Well, that looked easy didn’t it?

With the Rangers coming through for two goals in the third, the Blueshirts take home ice back for a 1-0 lead in the series.

And this was a Devil Fans nightmare. Their ‘favorites’ like Scott Gomez and Sean Avery performed and Marty Brodeur looked like a rookie out there [or at least like Mike Dunham] in the third when he tried to handle pucks that should have been just covered up.

Good job by the young Rangers like Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky who didn’t melt under the pressure and good work from Brandan Shanahan scoring the first goal.

The star of the night was Henrik Lundqvist who outplayed Brodeur and could have had a shutout if Marty Straka’s stick didn’t break causing a 5-4 powerplay to be a 5-3 since the Rangers couldn’t clear the puck and Straka couldn’t do too much.

But that’s water under the bridge, because the Callahan and Avery goals were the difference.

And what leadership from Chris Drury at the end of the game, giving the puck to Nigel Dawes for the empty netter so he can get his first goal.

All in all, a nice win.  

Posted under Blog

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.  

 

Posted under Blog

Tom Renney apparently had enough and decided to shuffle the lines to something more conventional before the Rangers take on the Pens tonight.

Scott Gomez will now be centering Jaromir Jagr and Marty Straka with Chris Drury becoming Brendan Shanahan’s pivot. Brandon Dubinsky goes to line No. 3 with Ryan Callahan and Petr Prucha.

Now this makes sense. As long as the Rangers were winning, Renney wanted to leave well-enough alone, but now it’s time to get Jagr a true puck moving center like Gomez and Drury with Shanahan works well too.

Let’s see if it puts more goals in the net tonight.

Posted under Blog

Maybe that’s all tou can ask for if the team was playing at 100 percent. But they are not amd there’s no chemistry between the top forwardd.

Maybe they are trying to be too fancy. You never know, but something has to happen soon.

On a sadder note Marty Straka will be out for a while with a fractured finger. Hit on a shot, it’s another loss early in the season.

Posted under Blog

Blair Betts and Marty Straka scored for the Blueshirts while Dainius Zubrus and Zack Parise scored for Jersey as the Rangers lead 4-2 after 2.

Both netminders look good and the youngsters, like Marc Staal, High Jessiman, Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi all are skating strong.

The key though are the netminders. Tom Renney is looking to keep one, which Valiquette leading the younger Montoya just because they don’t want the former first round pick to waste on the bench. It will be interesting to see what the coach has to say.

Let’s talk after the game.

 

Posted under Blog

Dave Liffiton tied it and then a tip in by Hugh Jessiman to give the white a 3-2 win. Jessiman, the former first round pick, is trying to impress this camp. Skating today with Straka and Drury, he looked strong using his body to open up space.

I will have more later, but now I want to beat the traffic to get to the office.

Posted under Blog

The first period of the Blue-White game saw Sean Avery core the only goal as the Blue team leads 1-0.

Brendan Shanahan is not playing due to rest, so Avery is on the top line with Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez. Chris Drury is centering Marty Straka and Hugh Jessiman on the top line for the White.

Interesting to see a lot of the players pull up and not check. Remember this is an exhibition scrimmage. No need to get anyone hurt.

Henrik Lundqvist is in goal for the Blue, while Stephen Valiquette is in net for the White.

Talk after 2.

Posted under Blog

The good ship Ranger started moving today when coach Tom Renney addressed the media up in Greehburgh.

Although I missed the first few minutes, thanks to traffic on the Hutch, during the final 20 minutes or so, Renney discussed the team chemistry and how it’s important for the Rangers to get a good start.

“You want get out good from the get-go,” said Renney as he addressed the media for the first time this season. “You want to your team to overcome those bumps along the way. You play with the cards you dealt and as a coaching staff have strategies in place to deal with those things. So we just want to improve everyday.”

With 51 players in camp [down from 58 last year], there may be some opportunity for the younger players, with the third center position open and maybe also on defense. Renney had a chance to see the young players Taverse City.

“I liked our goaltending. [On defense] Mike Sauer was really good, [try-out invitee] Clayton Barthel was a real surprise, Marc Staal was excellent, Bobby Sanguinetti was good. The forward group, we had different line combinations through almost every game and everyone seemed to click. Some youngsters are still in the need for more junior experience in terms of growing. But the usual suspects — Dubinsky, Bourret, Korpikoski you could suggest were the best line, Tommy Pyatt was good — it’s hard to single things out because it was such a strong performance by everybody. You read the stats, you can determine who did well.”

Staal has a strong shot to make the team and Dubinsky or Artem Anisimov could open at the Garden as the third line center. “But if that doesn’t happen, we believe we’ve got that covered,” he said. “There are other people that can play center ice in this organization and on the current roster [Avery and Straka]. We’re good at center ice right now with Chris and Scotty and Blair. I hope it provides the opportunity for someone else — that was part of the decision [to not sign Peca] for sure. We’re going to continue to look at the growth of this team. There’s a lot been said about where we are right now and where we should be in June. Where we need to be is to continue to galvanize our position in this league as being a contender. We’ll continue to do that by the acquisition of free agents and good drafting and the integration of young players when they’re ready. To me that’s what stands the test of time. We’re a work in progress and we hope to raise a Stanley Cup banner sooner rather than later.”

That starts tomorrow with all the veterans, including Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, reporting for physicals. As for the new Rangers, Renney will use training camp to find the right combinations.

“That’s just one of those issues of chemistry and we will see what guys go with each other,” he said. “I don’t think you want guys that have to think themselves in terms of getting it done and it prevents them from being successful. There’s no question Scottie Gomez makes our team better, as does Chris Drury.”

No doubt. As for the injuries, Renney reported no holdovers and Marty Straka seems to be healed from his knee surgery.

It makes for a very positive camp. After the physicals, the Rangers are set to hit the ice at 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

If you didn’t get season tickets, there are some singles going on sale Saturday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster via newyorkrangers.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 212-307-7171, 201-507-8900, 631-888-9000, 845-454-3388, 609-520-8383, or Ticketmaster outlets. But forget about Jan. 24. Brian Leetch night is already sold out.

Posted under Blog

Today at Greenburgh another Ranger season comes to an end with the players getting exit interviews with Glen Sather and Tom Renney, while taking physicals.

Some key notes:

1) Brendan Shanahan seems to want to come back and said, “My instincts are that I will probably play but it’s something that I’m going to think over and you know as far as playing and coming here this year and being part of the Rangers., there’s nowhere else I’d rather play.”

2) Sean Avery was chirpy as usual and even blamed himself for losing the series. But he also felt that a second line center would be important. Specifically he mentioned Scott Gomez when names were tossed out.

Avery said: “I was going to use Patrick Marleau as an example, but I think Gomez would be, I certainly wouldn’t mind playing with him, that’s for sure. That would be big. That’s where the depth comes in. I think that’s the difference. As much as I can handle playing 18 minutes a night, a guy like that is a second line center or first line center, that’s his job. Then you just throw me on the wing to clean up all the dirty stuff.”

3) Jaromir Jagr was asked about his first year as a captain. His thoughts: “I was a captain when I was in Pittsburgh, but it’s kind of different. It’s a big city, and when you’re older, you’re more responsible for everything else. You kind of think more about the game, and about other people when you are older. You worry more about the young guys, and older players who haven’t won the Cup yet – you just want to make sure about the players who are free agents, because if you win, everything stays together; you don’t have to make any changes. If you lose, of course the organization might make changes. And if you have a contract, of course, you still have to work for other players who you play with. And when yhou were younger, you didn’t think like that. When you are older, you worry about other people, and you just want to make sure they got what they need.”

4) Marty Straka will not need surgery, contradicting a web blog report. He said he needs to rest it over the summer, since “it will do anything if I have the surgery.”

5) Jed Ortemeyer, who is a free agent, wants to be back, but hasn’t spoken to the team yet.

6) Michael Nylander, on the other hand, expects to get back into the contract talks with the Rangers in a week.

7) Tom Renney expressed his interest in a second line center, but also wanted to consult with Sather and Don Maloney before he started to name targets.

More later as I go through more tape.

 

Posted under Blog

Although they lost, this season proved the Rangers are back as a force in New York. No longer considered a joke, the Blueshirts showed they could do the city proud.

“In the big picture, it was a positive season for the New York Rangers and their development,” said Brendan Shanahan “It was a great learning experience. Buffalo has been through it last year. It is incredibly valuable experience for our young players to go through what we went through this year.”

And next year may get better. With only Michael Nylander – who will probably be back – and Shanahan – who will be back or will retire – as free agents, the team that jelled at the end of the year will be more or less the same next year. 

That’s good, because the Rangers can be the team to control the year for themselves, while making the 2007-08 Stanley Cup run.

Henrik Lundqvist is a championship goalie, while Jagr and Shanahan are Hall of Famers. Add to that veterans who never had a chance to win a cup, like Marty Straka and Nylander and the Rangers have the pieces there for next year.

So all that needs to be done is to say good bye. The Blueshirt Scene will be still up and running all summer and giving updates from the offseason. Also we will have draft coverage and some further playoff features.

But right now the 2006-07 season has ended in New York. But as they said in Brooklyn all those years ago….

“Wait ‘Til Next Year!” 

[youtube RdNi5CF1b8Y nolink]

Posted under Blog