Category Archives: NY Rangers

Through The Exhibition, On To The Ice

NY Rangers

The exhibition game on Wednesday with the New York Islanders went as I expected it to. Neither team went full force, saving the energy (and avoiding injury, except for Brendan Lemieux who felt that–even though he’s going to sit for a 2 game suspension from the regular season–a fight was necessary to get into ) to make sure the start of the tournament on Saturday will be the strongest each team can be. Islanders beat the Rangers 2-1 so the Rangers were able to compete for the full hour.

The first period was the best for the Rangers, the Islanders didn’t pick up their standard game until the 2nd. Fast, some decent hits, and more shooting than average from the Rangers. While they had some opportunities here and there, the Rangers never found their stride. No streaks of good plays, more like the parts of the team working independently than together. Once the Islanders cinched up their defense, the Rangers couldn’t get anything done. The Islanders have a defensive system (smother) that the Rangers don’t know how to handle.

Shesterkin let one goal in on 7 seven shots and Lundqvist let one in as well. Igor’s was a pretty soft goal while Hank’s was blistering shot across that was right on the money. Really hard to stop. Both goalies looked good but the team has work to do. The penalty kill was terrific–5 for 5–but the power play did nothing of note. Panarin and Zibanejad were on the ice but hardly visible.

With the best of 5 series with Carolina starting tomorrow, whatever team plays like a team first will win. It could go either way but the Rangers have to play like they were at the end of the season or they have no chance. Kreider is back to 100% and Kakko is well-rested and looks more relaxed so these two pieces could make the difference with 2 of Carolina’s most potent defensemen injured.

I have high hopes–as I always do–for the Rangers and the long term stats are in the Rangers favor. The Rangers swept Carolina in the regular season. The Rangers are always a challenge for Carolina to beat. But this tournament isn’t a regular tournament. These teams have now played one hockey game in 4 months. There is no room for error, 3 games to win and that’s it. The pressure is high as ever because this is the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It’s a treat to have hockey back!

Let’s Go Hockey!

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I haven’t written a word about the NHL since the season was stopped in march for COVID-19 because it was impossible to say anything concrete about what was going to happen with the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season. There’s been a lot of behind the scenes action in the last two weeks or so that’s become official. The run for the Stanley Cup is scheduled to start on August 1st. That’s only 2 weeks away.

The pandemic has borked every sport on Earth. Everyone is trying to get the ball running and the NHL is on the cusp of starting play. Training Camps opened on Monday. As for the Rangers, the entire team has been coming back to New York over the last two weeks or so. Because of their standings at the cutoff, they have enough points to enter the Cup Qualifiers with the other 5 bubble teams. August 1st will be the pop off date for the best of 5 series against Carolina. The non-bubble teams that had enough points to make it into the playoffs at the halt of the regular season will play a few round-robin games to establish seeding.

The two hub cities for all games are up North in Toronto and Edmonton. One for the East and West conferences. The Cup Finals will be played in Edmonton.

So now the goal is to keep everyone healthy into the travel date to the Hub City for everyone. Once there, the bubble is made. Players and staff won’t be able to go out much besides the rink and hotel. Family won’t be allowed in until well into the playoffs to keep outside contact to a minimum.

This also means the pressure is on. No one has played a hockey game in more than 4 months. In two months, it’s hit the ice hard or GTFO. This is for the Cup! The teams that can come together the fastest will have a huge advantage. With a best of 5 series to start, the bubble teams have no room for error. Lundqvist has to hit his apex in camp to earn his spot to play over Georgiev (Shesterkin is a shoo-in (skate-in?) to be back up goalie at the very least). The Rangers beat Carolina every game this season but with that momentum gone, it’s anyone’s game. Take a team for granted and you’re going to get beat.

This whole ordeal has spun the finances of the NHL into a black hole. A ton of money has been lost and that makes the payroll cap for every team a huge question mark for the next few years. Right now, the 2020-2021 season is scheduled to start in December. That’s if everything goes well. The NHL is going to be reorganizing things for the next few years so any kind of “normal season” is way down the line. The foreseeable future is going to be an effort in keeping the lights on (many teams make very little profit or operate in the red). Right now we can only hold tight and see what happens. I am so excited for hockey to come back.

Is Hockey Season Over?

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The coronavirus has been moving across the globe for about 4 months now and in the last month, it’s gotten to the point where we all need to be extra careful to slow and hopefully stop the spread of this dangerous virus. Large public gatherings have been stopped so that means every sport has been put on hold. It’s the right thing to do and this puts us in strange new territory.

Every sports league has gone on hiatus and nothing will be announced about what the plan is for at least a month. We’re all waiting to see how this virus takes hold and it’s impossible to predict the future. If everything goes well, it sounds like we could get back to normal in June or July. So let’s talk about that with the NHL.

There are approximately 13 games per team left to play in the regular season. Will there be time to play those games and then do the playoffs? Or will the season end and go right into the playoffs? The latter decision is one that I’m not in favor of. In the Eastern Conference, there are SIX teams in tight contention for the wildcard slots. It’s the same in the West. Every single game remaining is important. No matter what, I think the playoffs would be cut to best of 5 instead of 7.

Another big factor to consider during this: there are a lot of injured players throughout the league. Given a month or more to heal means many of them will be back to play in any remaining games. That completely changes the firepower of many teams. If the remaining regular-season games are played, the standings will absolutely change. It’s a major factor in the outcome of the year for half the teams in the league.

Now the worst-case scenario–the NHL is done for the season. It’s weird and unwanted but possible. It’s also possible the next season doesn’t start in October. We all love our sports, it’s an outlet and focal point for millions of people. At this point, I’m hoping for the best, that we all get through with few personal losses and it’s back to everything we love to do as soon as possible. There’s no reason to panic. We just need to pay attention, be responsible, and look out for each other. Sports will be there for us in time.

New York Rangers: After the Trade Deadline

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We’re in the final quarter of the season and the playoff picture changes almost every day. All wildcard spots are on fire as many teams are duking it out in the entire league.

At the All-Star break, the Rangers were 11 points out of the playoffs. Today they are 4 points away. They’ve had a tremendous run since Igor Shesterkin was called up from the AHL and with 70 points, they’ve caught up to Florida. Columbus and Carolina are tied with 74 and the Islanders have 76.

The rest of the season is a game of inches. A losing two games could make these teams fall out of contention so the pressure is on.

And for the Rangers, that pressure has been on all season. Going into this week (games with Islanders, Montreal, Philly) are all against contenders. Isles have been not been playing at their best, Philly is doing really well and Montreal is duking it out with Buffalo (66 points) trying to catch up to Florida and Toronto. Toronto land must be in a panic because there is no almost no wiggle room for them. At 72 points, Buffalo and Florida could knock them out of the playoffs. The top 2 teams in the Atlantic division have 90 (Boston) and 85 (Tampa) so the rest of the division is no threat to them. Toronto is 100% on the defense.

But back to our side of the rink, the Rangers are now in some drama. There have been trade rumors for a good 2 months and that book is now closed, stopping that emotional question in the locker room. Chris Kreider has signed a new contract for 7 years at $6.5 million a year. That’s a relief. He’s an asset to the team. He’s hitting his stride right now and he’s always been important in the Playoffs. So close to making it this year, management wants to commit to him. And odds are, they didn’t get an offer for him they could say an absolute yes to. He’s a major part of the locker room, I think losing him would crush a few guys and hinder team morale. Last year when Zucc was traded, the team gave up (Kreider especially). Still, this is a gamble. Kreider is a hot or cold player. He’s an asset or he disappears. With this kind of commitment from the team, the pressure is now on him to show everyone he’s worth it. Time will tell but I’m optimistic. He’d be incredibly hard to replace.

The other trade is Brady Skjei to Carolina for a First Round draft pick in 2020. He’s been with the team for 4-5 years now and rolled with Jesper Fast like twin brothers. He’s well liked and I know he’ll be missed by many on the team. Stats wise, this makes sense and the belief is that he’ll be able to be replaced immediately by the guys that are on hand. Plus the next wave of rookies are coming next season so this isn’t too surprising.

The drama is this humdinger: Shesterkin and Buchnevich were in a car accident last night. Buch is basically okay but Shesterkin has a broken rib. The odds of him being ready to play again in a month is slim to nil. That’s basically the start of the playoffs. Now can they make the playoffs?

Lundqvist’s time to shine is now. With Igor out, he’ll get to play games he otherwise wouldn’t have. There’s a very good chance that this could be his last year with the Rangers, opting to move on by waving his no-trade clause for the final year of his contract. He’s always been a team member and he’s always going to give his all. The pressure is probably bigger now as he can make an impact on getting the team to the playoffs and prove that he’s still a viable goaltender in the league. The good news in this is that Georgiev wasn’t traded so their goaltending as a whole is still in good shape. The Rangers still have a chance to pull this off.

The team is finally playing as a team and they can’t break their stride.

2019-2020 NHL Season: The Halfway Mark

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With a record of 19-18-4, the New York Rangers have remained steadfast at being the best bad team in the league. They have tremendous talent but it’s too infrequently coming together to make winning games. This week they traveled through Canada and lost all three games, putting a serious dent in their standing.

Sloppy defense continues to be the problem with all over the place goaltending. In a test of their fortitude this week, they were down 6-0 against Edmonton in the first period and managed to rally to 6-5 only to lose 7-5. Not a total disaster and shows that the team does have goal scoring capabilities (they have not been shut out this season). Against Calgary, the horrific defense put them down 2 early on and they rallied to tie it back up quickly on the power play. They never took the lead in that game, losing 4-3 despite a solid third period effort. The lesson here is that it isn’t reasonable for any team to have to score 5 goals a game every night to win.

They were revitalized in last night’s game against Vancouver. The defense looking like a completely different squad making smart passes and never letting up on the pressure, both on offense and defense. Phenomenal goaltending for Vancouver and a screened shot with 1:29 left in the game ended the Canada trip in another loss, 2-1.

That Vancouver game was exceptional, the team played extremely well and shows how good they really are. Losing like that happens all the time in hockey, it’s part of the game. You just want to be up by 2 goals to keep those points on your side at the end of the hour of gameplay.

Clearly they aren’t Cup contenders. Washington, Pittsburgh, NY Islanders, Toronto, and Tampa are all killers. I’m leaving out Boston right now because they have an alarming amount of overtime losses that are padding their point total. Clearly they have a problem that needs to be addressed. Those top teams don’t even contain the West (look at Vegas strut their stuff again!) The Rangers still do have a mathematical chance at the playoffs but it’s to the point of needing a ridiculous final half run (something like 28 wins out of 41 games).

They just can’t get any momentum and it’s killing team morale. Face-off wins are well under 50% and that’s a huge problem (for years now). Penalties are out of control. Power play goals are too far and few between (20% I think). They haven’t had a win streak longer than 3 in a row and rarely go 2 in a row. With the trade deadline coming up in about a month it’s hard to believe some sales won’t be made…there are serious cap issues for next year looming and with their record as it stands, there’s no reason not to do more trimming to prepare for a better 2020-2021 season.

That’s the realist in me but I long for the team to come together as they are now and show everyone they have what it takes.

Fall is in full effect

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Summer held on for as long as it could, giving one last heat blast on October 2nd. Now the chill has officially moved in! So that means hockey weather is here.

And so is the NHL season! The New York Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4 in the home opener last night. It was a hair raising game with too many Ranger penalties (looking at you Strome). Defense was super dicey at times, rookies Fox and Hajak looking rather cross eyed at times. That meant Lundqvist had to put on his crown to keep them in the game, saving 43 of 47 shots. One of those was a soft goal, but he was stunting most of the night. All in all, promising, if sloppy. Winnipeg was all over Panarin and he was still able to make moves, which also let my boy Zibanejad run around. Both Panarin and Trouba scored so dropping all that money on them seems like a good idea so far! Oh! And Staal was the first to score! Staal! So it’s a promising start, they just need to get comfortable as a team.

The fall season also means a whole lot of entertainment is flying straight at our eyeballs. A lot of returning shows of course and a couple of new ones.

I tried watching the new season of American Horror Story and it bored me to death, so I’m out on that one. The Deuce is on it’s final few episodes, The Righteous Gemstones is amazing. Ink Master wrapped another good season

Netflix is killing it, I have more on there than I know what to do with. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was fantastic. Derry Girls season 2 was terrific. Disenchantment and Big Mouth are back. I have a few stand up specials to watch, the last season of Orange is the New Black is on the backburner still, some horror movies I’ve had in wait I’ll get to this month. The Great British Baking Show! Between Two Ferns movie, The Spy, Mindhunter. El Camino!!!

On Amazon, I watched all of Undone in less than a week, liked it a lot and I’ve heard so much about Fleabag I need to figure out when to watch that. I’m probably going to stick to one series, finish the season, watch a movie, go to another series, and go like that until I run out of shows. Like I’ll run out of shows. Mr. Robot final season starts this Sunday! I think the Walking Dead is this weekend too and I have no idea why I still watch that.

And here’s a real big on out of no where: pro wrestling! All Elite Wrestling made it’s TV debut. I haven’t watched wrestling in I think 15 years so this was a trip. It was a lot of fun to watch and since I recorded it I can jump through the shoots (the story bits wrestlers do to set up fueds and such) that I have no patience for anymore. The talent they have is really fantastic. I’m happy to see anyone rise up to stick their thumb in Vince McMahon’s eye after all these years. Force his organization to be less garbage with competition.

The 2019-2020 NHL Season is here!

NY Rangers

OK, pre-season. But it kinda counts!

It’s too early to anything substantial but it’s very good feeling to have hockey back on. Plus, it was a fantastic off season so that’s exciting. The Rangers have without a doubt a better team now, it’s just a matter of coach Quinn finding the lines and that team chemistry forming. A big question is how goal tending is going to be and that’s a make it or break it issue for getting to the playoffs. Time will tell.

After this first game, the team looks fast and the power play lines are without a doubt better. Just seeing one game, it boosts the confidence level of the offensive line but the defensive line has been a problem for years. That half is still unclear.

The other takeaway is that the Devils are also way better than last year. The rival games are going to be nuts. The Metro division just got even better.

The 2019 Stanley Cup Champions

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The MVP

The 2018-2019 Saint Louis Blues made NHL history last night. The franchise’s first Stanley Cup and ridiculous turn around season from January to now. This was a team at the bottom of the standings, a new coach brought in, and a rookie goalie that no one gave a chance before, got called up because of this interim coach (who as of right now, is still the interim coach).

They fought through every round and this Final 7 games with Boston was a tough rink to cross. Binnington got lit up in two of those Boston games and he bounced back to have lock down performances in the following game. He basically won Game 7 for the Blues, fending off an absolute onslaught from the Bruins that the rest of the team couldn’t contain. He went 32-33 saves last night, giving his team the chance to strike when they managed to (only 19 shots on goal for the Blues).

Great series, great story. Congratulations to the Saint Louis Blues.

So the season is over and it’s the middle of June! So what now? The NHL Draft is next week and the shape of the 2019-2020 begins.

2019 Stanley Cup Round 3

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Another wild round is in the books. Dallas got beat by St. Louis so that leaves only San Jose still playing who I thought could make it this far. I didn’t think Carolina would do anything and they booted the Islanders off the ice in 4 games!

The only team I don’t want to win now is Boston. They have enough Cups, for now. They’re one of the most prolific winners in the NHL to date. It’s easy to hate them for that and it’s Boston so the yucks keep stacking up. While they are the favorite, they can’t relax with Carolina. They keep proving they aren’t a fluke, they have the talent on the entire team to win the Cup.

I’m pulling more for San Jose over St. Louis as they have a few guys who are close to the end of their career now. SJ has been a contender for many years now and it feels like it’s now or…a very long wait until they can get a team this strong again. St. Louis has never won the Cup either, so the West side of the bracket is a great story no matter who makes it to the Championship.

2019 Stanley Cup Round 2

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Round 1 was shocking. The heads of kings were lopped off like someone screamed Viva La Revolucion! and everyone took it seriously.

Tampa Bay, the best team in the league by a shocking amount in the regular season got beheaded in 4 games by Columbus. Calgary didn’t fare much better, 4-1 against Colorado. Washington, the defending champions, lost in 7 to Carolina. Nashville struggled against Dallas. All the Canadian teams were eliminated and Vegas collapsed in a Game 7 against San Jose, which will go down in the record books.

Controversy galore as a 5-minute major was called on Vegas (it was a minor 2-minute cross-checking call that the refs panicked on with blood on the ice from a head impact) )with 10 minutes remaining in the 3rd. Up 3-0, Vegas let 4 goals in 5 minutes happen. Vegas can be up in arms all they want but the fact is they blew it. They were up 3-1 in the series and SJ rallies back 2 in a row to tie it. Then after turning into swiss cheese for 5 minutes, they managed to tie it 4-4 to force overtime. They had all the time in the world to finish off the Sharks and they didn’t. End of story, end of season.

All the wildcards beat the top seeds, that’s insane.

All the favorites are out except for Boston. They’re the only team left with serious playoff experience and with so many Cup wins, they are the team I really want stopped. So, I’m left with wanting Dallas to win because Zucc is with them. Islanders are gross and major Ranger rivals so I don’t want them to go far but for the area to win would be pretty great.

I doubt any of these series will be short.

2019 Stanley Cup Bracket

NY Rangers

Here it is! It’s a stacked list. Eastern Conference has a few mainstays (Pitt, Toronto, Boston, Caps, Tampa). The Hurricane’s have a mountain in front of them with the Caps, the NYI Pitt serious could go either way and everyone thinks Tampa will cruise by Columbus,

Three Canadian teams this go around, Calgary has had a fantastic year (50 wins I think) and Winnipeg is no slouch either. Second season for Vegas, second season in the Playoffs which is amazing. They are playing SJS again and I’m sure SJ will be out for blood for last year’s elimenation.

I’m backing Tampa. A bunch of ex-Rangers (Ryan Callahan, JT Miller, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh) and the most important: if they win the Cup the Rangers get a first round draft pick (part of the last year’s trade deal for Miller and McDonagh).

If Dallas goes far, the Rangers get another high draft pick (and Zuccarello has to play in every game now, I think the stipulation in his trade is still valid) but I’m not sure if anyone is confident in their chances. Nashville is again no joke this season.

Oof

NY Rangers

Look, this season was lost months ago. The Rangers have two games left to play and it’s been more or less a slow motion car wreck since February. Lundqvist has been on the 449 win bubble for weeks and every time he has been in net, the Rangers can’t pull it together to win. They lost to Ottowa last night 4-1 and they are literally the worst team in the league. His 14th season is his worst NHL season by far. It’s rough to watch the team collapse around him time after time, it’s really disheartening.

With Lundqvist spinning in circles, Georgiev has been given more starts. He’s put on some all star showings and has shown real growth (I think his latest run is 7-4-3 wheres Hank’s is 3-10-3 or so) which is good to see.

Ranger fans have been looking to next season for a while now and a lot of work needs to be done. Hank simply can’t play 60+ anymore. I think he needs to find himself again, he’s been off kilter for awhile not able to shake off losses.

The playoffs should be fantastic, the first round will knock off the bottom 2 weakest teams quickly (one wild card spot is up for grabs in the west and 2 are being fought for by like 5 teams in the east) but after that, it’s all killers. The competition level should be off the charts and the results matter for the Rangers as it’s possible they get 2 very high draft picks out of it.