New Line Combinations; Forward at PP Point; Newbury Staying In, Weise Down?;

Stop me if you have heard this before, but the New York Rangers are changing their lines.  The Rangers are obviously in need of something to change when their offense has managed to score a mere 13 goals in nine games this month and so here comes the newest incarnation to try and reboot the offense.  According to Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants this is what it looked like:

Fedotenko - Anisimov - Gaborik
Dubinsky - Boyle - Prust
Wolski - Stepan - Zuccarello
Avery - Newbury - Drury/Weise

For me these lines are the one line that worked on Sunday Wolski, Stepan and Zuccarello and throw the rest in a blender type moves.  The chemistry with Stepan and Zuccarello frees them up to play with most other wingers and be effective, but putting a skill guy like Wolski gives them three skill players to create offense.  The only thing you worry about with this line is that they can be banged around by bigger lines and defensive groups.  Wolski is a big body but not known for a physical game and Stepan and Zuccarello while willing to hit and take hits are not exactly giants out there.

Fedotenko and Anisimov have both worked with Gaborik before this season to varying degrees of success.  The reason that Fedotenko was taken away from Gaborik back in December after a six game stretch together was to reunite him with Boyle and Prust on the Rangers most consistent line this year.  Personally I do not like splitting up the consistent line in hopes of finding a spark for Gaborik, but that is what the Rangers keep doing.

Dubinsky playing with Boyle and Prust is an interesting combination that should certainly play phenomenal defensive hockey against the top opposition lines, but will they work well together offensively?  The three play similar styles in that they can grind, and Dubinsky’s skill might create more chances for his linemates and if that happens it will be successful.  Playing with defensively responsible players might also free Dubinsky up to be more aggressive offensively.  It is either that or playing with “checking line” type players will drain even more offensive instincts out of Dubinsky and the leading scorer on the team will slump.  Also have to be concerned with the number of minutes these three are going to play though as all will kill penalties, likely match the top line at even strength and at least Dubinsky will get power play work as well.

As for the fourth line it is what it will be though Totorella’s open praise of Kris Newbury today means that Dale Weise is likely headed back to the Whale after tomorrow so that he can play on Friday for Connecticut.  There is no reason to keep Weise here if he is going to be a scratch.

There were also some alterations made to the defensive pairings today which is a change from the recent past.

Marc Staal – Dan Girardi

Matt Gilroy – Michael Sauer

Ryan McDonagh – Steve Eminger

I like reuniting Gilroy and Sauer as Eminger’s play has slipped and Gilroy has earned the promotion.

In an effort to fix the power play they will once again make changes this time adding a fourth forward on the point with Gaborik, Wolski and Zuccarello the likely candidates.  I think all three have potential there, but Wolski strikes me as the most natural fit there.  Gaborik really needs to play a harder game if he is going to be successful and dancing around the point does not help him do that.  Zuccarello has the vision and skill to man the point, but is very effective down low and behind the net so having him at the point takes that away.  Wolski on the other hand does not really like a physical game, has a good shot and can pass the puck which all fits the mode of a point man.

In terms of the lines overall I expect they will not last that long and have some of my own ideas on how I would run them, but that is not important at the moment.  The reality is that the offense and more importantly the line changes will not stop until Gaborik starts scoring.

How Marian Gaborik Responds To Benching Will Answer Rangers Questions

Rangers could really do for a goal celebration

The questions and scrutiny surrounding Marian Gaborik were bound to come when the first pronounced slump for the Rangers’ offense met a bump in the road for the team’s record.  That point has come and from all the articles talking about how it was just a bump in the road it has become like he will never score another goal as long as he lives.  To set the record straight Marian Gaborik will score again and he will score many more goals in his career.  Beyond those there are the articles that seek to explain Gaborik’s struggles in the realm of all these other snipers who are having down seasons: Ovechkin, Semin, Kane, Kovalchuk.  While talking about the slumps those guys are in can ease some of the panic over Gaborik and his struggles, I frankly do not care if those guys ever score again as they do not wear a Blueshirt sweater.

The fact that the team only has 13 goals this month or that the team lead is two (Zuccarello, Wolski) shows that it is not just Gaborik who cannot bury the puck in the ocean right now, but the others do not have the combination of his skill, salary and expectations to go with them.  Now moving beyond all those parts of it Gaborik is sitting on an eight game drought since his last goal and fair or unfair with the entire offense struggling the expectations make Gaborik the first target for the media to turn to.  On Sunday he became the target for his coach as well with his benching for much of the second and third periods against the rival Flyers. 

When asked about the benching Gaborik responded with surprise according to Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants,

“Yeah,” Gaborik said. “Obviously I haven’t produced much lately. Obviously, in these types of games, it’s a big game. I’m not giving up, I’ve just got to work harder, just try to get out of it, that’s the bottom line. Confidence is a very big part. The last few games, I felt good and we created chances. I think things were happening but it was not going in. It surprised me tonight to get benched. It’s the coach’s decision, that’s the bottom line. I have to produce and help this team win games.”

So what exactly is wrong with Marian Gaborik?  Is he still hurt?  Are Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen really that important to Gaborik production? How will Gaborik respond to the benching?

Nobody has the real answer to the first question or they would have fixed it by now, but there is definitely a confidence issue at play by this point.  If Gaborik is hurt my money is on his shoulder more than the groin which has been his historical nemesis.  When he needs to turn it on Gaborik seems to have the ability to accelerate and hit top gear at least in straight lines.  What you do not see is Gaborik coming off the wall and attacking the net to go to the dirty areas where he scored many of his “vulture” goals last year just being around when pucks would squirt free.  For me that is about the shoulder and being afraid of contact to reinjure it and would also explain why his wrist shot does not seem to have the same snap to it this year.  If he is still hurt then he needs to sit and get healthy because while I commend him for trying to play through it he is not helping the team in either the short or long term; especially if part of the reason is so he does not have to hear about being fragile.

I keep hearing about how Gaborik does not have Prospal, Christensen is hurt and there is no number one center on the team.  With last night’s news that Prospal does not seem optimistic about a return, Christensen possibly being the odd-man out of the lineup with recent moves and the fact Brad Richards is not coming this year all of those things need to go away. 

In terms of his response to the benching the quotation above has me worried about that because there does seem to be an aura of self-pity in it and that worries me both from a lack of realization in what he is not doing this year to get those goals and the confidence issue.  As bad as it sounds you want him to be angry about being benched; you want him to tell them he knows he is going to get out of it.  A little more bravado and swagger for Gaborik would not be a bad thing right now.  How he responds will tell us everything we need to know about Marian Gaborik as a long term answer for this team.  Fair or unfair Gaborik is the highest paid player on this team and he makes that money to score so until he does this story will not go away and the Rangers hopes of doing something this year will only decrease the longer he struggles.

If anyone comes up with a solution for the problem or finds Gaborik's offense give John Tortorella a call.

ECHL Coach Goes Berserk Hurling Sticks On Ice In Tantrum vs Referee (Video)

Watching a coach go crazy on the bench is always an entertaining event at a hockey game and this one was no different.  Kevin Colley, head coach of the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies lost his mind at the end of his team's Saturday night in a game against the Stockton Thunder.

 

Favorite parts in the video were:

1. Equipment guy starts picking up sticks to prevent coach from throwing any more on the ice
2. Where the announcers tell you that the guy going crazy actually is the director of hockey operations for the team as well as the coach.

Can you imagine being the owner of that team and someone's asks you about the insanity of this move and you have to tell them that you put that guy in charge of making the decisions on who is on the team as well?

 

Video Via [Puck Daddy]

 

 

Daily Recap: Stepan, Zuccarello MagicTogether; Prospal Finished?; Flyers Punch Prust Over Avery?

After a long weekend for the New York Rangers I wanted to start the regular week off on a positive note so instead of focusing on Gabby and his struggles I looked at what I saw as the highlight of the weekend; the emergence of Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello as a pair.  These two Rangers rookies have both shown great skill, poise and maturity in their short NHL careers, but they took it to another level this weekend when in both games they combined to lead the team charges back after subpar efforts early in both games.  The Rangers and their fans had high hopes for both of these young players when they signed their respective contracts this past summer, but I do not think anyone honestly envisioned either or both of them being this integral to the Rangers as they are right now this soon.  In the article I took a look at what makes them special individual and apparently as a pair, along with what it means for the Rangers this season and in the future.

In team news that is certainly not officially Vinny Prospal spoke at an event for season ticket holders about his future and to say he was not optimistic would be an understatement.  I took a look at the reports out of the event and whether the Rangers have already accounted for Prospal’s feelings with their moves.

With all the “controversy” that surrounded Sean Avery breaking the code and fighting Carle last night it was lost for the most part that Hartnell and Briere punched Brandon Prust from the bench towards the end of the game Sunday night.  The idea was that this move was a combination of Prust hitting Timmonen too hard and payback for Avery taking liberties on Carle. Watch the video and see what happened, but the most comical part of the whole scenario was Flyers fans talking about Prust was afraid to fight Richards on the play.  In the end only Briere was fined a whopping one thousand dollars just like what Dubinsky got for the Oilers incident where he got involved from the bench.

Finally there is video from the Rangers pregame of Mats Zuccarello playing goal against Martin Biron’s son Jacob.  It is hilarious not only to see Zuke play goal at his hobbit size, but the reaction of Jacob after is the best part.

Vinny Prospal Finished?

At tonight’s Rangers’ fan forum event at MSG for season ticket holders per Scotty Hockey Vinny Prospal told the crowd that he is unsure if he will ever play again. 

Obviously he did not say that he is done for sure or anything along those lines, but the idea that he might not come back should not be shocking given the struggles Vinny has had in rehabbing his injured knee.  The loss of Prospal for the season if it does eventually happen would be a hard blow for the Rangers, but one has to figure they have been counting on a return from last season’s second leading scorer less and less as the season has progressed.  I took the trade for Wojtek Wolski last week as a sign that Vinny was unlikely to make it back this year and they were looking for a new player to spark Marian Gaborik.  Obviously regardless of Prospal in the equation you take the trade of Rozsival for Wolski, but I would surmise that it played a factor in the move.

Let’s hope that Vinny gets back, but know that this team is where it is right now without him having hit the ice this year, so they can continue without him if the need arises.

Video: Mats Zuccarello Plays Goalie Against Jacob Biron

In a cute moment, shown during the pregame of the Rangers/Flyers game, Rangers rookie Mats Zuccarello played goalie against Jacob Biron, Martin Biron's son and stoned him cold on the breakaway. Even better than the play was was Jacob's reaction of throwing all his equipment.

Briere, Hartnell Punch Prust From Bench (Video)

As much as I detest fighting a guy after a clean hit and the rise of that in the NHL this season, what went on late in the New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers game last night is worse.  After a perfectly clean hit in the corner by Brandon Prust on Kimmo Timmonen as Prust skated back towards his own bench he was greeted by Flyers captain Mike Richards who took exception to the hit.  I have no problem with what Richards did, but while Richards was talking to Prust both Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell threw punches from the Flyers' bench that hit Prust in the back of the head.

Update: broadstbull: Danny Briere fined for throwing a punch from the bench on Sun. Hartnell escaped discipline.#Flyers

This is what I expected as you will see under the video though I do find it strange that Briere got a fine but Hartnell did nor for doing the exact same thing.  Though inconsistent discipline is a consistent feature of the NHL discipline regime at the moment.

Here is the video from Broad Street Hockey

I do not expect any huge moves from the league in regards to the cheap shots, but I would expect fines as you will recall rhe Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky was fined $1,000 for grabbing Edmonton's Colin Fraser from the bench during the brawl against the Oilers on November 14, 2010.

Wonder if all those Flyers fans and players bagging on Avery for him taking liberties on Carle after he took him down will be as hard on their own guys.  I certainly disagreed with what Avery did and said so here.

From Worlds Apart Zuccarello and Stepan Bring Rangers Present and Future Together

Getty Images

There is no denying the results of the last two games are certainly less than what the New York Rangers had hoped for following their huge win last Thursday against Vancouver.  As a team they had two games with sluggish play in the first forty minutes and torrid rally attempts in the final period which both came up a goal short.  Combine that with the overall offensive struggles for the overall month and there might be some red flags popping up around the way.  I know the easy thing to do this morning is focus on Gaborik and his benching, but not today, as I would rather focus on the best thing I saw this weekend.  The biggest bright spot in the weekend and the month as a whole has been the play of rookies Mats Zuccarello-Aasen and Derek Stepan. 

We talk often of chemistry between players and how they search for it to develop between combinations that should otherwise work; well there is no searching for it with these two as they have a feel for each other that is special.  The pass by Stepan to Zuccarello in Montreal and then by Zuccarello to Stepan against Philadelphia showed not only the vision and passing skill each player has individually but the connection they have to one another.  It is why when coach Tortorella goes through his next set of lineup roulette this pair must be left together at all costs.  From this point that pair should be as inseparable as Boyle and Prust have been all season.  When training camp started I envisioned these two being dominant players together this season, but I expected it to happen in the AHL not at this level. Turns out this pair did not want to wait and the Rangers are very thankful for that as they are being asked to carry a heavy burden right now.

In both games you saw these two rookies take the game over and spark the team in their comeback efforts.  The fact they led the effort is not totally surprising considering both players have shown a propensity to show up in big spots this season, and neither has been overwhelmed by the stage since being brought here for regular season action.  Stepan obviously has a longer track record having earned his spot out of camp and played 47 games at this level.  Overall season numbers of 13-14-27 place him second on the team behind Brandon Dubinsky.  Those numbers also have him tied with number 1 overall pick Taylor Hall for second in rookie scoring.  Stepan had his bumps in the road early in the year, but he fought through it and continued to work to get his game back to where he is accustomed and the results have shown.  Along with just pure results the fans have been witness to his passing skill, tremendous vision, hockey sense, two-way play, willingness to take the body and a maturity you do not often see in a player his age.

For Zuccarello the path was not as easy as he struggled in preseason and was sent down to the AHL to adjust his game to the new style.  It would have been easy for a young player coming off an MVP year in the SEL, the world’s second best league, to take the demotion badly, but that is not the character Zuccarello showed.  Zuke understood the weaknesses in his game and sought to improve them and in his 33 games with the Hartford Wolfpack/Connecticut Whale he did just that while totaling an impressive 25 points.  When Zuccarello came back in December he brought a better understanding of the style of play, a stick that was two inches shorter and all the skill he had shown everywhere else he had played before.  Since his recall he has displayed all of the same qualities as Stepan though his willingness to scrap and take the body is all the more impressive given his size.  His flair for success in the shootouts has been huge for the club as well. 

When a team is struggling, as it is right now, to score goals you expect veterans to step up first.  That has not been the story of the Rangers season, which has seen the veterans missing in action and even the younger veterans like Dubinsky were unaccounted for this weekend, so up stepped Stepan and Zuccarello to center stage.  The leadership and desire for the puck these two showed this weekend while many of their teammates were fighting the game and the puck bodes extremely well for not only the future but the present in Rangers hockey.  Add that to their chemistry they have with one another and the team might have landed a heck of a successful experiment.

The difference between good players and great players is that innate desire to want the puck on your stick when the game is on the line.  It is one of those things that cannot be taught as some have it and other just do not.  For these two young players that desire to take the final shot or make the final play is there in spades. Both obviously have much growth to go in their complete games at the NHL level, but with the desire they have for the puck at the end and their ability to improve that they have shown over their careers you can bet they will get there.  Stepan proved that each year at Wisconsin and then here with the Rangers.  Zuccarello showed that with Frisk in the GET-ligaen (Norway), Modo (SEL), Hartford (AHL) so there is no doubt he will continue to work on and improve his game at the NHL level.  That combination of natural skill, desire to get better and being big enough for the stage makes them key figures not only in the present but the future of New York Rangers hockey. 

While they started their hockey journey’s worlds apart in Hastings, Minnesota and Oslo, Norway they are showing on the ice, to the delight of 18,200 that pack Madison Square Garden, the ability to grow and be at home together in New York, New York.  All told the Rangers would have loved to get four points out of this weekend, but the three they got out of this combination might be worth more when all is said and done.

Daily Recap: Rally Comes Up Short; Gaborik Benched; Torts Strikes Back; Avery Fight/Usage

Tonight was more of the same that Rangers fans saw on Saturday as a furious comeback would come up short once again in a 3-2 loss.  The team would again fail to really do anything for two periods and it would be another fight that would seem to spark some life in the game for the club. The full game recap will go through all that went on in the game, but I want to focus on some overall thoughts about tonight and what is coming. 

Obviously the Rangers need more from Marian Gaborik as now everyone is starting to clamor about it and he was even benched during the game, but other players need to step up as well.  Artem Anisimov is cold. Chris Drury needs to shows some signs of life through his hole infested shorts.  Those aren’t the only two either as there are a grand total of eight players with more than two points this month.  Only eight guys, one being Henrik Lundqvist, have managed to score more than one point in nine games.  That is ridiculously bad.  To make it worse only three guys have managed to score more than one goal this month and one of them is Wolski who has been here four games.  Overall the team has scored 13 goals in regulation and overtime and failed to score more than three times in any game this month, so it is the whole offense that is failing.

In terms of things that went on during and after the game there were certainly plenty of headlines.  There was Gaborik being benched and his talking about it afterwards.  There was the fracas that broke out during the second period that ended with Sean Avery dropping Matt Carle to the ice with a right hand.  Finally there was the postgame with John Tortorella that is becoming must see TV as tonight he struck back at what he perceived was a question that called into question the effort of his club during the game.

Beyond the game tonight and all that it entailed there was my story on how Sean Avery needs to be unleashed by this coaching staff right now.  For whatever reason regardless of how Sean Avery plays he seems to be stuck in the doghouse with John Tortorella despite not having hurt the team this season with any overly stupid actions.  With that in mind I took a look at his situation and how to better use him, especially in light of how P.K. Subban used an Avery-esque approach to mess up the Rangers.

Finally video of first round pick Dylan McIlrath pummeling Tyler Yaworski in a fight on Saturday night.

Since I did not recap Saturday the main story was about Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust has become the Rangers most important line partly because of how they have played and in part because of the failures and injuries on other lines.

Video: Avery Drops Carle During Rangers Flyers Fracas

With the Rangers down 3-0 to the Flyers and getting little going in terms of momentum in the game a fight was bound to happen. Originally the play started with just Brandon Prust and Darroll Powe, but then Scott Walker and Kris Newbury got involved and eventually it was all ten skaters that were on the ice at the time.

The funniest part of the whole thing was when Brandon Dubinsky tried to mount Jody Shelley, but thankfully for Dubinsky's healthy Shelley refrained from destroying him.

In the main fight that come out Sean Avery dropped Matt Carle, a non-fighter, with a right hand which showed why Rangers fans love him. In that same moment after he dropped him he showed why fans of other teams hate him as he kept punching Carle after he went down. Where you come down on that likely depends on which team you cheer for because it will either be if you get destroyed in a fight then you deserve it or Avery is dirty scum for doing it. Personally I hate that so many in the league do it at all as I do not see any honor in it, and find what Avery did to be BS regardless of the fact that others do it, but that's me.

There is also the issue of Avery taking on Carle who as I said is a non-fighter and that breaking the code of fighters in the NHL and I agree that should not happen much the way that Carcillo should have laid off Gaborik last season.

Interestingly enough the two that started the whole thing did not throw a punch or end up in the penalty box.