line show. This is not to take anything away from Drury, who has played a good few games, now that he seems to be playing his game (be in the right place all the time) a little more. Callahan, the rightful Alternate Captain, has not disappointed, consistently winning battles, as he did throughout last season. Meanwhile, Chris Higgins might be the new forward that has excited me most. Again, I know it's only been three games, but Higgins looks like the kind of winger that plays a physical, smart, hard-working game every minute he's on the ice, and I can't wait to see more.
The third line was completely adequate. Ales Kotalik showed some real promise, but I'd like to see more from him. I didn't manage to notice Anisimov or Lisin doing much of any import, good or bad, despite the abundance of power play time Tortorella gave Lisin. I'm withholding judgement until I watch some more hockey.
The "rough-and-tumble" line of Voros, Boyle, and Brashear is something of an enigma. On the one hand, Voros is pretty much exactly what I want in a fourth-liner. He's very big, and he can create offensive pressure. He fights when it happens naturally, and otherwise he's using his bigness to play hockey. Not only is he big, he's the smallest man on the line. I also like the way Brian Boyle has been playing, and clearly Torts does, too, since he's been out there killing penalties. On the other hand, as good as Brian Boyle gets at killing penalties, and as much of a minor offensive threat as Aaron Voros is, are they ever going to be as good at these things as Betts and Sjostrom? And we know Donald Brashear brings down our classiness factor by about a million. On the other hand, that's not so bad, since Torts never plays his fourth line. And at least Brashear is one of the best actual fighters in the league, right? Plus, I've already seen him make passes Colton Orr would never have made. On the other hand, Brashear has fought twice so far this season, and I haven't been particularly impressed with either: he clearly lost to Eric Godard and kinda broke even against someone named Matt Carkner. And the three-minutes-a-game rumor appears to be no more than that: Torts has been rolling all four lines, even late in the game in a one-goal lead over our rivals. On the other hand, isn't it good that he rolls all four lines? And if Brashear doesn't do anything criminal, he does have better stick work than Colton Orr, and he's bound start winning fights again soon, right? On the other hand...
And so on.
On defense, everything is as good as can be hoped for. Staal and Girardi both look solid. Del Zotto and Gilroy are proving to be offensive threats even this early. I already love the power play. These kids move the puck and also shoot it. They're young and developing and I love it. Redden and Rozsival keep playing leap frog to determine who's gonna suck more that night. Every time one of them does something I like, the other one does something inexcusable. I'm really trying to give them a chance, but $11.5 million a year is making it hard. After this season, Rozsival has 2 more on his contract ($5 m) and Redden has 4 ($6.5 m). Maybe they'll start playing well enough to get traded? Anyway, in conclusion, everything on defense is as good as can be hoped for.
And Lundqvist's lifetime record against Brodeur is 15-2-4.
Thursday night, at 7:00, we invade the nation's capital and pay the best player in the NHL a visit. It's flattering and exciting that the dumbasses on Versus last night were talking about the highly-anticipated renewal of the Staal-Ovechkin matchup. Let's Go Rangers! Until then, we're 2-1 in our first three, and hockey is fun as hell again.
Oh, and let's root for Florida's teams as well, this week. I'd like Jacques Lemaire's homecoming to be winless for as long as possible.
For the first time in a very long time, I really really like our whole first line. I've liked up to two thirds of it a great deal, but I really like the whole thing right now. Gaborik has been doing fantastic things with the puck, which everyone in the world said he would, but that's never actually meant much before. Dubinsky, a man with something to prove, has been playing like a man with something to prove. His stick work is as smart as it was last season, but he's also been throwing his weight around significantly more, to significant effect. Also, his shot looks really good now. I'm very happy there. I'm also very happy with Vinnie Prospal. Again, forgive me for sounding surprised, but I'm not usually impressed by a mid-30s free agent signing. I know it's early, but three games in, Prospal has, like Gaborik, been everything he's supposed to be. He's really strong on the puck, and I keep being surprised by situations in which I expect him to get stripped and then he winds up on the other side still with the puck. I love what these three guys are doing.
Our second line wings have been the stars of the second line show. This is not to take anything away from Drury, who has played a good few games, now that he seems to be playing his game (be in the right place all the time) a little more. Callahan, the rightful Alternate Captain, has not disappointed, consistently winning battles, as he did throughout last season. Meanwhile, Chris Higgins might be the new forward that has excited me most. Again, I know it's only been three games, but Higgins looks like the kind of winger that plays a physical, smart, hard-working game every minute he's on the ice, and I can't wait to see more.
The third line was completely adequate. Ales Kotalik showed some real promise, but I'd like to see more from him. I didn't manage to notice Anisimov or Lisin doing much of any import, good or bad, despite the abundance of power play time Tortorella gave Lisin. I'm withholding judgement until I watch some more hockey.
The "rough-and-tumble" line of Voros, Boyle, and Brashear is something of an enigma. On the one hand, Voros is pretty much exactly what I want in a fourth-liner. He's very big, and he can create offensive pressure. He fights when it happens naturally, and otherwise he's using his bigness to play hockey. Not only is he big, he's the smallest man on the line. I also like the way Brian Boyle has been playing, and clearly Torts does, too, since he's been out there killing penalties. On the other hand, as good as Brian Boyle gets at killing penalties, and as much of a minor offensive threat as Aaron Voros is, are they ever going to be as good at these things as Betts and Sjostrom? And we know Donald Brashear brings down our classiness factor by about a million. On the other hand, that's not so bad, since Torts never plays his fourth line. And at least Brashear is one of the best actual fighters in the league, right? Plus, I've already seen him make passes Colton Orr would never have made. On the other hand, Brashear has fought twice so far this season, and I haven't been particularly impressed with either: he clearly lost to Eric Godard and kinda broke even against someone named Matt Carkner. And the three-minutes-a-game rumor appears to be no more than that: Torts has been rolling all four lines, even late in the game in a one-goal lead over our rivals. On the other hand, isn't it good that he rolls all four lines? And if Brashear doesn't do anything criminal, he does have better stick work than Colton Orr, and he's bound start winning fights again soon, right? On the other hand...
And so on.
On defense, everything is as good as can be hoped for. Staal and Girardi both look solid. Del Zotto and Gilroy are proving to be offensive threats even this early. I already love the power play. These kids move the puck and also shoot it. They're young and developing and I love it. Redden and Rozsival keep playing leap frog to determine who's gonna suck more that night. Every time one of them does something I like, the other one does something inexcusable. I'm really trying to give them a chance, but $11.5 million a year is making it hard. After this season, Rozsival has 2 more on his contract ($5 m) and Redden has 4 ($6.5 m). Maybe they'll start playing well enough to get traded? Anyway, in conclusion, everything on defense is as good as can be hoped for.
And Lundqvist's lifetime record against Brodeur is 15-2-4.
Thursday night, at 7:00, we invade the nation's capital and pay the best player in the NHL a visit. It's flattering and exciting that the dumbasses on Versus last night were talking about the highly-anticipated renewal of the Staal-Ovechkin matchup. Let's Go Rangers! Until then, we're 2-1 in our first three, and hockey is fun as hell again.
Oh, and let's root for Florida's teams as well, this week. I'd like Jacques Lemaire's homecoming to be winless for as long as possible.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Lineup
As usual, my father is always righter than I am. How? I dunno. My lineup was based on the Drury/Kotalik chemistry, as well as on the lines Torts was playing all through the preseason. My father's was based on...being right. Anyway, according to reports from people at Mellon Arena (remind me why they get to be there while I'm down the street at my office?), these are the lines and pairs we practiced today (and presumably therefore the ones we'll play tonight).
Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Callahan
Lisin - Anisimov - Kotalik
Brashear - Boyle - Voros
Gilroy - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Redden
Staal - Girardi
So, he's breaking up the Albatross Twins but leaving the Staal/Girardi pair intact? Weird. Also, I imagine the D pairs there are in no particular order.
It seems like Torts might be using the philosophy that your top 3 centers are ordered, your top 3 left wings are ordered, and your top 3 right wings are ordered, and then that's how you make your top 3 lines. I imagine this will change as chemistry is developed over the season, but for now, I'm not gonna complain, I'm gonna sit here and get excited.
Hockey!!!
Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Callahan
Lisin - Anisimov - Kotalik
Brashear - Boyle - Voros
Gilroy - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Redden
Staal - Girardi
So, he's breaking up the Albatross Twins but leaving the Staal/Girardi pair intact? Weird. Also, I imagine the D pairs there are in no particular order.
It seems like Torts might be using the philosophy that your top 3 centers are ordered, your top 3 left wings are ordered, and your top 3 right wings are ordered, and then that's how you make your top 3 lines. I imagine this will change as chemistry is developed over the season, but for now, I'm not gonna complain, I'm gonna sit here and get excited.
Hockey!!!
I'm sorry what?
Some interesting reports on those magical internet streams that we call the twitters.
As for Alternates, the word is that Callahan was given an A, and that's it. Torts is holding off, it seems, until another viable Alternate Captain candidate is found. I like it. In my ideal world, Dubi eventually earns his A as well, and those two go on to lead the Rangers into the future. I like not slapping the A on Rozsival's or Gaborik's chest just because you're supposed to, and holding off until you find the appropriate man. That said, Gaborik could just as easily be the Alternate 5 weeks, or 5 days, or 5 minutes from now - but still, I think it's kinda a cool message: you have to earn that A.
Meanwhile, say goodbye to Semenov? The story now emerging seems to explain why the contract was a done deal and a no-brainer and yet "issues emerged." Um...his...wife...said no. Yeah, the word is he "couldn't talk his family into it." Semenov had reportedly said "I'd love to be here, but don't know if it's going to work out." According to Zipay, "Sather said [the] players and agent agreed but Semenov's wife nixed [the] deal." Um, so, I guess, we need to find a big, veteran defenseman for $961,667.
What the fuck?!?
As for Alternates, the word is that Callahan was given an A, and that's it. Torts is holding off, it seems, until another viable Alternate Captain candidate is found. I like it. In my ideal world, Dubi eventually earns his A as well, and those two go on to lead the Rangers into the future. I like not slapping the A on Rozsival's or Gaborik's chest just because you're supposed to, and holding off until you find the appropriate man. That said, Gaborik could just as easily be the Alternate 5 weeks, or 5 days, or 5 minutes from now - but still, I think it's kinda a cool message: you have to earn that A.
Meanwhile, say goodbye to Semenov? The story now emerging seems to explain why the contract was a done deal and a no-brainer and yet "issues emerged." Um...his...wife...said no. Yeah, the word is he "couldn't talk his family into it." Semenov had reportedly said "I'd love to be here, but don't know if it's going to work out." According to Zipay, "Sather said [the] players and agent agreed but Semenov's wife nixed [the] deal." Um, so, I guess, we need to find a big, veteran defenseman for $961,667.
What the fuck?!?
Toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
Hockey hockey hockey hockey hockey hockey hockey!
Watched Leafs-Habs and Flames-Canucks last night on Hockey Night in Canada. Didn't really do it on purpose, but ended up seeing a lot of Scott Gomez, Paul Mara, Colton Orr, and Fredrik Sjostrom. (Nigel Dawes was somewhat less prevalent.) The Canadiens put one in with 12 seconds left in OT, which was thrilling. Then Luongo gave up 3 goals on 7 shots in the first, which was a great start to a 12-year contract (which, for those of you who are bad at math, ends when he's 42, in 2021). I know you don't come here to read about other hockey (if you come here at all), but sweet goddamn I missed hockey.
Anyway, what about us? Larry Brooks sheds what appears to be some revealing light on our lineup for tonight, saying that Dubinsky is "primed to center Vinny Prospal and the brilliant Marian Gaborik." I keep being surprised when our coach does what I think is logical for him to do, but I can try to get used to it. Prospal is the "center" I think belongs most on the wing (though I don't know that he's a first-liner?). Anyway, with Prospal as the first-line left wing, and Avery out, the rest of this picture becomes fairly easy to paint:
Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Kotalik
Lisin - Anisimov - Callahan
Voros - Boyle - Brashear
Obviously, this is just my conjecture. For the record, my father's guess switches Kotalik and Callahan, and he is usually right even more often than I am (which is always), but my money's on the above lineup for tonight. We'll see what actually happens.
Meanwhile, on defense, Brooks confirms what we all pretty much knew: "These Rangers will start with four [defensemen 25 or younger] in Staal, Dan Girardi, Gilroy and Del Zotto." As I said, don't expect to see much of Semenov (whose mythical "contract issues" seem to have magically vanished) until the Del Zotto decision gets finalized, at which point you can expect to see more regular rotation. No clues yet on pairs, but my guesses from Tuesday stand. Here's hoping he keeps the Albatross Twins together.
PS Like Brooks, I love rooting for a team on which a 23-year-old Brandon Dubinsky refers to the big boost to the team brought in by "the young guys."
Stay tuned for Alternate Captain announcements (Torts will be naming them at this morning's skate).
LET'S GO RANGERS!
Watched Leafs-Habs and Flames-Canucks last night on Hockey Night in Canada. Didn't really do it on purpose, but ended up seeing a lot of Scott Gomez, Paul Mara, Colton Orr, and Fredrik Sjostrom. (Nigel Dawes was somewhat less prevalent.) The Canadiens put one in with 12 seconds left in OT, which was thrilling. Then Luongo gave up 3 goals on 7 shots in the first, which was a great start to a 12-year contract (which, for those of you who are bad at math, ends when he's 42, in 2021). I know you don't come here to read about other hockey (if you come here at all), but sweet goddamn I missed hockey.
Anyway, what about us? Larry Brooks sheds what appears to be some revealing light on our lineup for tonight, saying that Dubinsky is "primed to center Vinny Prospal and the brilliant Marian Gaborik." I keep being surprised when our coach does what I think is logical for him to do, but I can try to get used to it. Prospal is the "center" I think belongs most on the wing (though I don't know that he's a first-liner?). Anyway, with Prospal as the first-line left wing, and Avery out, the rest of this picture becomes fairly easy to paint:
Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Kotalik
Lisin - Anisimov - Callahan
Voros - Boyle - Brashear
Obviously, this is just my conjecture. For the record, my father's guess switches Kotalik and Callahan, and he is usually right even more often than I am (which is always), but my money's on the above lineup for tonight. We'll see what actually happens.
Meanwhile, on defense, Brooks confirms what we all pretty much knew: "These Rangers will start with four [defensemen 25 or younger] in Staal, Dan Girardi, Gilroy and Del Zotto." As I said, don't expect to see much of Semenov (whose mythical "contract issues" seem to have magically vanished) until the Del Zotto decision gets finalized, at which point you can expect to see more regular rotation. No clues yet on pairs, but my guesses from Tuesday stand. Here's hoping he keeps the Albatross Twins together.
PS Like Brooks, I love rooting for a team on which a 23-year-old Brandon Dubinsky refers to the big boost to the team brought in by "the young guys."
Stay tuned for Alternate Captain announcements (Torts will be naming them at this morning's skate).
LET'S GO RANGERS!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A few more things
1. Tomorrow morning is when Torts will announce the alternate captains for this season. Before this summer's contract fiasco, I would have been hoping for Dubinsky to get one of the 'A's, but that seems unlikely now. I imagine Gaborik will probably wear one. I'd love to see Callahan or Avery pick up the other, but it's just as likely that Rozsival will wear it. What do you think?
2. Andrew Gross reports that "some issues" have arisen with the Semenov contract. Probably nothing to be worried about, even if this does stop him from making the trip here to Pittsburgh tomorrow night (he likely wasn't going to be dressed anyway), I'm only reporting it because it may mean the previous post about his one-year $600,000 contract was not entirely accurate. Still, this could just be Gross speculating based solely on Semenov's absence from practice this morning. If this "news" had broken by itself, I wouldn't even post about it. I just already had this space to write in, and I like talking. No worries yet.
3. The Rangers came back out later in the Late Show, carrying Madonna to the stage on a hockey stick litter. Video!
2. Andrew Gross reports that "some issues" have arisen with the Semenov contract. Probably nothing to be worried about, even if this does stop him from making the trip here to Pittsburgh tomorrow night (he likely wasn't going to be dressed anyway), I'm only reporting it because it may mean the previous post about his one-year $600,000 contract was not entirely accurate. Still, this could just be Gross speculating based solely on Semenov's absence from practice this morning. If this "news" had broken by itself, I wouldn't even post about it. I just already had this space to write in, and I like talking. No worries yet.
3. The Rangers came back out later in the Late Show, carrying Madonna to the stage on a hockey stick litter. Video!
Semenov signed
The title pretty much says it all. Last night, we signed Semenov for one year at $600,000. This brings the roster up to 22 men and pretty much finalizes it for now - the remaining $361,667 of cap space, less than the minimum NHL contract, is not exactly what I'd call "breathing room." But hey - 22 players, and only a couple are definitely being overpaid, with the jury out on a couple more.
I still don't expect to see Semenov in the lineup for a bit, at least while we're trying out Del Zotto and it's "too early" to realize anyone else deserves to be sat.
I'm going to go downtown to try to get my picture taken with the Stanley Cup now. For all that living in the City of the Penguins has its annoyances, there are definitely some upsides.
Meanwhile, here are some Rangers on Letterman last night. Ten of them, doing the top ten list. It's not that funny, but it's still the Rangers on Letterman. And some of them are kinda funny.
Let's Go Rangers!
I still don't expect to see Semenov in the lineup for a bit, at least while we're trying out Del Zotto and it's "too early" to realize anyone else deserves to be sat.
I'm going to go downtown to try to get my picture taken with the Stanley Cup now. For all that living in the City of the Penguins has its annoyances, there are definitely some upsides.
Meanwhile, here are some Rangers on Letterman last night. Ten of them, doing the top ten list. It's not that funny, but it's still the Rangers on Letterman. And some of them are kinda funny.
Let's Go Rangers!
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