For a while the focus on the schedule has been all about how grueling the sheer number of games in November was going to be and the Rangers came through that at 9-7. As brutal as all the games were I think December and a huge six game stretch will tell us as much about the Rangers and how real the team is this year as much as surviving the exhaustion of the schedule last month. There is a natural inclination to take a deep breath after getting through all of that, but any loss of focus this month and all the work will have been for nothing. You can see full thoughts on why December is so important, what it will take to consider the team legit and more here.
After seeing the early reports on lines out of practice it had been thinking more and more about thoughts I have had regarding Alex Frolov’s future in New York. When the lines were first reported this morning he was not listed which made many of us wonder if he was a candidate for a scratch tomorrow night. Later it was revealed he is likely to play with Boogaard or White being the more likely scratch candidates. Either way with Avery and Christensen improving their standing at least temporarily Frolov does have to be considered a scratch candidate when Drury and Prospal come back. My thoughts on the subject ranged from what the expectations were, to how they were not met, to how maybe a scratch is not all that should be done as his situation compares to two Rangers who came to the team last year and did not finish it. All of those items are located here.
Not a lot of news coming out on the off day, but the biggest news was about the latest rounds of line mixing Tortorella is going to try out. The word from practice was that it was not going to be Sean Avery’s turn to play on the opposite wing from Marian and Erik Christensen will be his center. My thoughts on Avery’s rise, Christensen’s limitless chances and the other lines all can be seen here.
Finally this evening I took a look at tomorrow’s game against the lowly Islanders out on the island. The full thoughts on the matchup can be found here and remember as I reminded you in the pregame due to the lowly attendance to bring a friend to the game.
