Rangers – Page 49 – Keefe To The City

Jan 18, 2013

Ready for Rick Nash and the Rangers

The NHL is finally back this weekend after feeling like it may never come back.

The last time Gary Bettman took hockey away from me I was a freshman in college. I would sit at the Capitol Coffee House at the top of Bowdoin Street, crushing the best bacon, egg and cheese in Boston and stare at the top of the ShawmutFleetCenterTDBanknorthGardenTDGarden and wonder how Bettman could do this to me now that I was living just a half of a mile from where NHL hockey normally took place.

For the first three-plus months of this season, Bettman tried to take hockey away from me again, and nearly succeeded by getting to the doorstep of canceling another full season. And because Bettman enjoys a good lockout the way I enjoy actually watching hockey, I knew entering the holidays that I would need the New York Football Giants to carry me through January to leave only the 28 days of February as the gap between sports I’m passionate about because there was a good chance the 2012-13 NHL season was gone. But the Giants didn’t cooperate and embarrassed themselves in the process, reverting back to their 2009 and 2010 ways and setting the franchise back following a Super Bowl season in a way only the Giants could. The Giants left me searching for a way to get through the cold winter months before spring training (or the period I refer to as the 59 Days Before Baseball) and March Madness and it was either finally start watching Mad Men or Parks and Recreation religiously or hope that something would come from one of the NHL/NHLPA marathon meetings. I chose the latter and put my faith in Bettman, Bill Daly (his sidekick who cares equally as little about the fans) and Donald Fehr (who at times thought he was only in the meetings to later tell the media how much Bettman sucks).

I began doubting the NHL would ever come back and even if it did, would I ever care about it the same way again? After the way it destroyed me in 2004-05, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go through that pain again knowing that in just a few more years I would likely be in the same spot again as long as Bettman remains commissioner.

I woke up on Jan. 6 to find out the lockout had ended while I was busy sleeping and dreaming of goals like this and moments like this. Looking back I wish I had gone into a celebration combination of Theo Fleury and Teemu Selanne. I thought I would act like either of those two if the lockout ever ended, but I didn’t have much room to roll around or a stick handy to shoot down a glove that I also didn’t have. Instead I just accepted the news like I had known it was going to happen the way John Carpenter did when Regis Philbin told him he won $1 million.

We’re one day away from hockey being back and the Rangers being back for the first time since Memorial Day Weekend. We’re one day away from John Tortorella treating the media like spitters and from Stan Fischler’s postgame questioning deserving of being treated like a spitter. We’re one day away from Brian Boyle getting too much playing time and Marian Gaborik getting unnecessarily benched with the Rangers trailing. We’re one day away from Michael Del Zotto trying to be Bobby Orr on the power play and from Dan Girardi missing the net from the point. We’re one day away from Sam Rosen giving Henrik Lundqvist credit for a save on a shot he didn’t touch and from Joe Micheletti talking about the “quick release” of every player on the ice. We’re one day away from having Hank back in our lives and Rick Nash officially in our lives. We’re one day away from hockey and two weeks ago I didn’t think we would be here.

To set the scene for Saturday’s NHL Opening Day, I thought I would dissect John Tortorella’s interview on Wednesday with Mike Francesa on WFAN. Tortorella and Francesa talked over 20 minutes and usually it takes 20 seconds of talking for Tortorella to say something worthy of analyzing, so there was plenty to go around after 20 minutes.

On the shape the players are in.

“There are some guys you can see that are in really good shape and other guys are trying to find their way and other guys there’s quite a bit of work to do.”

I think by the end of the first period on Saturday we will know which players fit into Tortorella’s three categories. But if not by the end of the first period then certainly during the third period when the fatigue of 60 minutes of hockey will begin to set in and Gaborik’s legs will start to fall to a gear not seen since Mark Recchi left the league two years ago. It won’t take long to find out which players that weren’t playing overseas or in the AHL were still getting their work in and which ones were treating the lockout like Figawi.

On the usage of Henrik Lundqvist in the shortened season.

“I think once of the biggest things we’ve found with Hank is when he starts getting sloppy and we can see when he starts getting sloppy and he’s not practicing the proper way because he’s playing so many games and he’s so tired during the practice days, his game tends to slip.”

Two years ago the Rangers didn’t have a backup goalie for nearly the entire second half of the season so Henrik Lundqvist had to play every game or they wouldn’t have made the playoffs. They made the playoffs on the final day of the season and then were out of the playoffs after five games against the Capitals. It wasn’t because of Lundqvist, it was because they couldn’t score. Lundqvist was still sharp in the series against Washington despite playing in 68 games that year.

Since his rookie season, Lundqvist has played in 53, 70, 72, 70, 73, 68 and 62 games. He has been outstanding for all seven seasons, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he posted his best numbers in 2011-12 (39-18-5, 1.97, .929) in the season he played the least amount of games. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that he won the Vezina in the same season he played the least amount of games or that the Rangers went to the conference finals in the season he played the least amount of games.

The problem is with only 48 games, it’s going to be hard to get Lundqvist rest. Andy Brickley likes to talk about how “points are a premium” at the end of the year (though someone should tell Brick that all the games are worth the same amount of points) and that’s in a normal year. This year is anything, but normal and that’s why Lundqvist has to play just about every single game. Thanks, Hank. I owe you one.

On getting off to a fast start.

“I think we need to win all 48 games … I want to win every game right away.”

Joe Girardi might think John Tortorella is nuts for trying to win every game, but I think it’s a good plan. The Rangers will play their 48 games in 99 days and in their seven January games they will see face Boston twice, Pittsburgh twice, Philadelphia twice and Toronto once. Those seven games will happen in 12 days, including two sets of back-to-backs. Again, that’s seven games in the first 12 days of the year! This is going to be fun, but it’s also going to be a mess, which leads us to…

On how the game will be impacted by the layoff.

“In the two end zones I think there’s going to be more penalties. I think that’s where the level of conditioning is not there right now.”

Tortorella used the word “sloppy” a few times during the interview to go along with this quote, which to me screams, “Turnovers!” And when you think of sloppy play and turnovers and penalties you think of goals. And when you think of goals you think of overs! I have never bet an over in an NHL game in my life, but that might change as early as Saturday. (Unless Vegas wants to start throwing some 6.5 over/unders out there.)

If Tortorella is right about the excessive penalties then that means power plays. The Rangers’ power play has been their downfall for as long as I can remember. At times it’s comical that any company would want to sponsor a Rangers power play and have their brand and name associated with such a disaster, but I think it’s going to be different this season. Why? Because of this guy…

On the Rangers’ outlook after getting Rick Nash.

“I think a big step for our team this year is to handle the expectations. We make the Nash deal and a lot of people think we take the next step as an organization and rightfully so.”

I’m still excited for Rangers fans not as familiar with Rick Nash to see him play the way I envy anyone about to watch Friday Night Lights or Game of Thrones for the first time. There’s a reason Nash played on the first line for Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics and why I was willing to give up the farm and then some for him last February and why I pleaded with WFAN’s Steve Somers to come around and see things from my perspective. Rick Nash is that good and starting Saturday he will finally have something to play for in a city worth playing for.

On the Rangers’ expectations this season.

“We’re going to play our style. Our team will be ready to play, but a lot of things have to happen right and a number of things happened right last year and it always doesn’t during a year.”

Tortorella just keeps setting me up. My biggest thing with wanting Rick Nash so, so, so, so, so, so badly was that the Rangers are built to win right now. Sure, they are also set up nicely for the future with a young core and defense, but they are really built to win right now. And I mean right now as in last year and now this year and next year. Prior to last season the Rangers hadn’t been out of the first round of the playoffs since 2007-08 and they hadn’t been to the conference finals since 1996-97. Chances like last year don’t come around all the time (unless you’re the Red Wings) and Henrik Lundqvist isn’t going to be in his prime forever. How many years are the Rangers willing to sacrifice of Lundqvist’s prime before going all in? Thankfully, the answer is now zero because of the deal for Nash.

Tortorella’s most telling line in the whole interview was that “it always doesn’t during a year” when it comes to things happening right. The Rangers won a lot of one-goal games and had a lot of bounces go their way in the regular season (I mean a lot of bounces) and things only got even better for them in the postseason, winning two Game 7s and overcoming multiple-goal deficits and completing last-second comebacks. Those breaks aren’t always going to go your way, so let’s just hope the Nash move didn’t come one season to late.

On the media picking the Rangers as a contender.

“I don’t care what people are picking. I’m not one of those guys to get involved in that. We’re going to go about it one day at a time and we’ll see where we land as we go through this.”

Ah, there’s the John Tortorella we know. Now if only Larry Brooks had asked him this question maybe I would have had the opportunity to write “(expletive)” when transcribing.

On if the Rangers can win the Stanley Cup.

“Before you can win, you need to believe that you are going to win.”

Two years ago when the Rangers were hoping to beat the Capitals in the quarterfinals without scoring a goal you could just sense that the team knew that if Lundqvist didn’t post a shutout then they were most likely not going to win. And if Lundqvist gave up one goal then they definitely weren’t going to win. But last postseason you saw a team that took the ice believing it could win and believing it could win even without scoring the first goal of the game.

A lot has changed for the Rangers since the Capitals silenced the Bruce Boudreau chants at MSG and embarrassed a fan base. After that series it felt like Henrik Lundqvist would one day raise his number 30 to the Garden rafters without a Cup to his name like Don Mattingly putting his number 23 in Monument Park without a World Series. It doesn’t feel like that anymore.

Blogs • Rangers

Mar 16, 2012

Rangers Reeling Through Ides of March

The Rangers have the most points in the East, but the Penguins are the best team in the East and the best team in the league, and it’s not really up for debate either.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on March 16, 2012.

The Rangers have to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Actually they have to get out of the second round too. They have to. John Tortorella can make all the excuses months before the playoffs that he wants by saying this team isn’t ready to win yet, but I think they are. I think the “best” team in either conference has a chance to win it all. Really, I think any playoff team in either conference has a chance to win it all.

The Rangers are the “best” team in the Eastern Conference right now. They have the most points so they are the “best,” but we all know the Penguins are the best team in the East and the best team in the league. It’s not really up for debate either. The Penguins have won 10 in a row, trail the Rangers by four points with a game in hand and have had this good of a season to date without their best player and without the best player in the world. Take the Rangers’ best player (Henrik Lundqvist) off the team for all but eight games this season, and the Rangers wouldn’t be trying to fend off teams from taking their No. 1 seed. They might be fending off the Canadiens and Islanders for the 16^th seed in the conference.

The Penguins haven’t lost since Feb. 19. They lost 6-2 to in Buffalo that day and then shut out the Rangers two days later, and have been picking up two points per game since. They have outscored their opponents 40-15 during the streak and seven of the wins over have come against playoff teams, and oh yeah, they are just now getting No. 87 back in the lineup. Do we even play the rest of the season out, or should we just give them the Stanley Cup now? (That’s only half reverse jinx because it’s also half true.)

Am I scared of the Rangers’ current status? Was Bobby Abreu scared of the right-field wall at Yankee Stadium? The injuries and illnesses on the Rangers are starting to pile up, the offense (aside from the first line) has disappeared and the defense has been off and on for about a month. You can either say this is happening at the worst time (down the stretch with the top seed on the line), or that’s it happening at an OK time (prior to the playoffs). Either way it’s happening and it needs to be fixed.

The Rangers don’t need the No. 1 seed. The No. 1 seed means nothing. Home-ice advantages no longer truly exist in the NHL with cookie-cutter rinks and suites and boxes filling arenas, and fans being priced out around the league as if Yankee Stadium has become the home for every good (or Canadian) NHL team. It’s always nice to have the extra home game in a best-of-7 series, but this isn’t the NBA where it’s a necessity. It’s only a luxury in the NHL.

If the Rangers are the No. 1 seed or the No. 4 seed (let’s keep giving away top seeds to division winners!), they’re going to have a tough first-round opponent. If you want to play Washington, winners of four straight, in the first round then maybe we can get together and I will show you some first-round footage from 2010-11 and 2008-09. And if you want to play Philadelphia, well it’s not something anyone should “want” whether or not the law of averages suggests the Rangers shouldn’t play the Flyers in the playoffs. Every team in the Eastern Conference Playoff Picture will be a tough test for the Rangers, and there’s no point of hoping to play one team over another since it usually doesn’t work out the way you want it to, and even if it does, it will likely backfire.

Thursday night was a disaster. The matchup did lose some of its luster knowing that Marty Biron would be playing instead of Henrik Lundqvist, but even so, the Rangers have now lost their last three meetings with the Penguins by a combined score of 11-3 and two of those games were when Lundqvist played. The Penguins are the class of the league right now, and the seemingly inevitable conference finals meeting between the Rangers and Bruins can be put on hold.

Here are a few thoughts on the Rangers following Thursday night’s loss to the Penguins.

Henrik Lundqvist
Prior to getting sick and missing the last two games, Henrik Lundqvist had been in a funk. It wasn’t a Mike Dunham-like funk or whatever-is-going-on-with-the-Boston-goalies-right-now funk, but when you’re the best goalie in the league with a 1.88 GAA any kind of letdown is noticeable.

When I first heard that the Rangers were calling up Chad Johnson from the AHL, I hoped that Lundqvist wasn’t hurt or injured (yes, there’s a difference between the two). And while you never want someone to have the flu, I’m just glad it wasn’t anything serious because if Lundqvist is out for any extended period of time or (knock on wood) the playoffs, you might as well pack up the locker room and we’ll you in 2012-13. Lundqvist is the best player on the team and has been now since Jaromir Jagr left, and he might have been even when Jagr was still here. The team is built around him, and without him in net, the game against the Penguins on Thursday night lost its luster and the result is easier to accept knowing that the King wasn’t in the net.

The Lines
Remember the conversations about how “deep” the Rangers are? Was that this year? If we’re going to talk about depth, let’s keep it to defensive depth.

Brad Richards came to the Rangers to feed Marian Gaborik the puck. That’s why he got a nine-year deal worth $60 million. After a rocky start to the season and a lack of chemistry, John Tortorella split them up, and that was that. Why give them any time to learn to play together? Now after five months on separate lines, Tortorella has decided to put his best goal scorer and best playmaker on the same line. What a concept!

I have a love/hate relationship with Tortorella. I’m not into his press conference and media personality the way that some people. But these same people love Sean Avery’s so-called “effectiveness” on the ice. (And isn’t it ironic that these two guys don’t like each other?) Tortorella has this sense of entitlement around him that you get with winning the Stanley Cup even if he can thank Richards for his ring. Winning in the major sports has evolved into the same result as winning an election as a campaign manager. You will always have that one win to fall back on and you can always get a job because of it. In Tortorella’s case, I guess winning the Cup once lets you act however you want (just ask Tim Thomas), but Tortorella isn’t Scotty Bowman. I’m not sure he’s even Terry Crisp. I don’t expect him to change his ways now or ever, and I’m sure the beat writers and reporters who are in love with his personality would be upset with me for even suggesting it.

The first line has now scored six consecutive goals for the Rangers. The good news is that the Rangers finally have a line that other teams fear and a line that makes opposing fans say, “Oh eff!” when they’re on the ice. The bad news is the first line has scored the last six goals for the Rangers, and the depth of scoring starts and ends with them right now.

I know that Ryan Callahan will certainly help the offense on the second line and that will bump someone out of the lineup from one of the bottom two lines, but it shouldn’t be…

Mats Zuccarello
Let’s get this out of the way, so everyone knows where I stand: I love Mats Zuccarello. I love his style of play and what he brings offensively to the team. (Sorry, Monzo.) I know John Tortorella doesn’t like him since he stuck him in Hartford all season to play with the Whale, and he isn’t one of Tortorella’s “favorites.” But now all of a sudden the team needs “offensive creativity” so they call up the 5-foot-7 wing that they cast off to the AHL after three games with the team back in October.

Zuccarello has now played in six games for the Rangers this season, or the same amount of games as John Scott. No one will fight Scott (or at least he won’t get anyone to go consistently he claims) because of his size, and he has complained openly about this. He isn’t someone who can play and he isn’t on the ice fighting or changing the momentum or giving the team a spark when he was playing, so why was he ever playing in the first place? The idea that “he’s a big body that takes up space” isn’t cutting it for a first-place team in the best league in the world. I have to wonder if Marian Gaborik sees John Scott in practice and wonders if he’s even in the NHL anymore, and I would set the money line that John Scott has even scored one goal in a practice shooting drill on Henrik Lundqvist at +730.

Zuccarello deserved to be on this team for more of the season than he has been whether or not they did fine without him, and now he deserves to play more than he is playing. I know that nothing will change because he isn’t one of Tortorella’s “boys” but the idea that some of the other names that have rolled through this roster were given a chance before him is disgusting. He doesn’t belong buried on the bench barely getting 7:37 of ice time like he did on Thursday. He’s here to help jumpstart an offense that goes into hiding, so let him do that.

No. 87
The game is better when Crosby plays. It’s so much better that I feel like it might be necessary for the Penguins to sign Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley to make sure Crosby isn’t sidelined for a year again.

No. 87 is the textbook example of why fighting is needed in the NHL. Everyone knows about his concussion-related problems and there isn’t a team in the league that doesn’t have plans to try and put Crosby on the shelf again as bad as it sounds. (I know other fans are looking for it from conversations and Twitter and Facebook.) Without players being allowed to police themselves, there’s no doubt that players would take shots at Crosby and that someone would try to run him. Even though he’s the poster boy for scoring, he might also be it for fighting.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Rangers

Dec 2, 2011

Rangers Building Elite Status

With the Rangers on top of their game and with the 24/7 series with the Flyers set to premiere in less than two weeks, now seemed like a good time to have an epic email discussion with WFAN producer and hockey writer Brian Monzo.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on Dec. 2, 2011.

It’s right around this time every year when the Rangers begin their decline to the lower half of the Eastern Conference and spend the rest of the season jockeying for position between the sixth and 10^th spots. The final two months of the season wind up being the Rangers’ postseason to reach the postseason, and settling for the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the postseason feels like an accomplishment. Well, not anymore.

The Rangers have made the jump from being a middle-of-the-pack team to being an elite team in the first quarter of the season. They have the best winning percentage in the NHL and have lost just two games since Oct. 29 (it’s now Dec. 2 if you weren’t aware).

With the Rangers on top of their game and with the 24/7 series with the Flyers set to premiere in less than two weeks, now seemed like a good time to have an epic email discussion with WFAN producer and hockey writer Brian Monzo.

Keefe: The Rangers are fun to watch. I’m being serious. It’s not that it wasn’t “fun” to watch the Rangers or hockey in recent years; it’s just that this season feels different. This season isn’t like the last few years when they were only “fun” to watch at the end of the season because every game was a must-win to reach the postseason (right up until Game 82 the last two years) since they blew so many games earlier in the year. This year has a different feel to it. Earlier in the year it seemed like we might just be going down the same old road with the Rangers, but I think that can now be attributed to the insane schedule for the first few weeks of the season and travel overseas and north of the border to open the schedule with MSG being renovated. But it feels like all of this waiting and all of this building is finally adding up to something.

The Rangers just had their best week of the year. They played their hardest three-game stretch of the young season and came away with six points. That’s right, all six points. Philadelphia: defeated. Washington: defeated. Pittsburgh: defeated. And on top of that, the trailer for this year’s 24/7 was released and their Winter Classic jerseys were unveiled. So, I ask you, the “erstwhile” Brian Monzo, how good are the 2011-12 New York Rangers, and how excited are you about the possibilities and potential for this team?

Monzo: Well, the best week of the season got even better on Thursday night with the Rangers’ win in Carolina in a “TCB” game (Take Care of Business game). The Rangers are a better team than the Hurricanes and they needed to win against an inferior opponent even after beating the Capitals, Flyers and Penguins in their previous three games. The Rangers didn’t play a perfect game, but they got the two points they needed.

So far this season, what I like about this team is the fact that the best players, for once, are playing like the best players. Marian Gaborik has been a beast; Brad Richards has had zero issues adjusting to New York; Ryan Callahan is on pace for 30 goals; King Henrik is playing as good as ever.

Another asset has been the ability for the young players to really step it up. Derek Stepan has been better in his second season, and Ryan McDonagh picked up where he left off. After his recent call-up, Carl Hagelin has added speed and offense with four points in his first four NHL games. You also nailed something with what you said in that the Ranges are fun to watch. They are quick, score big goals when needed and fight when they have to.

One issue I’m having with the team is Brandon Dubinsky. It’s OK to struggle, but one goal in 22 games is unacceptable. Fortunately, they have been winning, despite Dubinsky’s lack offense, but he’s one of their main guys, and if they are going to do anything he will need to start burying the puck. In reality this is likely just a slump, but at 14-5-3, imagine what it could be if Dubinsky can get it going?

Keefe: The guy you have a problem with was rumored to be a player of interest to the Ducks in a trade for Bobby Ryan. The rumors were that the Ducks wanted Dubinsky, Michael Del Zotto and a draft pick for Ryan, and I gladly offered to pack their bags and buy their plane tickets for this type of deal. You said you wouldn’t go as far as packing their bags, so all I asked of you was to drive them to the airport to complete a potential deal.

Now the rumor is that Bobby Ryan is off the trade market, and no longer desires to be traded. Is this real life? Was this the shortest amount of time a player has been on the trade market? Not even a complete 24 hours of trade rumors and he’s already off the market? And he doesn’t want to be traded now? His mind changed that quickly? Doesn’t this all seem sketchy?

Let’s break this down into two parts with the first part being the idea of Ryan on the Rangers, which is a phenomenal idea, if you ask me. He’s 24 years old and has posted 31-plus goal seasons in the last three years entering this season. He’s a legitimate scoring threat to compliment Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan. Del Zotto has been better in his third year after a rough sophomore season, but he’s certainly replaceable. And like you said, Dubinsky hasn’t been good. He has just one goal in 21 games, his career high in goals for a season is 24 and he’s two years older than Ryan.

The other part of this Bobby Ryan rumor is the situation in Anaheim. The Ducks are awful, and they fired Randy Carlyle (in his seventh season as head coach). Obviously the losing and the direction of the team played a role in Ryan being put on the block, and the reports of his unhappiness and willingness to want a trade helped fuel the rumors. But are the departure of Carlyle and the hiring of Bruce Boudreau enough to change his mind?

Monzo: You need to look at what the Rangers would be getting, and not just them, but any team that would have the opportunity to land a player like Bobby Ryan. Let’s not forget, Ryan was the guy drafted second to Sidney Crosby in the 2005 draft. There’s a ton of scoring talent with Ryan, and he’s put up 31, 35 and 34 goals in his first three seasons. So, would I make that trade? Yes. Would the Ducks? I don’t think so since now that they have a new coach, Ryan will be part of the solution.

It’s always tough when a good coach like Carlyle loses his job, but that’s part of the game. Boudreau can go back to playing his offensive style of hockey, like he did early in his tenure with the Capitals. He has a ton of talent to work with in Ryan, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and some guy named Teemu Selanne. Once he gets to know his new team, they should be headed in the right direction. Boudreau didn’t win a Jack Adams Award for his looks. The guy can coach.

Keefe: Some people are opposed to the idea of the Rangers making a blockbuster move like the one that would have possibly landed them Ryan, and that’s because the team has 31 points in 22 games (the best points percentage in the league) and the fewest amount of losses in the league with five. I understand the idea of not wanting to break up what Glen Sather and John Tortorella have built here over the last few years, but a guy like Ryan takes the Rangers to another level.

The reason people spoke out against the rumors is because of the chemistry of this team and because every fan base (no matter what the sport is) always finds it hard to part ways with homegrown talent like a parent watching their kid go to school for the first time. And this group of homegrown talent is the best the Rangers have had in nearly two decades. You don’t hear about draft busts and overhyped talent anymore like we did in the early 2000s with names like Jamie Lundmark and Garth Murray and Hugh Jessiman. And we don’t have to worry about the Rangers signing terrible free-agent contracts like they did with Bobby Holik, Scott Gomez, Darius Kasparitis and Wade Redden. This Rangers team is one that fans can enjoy to watch and be proud of, and the way the team is being run is the way it should have been run for the last 10-plus years.

Monzo: It’s amazing how the organization has been able to develop players like Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer, Dan Girardi and Artem Anisimov and have them immediately pay dividends. And the latest example of this is Carl Hagelin.

I think Carl Hagelin is a name that is going to get more and more attention around the league throughout the season. How can anyone not like what they have seen out of the rookie early on? His style of play and the combination of offense and speed adds another element and weapon, to the Rangers’ game.

He’s flown under the radar behind Gaborik and Richards, but Callahan is soaring with the “C” on his jersey. He has 10 goals, and is always in the right spot on the ice. He throws his body around, and has been tremendous in front of the net on the power play.

Keefe: As we head into the second quarter of the season, the Rangers have a lot on their plate with maintaining their level of play and position near the top of the conference, as well as dealing with the media and production crews surrounding them for the next month leading up to the Winter Classic. The Rangers have had their share of convincing wins over the other elite teams in the Eastern Conference, and the only team they haven’t seen from that tier is the Bruins, who they won’t see until January. But without a 1-0 or 2-1 Rangers-Bruins game (since they always end in those scores) so far, would you be willing to put the Rangers in the conversation for the best team in the league?

And now that we are under two weeks away from series premiere of this year’s 24/7 featuring the Rangers and the Flyers. HBO showed a preview of the series last week, and the trailer did an unbelievable job of teasing the rivalry between the two Atlantic teams. Last year I analyzed and reviewed the show for WFAN.com, and it will be even better this year with the Rangers being part of the process and the buildup to the Winter Classic on Jan. 2.

Maxime Talbot stole the show last season (along with Bruce Boudreau) with his antics at the team holiday party and on road trips. Fans got to see into the locker room of the Penguins during a lengthy winning streak and into the Capitals’ during an extended losing streak. How pumped are you for this year’s 24/7 and who is going to be this season’s Max Talbot?

Monzo: It’s going to be exciting. Last year HBO did an outstanding job with the Penguins-Capitals 24/7, and I don’t expect anything less this year. It will once again give fans the chance to get inside the locker room before, during and after games.

Brian Boyle has a pretty good personality, and I would not be shocked if he is someone that fans see a really cool side of. I also wouldn’t be shocked if John Tortorella does the same thing, but for different reasons that the media is far too familiar with.

It’s tough to say the Rangers are the best team in the league, but I think it’s safe to say they are one of the best teams in the league. The problem is they haven’t done this long enough, and we have seen teams have hot starts and taper off. However, I think the feeling around the league is the Rangers are finally doing all the right things to continue this level of consistency. Now, can they continue this stretch of long winning streaks? It will be tough, but they certainly have the right pieces. If everyone stays healthy (and they are due to get Mike Rupp and Marc Staal back at some point) everything could fall in the right place.

Blogs • Rangers

Jan 12, 2011

Random Rangers Thoughts

I miss school for nights like Tuesday night. Nights when the forecast is calling for snow and I spend my entire night watching The Weather Channel and scouring the internet for every last piece of

I miss school for nights like Tuesday night. Nights when the forecast is calling for snow and I spend my entire night watching The Weather Channel and scouring the internet for every last piece of information as if I were an actual meteorologist trying to determine whether or not I’m looking at a school cancellation or a 90-minute delay.

There wasn’t a better feeling than deciding to go all-in on my own forecast and choosing to not do the book report due the following day by gambling that school would in fact be closed. Growing up in Guilford, Conn., I became scary good at knowing the state’s cities and towns in alphabetical order to know how many more schools before “Guilford” would come across the school closings ticker on the bottom of the TV of the local newscast.

Many times I left my grade in the hands of the superintendent hoping they would decide that we would just go an extra day in June when there isn’t any homework and teachers are showing movies rather than showing new ways to find the value of “x.” I was basically the Tom Coughlin of challenging when it came to predicting snow days, and I wasn’t always right, but more often than not I came away with an extra day to work on the book report I had yet to start.

With snow crushing the tri-state area on Tuesday night and all of the talk in the area focused on the J-E-T-S and their divisional playoff game against the Patriots on Sunday, and the Yankees trying to make good with their fans by entertaining the idea of bringing in Justin Duchscherer (I do like this idea), it was just another devastating day in what has become a cold winter for Yankees and Giants fans.

But there’s always the Rangers and Knicks and on Tuesday night the two teams that call the Garden home provided a getaway for any fan who can’t stand the fact that there’s a real chance Sergio Mitre (who probably shouldn’t be in Major League Baseball) might be in the $200 million Yankees rotation, and for anyone that might not be able to take another contradictory and outlandish press conference from Rex Ryan.

I haven’t given enough attention to the Rangers this season. Partially because the Yankees and Giants have already given me enough material to take me through 2011 and we are just 12 days into the year. And partially because the 2010-11 Rangers are exactly like every Rangers team of the last few years: good enough for the No. 5 or 6 or 7 seed, but not good enough to make it out of the second round. If you showed me the standings from 2006-07 and 2010-11 on January 12, I probably couldn’t tell you which year is which given the Rangers place in them. I’m not sure this season is going to end any different than the last few.

Sure it would be nice for a Stanley Cup run this summer, just as the baseball standings are beginning to take shape and just as the Knicks return to the playoffs for what seems like the first time in my lifetime. But when hoping for the Rangers to score three goals in a game becomes as hopeless as asking the Yankees to score runners from third base with less than two outs, I’m not sure a championship run is in the cards.

For nearly six hours on Tuesday night, my TV was on MSG with the Rangers hosting the Canadiens and the Knicks following with a game in Portland. After a long hiatus from talking about the Blueshirts I decided that now is as good a time as any to revisit some familiar issues with the Rangers and bring up some new ones. Here are five things that I thought about at length during and following Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to the Canadiens.

How good is Henrik Lundqvist and why is he making only his second All-Star Game appearance?

I stand by my belief that Henrik Lundqvist is the best goalie in the NHL and has been for a while now. I am confident that if he was on the 2008-09 Red Wings, they would have won the Cup, and if he was on the Red Wings, they would probably be looking at their fourth in a row and we would be looking at the an unstoppable dynasty. The only problem is that he doesn’t play for the Red Wings. He plays for the Rangers where scoring goals is unheard of and odd-man rushes are as common as Amtrak delays.

On Tuesday, Lundqvist was again spectacular. Two goals against on 38 shots might not seem like much, but we have an Eli Manning situation here where you have to watch Lundqvist every game to understand just how good he is. The one difference is that Lundqvist is better at his position than anyone else, while the same can’t be said for Eli. But if you did watch the Rangers on Tuesday, you would have seen several shorthanded 2-on-1s for the Canadiens and an improbable amount of times when white shirts were able to get behind the defense and crash the net coming into the zone. At one point in the first period, I honestly thought that the Canadiens were playing “Rebound” against Lundqvist.

Lundqvist is the best and most important player on the Rangers and the sole key to deciding how far this team can go this season. I still hold out hope that at some point Glen Sather will make a move or two that will make this team an actual contender, and I hope these moves come before he uses up all of Henrik Lundqvist’s prime and his career. The King deserves better than that.

Is Mats Zuccarello my new favorite player?

My favorite player in the NHL is Brian Gionta though Chris Drury (fellow Connecticut native) and Marian Gaborik (was fastest in the league while with Minnesota) are close in the standings. I have watched Gionta since his days at Boston College when I got to see him play against Yale in New Haven twice when he made a mockery of NCAA hockey with his scoring ability. Listed at 5’7″ (most likely an exaggeration), it was remarkable to see what Gionta was capable of as the smallest player on the ice at all times, and now he is looking at his seventh straight 20-goal season, including the impressive 48-goal season in 2005-06.

I think Mats Zuccarello could be what Brian Gionta has been for me if given the chance. With basically the same build as Gionta and the scoring ability that you have to be born with, Zuccarello brings the same sense of excitement and anticipation as Gionta when he’s on the ice. Tuesday night was just the ninth game of Zuccarello’s NHL career, but you can see how much more comfortable he has gotten with his decision making since his debut, and he is taking shots and chances that he wasn’t taking even a week ago as the new guy in town.

My favorite player title is Mats Zuccarello’s to lose.

Defense?

After six years of campaigning for the Rangers to get rid of Michal Rozsival, they finally did! So, let’s take a minute to celebrate that! But there is still a lot of work to be done with this young defensive group.

After the first period, Mike Sullivan was congratulated for having Marc Staal selected for the All-Star Game, but no one questioned the man in charge of the Rangers defense as to why the Canadiens were dominating below the hash marks and inside the slot for most of the first period. It’s easy for Mike Sullivan to look like he’s doing his job when Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

I’m glad that the average age of the Rangers defense is 24.9 (thanks to Brian Monzo for that fact), but the only problem is that it would be good if Henrik Lundqvist weren’t four years older than that average. Sure it would make for some miserable seasons at the Garden (not like we haven’t seen those before), but I’m scared that by the time the young defensive group becomes an elite unit in the league, Henrik will be on his way out his prime and starting to get benched like Martin Brodeur.

Can we finally fix the NHL All-Star Game for good?

There are few people more excited about the new way the teams will be decided for the NHL All-Star Game than me, but there are probably just a few people in general excited about the 36 players the league’s hockey operations department selected to play in the game. I haven’t decided exactly who I would cut from the roster for the NHL Slightly Above Average Players Game, but I know that having Ales Hemsky and David Backes showcasing their talents isn’t good advertising for the “casual fans” that Gary Bettman has been seeking approval from since the day the lockout ended.

On Tuesday when Brandon Dubinsky scored a pretty goal in the first period when he went around Hal Gill (who hasn’t?), Joe Micheletti jumped to Dubinksy’s side when he nearly blew out the speakers on my TV yelling at Sam Rosen, “He’s upset he didn’t make the All-Star team!” To be fair, Dubinsky is having a career year (17-20), and probably should be on the team over some players that did make it, but I don’t know if even Brandon Dubinsky should be in the “All-Star Game.”

I like the idea that the NHL has made the game more like a pickup game with their captains and picking teams, but any format in which Alex Ovechkin has to be picked by the committee because the fans didn’t vote him in needs some adjusting. Maybe it’s time that the players just picked the rosters since the fans and the league office seem incapable of doing so.

Will Gary Bettman answer my phone call?

Gary Bettman is always looking for ways to increase his fan base. He’s moved cold weather teams to warm weather, he’s added instigator rules and tie downs on jerseys and locked out the league for an entire year. He’s changed the rules to increase scoring, allowed head shots to take place with little consequences and even painted a trapezoid on the ice behind the net to make sure the best goalies can’t use some of the skills that make them the best. OK, so maybe all of his ideas are horrendous, but come on, at least he’s trying! Give the man an “A” for effort!

I might not have the answer to every problem that Gary Bettman has created since he started his mission in 1993 of trying to make sure the NHL is extinct by 2020, but I have one way to increase the interest in the tri-state area for anyone who might have not grown up playing hockey or wouldn’t know what channel to find a Rangers or Devils or Islanders game on if there was a gun to their head.

My proposal is to let Joe Micheletti and Chico Resch call every Rangers-Devils from now on. Sure, it would be devastating to lose the magical voice of Doc Emrick for these special games, but I guarantee that there would be a brawl in the booth within the first five minutes of the game, as the game would sound like it’s being called by a Rangers fan and a Devils fan sitting at a bar with Chico yelling, “Ohhh Joe, what a save by Martyyy there!” and Joe making excuses for the Rangers.

And it doesn’t have to stop there. We can have Joe Micheletti do the color for a Rangers-Bruins game and let Jack Edwards (who still has never seen a Bruin lose a fight) do the play-by-play. I’m an Andy Brickley fan, but I think even Brick would step aside to see the spectacle that Jack and Joe could bring in a game based upon who could be the bigger homer. If regional networks are going to let this type of broadcasting take place then why not let the NHL capitalize on it?

Blogs • Rangers

Apr 12, 2010

Rangers’ Postseason Bubble Bursts

Of course it came down to a shootout. And of course it was the play of Henrik Lundqvist that allowed the Rangers to even get that far. But in the end, the same problem the

Of course it came down to a shootout. And of course it was the play of Henrik Lundqvist that allowed the Rangers to even get that far. But in the end, the same problem the Rangers dealt with all season wound up ending their season in Game 82: scoring goals.

Sunday’s loss to the Flyers was a one-game summary of the Rangers’ season. The team’s inability to score goals, hold leads and produce any sort of attack in the offensive zone was masked by the play of Lundqvist. The Rangers had spent the last three weeks trying to make people believe they were a changed team, and a team that was capable of running the table and pulling off a first-round stunner in the playoffs. But when it mattered most, they were the same old Rangers, and if you didn’t see this ending coming, then you haven’t been paying attention.

I went back and read everything I have written about the team over the last couple of months, and if you took the word “Rangers” out of every story, you’d think each story was about a different team. The Rangers spent the last two months toying with the emotions of the tri-state area and they spent the last few weeks causing more side effects than some prescription drugs advertised during 4 a.m. infomercials.

After I proclaimed the Rangers finished on March 22, following their Sunday loss to the Bruins, the Rangers began the final stretch of 10 games in which they had a 6.9 percent chance of making the playoffs. Not even a 7-1-2 finish was enough for a team that started the season 7-1-1 and wrapped it up in nearly the same fashion. In the end, the Rangers were one goal and one point short of making the playoffs, and they built up the final weeks of the season for nothing.

On March 26, the day after the Rangers completed their improbable third-period comeback against the Devils (the game that would have been used as the turning point in the memorable run had they beaten the Flyers), I wrote the following:

“It would have been easier if the Rangers finished the season like the 2008 Yankees. In 2008, the Yankees folded pre-flop, saving themselves and their fans from emotional heartache and disaster. I’d rather the Rangers went away like the 2008 Yankees rather than the 2008 Mets, who lasted all the way until the river before coming up short. But it’s the Rangers we’re talking about, and being led on and strung along is in their DNA. In all likelihood, the season will come down to the final weekend against the Flyers.”

And it did come down the final weekend. It came down to the final game and the final attempt in a shootout loss. But the Rangers didn’t finish the season like 2008 Yankees or Mets. They finished it like the 2007 Phillies. That is, if the Phillies had lost on the final day of the season.

Part of me is glad the Rangers missed the postseason and staved off embarrassment in the first round. This team was not worthy of a second season, and they weren’t even worthy of having the final game of their season matter. In order to even have a win-or-go home scenario on the last day of the year, the Rangers had to win seven of nine, and have the Flyers basically do the opposite. Not exactly the traditional formula for success of playoff-caliber teams.

Sunday was a typical Rangers game. They managed only one goal, on a deflection, and hoped Henrik Lundqvist could stand on his head for 60 minutes. And if John Tortorella didn’t have Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle (who was playing in his first game since the loss to the Bruins 21 days ago), killing a penalty in the third period of 1-0 must-win game, then I would be writing about the magical March and April of the 2009-10 Rangers rather than the devastating tease they turned out to be. But that special teams decision is on the great John Tortorella.

Many people are upset that the Rangers’ season ended in a shootout. But for anyone that watched Sunday’s game, a shootout was the only chance the Rangers had at leaving Philadelphia with two points. The shot differential (22) was almost greater than the Rangers total shots (25). The Rangers looked miserable on their only two power plays, and they were unable to produce any forecheck during even strength. They didn’t have a legitimate scoring chance in the third period and the only time Marian Gaborik’s name was mentioned by the commentators was when he went offside on a potential odd-man rush. In other words, the shootout was a gift for the Rangers and they couldn’t even take advantage of that.

No one should be mad that the Rangers’ season came to an end in a shootout. If Henrik Lundqvist makes one more stop and Olli Jokinen doesn’t try to slide the puck threw a closed five-hole, then Rangers fans would be praising the shootout. More importantly, if the shootout doesn’t exist, then the Rangers season would have ended anyways. Under the old NHL rules, the game would have ended in a tie with both teams receiving a point, and the Flyers would have still gotten in. So let’s be thankful that the Rangers managed to even get that far.

I always say if Henrik Lundqvist were on the Capitals or Penguins, there would be no point of a postseason because whichever team had Hank would be unstoppable. If Lundqvist weren’t on the Rangers, they would be a last place team and that is not an opinion or assumption. That is a fact. Lundqvist has been the MVP of the team each season post-lockout and with the amount of effort he exerts each game, his career will probably burn out well before it’s supposed to. He hasn’t had the luxury of sitting behind an elite defense like cross-town rival Martin Brodeur, or the luxury of hiding behind an elite offense like Marc-Andre Fleury. Lundqvist was once again the best player on a bad team, a team in which saving 46 of 47 shots isn’t even enough to win.

The Rangers might have technically finished one point out of the playoffs, but they finished well short of the point total needed to be a threat in the postseason. One point would have gotten them an extra four games against the Capitals. Another 10-plus points would have made them an actual a contender. Despite having an elite goalie in Lundqvist and a superstar scorer in Gaborik, two vital tools for true contenders, the drop-off in talent after those two was too drastic for the Blueshirts to overcome.

Barring a miracle greater than what the Rangers were trying to accomplish Sunday, Glen Sather will return to the front office next season. He is probably already at a poolside bar in Hawaii enjoying the offseason and working the phones to see what aging veterans from the 1998-99 All-Star team are available, but in reality he needs to find a way to compliment Lundqvist and Gaborik. It is obvious that not even Lundqvist can survive without support in front of him and the necessary help on defense. As for Gaborik, he finished the season leading the Rangers in goals with 42 and assists with 44. If he had an actual playmaker on his side rather than the 58 points and 38 assists of Vinny Prospal (who shouldn’t be any team’s second-best scorer at this point in his career), it’s hard to fathom what type of numbers Gaborik is capable of putting up.

Rangers fans deserve better than what Sather has to offer. They deserve more than Sather’s big midseason acquisition Olli Jokinen ending the season. They deserve a team they can be proud and a team that can clinch a playoff berth without needing an overtime period and shootout in Game 82 of the season.

All I asked for was the Rangers to make the final weekend against the Flyers to matter, and I got my wish. I should have asked for more.