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Category: New-York-Rangers

Rangers Interested In Forsberg

by Paul on 11/05/09 at 09:19 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

The Rangers are among the handful of NHL teams watching Peter Forsberg very closely when the 36-year-old free-agent center tests his chronically injured right foot in the Karjala Cup tournament that opens today in Sweden and will conclude over the weekend in Finland, The Post has learned.

“Yes, we have interest in Forsberg,” GM Glen Sather said. “From the reports we’ve been getting, the foot is much better than it was a year ago.

continued…

According ot Lyle Richardson and George Malik, Forsberg would have to clear NHL waivers in order to sign with an NHL team.  Something to keep in mind if it gets to that point.

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Peter+Forsberg,

Dane Byers Gets A Game Suspension

by Paul on 11/04/09 at 01:09 PM ET
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from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

The New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks brouhaha in the third period of Tuesday night’s game has players from both teams on the NHL’s discipline docket.

Rangers forward Dane Byers was assessed an instigator penalty in a fight with Vancouver’s Tanner Glass in the final five minutes of the game (18:50 of the third period) and that calls for an automatic one-game suspension and a $10,000 fine for Rangers coach John Tortorella.

continued

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 Tags: Dane+Byers,

Gaborik’s Gone And So Are The Goals

by Paul on 10/30/09 at 08:22 AM ET
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from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

There’s no hiding the first month of the Chuck Fletcher/Todd Richards regime was as successful as a grouse staring down the barrel of a shotgun, but, boy oh boy, the hockey gods sure had a good laugh at the Wild’s expense.

As the Wild keeps losing (it is 3-9), Gaborik keeps scoring (10 goals), although in a fitting twist of irony, Gaborik’s St. Paul homecoming is threatened tonight because of that oh-so familiar “lower body” injury. He hasn’t skated since Monday.

But let’s be honest: Gaborik’s fast start under the Broadway spotlight was as predictable as a rush-hour traffic jam through the Lincoln Tunnel.

read on

Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Marian+Gaborik,

Gaborik Still Sore

by Paul on 10/29/09 at 03:30 PM ET
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from Steve Zipay of Blue Notes,

Personally, I believe the Slovakian right winger isn’t playing until Sunday afternoon against Boston in the Garden, but there’s a chance he’ll dress in Minnesota, where he played eight years, on Friday night.

Standing in the locker room with reporters after another practice in which he did not participate ---he was receiving treatment on his right leg, possibly thigh or hamstring, the club is not disclosing---he called himself “day-to-day.”

Not playing would be disappointing, Gaborik said. “We don’t play them that often. Definitely it would be something special.”

He confirmed that he was still sore from a front of the net collision late in the third period against Phoenix on Monday, but would be on the plane to Minneapolis this afternoon.  The team’s top scorer, with 18 points, said he initially thought the injury was more severe.

continued

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 Tags: Marian+Gaborik,

A Different Role For Drury

by Paul on 10/29/09 at 07:11 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

The personnel is different this year, so is the head coach, and so is the role that Chris Drury has been assigned to fill on a Rangers team that brought an 8-3-1 record into last night’s match against the Islanders at the Coliseum.

For no longer is Drury in a top-six offensive position up front, skating now as he does as the third-line center. No longer is Drury, who scored 55 of his 114 goals on the power play the last four seasons, on that specialty unit.

“The minutes certainly aren’t as sexy as I’ve been accustomed to getting over the years,” Drury, who is averaging just 50 seconds of power-play time per game after getting an average of 3:34 last year and 3:57 his first year on Broadway, told The Post yesterday morning.

“The minutes I’m getting now are on the penalty kill and in more defensive situations, such as the shift after a goal is scored when keeping or changing the momentum is so important. Those are critical portions of the game, so I’m certainly approaching this as if I have an important role to fill for this team.”

continued

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 Tags: Chris+Drury,

Evaluating Gaborik’s Defensive Side

by Paul on 10/26/09 at 07:18 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

“Fair; fair,” was the way John Tortorella responded yesterday when the head coach was asked for his evaluation of Gaborik’s play on the defensive side of the puck.

“It’s a process with him. You have to be careful with creative guys to be able to tell the difference between cheating and anticipation. You have to be really careful not to take away what makes them who they are,” Tortorella said.

Gaborik, dangerous whenever he’s on the ice, has scored eight goals, one off the NHL lead through Saturday shared by Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrick Marleau. The right wing has scored in two straight games, including Saturday’s outrageously nifty breakaway goal in Montreal against Jaroslav Halak.

But Gaborik also was cited doing a fair amount of neutral-zone hanging in the 5-4 overtime defeat.

more

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 Tags: Marian+Gaborik,

Some Rangers See The Bench

by Paul on 10/24/09 at 11:37 PM ET
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from Steve Zipay at Blue Notes,

Accountability.

Coach John Tortorella means it. 

Brandon Dubinsky, who held out for a week in training camp but played well early in the season on the first line, skated just 8:51 in the first two periods tonight and was benched in the third period. So was the homecoming boy, Christopher Higgins, a minus-2 in 12:44. 

Whether that was a wise short-term idea against a fleet Canadiens team can be debated. It may be good in the long run for the 7-3-1 Rangers, we’ll see. But regardless, the breakdowns have to be eliminated.

continued

added 11:45pm, from Stan Fischler of Game On,

“What me worry?”

That deathless quote came from none other than Mad Magazine’s preeminent nutcase, Alfred E. Newman.

Alfred E. may be history, but his commentary now applies to the Rangers as they prepare for the Coyotes’ visit on Monday night to The Garden.

Yes, there is concern now that the Blueshirts have lost their third straight, albeit in overtime on Saturday night in Montreal.

continued

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Avery Just Blending In

by Paul on 10/23/09 at 09:51 AM ET
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from Marie Joelle Parent at the Toronto Sun,

After a two-week stint in behavioural therapy, Avery started meditation. He also got a new tattoo. “You used to be alright, what happened,” lyrics from a Radiohead song, now adorn his arm. But seriously, what happened?

“I think that any time you say something that’s hurtful towards somebody you’re always going to regret that,” Avery said. “If I’ve said something that’s done that, then I don’t feel good about it. Regrets are tough words because you know you did it. You kind of have to deal with what you’ve done.”

Following his suspension, the Dallas Stars—Avery’s team at the time—didn’t want anything to do with him. He was eventually sought out by the Rangers, for whom he played before going to Dallas.

Avery, for his part, seems to have found his niche in the Big Apple, a city as flamboyant as his personality.

“I just blend in with the city and its people,” he said.

more

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 Tags: Sean+Avery,

The Drama-Less Rangers

by Paul on 10/21/09 at 08:24 AM ET
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from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

The power play is snappy and the lineup is filled with kids in prominent roles, but the most striking difference between this Rangers squad and the scores of teams preceding it is that drama only comes in the games.

There is no doubt the Blueshirts have deficiencies. There is no down payment with the jewelers. They go back to work today in order to correct the fatal flaws that were on display in Monday’s 7-3 lashing by the Sharks, which put an emphatic end to their seven-game winning streak. They go back to work.

An era is over at the Garden. The Rangers no longer operate as a cult that revolves around a particular star’s personality. The Blueshirt play up-tempo hockey that by nature is entertaining, but John Tortorella isn’t on Broadway to direct a show.

continued

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Would Messier Make A Good GM?

by Paul on 10/20/09 at 03:12 PM ET
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from Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated,

Mark Messier’s title with the New York Rangers is Special Assistant to the President, one of those felicitous-sounding designations that could mean almost anything. The widespread guess it best translates to “GM general in waiting.” The assumption is Blueshirts president Glen Sather will muddle on for the next few years, show Messier the ropes and eventually turn the daily operations of the team over to the dauphin.

There are pitfalls to a neat succession, of course, but this seems to be a career path already working splendidly for players of stature like Messier. Joe Nieuwendyk, who has Hall-worthy credentials, already has taken a GM seat in Dallas after understudying in Florida and Toronto. Al MacInnis has been getting rave reviews for his work in player development with the St. Louis Blues. Steve Yzerman might not be ahead of the estimable Jim Nill on the Detroit Red Wings front office pyramid—Nill, GM Ken Holland’s top assistant, is the league executive most deserving of running his own team—but he’s already shown enough to be Team Canada’s GM for the 2010 Olympics, among the most stressful jobs in hockey.

From Ron Francis in Carolina (player development) in Carolina to Luc Robitaille in Los Angeles (president of business operations), Messier’s generation of stars is generally proving itself capable in executive capacity.

The only question is whether Messier will be willing to put in the work.

more plus additional NHL talk…

Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers | KK Hockey | Permalink
 Tags: Mark+Messier,

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