Marek Malik is in. Paul Mara is out and Steve Valiquette is in goal.

Tom Renney said Valiquette plays for scheduling purposes, and Henrik Lundqvist will be in Jersey and Montreal.

But tonight the Rangers play the Flyers in a game that hopefully gets the competitive juices flowing as time is ticking away.

“Anything can help,” Renney said. “I would like to think it doesn’t matter, but these are four point games and Philadelphia is playing very well and we have to have the passion to play”

For the lines, Renney is changing the lines once again with Marty Straka moving back with Scott Gomez and Jarmomir Jagr. Sean Avery goes back with his buddy Brendan Shanahan with Brandon Dubinsky centering and Chris Drury will center Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

That’s all for now.

And for some Giants news check out NYGMen.com, which I am running for the week.  

 

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Ok, after John Dellapina’s and Jay Greenberg’s revelations of why Marek Malik was sent home yesterday, it’s clear that the much maligned defenseman must move on.

First, the obvious: Tom Renney deserves better. He has been one of Malik’s biggest defensers and to snub him in front of the whole team is just inexcusable. Renney is trying to win games and frankly, scratching Malik over the past month was justified.

Secondly, Malik’s attitude has become a me-first type of player. Besides the well documented blowups, after a Ranger win a few weeks ago, the defenseman came out just a few minutes after the game to dispute a +/- call on him. Malik felt he was on the ice for one of the Ranger goals and should be rewarded. That type of pettiness is not championship material.

The Rangers are playing very hard to turn this season around and Malik is making it very clear he doesn’t want to be part of it. It’s time to cut bait. If Glen Sather can’t trade him over the break, then waiving him, with a trip to Hartford may be a good attitude adjustment.

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I wasn’t at practice today, but reports out of Greenburgh say Marek Malik’s equipment was not in his locker.

When asked, Tom Renney stated it was an “internal matter” and as of right now, he’s still a Ranger.

Ok, but that doesn’t mean Malik will be a Ranger later today or after the All-Star break. The much maligned defenseman has been rumored in trade talks and may be moved, if someone will take his $2.5 million salary which expires at the end of the year.

More on this as it comes in.

In other news, Ilya Kovalchuk won’t be at the game either due to a one game suspension for his boarding hit on Michal Rozsival on Tuesday.

Oh, and there’s the matter of No. 2 going to the rafters as well. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and the game will begin at 8:08 with the Rangers fined if it’s late.

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The Rangers look to make their holiday wishes come true tonight with a win at home against the first place Carolina Hurricanes.

The Staal Brothers will take center stage with Eric facing off against Marc [In case you were wondering all three bothers spent Christmas in Carolina with Eric and Marc coming up here together].

Tom Renney is scratching Nigel Dawes, Marcel Hossa and Jason Strudwick, all have good reasons.

Hossa is still ill, but you would have to believe could play if he was contributing more. And Dawes and Strudwick may be sitting because the team may be showcasing Petr Prucha, Paul Mara and/or Marek Malik. The latter two will be paired up together on the third defensive set, while Prucha will slot back in on the third line.

According to Larry Brooks in today’s Post, Columbus is looking at those three in a possible trade. They have has scouts at the last few games with the Rangers looking at some help as the team has struggled over the last 10 games [going 2-6-2].

In the Post story, the Rangers are looking at defensemen Adam Foote and Rostislav Klesla with others may be in the deal as well, depending on how much Columbus takes back from the Blueshirts.

None of this can happen until tomorrow anyway, since the NHL roster freeze goes until tomorrow.

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According to Sam Weinman, the Rangers will get an early Christmas present tonight with Sean Avery back in the lineup. After losing the two game West Coast trip, although getting a point, the Blueshirts will need a spark in order to get themselves back on track.

With Avery, the Rangers had a hot November, and vaulted into first. Without him, the team struggled this month, losing seven of nine.

Renney is alos scratching Paul Mara with Marek Malik in and Petr Prucha also may be sitting in favor of Nigel Dawes, but we will find out more about that later.

 

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I hate to use the word trap game, but the Rangers are in somewhat of a tough pickle tonight with Ottawa in town With Christmas two days away, coach Tom Renney is trying to get his team focused, even though they came back from a tough road trip.

“I hope not,” Renney said. “This is the Ottawa Senators. This is the NHL. This is what we get paid to do to put a product on the ice in front of our fans. They want to support us for the right reasons. We have to play.”

The fans will get to see the play of Sean Avery, who Renney said will provide spark to the team as he comes back from surgery back on Nov. 27. The wrist is fine and after the doctors checked it out this morning, he was given the good to go.

“What he brings us is what he always has,” Renney said. “He’s an intelligent player, who doesn’t scarifice the defensive side of the puck to do his things. I like his speed, naturally. He’s an abrasive guy.”

What Renney is hoping for is a trickle down effect, where the rest of the Rangers follow No. 16’s lead.

“To a point,” said the coach. “There are a number of times during the hockey season where you are looking to establish traction and gets parts of your game back. When he is not in the lineup, there’s a vital part of our game that is missing to a point. He helps everybody to understand this is [what we are missing.]”

Avery will be in. Petr Prucha is a scratch, along with Paul Mara. Marek Malik in, as will be Nigel Dawes on the third line.

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Ok the Ranger Flu strikes again. Henrik Lundqvist is out with the flu with Steve Valiquette taking the start in goal. Lundqvist will be the backup

Marcel Hossa is out and will be replaced by Nigel Dawes. Greg Moore will be on the third line replacing the demoted Ryan Callahan and Jason Strudwick is on the fourth line replacing Ryan Hollweg.

That means Marek Malik is back with Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal will be with Paul Mara.

Confused yet?

Outside of Lundqvist none of these moves are too earth shattering as they take on the Phoenix Great Ones – I mean the Coyotes.

Speaking of the Great One. Wayne Gretzky has laryngitis and can’t address to the media.

BTW, a good friend is back. Hockeybird, who has been very helpful to me has returned and Bird is posting his daily posts again. He went offline back in October and now is back.

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From Greenburgh, the Rangers has a light practice with everyone particpating except Sean Avery and Paul Mara, who sprained his shoulder in yesterday’s game.

Towards the end of practice, some of the Rangers were hitting pucks off a piece of wood in front of the net to practice rebounds, which is something Chris Drury brought from Buffalo as part of his routine.

Tom Renney put Marek Malik back on the top pairing with Michal Rozsival, while Marc Staal skated with Jason Strudwick.

I asked the coach if these next two games, against division leaders Ottawa and Carolina, were a test and he said that they were and if they can compete with these teams, we may have better insight on how good the team is.

 

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I know this is the moment all the Ranger fans are waiting for when Marek Malik returns, but according to Steve Zipay, Tom Renney may not want to put him back in the lineup on Thursday against the Isles.

Now, he will be coming back, so expect No. 8 to be back there over the weekend. The question is where he will play.

Expect Jason Strudwick to get scratched as Malik filters back into the lineup, but it’s questionable if he will be lining up with Michal Rozsival. Marc Stall fits very nicely at the top and deserves to stay up there, while Malik, who at times can be the Garden pariah, makes some mistakes which cost the Blueshirts.

Breaking up Dan Girardi and Fedor Tyutin doesn’t make sense, so that leaves Paul Mara. Now, Mara has played much better as of late and seems to be getting his stride on. Both he and Strudwick have chemistry together and will that translate with Malik? Or does Renney put Marc Staal back with Mara and Malik with Rozsival, so they can work together.

Believe it or not, the Malik – Rozsival pair worked well together over the past few years and Malik, who has a greak reach does make up for his speed deficiencies.

Also by showcasing Malik, the Rangers may look to trade him towards the deadline and let Strudick play or even bring up someone like Ivan Baranka, who played well last week against Tampa.

The bottom line, no matter how much the fans don’t like him, Malik is here for now.

And I will be at practice tomorrow, so there will be an update from there on this blog.

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The Rangers Just Announced two more cuts before the preseason starts tomorrow night at the Garden.

The team sent defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti back to junior and forward Tom Pyatt to Hartford.

The Rangers now have 37 players remaining in training camp, including four goaltenders, 13 defensemen and 20 forwards. 

Here’s the list:

Goal: Henrik Lundqvist, Al Montoya, Steve Valiquette, and Miika Wiikman

Defense: Ivan Baranka, Dan Girardi, Andrew Hutchinson, Darius Kasparaitis, David Liffiton, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Thomas Pock, Michal Rozsival, Michael Sauer, Marc Staal, Jason Strudwick, and Fedor Tyutin

Forwards: Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Blair Betts, Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan, Nigel Dawes, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Gomez, Ryan Hollweg, Marcel Hossa, Jaromir Jagr, Hugh Jessiman, Lauri Korpikoski, Francis Lessard, Colton Orr, Petr Prucha, Mark Smith, Martin Straka, and Brendan Shanahan

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