Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Daily Recap: Rangers Lose; Subban Slewfoot?; Wolski Missing Piece or Enigma?; Trade for Vet D?


The New York Rangers came into tonight’s game the feeling around the team and the fans was very good considering the team’s three game winning streak and yesterday’s trade for talent young forward Wojtek Wolski, who made his debut this evening, but at the end of the night some of that luster was taken away with a 2-1 loss to Montreal.  The team would play well for long stretches, but they did not finish the second or begin the third with enough energy and it would turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 loss.  They did create numerous chances, but were only able to cash in once.  Check out the full review of the team and Wolski’s review in Habs Halt Rangers Winstreak On Pouliot Soft Goal.
From the game itself there was a this beautiful goal by Brandon Dubinsky which all Rangers fans will enjoy watching.  Also including Dubinsky there was the latest in a series of borderline to dirty plays in the game by rookie Subban in which he slewfooted Dubinsky and no call was made.  Inside there is the video of the play so you can discuss if you believe it was or was not a slewfoot along with a discussion of whether other people complaining about this talented rookie and his growing reputation were right.

Beyond tonight’s game there was plenty of discussion to be had today whether it was before the game with the announcement that Torts was going to start Wolski with Gaborik and Anisimov along with Torts speaking on the idea of veteran D.  The decision to start him there did not surprise me and neither did Torts praising his young defense in one moment and then talking about possibly bringing in a veteran presence.  There were a few things that did surprise and irk me and you can check those out in the full article.
The two main articles today dealt with the trade for Wolski and whether there was another move to be made on defense.  In terms of the move for Wolski I took a morning after look having stepped back from many people’s elation at eliminating Rozsival to see what the Rangers were actually getting in the talented 24-year-old winger.  There is no denying the talent and he has produced numbers at this level in the past, but the question that will play over the next bit of time is whether what the Rangers are getting is a situation where Wolski puts it all together and helps a run or if they got a new guy for the Tortorella doghouse.  Tonight saw some of both as the skill was undeniable but there were also moments where Torts sat him shifts for punishment.  Either way it is going to be fun to watch.
As far as the defense situation goes the debate over the last 30 some hours has been whether the Rangers are comfortable going with the young defensive core they have or they will trade for a more experienced presence to add to it.  In the article I look at the pros and cons of what each move has, give my opinion on what they should do and more importantly to many of you on what I think they will actually do.  The reality is to be in a situation where you can debate whether six reasonably young defenders, actually the league’s youngest group (24.9 years old) are good enough to be the unit for a playoff team means the Rangers are in good shape for the future.
Beyond those there was today’s announcement of the All-star Rosters which will feature three Rangers Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist in the game and Derek Stepan in the skills competition.  Inside I also discuss my view that Brandon Dubinsky was snubbed from the team and some players who made it over him were not deserving of the honor.
Finally there is a video of sweet knockout where Glass literally busts his knuckles knocking out Martin