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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.

It’s not that I want Detroit to win…

Eric — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:44:51 +0000

I just really want the Penguins to lose.

The NHL finally gets a Stanley Cup Finals between two major teams that non hockey fans might actually watch.

I hope Niklas Kronwall does this to a couple penguins.

Flyers Still Alive

Eric — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:30:52 +0000

The Philadelphia Flyers showed they were still very much alive last night when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 to stave off elimination. The Penguins now lead the series 3-1. The Flyers scored three goals in the first period to jump out to a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Things got pretty interesting in the last few minutes thought. The Flyers were out to prove that they aren’t going away easy. After Hatcher basically beat the crap out of Malone (the refs stopped the fight before the overmatched Malone got seriously injured), the Flyers’ best player (Mike Richards) told Sidney Crosby to shut up. With his fists.

For any fellow Rangers fans that aren’t sure who Mike Richards is, just think of Brandon Dubinsky in about 1-2 seasons. Also throw in the ability to fight well.

I wonder if the Flyers have possibly gotten into the Penguins heads. Don’t forget, this is the same exact thing that happened in the second round to the Rangers. They were down 3-0 and kicked some ass in game 4. The game ended with a couple slewfoots and a few scrums too. Maybe the Rangers were getting into the Penguins’ heads! The series headed back to Pittsburgh and we all know how it ended up.

I think the Flyers have a better chance to bring this series back to Philly than the Rangers had to bring it back to the Garden one round ago. Throw in the fact that the Flyers are getting back their two top defensemen (Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn) for game 5 and things are looking pretty good for the Flyers.

***

I think Marc and I are gonna hold off on wrapping up the Rangers’ season and playoffs until after the Stanley Cup has been won. We aren’t sure how we want to do it (team as a whole or player by player by coach). Regardless, we will be posting news and opinion throughout the offseason so keep checking the site for updates.

Also, if you have any thoughts, comments, suggestions, criticism, or work for the Rangers (or the NHL) and want to help us out with an interview please don’t hesitate to email us at 5holeblog@gmail.com.

Can anyone stop them?

Marc — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:57:49 +0000

The question is: am I referring to the Red Wings or the Penguins?

Red Wings vs. Penguins looks like a foregone conclusion for the Stanley Cup Finals, which should make hockey fans, TV executives, and the NHL all happy.

Both teams are playing on a different level from everyone else. The Penguins have an incredible 11-1 record in the playoffs, with their only loss coming against the Rangers in game 4 of that series. The 11-2 Red Wings, meanwhile, are riding a 9-game winning streak and look pretty much unstoppable.

The only question left for the conference finals is whether both teams will sweep. The Red Wings and Stars play game 4 tonight in Dallas, while Pittsburgh and Philadelphia play their game 4 tomorrow in Philly.

NHL to Change Schedule for 2008-2009 Season

Eric — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:20:15 +0000

Starting next season, the NHL will revert back to the system used before the lockout. Each team will play the other four teams in their division six times (3 home games and 3 road games) and play the other 10 teams in their conference four times (2 home games and 2 road games). The remaining 18 games will be played against the teams in the other conference. That ensures that each team will play every other team in the league at least one time during the regular season.

Beginning with the 2005-2006 season, the NHL started using a new schedule structure. The new system had each team play 2 additional games against the other four teams in their division (four home games, four road games). They still played four games against the ten teams in the other two divisions in their conference (2 home games and 2 road games). The remaining 10 games were played against ten teams from the other conference (5 at home against one division, 5 on the road against another division). Teams did not play the 5 teams in the third division of the other conference. The interconference matchups rotated every season and after 3 seasons, every team had played every team in the other conference both at home and on the road once.

When the league changed the schedule structure, they were trying to emphasize rivalries within the divisions. The problem was that not many rivalries within divisions existed outside of the Atlantic and Northeast divisions.

Hold on a second. Was the NHL trying to start new rivalries to get more people interested in the sport and bring back the fans they lost after cancelling an entire season?

Establishing new rivalries was just one of the ways that the league was trying to reestablish itself in a country that loves Baseball, Football, and watching cars drive in circles for 3 hours.

Some owners had problems with this new system almost as soon as it was put in place. Because the Red Wings and Blackhawks are in the Western conference, they would not be able to maintain their rivalries with the other 4 Original Six teams in the Eastern conference. The Red Wings didn’t really consider the Predators or the Blue Jackets to be great rivals. Honestly, no one saw those matchups as big rivalries either.

In just 3 seasons under the new system, games between teams like the Red Wings and Blue Jackets have become much more entertaining not only because they play each other more often, but because the Blue Jackets, Preds, and Blues have actually been putting up a fight.

Additionally, many teams in the Western conference would have to wait 2 or 3 years before playing a home game against the Capitals or Penguins. That meant no Ovechkin and no Crosby. Honestly? Are they saying that the only way they can put asses in the seats is to have Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin come play in their arenas?

It’s not as if the teams in the west have no young, talented players. There’s Marek Svatos and Paul Stastny in Colorado, Dion Phaneuf in Calgary, and Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago just to name a few. Maybe they should try promoting their own players?

I’ll concede that Crosby and Ovechkin are big draws for a team in a small market. But only about 20,000 people will actually be able to watch the game at the arena. The majority of fans in those markets are still going to be watching on TV.

So why now, must every team play every other team once during the regular season? Before 1997, the teams in Baseball’s National League and American League never played each other except during the World Series. Teams never complained that the best players in the National League never played the teams in the American League and vise versa. Even with interleague play, teams still don’t play every other team in Major League Baseball.

New rivalries actually began popping up all over the country. The Subway Series (Mets vs. Yankees), Windy City Series (Cubs vs. White Sox), and the Bay Bridge Series (Athletics vs. Giants) are some of the more popular interleague rivalries that started because of the new schedule adopted by Major League Baseball.

The NHL should have given the new system more time to see if the new rivalries would actually pick up. Rivalries do not just start overnight. Teams have to play each other more often to let the seeds planted grow into entertaining rivalries. No offense to the western conference teams, but as a Rangers fan, I would much rather watch the Rangers play the Islanders or Devils or Flyers than the Red Wings, Stars, or Flames. While those interconference games are entertaining, the games against the Islanders, Devils, and Flyers just mean more in the standings. That alone makes the games more intense and the playoff races much more exciting.

Go… Stars?

Eric — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:57:17 +0000

Well now that my beloved Rangers are hitting the links, I have to decide which team I want to see win the Stanley Cup.

Eric, you’re going to root for an Eastern Conference team, right?

Nope! I was pulling for the Flyers to beat the Canadiens because, let’s face it, I don’t like the Canadiens or their fans. They can be a little… pompous. I also wanted the Flyers to win so that they would play the Rangers and we could get some revenge for booting us from the playoffs in 1997. But now that the Rangers are out and the Penguins are in, do you actually think I’m gonna root for our 2 division rivals?

I guess you have a point there. So now how do you decide between the Red Wings and the Stars?

It’s pretty simple. I just don’t like the Red Wings. At all. I was happy that Osgood and Hasek had amazing seasons. They helped me to second place in my fantasy hockey league (damn you, Marc!). But honestly, they are like the Duke basketball team of the NHL. Unless you are affiliated with them in some way, you don’t like Duke. The reason I actually root for Duke is that Marc went there. That, and the Drexel Dragons suck. Seriously though, they labeled themselves “Hockeytown.” Hockeytown? That’s like the Cowboys being labeled “America’s team.”
So I will be rooting for the Dallas Stars to win the Cup this year. Mostly because Henrik’s twin brother Joel is on the Stars. But also because of the reasons above.

Take that Pittsburgh!

Marc — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:06:32 +0000

We may not be better than Pittsburgh at hockey, but we definitely have better air!

Rangers lose this game on the Power Play

Eric — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:50:42 +0000

Folks, the Rangers were still in this one until the start of the third period. They looked dead right from the start of the third. They couldn’t get the puck deep and when they actually kept the puck in the Penguins’ zone, they couldn’t get shots through to the net.

Then there’s the Power Play. The Rangers went 0 for 6 with 9 shots. So that’s a shot and a half per PP. The Penguins went 1 for 5 with 15 shots (almost half of their total). That’s 3 per.

The Penguins’ Power Play is just S-C-A-R-Y. It’s so much different than the Rangers’ PP. They just keep feeding the puck to the point for the quick, low slapshot and wait for the rebounds. Why can’t the Rangers do this? The second line (Gomez-Drury-Shanny) seems to be trying but just can’t get it done. Jagr’s line is just wasting time looking for the perfect shot. It’s just terrible. GO TO THE FRONT OF THE NET! STOP CUTTING BEHIND THE NET! YOU’RE NOT GONNA SCORE A GOAL FROM BEHIND THE NET!

Anyone notice who wasn’t on the ice when the Penguins scored their only Power Play goal? It was the guy in the box who was off for a questionable call that could have gone to either player. Chris Drury.

Chris Drury is the best penalty killer on the Rangers right now. How many times do you see him breaking up the other team’s power play and clearing the puck? Lots of times, that’s how many.

I’m kind of pissed off right now. If Marc has any thoughts he’ll add them later.

Game on

Marc — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:43:25 +0000

This might get your blood boiling. I came across this article written by an annoying Pittsburgh sportswriter.

My favorite line:

“Coach Tom Renney implied through a protracted silence that he was disgusted with the call.”

What are you, friggin clairvoyant? Send Joe an email to remind him of his lack of journalistic talent.

#2 Penguins vs. #5 Rangers – Series Preview

Marc — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:56:51 +0000

Here once again is the definitive series preview, brought to you by a joint effort of the creators of this blog. The Rangers posted a 5-3 record against the Penguins this season. Can Henrik Lundqvist keep Sid the Kid and his cronies from punching the Rangers out of 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:

The Penguins have a potent offense but it is comprised mostly of young stars. Crosby, Hossa, Malkin, Sykora, Malone… oh my. Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers defense will certainly have their hands full.

But the Rangers are no slouches on the offensive end either, and they certainly have more experience. This isn’t the first rodeo for Jagr, Shanahan, Drury, Gomez, or Straka. And while the Rangers young guns don’t generate nearly as much publicity, Dubinsky, Callahan, and Dawes can all put the puck in the net. I think the Rangers forecheck (especially Callahan’s line) has the potential to wreak havoc and really make a difference in the series.

Nearly every expert is marking down the Penguins offense as having the upper hand in this matchup, but I just don’t see it. I mean no disrespect to the Penguins forwards, because they are very skilled and talented, but the Rangers are not the Ottawa Senators. Stats are stats. In 8 head-to-head games this season, the Penguins averaged 20 shots on goal against the Rangers. In those same games, the Rangers averaged 32.5.

For me, the head-to-head results plus the difference in experience gives the edge to the Rangers.

Edge: Rangers

Defense:

Prior to the trade deadline, the Penguins defense was already solid with Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, and Kris Letang. But after they picked up Hal Gill, a man Jaromir Jagr has referred to as the “best defenseman in the world,” their defense was taken to another level. Look for the Jagr-Gill matchup to be a significant storyline throughout the series.

The Rangers defense is led by Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal. If there were any questions with Staal’s inexperience, those were put to rest in the first round. But while questions surrounding Staal were answered, other questions about Girardi and Tyutin were raised. They had been very solid all season, and I had written that they were both “very strong positional hockey players that rarely get caught making a mistake.” I stand by that assessment, except that each of them had a few soft moments in Round 1, and the Penguins are certainly more likely to capitalize on mistakes than the Devils. The performance of Girardi and Tyutin might well be the difference in the series. The Rangers need them to be solid. As for the 3^rd defensive pairing, let’s just say that Mara and Backman on the ice at the same time scares the crap out of me no matter which line they are out with. And if they are on the ice with the 4^th line, I have to leave the room to prevent myself from going into cardiac arrest.

Edge: Penguins

Goaltending:

Marc-Andre Fleury vs. Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist has been awesome lately, but Fleury has been pretty good too. In his last 17 games, during the Penguins charge to the top of the Atlantic Division and during the 4 game sweep of Ottawa, Fleury posted a 14-3 record.

But while Lundqvist has been solid despite many defensive miscues by the Rangers, it is my opinion that Fleury has been on a hot streak thanks in large part to his blueliners.

It is no coincidence that Marc-Andre Fleury’s stats after the trade deadline were significantly better than his early stats. I saw Barry Melrose say on SportsCenter that Fleury is doing a better job directing rebounds since he came back from injury. WRONG! Fleury hasn’t changed his play, but his defense has been doing a much better job clearing those big juicy rebounds out of the slot, and Hal Gill has played a huge role in that.

If the Rangers can put the same kind of traffic in front of Fleury that they put in front of Brodeur, they should be successful.

Edge: Rangers

Special Teams:

The Penguins boasted one of the league’s strongest power plays during the regular season, at 20.4%. And during the series against Ottawa, the Penguins scored on the man-advantage at a staggering 26.1% clip.

Meanwhile, the Rangers power play, while anemic during the regular season at 16.5%, has suddenly sprung to life (no doubt thanks in part to the efforts of Mr. Jagr) in the postseason with the Rangers posting a 23.5% scoring rate on the Power Play against the Devils.

The small sample size of the postseason has to be taken with a grain of salt, so the power play advantage goes to the Penguins. But, if Jagr and company continue to play this way, ripping shots on net with traffic in front of the goalie, they will continue to score PP goals.

On the penalty kill, the Rangers would appear to have an advantage, killing penalties 84.6% of the time in the regular season compared to the Penguins 81% rate. But in the playoffs, the Penguins have been superb on the penalty kill. Maybe this was because Ottawa’s power play was in shambles, but it’s hard to ignore a 92.3% penalty killing rate. The Rangers, on the other hand, looked vulnerable against the Devils, allowing a relatively weak power play unit to score against them fairly easily, only killing 79.2% of the power plays in that series.

The Rangers had better stay out of the box. You don’t want to give these talented forwards too many power plays.

Edge: Penguins

Coaching:

It’s going to be interesting to see these two coaches go at it this series. I often say that Rangers coach Tom Renney is playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess, but it seems to work for this team. Look for Michel Therrien to be furiously adjusting the matchups in an attempt to counter the Rangers’ strengths. I expect Hal Gill to stick to Jagr like glue. Renney, on the other hand, refuses to change the way his team plays just to accommodate another team. I like the message this sends to the team. Basically, Renney is saying “we’re good enough to beat any team our way” and “they have to change to our style but we’re not going to change to theirs.” Of course, this could backfire if Renney refuses to make a necessary adjustment, but like I said, it’s worked pretty well so far.

Both coaches have done very good jobs with their teams, and it will be interesting to see how this series plays out. I don’t see either coach having an edge in this matchup.

Edge: none

Some series subplots:

Staal vs. Staal – Jordan vs. Marc. During the regular season, there was lots of brotherly love going on before and after the games. This time around, they’ve agreed that all of that is on hold until after the series.
Jarkko Ruutu vs. Sean Avery — Pest against pest. If Sean Avery can continue scoring goals and playing effective hockey, I can overlook the occasional trip to the penalty box. But in a tight series, a few stupid penalties can really shift the momentum. Whoever stays out of the box will be the victor in this battle.
The draw of Sidney Crosby vs. the TV ratings of New York City — I’ve heard conspiracy theory grumblings that the NHL wants their chosen one Sidney Crosby to advance deep into the playoffs to help the ratings and that the refs will be instructed accordingly. But, in my opinion, as far as the NHL is concerned, any series from here on out is going to be good for TV ratings. Montreal, Philly, New York City, and Sid the Kid. One of these things is not like the other…… Sid might be a nice draw for TV, but New York trumps Pittsburgh in terms of market size. So put those conspiracy theories to bed. No matter what happens for the conference finals, this particular series is a great draw for the NHL. It’s no surprise that NBC will be broadcasting two of the games of this series and Versus will broadcast several others. This is going to be exciting hockey and the TV ratings might be high enough to generate some excitement among the average U.S. sports fan. That alone is good news for the league.

Overall Prediction:

Eric has a good feeling about this matchup (and Henrik Lundqvist). He says Rangers in 5.

Marc thinks the Rangers’ experience will prevail. He says Rangers in 6.