Rangers Announcement on Winter Classic Tickets

Eric Roitman over at 5-Hole shared the email he got as a season subscriber from the New York Rangers concerning Winter Classic tickets.  Here is the key excerpt...

Based on the number of tickets we have available to offer our Season Subscriber family, we will be reaching out to you via email the week of October 24th, 2011. At that time, you will receive detailed information on the seating configuration and a questionnaire that asks you to rank all available price points in order of preference. Please note that as the visiting team, we will be unable to accommodate all Rangers Season Subscribers with an offer to purchase Tickets. As such, we will be contacting you in order of your Subscription tenure with an offer. Those Subscribers that wish to purchase tickets and receive an offer will be assigned a maximum of 2 seats based upon availability.

Tough to fault the Rangers for offering the tickets based on seniority of subscription to season tickets, but a lot of season ticket holders are going to be left without an opportunity to purchase tickets.  For those who don't own season tickets, the secondary market is your only hope to get tickets and the cost is going to be steep.

Be sure to check out the rest of the email over at 5-hole and if you aren't already, continue to check back there for his great work.  

Biron Starting, Wolski, Woywitka In; Christensen, Bell Out

The New York Rangers lineup will have some new faces in it tonight as they look to rebound from their loss at Edmonton and finish their Western Canada trip 3-1.  The Rangers official twitter announced that Martin Biron will make his first start of the season along with the return of both Wojtek Wolski and Jeff Woywitka to the lineup.  Biron getting the start tonight should not be seen as anything to do with Lundqvist leaving the game early the other night, but simply giving Biron some action.

Wolski, who has been out since the season opener with a sore groin that has plagued him for about a month takes the place of Erik Christensen in the lineup.  Woywitka is swapped for Bell, who took his place last game. 

Mike Rupp is playing despite missing the morning skate and being said to have some knee issues right now.

Dubinsky Again Taking Heat While Callahan Gets Mostly Free Pass

With the New York Rangers offense struggling to generate consistently, as usual, to start the season the focus has shifted to specific players who are underachieving.  The main player seeming to take the brunt of the discussion is Brandon Dubinsky, who has zero goals in the Rangers opening six games.  Coming off a career year, plus a new contract, much is expected of Dubinsky offensively this season, so it is not surprising to see his lack of goals make him a target.  Dubinsky being a target for the New York fan base is nothing new as he has been a consistent player turned to as underachieving over his career for whatever reason.  What has always been more interesting is that while Dubinsky is normally taking heat, Ryan Callahan always seems to get a free pass and is getting one again from many who follow the team. 

Dubinsky has zero goals and too many bad penalties, but he also has three assists while getting 19:09 of ice time per game.  Callahan on the other hand has one point, a goal in the season opener, while playing 20:56 a night.  Where are the cries of Callahan underachieving on his new contract as there are for Dubinsky?  In the past Callahan’s free pass for lack of offense was always about the fact that he was bringing energy to the team through his hitting and shot blocking, but even that has been severely lacking this year, outside of the opener. 

The fact is that both of the Rangers heart and soul forwards have failed to live up to the way they played last season and the contracts they got this summer so far.  Their line, along with Artem Anisimov, after being the top line on the team last season seemingly has been left over in Sweden as there impact has been negative thus far.  All three are struggling individually and together they are not the factor the Rangers need them to be if they are going to be successful. 

Two years ago the Rangers had primary scoring and no secondary scoring.  Last season all the secondary players had career years and the primary one, Marian Gaborik, had a down year.  Now the Rangers have reverted to two years ago with Gaborik and Richards doing their part while secondary offense has dried up once again.  The problem goes beyond Dubinsky and Callahan as Stepan, Fedotenko and Anisimov all have no goals and Brian Boyle has one, however the focus of the blame seems to be resting on the shoulders of Dubinsky alone.  There is no justifiable reason to single him out while giving the rest a pass on their play thus far.  They all need to be better if the Rangers are going to succeed this season, so let us hold them all accountable when they fail to do so.

Zuccarello Nets Game Winner For Whale; Will Recall Happen?

While the New York Rangers were getting blanked in Edmonton last night one Ranger in exile, Mats Zuccarello, scored the game winning goal for the Connecticut Whale last night as they beat Springfield 2-1.  Brian Ring had the recap for CTWhale.com and said that the Zuccarello goal was in fact a lucky bounce as the Norwegian winger fired the puck towards the front of the net and it bounced off a Springfield player and in.  Certainly would be nice if the Rangers tried things like that instead of getting 19 total shots in a game, wouldn’t it?

Zuccarello is doing his part in proving he deserves an NHL shot on a scoring line with three goals and an assist in two games for the Whale.  His importance and offense skill certainly has not escaped coach Ken Gernander…

“It was awesome,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “He’s [Zuccarello] been a big time player for us in just the short two games he’s been with us, but he’s pretty good at generating offense for us.”

You would think that with the Rangers offensive woes they would want to try using players that have the ability to generate offense, but maybe that is too logical an approach.  Recalling Zuccarello is a popular line of thinking for many fans of the team, especially with his performance in Connecticut thus far.  Howeverr, bringing him back on the fourth line with minimal minutes would be a pointless.  Zuccarello is better off playing top line AHL minutes than riding the bench in the NHL, but there is nothing that says he could not get another shot to play in the top 9. 

The Rangers have failed to generate any forecheck to start the season, so stop using the Boyle line as the third line and give a more skilled line a chance there.  Adding Wolski and Zuccarello back into the lineup and removing Christensen and Newbury would give them at least the opportunity to do something offensively.  The Rangers might lose some “jam” doing it, but regardless of the 2-1 record on the trip to this point the Rangers have really only had a single good offensive period.

Time For Tortorella To Stop Media Antics, Face The Questions

There is no questioning the fire of New York Rangers coach John Tortorella.  It is that fire that makes him entertaining in a number of his press conferences both in confrontation with reporters like Larry Brooks and many appreciate the blunt nature to which he will discuss a number of topics.  However, last night following the 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Tortorella came out to fulfill his contractual obligation to meet with the media by stating off the bat that there will be no questions and calling out his team. 

Tortorella’s statement via Steve Zipay (video here):

"This is going to be quick. I'm not taking any questions. We sucked from head to toe. And we need to move by it. So I'm not going to dissect it with you guys. I know you guys have to do your job, but I'm not answering any questions. Okay?"

Video of the "press conference" can be found

The blunt assessment of the team’s performance is something that all fans appreciate because there was no attempt to insult their intelligence by trying to make the effort seem like it fell just short.  Few will take umbrage with the assessment because of the honest nature of it and the obvious disgust in his tone/body language as he delivered. 

The part that leads to some divide is the immediate dismissal of any questions which had split reactions across the fan base.  While the press conference that should have followed would have done nothing to change the results of the game that just completed and little to impact Monday’s game against Winnipeg, part of Tortorella’s job is to stand there and take questions from the media.    That is part of being a professional, which is exactly what Tortorella expects his player’s to be each time they step on the ice or have to answer for what went on there.

Tortorella loves to preach about accountability and taking responsibility for actions, but he dismisses the media’s ability to stand there and ask him questions about the product he helped facilitate putting on the ice.  Where is the accountability in that?  Why is he above standing there and being asked why Mike Rupp gets benched for taking an offensive zone penalty while Marian Gaborik doesn’t?  Is it inexcusable to him that he be asked why Gaborik and Richards were separated during the game?  Or any other question the media would have asked him for that matter? 

He may view the media as a nuisance that he has to put up with as part of coaching the New York Rangers, and he might even be right, but that doesn’t make him shunning that part of the job description okay.   Following the loss to the Islanders I praised Tortorella for taking accountability for his coaching decision in regards to Brad Richards being left out at the end of the power play and leading to the Islanders winning goal.  There is no reason that his actions following the game last night should have been any different.

As I said, answering the questions, whatever they might have been, changes nothing about tonight’s game nor does it truly prepare for Winnipeg on Monday, but you can be both professional and accountable to answer the questions anyway.  Take the responsibility for where you screwed up and then move on to get better.

Video: Tortorella Postgame: "We Sucked From Head To Toe," No Questions

Rangers head coach John Tortorella was not in a very good mood following his team's embarassing performance against the Edmonton Oilers and made that clear by saying "we sucked from head to toe." Tortorella also made it clear he had no interest in discussing it with the media by refusing to take questions.

Lundqvist Scares Rangers Fans With Early Exit in 2-0 Loss To Oilers

The New York Rangers saw their two game win streak end with a 2-0 loss in Edmonton.  Nikolai Khabibulin blanked the Rangers, stopping all 19 shots he faced, few truly threatening, to earn his 44th career shutout.  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist to pace the Oilers who outskated and certainly outworked the Rangers for the majority of the night.  The first goal was thanks to an awful pinch by Brendan Bell leading to an odd-man rush the other way.  The second Nugent-Hopkins showing great patience with the puck and feeding former Ranger Corey Potter for the slap-shot that beat Lundqvist.

Beyond the game itself, the scariest moment of the night was when Henrik Lundqvist left the ice in the third period.  The New York Rangers fan base held their breath and prayed while awaiting news on what was wrong with the star goaltender.  It was reported that this issue was cramping in his foot because of issues with his equipment.  While cramps are not exactly a good thing it was a huge sigh of relief that nothing more serious happened to Lundqvist.

• Rangers continue to struggle with teams that have speed and can move the puck quickly.  Transition teams don’t allow them to get the forecheck going and without it the offense just doesn’t seem to function
• Gaborik was the Rangers best forward on the night showing very good burst again tonight, but his effort on the breakaway with the weak backhander was awful.  Gaborik is not really a great moves guy, which is why he isn’t in the shootout.  He is a shooter and his chance of success is much higher there if he uses his tremendous wrist shot.
• Do not understand Tortorella breaking up Gaborik and Richards to end the first/start the second period.  That pair was the only one creating anything tonight offensively.
• Power play was anemic again.  The 5-on-3 advantage was the most frustrating of the night as they passively play the puck back and forth to one another with absolutely no sense of urgency, which led to them creating nothing.

Canucks Rob Panthers Obtaining David Booth, Reinprecht For Samuelsson, Sturm

The Florida Panthers have been the most active team in the NHL since the trade deadline last year and that continued today with a potentially significant trade with the Vancouver Canucks.  Florida deal forward David Booth, center Steve Reinprecht and a 2013 third round pick to the Canucks for forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm.

The new-look Panthers have been solid to start the season which makes the selling low of former cornerstone Booth even more surprising.  Booth has yet to fully return to the promising form he had before suffering a major concussion in October 2009 when Mike Richards hit him in the head.  However, in Florida Booth was counted on to play on the top line with inferior talent around him, which certainly wont be the case in Vancouver where he will likely play with Ryan Kesler on the second line. 

A team like Florida that clearly is not a contender dealing for aging veterans like Samuelsson and Strum makes it even more puzzling of a move.  Vancouver appears to be a clear winner on the surface of this deal unless Booth never returns to form, which would make the four-year, $18 mil left on his contract a gamble to take on.

Lundqvist Starting, Bell In; Woywitka, Wolski, Sauer Out

Looking for their third straight win the New York Rangers are tinkering with their lineup inserting Brendan Bell on defense and scratching Jeff Woywitka.  Replacing Woywitka is not a big surprise as he struggled against Calgary, especially in the third period giving up multiple chances and taking a penalty with just 2:44 left in regulation.

One change the Rangers are not making is in net as Henrik Lundqvist will make his sixth consecutive start to open the season.  Love the way Lundqvist is playing, but Biron needs to go on Monday against Winnipeg so Lundqvist can get the rest they talked about so much last season.

Wojtek Wolski is out again, but making matters worse for him is that Tortorella referred to the winger as a "healthy scratch," so he could go but Tortorella is choosing Christensen over him. 






Michael Sauer is still day-to-day.

Mats Zuccarello Dominant Force In Season Debut For Whale

When he was demoted to the Connecticut Whale (AHL) Mats Zuccarello said that he was disappointed that he wasn’t given a shot to stick on one of the New York Rangers top lines saying he would have to prove he was worthy of that shot with his play in the minors.  Last night Zuccarello made his season debut with the Whale and certainly made his presence felt with two goals and an assist during the Whale’s 5-0 win over Manchester.

Playing with John Mitchell and Carl Hagelin, Zuccarello showed that his offensive skills are a dominant force at the AHL level.  Unfortunately for Zuccarello, despite their offensive woes, there does not appear to be a natural fit for him on the Rangers top three offensive lines.  Until there becomes an opening at a skill spot in the lineup or Zuccarello gets traded it will be the Whale that benefits from the 23-year-old winger’s skill level. 

The biggest beneficiary might be linemate Carl Hagelin who like Zuccarello is trying to prove he is NHL ready, but the fact that Hagelin has a better mix of skill, grit and penalty killing ability make him a better fit for the Rangers identity.  For those who want Hagelin now however, he would be just as wasted on the fourth line as Zuccarello was and is better off playing huge minutes in the AHL and developing.