Marc Staal Expects To Be Back This Season, Admits Mishandled Situation Last Season

Injured New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal skated again today, but this time he wasn't alone as he skated with Mike Rupp this morning in Carolina.  Following the workout Staal met with reporters for the first time since September 30.  Here are the highlights via Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants:

On how long has he been symptom-free: “It’s been a couple of weeks. I’ve had a lot of good days, I’ll still have a bad day mixed in there once in a while. You just adapt and adjust. I feel when I’ve had a not-so-good day, the improvement the next day has been basically back to normal again and then we just kind of monitor it and go from there.”

This is both a very positive not, but also one of caution for those looking to rush Staal back into the lineup.  The fact that while symptom free he is having bad days means there is still some time before he will be close to ready.

On whether he should have handled it differently last season after the hit by Eric Staal and not played the rest of the season: “Obviously I think, looking back, personally I would have taken more time. I sugarcoated a lot of things and told myself I was fine and I did feel good. I wasn’t feeling 100 percent. But at that point it was my decision to get going. I don’t know if I’d be in the same situation now if I was, it’s hard to tell, it’s all looking back. It’s been a long journey since.”

Staal's understanding that he mishandled the situation last season is critical to his recovery now as he is unlikely to rush again.  This also explains, to some extent, how he was back in the lineup after the initial concussion, but the reporting was that he did not have serious lingering issues until the summer. 

On whether there’s resentment toward Eric Staal because of the hit: “No, not at all. I put that behind me, maybe the day after it happened, not right away, I was pretty upset. It was tough because it was my brother and it’s a whole different situation when that happens and you get hit hard like that and get injured. We play hard against each other, that’s just the way we play. I play the same against Jordan. I caught Jordan in a hit and it could have gone a different way than it did and that’s just the way it is. We understand that’s the game and we’re not going to take it easy on ourselves just because we are brothers and if we did it would be noticeable and people wouldn’t be very happy about that. We understand it’s a game. It’s been tough but we’ve been fine.”

This is a lesson that Rangers fans can learn from to stop the undeserved booing of Eric Staal that went on in New York last month.

For the rest of Staal's comments be sure to check out Ranger Rants.

Anaheim Fires Randy Carlyle, Hires Bruce Boudreau

The Anaheim Ducks have underachieved mightily this season, and a change was bound to come in short order.  Leading into Wednesday night's game the reporting had been that the coaching staff was safe while rumors were running throughout the league of Bobby Ryan potentially being traded.  All of that is up in the air now as the club decided to fire head coach Randy Carlyle following the team’s 4-1 win over Montreal and replace him with Bruce Boudreau.  Boudreau continues his roller-coaster week as he was fire by the Washington Captials on Monday.

The coaching change likely puts any potential deal involving Bobby Ryan on hold as Boudreau will get his own chance to assess the team before personnel moves are made.

Rumor: Rangers Frontrunners To Acquire Bobby Ryan

Rumors surrounding Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan have been running wild over the past few days with the New York Rangers speculated to be involved. That speculation increased this evening whenJohn Boruk of CSN Philadelphia, reported that a Bobby Ryan trade is imminent and the Rangers look to be the front runners for the 24-year old winger.

From Boruk’s Twitter:
@JohnBorukCSN #Flyers not involved. #Rangers appear to be front runners. A deal “could” be completed by the end of the week. TB showing interest.

@JohnBorukCSN A source close to the situation tells me a Bobby Ryan trade is imminent. Talks have been ongoing for weeks. I’ll have a blog up soon.

There is no telling until something actually happena how legit the reporting is, but certainly something to watch. Anaheim is going to want a top six forward, top four defender and a pick/prospect. Those hoping Dubinsky and Del Zotto will be enough are dreaming.

Video: What Being A Human Hockey Puck Really Looks Like

Intermission entertainment is part of the experience of going to a live hockey game.  The Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League are giving all fans the ability to see what it is like to be a "human hockey puck" with this first person camera video of it.


Human Hockey Puck GoPro from griffinshockey on Vimeo.

H/T to Puck Daddy

Henrik Lundqvist About To Join Twitter?

Sean Avery has brought spark, a little bit of offense and more discipline than most are used to seeing him have since returning to the New York Rangers earlier this month.  Now Avery is tweeting about another present he would be giving Rangers fans telling everyone that he is in the process of bringing Henrik Lundqvist to twitter.

No idea yet what Lundqvist would tweet about, but it is still something to hear Avery is convincing the Rangers star goaltender to use social media for another level of interaction with the fans.

Rangers Place Andre Deveaux on Waivers

According to Andrew Gross the New York Rangers have placed Andre Deveaux on waivers this afternoon.  The Rangers obviously waited until Deveaux finished serving the three game suspension he received for his elbow to the head of Panthers forward Tomas Fleischmann last week.  The move is not a surprise given the play of both Carl Hagelin and John Mitchell since their recall following the Deveaux suspension.

It will be interesting to see if a team in need of some toughness places a claim on Deveaux as he showed he can add toughness and physicality to a fourth line in the NHL during his time with the Rangers.  If he does clear he can help the Connecticut Whale make up for some of the lost offense with Mitchell and Hagelin up with the Rangers.  Deveaux had one assist in nine games with New York

Dominant Second Period Enough For Rangers To Extend Winning Streak To Three

The Rangers scored four straight goals during the second period held on for a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. The win extended Rangers winning streak to three games and making another early statement in the Eastern Conference.

Callahan started the Rangers scoring and Mitchell, Richards and Gaborik followed to turn a 1-0 deficit into what seemed like a comfortable 4-1 lead.

The Penguins gained life when Evgeni Malkin scored with 6.1 seconds remaining before the second intermission. That momentum carried over to the start of the third as Pascal Dupuis cut the Rangers lead down to one, but New York held on.

• The power play converted twice, which is a positive, but failures to convert on multiple 5-on-3 advantages cost them the ability to put the game away.
• Del Zotto was a disaster all night.
• Hagelin was noticeable again and his pass on Mitchell's goal was top quality.
• Credit the Rangers offensive stars for stepping up in a big game.

Rangers' Marc Staal Back Skating

Katie Strang of ESPN New York is reporting that New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal has begun skating lightly on his own.  Staal is continuing to progress in his recovery after resuming light workouts earlier this month following a full month shut down period.   The fact that Staal was able to resume light workouts with no ill effects that he can now be back on the ice is extremely positive.  That said, there still a long ways for him to go before he is anywhere near ready to play in a game for New York this season.  Staal is checking off one step at a time and with hopefully there will be no setbacks on the road ahead.

Photo: Boomer and Carton Wearing Winter Classic Jerseys

This morning the twitter for Boomer and Carton's WFAN radio show tweeted out a picture of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton wearing New York Rangers 2012 Winter Classic Jerseys.

Obviously they have connections that many others don't so they were able to get theirs now instead of waiting until Dec 5 when the jerseys go on-sale through MSG, NHL.com and the NHL store.

War of Words Between Rangers' Dubinsky, Flyers' Shelley Adds Intrigue To HBO 24/7

The appeal to fans of HBO’s 24/7 that leads up to NHL Winter Classic is the behind the scenes access it gives them to the teams and players they follow.  Beyond practices and the locker room access there can be a more candid conversation by the players about what they think about other people in the league.  That side of it is out in full force in the past week as Flyer forward Jody Shelley and Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky are having a war of words.

During the preview show for the 24/7 Flyers-Rangers series last week Jody Shelley had choice words for what he thinks of Dubinsky and his game…

Brandon Dubinsky plays like a little weasel. He's a guy you like to get at.

Dubinsky, never bashful for a juicy quote, responded yesterday in talking with Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News:

"First of all, if I was him, I'd keep my mouth shut if I don't play, especially since I never see him on the ice," Dubinsky said of Shelley, who has played in only 10 of Philadelphia's 23 games this season. "He's usually just yapping from the bench, and I guess now he's yapping from behind the video camera. So that's about all I have to say."

But that was not all Dubinsky had to say.

"Jody Shelley - it won't be long before he's out of the league, because he's a terrible hockey player," he added.

This is the kind of stuff that HBO and the NHL wants to drive up interest in the show along with the sport, but this is not something that will go over well with Rangers’ coach John Tortorella.  Tortorella does not seem to be too keen on his players spouting in the media, especially when Dubinsky is struggling to find his own game this season.  It is fun for fans to read this kind of stuff and it is part of what intrigues about 24/7 as a series, but now is not the time for Dubinsky to be getting drawn into a war of words as he sits on the fourth line himself.  More focus from Dubinsky on reclaiming his spot in the top six of the Rangers forward lineup would be better served than worrying about what a fourth line goon had to say about him. The best way for Dubinsky to shut Shelley and everyone else up would be to put a hurting on the Flyers where it counts; the scoreboard.