5-hole.com » nigel dawes

Where Are They Now? – December 15

Eric — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:11:14 +0000

Yes I’m a little late, but all stats in the post are through December 15th. I wrote it after Wednesday night’s disaster.
Two and a half months in and this is getting uglier and uglier.

I have decided to include everyone that has played at least one game in the NHL so far this season. Newcomers for this update are Byers, Christensen, Heikkinen, and Sanguinetti.

Here is what the Rangers have “lost” in terms of production this season through December 15, 2009:

Only players currently playing in the NHL were included.

Not included: Zherdev (KHL), Kalinin (KHL), Naslund (retired), Fritsche (AHL)

Here is what the Rangers have “gained” from the new guys:

So how do the new guys compare to the old guys?

Through the 15th, Gaborik has 37.7% of the goals scored by the new players. If you’re saying that my adding 5 additional players to the new Rangers category will throw off the numbers, they only have 30 GP 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, +5, 33 PIM, 0 PPG, 2 PPA, 0 GWG, and 32 SOG between the five of them.

And seriously, this isn’t some sort of scientific study here.

If anyone feels I should include any other players, please let me know and I will add them in for the December 31 update.

Where Are They Now? – November 30

Eric — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:00:12 +0000

We’ve now completed two full months of the 2009-10 NHL season. The Rangers are in a tail spin and they don’t look like they’ll regain control any time soon.

And now, the continuation of, “Where Are They Now?” with newcomer P.A. Parenteau.

Here is what the Rangers have “lost” in terms of production this season through November 30, 2009.

Only players currently playing in the NHL were included.

Not included: Zherdev (KHL), Kalinin (KHL), Naslund (retired), Fritsche (AHL)

Here is what the Rangers have “gained” from the new guys:

So how do the new guys compare to the old guys?

All I have to say is that in seven games since the November 15 update, the New Rangers have gone a collective minus-37.

MINUS-37!!!!!

They’ve also been charged with 79 PIMs taking them ahead of the former Rangers.

If anyone would like me to include any other players, please let me know and I will add them in for the December 15 update.

Where Are They Now? – November 15, 2009

Eric — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:38:44 +0000

We’re now a month and a half into the season. The gap has been closed in a couple categories in terms of the performance of the new players vs the ones that got away. Here is what the Rangers have “lost” in terms of production this season through November 15, 2009.

Only players currently playing in the NHL were included.

Not included: Zherdev (KHL), Kalinin (KHL), Naslund (retired), Fritsche (AHL)

Here is what the Rangers have “gained” from the new guys:

So what’s the ?S (change in stats)?

The Rangers have been playing poorly of late going just 4-7-1 since starting the season 7-1-0 with a seven game winning streak. The new additions to the Rangers this season are not without their faults. Besides Gaborik, Prospal, and Gilroy who are plus-6, plus-6, and plus-7 respectively, every other new member of the Rangers is in the minus. The new Rangers had a lead of plus-22 over the former Rangers at the last update just 6 games ago. Now that lead is down to just plus-1.

Scoring is also down. While the Rangers were scoring at a pace of 3-4 goals per game at the start of the season, they are now scoring at a pace of only 2-3 goals per game.

Interesting Stats:

Nik Antropov has 16 points so far this season. All assists. Maybe he should shoot some more.
Blair Betts’ loan goal of the season is a Power Play Goal.
Nigel Dawes is outscoring Scott Gomez.
Colton Orr’s stats are identical to Donald Brashear’s except that Orr has more PIMs and SOGs. Colton Orr makes $400K less per year than the Donald and the fans actually liked him.
Del Zotto (4G, 11A) has already matched Marc Staal’s total output from last season (3G, 12A) just 20 games in and is exactly half way to matching Michal Rozsival’s output from last season (8G, 22A).
Having Kotalik and Del Zotto at the points on the Power Play is a huge upgrade from Rozsival and Redden.
So is having Goborik and Prospal instead of Gomez and Zherdev.

If anyone would like me to include any other players, please let me know and I will add them in for the November 30 update.

Where Are They Now? – October 31, 2009

Eric — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:58 +0000

This is a twice a month feature that will be running on 5-hole for the rest of the season. In this feature, we will follow the players who were members of the Rangers last season but were either traded or signed elsewhere for this season.

I’ve always kept up on the players that have left the Rangers to see how they did in the next season with their new team. So after one month of hockey, where do the Rangers stand in terms of the performance of the new players vs. the ones that got away? Here is what the Rangers have “lost” in terms of production this season through October 31, 2009.

Only players currently playing in the NHL were included.

Not included: Zherdev (KHL), Kalinin (KHL), Naslund (retired), Fritsche (AHL)

Here is what the Rangers have “gained” from the new guys:

So how are we doing compared to last year?

New Rangers with more points than Scott Gomez (2G, 7A):

Marian Gaborik (10G, 8A) has more goals AND assists. Ales Kotalik has more goals, Vinny Prospal has more goals and assists. Even 19 year old rookie defensemen Michael Del Zotto (4G, 8A) has more goals AND assists than Scott Gomez!

While three former Rangers have yet to register a point, every new Ranger has at least one point. Even Donald Brashear.

Even if you remove Marian Gaborik, the guy who was supposed to be our only scorer, the new players still have more goal, assists and points than the former players.

The new players are a combined plus-13 while the former players are a combined minus-9.

The new players are taking fewer penalties and are killing penalties at a rate (87.0%) comperable to last season (87.8%). And let’s not forget the incredibly improved Power Play this season (24.1%) compared to last (13.9%).

While it is only a month into the season, it would appear that the current crop of players is greatly improved compared to the former.

The next update will be for games played through November 15.

P.S. Petr Prucha has just as many goals as Scott Gomez even though Gomez is on a line with Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. Just sayin’.

Rangers trade Prucha, Dawes, and Kalinin for D-man Derek Morris

Marc — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:19:54 +0000

An open-ice body check??? They still have those in the NHL?

After picking up Nik Antropov for a 2nd rounder, the Rangers landed physical defenseman Derek Morris from Phoenix. Morris did not come cheaply, however, as the move sends Petr Prucha, Nigel Dawes, and Dimitri Kalinin to Phoenix.

Morris is a tough defenseman who is not shy about throwing his weight around.

The move is a clear salary dump for the struggling Phoenix franchise. Kalinin is a UFA at the end of the season, so his expiring contract is actually an asset for the Coyotes. Prucha and Dawes are RFA’s, so that’s even better for Phoenix.

While we here at 5-hole.com are sad to see Prucha and Dawes go, we realize that with the recent arrival of Avery and Antropov, the Rangers were carrying too many wingers. Plus, if the Rangers were going to have any shot at a run in the playoffs, they needed some help on the blue line.

5-hole.com loves Prucha [see here, here, and here] and we wish him all the best in Phoenix. We’re sad to see him go, but it would have been worse to watch him sit through the rest of the season as a healthy scratch and then sign somewhere else in the off-season. Best of luck to Prucha, Dawes, AND Kalinin!

5-hole.com Pick ‘em – Zambonis and Crosbys gone wild! – 12/19/08

Eric — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:08:52 +0000

In yesterday’s game between the Thrashers and Penguins, a fight broke out after the Thrashers’ first goal. At one point, Sidney Crosby gives Boris Valabik 3 solid punches from behind while teammate Kris Letang held Valabik down. Crosby was clearly the third man in on this “fight” and he sucker punched Valabik not once, not twice, but three times yet he was only accessed a roughing minor.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAle37zwhyA]

The Honda zamboni was so excited to get inside Wrigley field that it jumped off of the truck that was transporting it. Luckily, no one (including the zamboni) was injured.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZAgccYTjvE]

Quick! Go look at our picks before Sidney Crosby punches you in the back of the head!

#26 Ottawa Senators @ #12 New Jersey Devils

Eric – Sens – Auld is back in net for the Sens.
Marc – Devils - Did you know Ottawa has the worst road record in the eastern conference?
Rory – Sens - I hate the Devils. So much.

#21 Los Angeles Kings @ #16 Buffalo Sabres

Eric – Sabres - LaBarbera in net for the Kings + Sabres on home ice = Sabres win.
Marc – Sabres – Did you know LA has the worst road record in the western conference?
Rory – Sabres – LA sucks. Plain and simple.
#29 New York Islanders @ #19 Minnesota Wild

Eric – Wild – The Wild are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and have only 1 standings point in their last 6 games. This is the perfect game for them to break out. *gimmie*
Marc – Wild – The Wild have been slumping, but the Isles can help any team get out of a slump. Plus Backstrom is my fantasy team goalie. *gimmie*
Rory – Wild – Even though the Wild aren’t doin’ so well lately, but it’s the Sucklanders. My grandmother could beat them, and she’s been dead for 5 years. Sorry grandma. But it’s true. *gimmie*

#7 Chicago Blackhawks @ #9 Calgary Flames

Eric – Hawks - Hawks have an extra day of rest since spanking the Oilers 9-2.
Marc – Flames - Chicago has been on fire lately. But so have the Flames. Kiprusoff is my other fantasy team goalie.
Rory – Flames - I love those campaign ads, but somethin’s tellin’ me to go with the Flames on this one.

#13 Anaheim Ducks @ #23 Edmonton Oilers

Eric – Ducks - Hiller>Roloson
Marc – Ducks - The Ducks defensemen have been practicing putting their clothes back on after getting undressed. Pronger is relieved that Nigel Dawes is not on Edmonton.
Rory – Oilers - I know this is a bad pick, but the Oilers got bichslapped with the 9-2 loss the other day, so maybe they’ll be all mad and looking to rebound.

Maple Leafs (1-1-1) @ Rangers (5-1-0) – Game Preview

Eric — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:44:32 +0000

OK they lost. It was bound to happen eventually. Let’s just move on and see if they can rebound from such a terrible outing.

There are a few roster changes to note:

Stephen Valiquette will get the start tonight to give Henrik Lundqvist a break for tomorrow’s game in Detroit.
Lauri Korpikoski will be scratched with an arm or shoulder injury.
Nigel Dawes and Dan Fritsche will most likely be the wingers on the third line centered by Ryan Callahan.
- This would be Ryan’s first game as a Center for the Rangers.
Patrick Rissmiller and Petr Prucha are the healthy scratches.

There will be no changes made to line of Naslund-Gomez-Drury. I think Renney is going to give them 1 or 2 more games before he breaks them up.

Look for fatigue to start playing a bigger role in games. This is the Rangers’ 5th game in 8 nights and is their 7th game of the season. The Maple Leafs are only playing their 4th game of the season and 3rd game in the same 8 days. Their last game was on Monday night against the St. Louis Blues. They lost 5-4 in the skills competition.

Ryan Hollweg will not play tonight as he is serving his second suspension this season.

[polldaddy poll=1010032]

Blackhawks @ Rangers – Game Preview

Eric — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:32:07 +0000

I guess you could call this a Season Preview but we’ll just call it the Game Preview. Also, today is my birthday!

Back on October 5, 2005, the New York Rangers played a game for the first time in over a year. The NHL was finally back after a lock-out that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season.

It had been 8 years since the Rangers had last made the playoffs–when they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals–and the idea that the Rangers were going to end the drought was ludicrous. That year, almost every “expert” had picked the Rangers to finish 30th in the NHL.

Honestly, did you have much faith in that team? Look at the lineup they sported for the 2005-2006 season opener against the Flyers:

Rucinsky-Nylander-Jagr
Straka-Ruccin-Hossa
Moore-Betts-Ward
Hollweg-Lundmark-Ortmeyer

Rozsival-Malik
Poti-Strudwick
Tyutin-Kasparaitis

Weekes
Lundqvist

Admit it. You looked at that team and thought, “We’re screwed!” But Slats was keeping his word; the Rangers were rebuilding. We couldn’t expect greatness in the first year. Honestly, I would have been content no matter what happened that season. But what happened that year stunned everybody.

The Rangers sat in first place in the Atlantic Division until the very last day of the season when they were passed by both the Devils and the Flyers. More importantly, for the first time since 1997, the Rangers had made the playoffs and Jaromir Jagr broke the Rangers single season records for both goals (54) and points (123).

Now fast forward to this season. The Rangers come into the game with a 2-0-0 record with two wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning last weekend in Prague.

Here is the line up that the Rangers sported for the first two games of the season:

Naslund-Gomez-Drury
Dawes-Dubinsky-Zherdev
Prucha-Korpikoski-Callahan
Voros-Betts-Orr

Rozsival-Redden
Girardi-Kalinin
Staal-Mara

Lundqvist
Valiquette

Only two, yes two, players from the 2005 opening night roster are still on the team. Only one of them actually played in that game! Petr Prucha was called up from Hartford soon after the start of the season and stayed up for most of it. But still that is only 3 players that remain from the October 5, 2005 to October 4, 2008. Speaking of Petr Prucha, of all the players currently on the roster, he has the most games played and most goals scored as a Ranger.

Looking ahead to this season, the Rangers are a younger, faster, more offensive minded team that can still shut things down when needed. The problem is that almost every offseason move the Rangers made is counting on the player playing better because of a change in scenery. So far, Naslund and Redden have scored goals. Zherdev has shown how wonderfully he can control the puck but has not finished. He does have the potential to set up many goals for Brandon Dubinsky. I really hope Zherdev doesn’t end up like Matt Cullen did with the Rangers.

There were some questions heading into this season about Dubinsky. Would he have the dreaded sophomore slump? Would he be able to produce without Jagr on his wing? We’re only 2 games into the season, but Dubinsky doesn’t look like he’s going to hit the proverbial wall any time soon. He was arguably the best player on the Rangers throughout the Preseason and has skated very well with new linemate Nikolai Zherdev.

Some other young players that must prove themselves are Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan, and believe it or not, Petr Prucha. Dawes and Callahan will most likely thrive in a faster and more offensive minded environment. As will Prucha who is scratched for tonights game. But Tom Renney has to give Prucha more ice time. At least some more time on the Power Play.

As for any predictions, I think the Rangers will fight for control of the Atlantic with the Penguins for the majority of the Season. They will probably end up finishing in second place in the division which is good enough for 4th or 5th in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight, the Rangers will hold their true home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks. This team made a big splash in the free agency market by signing Brian Campbell to an 8 year contract for about $56.8 million. They also improved in goal with the addition of Cristobal Huet. This team is young and looking to prove themselves. They were very close to making the playoffs last season and you can be sure that New Captain Jonathan Toews and Sophomore Patrick Kane will skate circles around our defense at least once.

Hopefully the Rangers can find their scoring and break out against Huet who they have been fairly good against in recent memory.

I will be at the game and I might snap some pictures. I’ll post them later tonight if I can along with the recap.

Rangers sign Dawes

Eric — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:43:19 +0000

Nigel Dawes: Devil killer

The Rangers announced they have re-signed Forward Nigel Dawes. I am happy about this. Tom, if you’re reading this. MAKE THE THIRD LINE DAWES-DUBINSKY-PRUCHA!

The terms of the agreement have not been released yet.

Update 7/17: The deal was for one year and $587,500 – a bargain at twice the price!

#4 Devils vs. #5 Rangers – Series Preview

Marc — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:00:41 +0000

It’s finally here.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Here is the definitive Rangers/Devils series preview, brought to you by a joint effort of the creators of this blog. Can Sean Avery and the Rangers expect more of the same against the Devils during the playoffs? The only way to find out is to keep reading.

It’s on the long side, so click the “more” link below to continue reading.

Offense:

Both teams have struggled offensively at times this season, and both teams rank near the bottom of the NHL in scoring. That said, the Rangers have a fairly balanced offensive attack, with 3 full lines of players that are a threat to put the puck in the net.

The Devils, on the other hand, rely more heavily on their top scorers Parise, Elias, Gionta, and Madden. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, 2 seasons ago, Elias and Gionta played out of their minds and buried the Rangers. Of course, Scott Gomez was on that line, and now he is wearing red, white, and blue. But, I digress.

In this series, goals will be at a premium. But the Rangers have so many guys who could potentially get hot and light it up. Jagr, Gomez, Drury, Shanahan, Avery, Dawes, Callahan, Straka, Dubinsky. We give the edge to the Rangers because of their depth, but it really is a slight edge.

Edge: Rangers

Defense:

Once again the two teams are very evenly matched. But, where offense is a relative weak point for both teams, defense is where these two teams have excelled. Both teams rank very close to the top of the league in most defensive statistical categories.

The top blueliners on the Devils are a solid tandem. Johnny Oduya and Paul Martin have had very solid seasons, but the rest of the defense has not been nearly as effective. Look for the Rangers to exploit Colin White and Vitaly Vishnevski, who both have negative plus/minus ratings on the season. Vishnevski has a little Scott Stevens in him in that he searches for the big hit, but he has the bad habit of sacrificing his position to take the body. The Rangers exploited a few of his mistakes on Sunday, and will look to do the same during this series.

The Rangers defense is bolstered by Michal Rozsival, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, and Fedor Tyutin. There is some concern with Staal (he is a rookie, you know), but the kid has looked better and better as the season has gone on, and until I was reminded recently that he’s a rookie, I had completely forgotten. Girardi and Tyutin are very strong positional hockey players and rarely get caught making a mistake. As for the 3rd pairing, the Rangers have some options, but it is likely we will see Christian Backman paired with Jason Strudwick to start the series. This leaves Malik and Mara as healthy scratches.

Overall, we give a very slight edge to the Rangers. Once again, the deciding factor is depth. Both teams have some liability in the 5th/6th defenseman slot, and the Rangers have had a frightening tendency recently giving up a few too many odd-man rushes. But Girardi and Tyutin tip the balance towards the Rangers.

Edge: Rangers

Goaltending:

Martin Brodeur vs. Henrik Lundqvist. Wow. What can you say? The question I posed to Eric was, “If you had to win a hockey game tomorrow, and your life depended on it, who would you rather have playing in net?” He said Lundqvist. I said Brodeur. You really can’t go wrong. Both of these guys are solid, and both of these guys are capable of winning games for their teams. I’m going with a very slight edge to Brodeur because a) he has a 1.92 GAA career in the playoffs, and b) he has 3 Stanley Cup rings. Hard to argue with that.

Slight edge: Devils

Special Teams:

Any one who follows the Rangers knows the team has had its struggles with the power play (16.5%). What you may not know is that the Devils have been even worse (15.6%) !!

On the penalty kill, the Rangers have a slight advantage as well, killing the penalty 84.6% of the time to the devils 82.8% rate.

This is the playoffs, and penalty calls will go way down. Still, with goals at such a premium, the team that capitalizes on more power plays stands a very good chance of winning. The numbers don’t lie.

Slight edge: Rangers

Coaching:

It’s amazing to me that no matter who is behind the bench for the Devils, they play the same system and do it successfully. Enter Brent Sutter, who has done an admirable job for the Devils this season. However, I think Renney is in Sutter’s head. And if you think getting that win Sunday in a shootout was enough to clear the psychological hurdle of going 0-fer the season against the Rangers, you’re wrong. The Devils blew a 2 goal lead in that game, and the Rangers had ALL the momentum in overtime. Plus, Renney has more experience, and has done a masterful job with this team all season.

Edge: Rangers

Intangibles:

There are three X-factors at work in favor of the Rangers in this series.

The Devils technically have home-ice advantage, but you can be sure that plenty of Rangers fans will trek out to Jersey and take away some of that Prudential Center advantage. The Devils still have tickets available. On this side of the Hudson (the good side), any Devils fan looking to get into MSG is going to have to shell out some serious dough. The Rangers released a limited quantity of playoff tickets through ticketmaster today and were sold out in a few minutes. By the way, I will be at the game tomorrow, wearing my Richter jersey, along side my sister Melissa, wearing her Petr Prucha t-shirt, of course.
Momentum. The Rangers have all of it. 7-0-1 in the season series, plus a comeback from down 2 goals on the road in the season’s final game. Yes, a few of these games went to shootouts, but the Rangers have been dominant against the Devils this season.
His name is Chris Drury.

Eric Made A Chart!

Overall Prediction:
Eric says Rangers in 6
Marc says Rangers in 5