Avery To Start Montreal With Wolski Out (Groin); Rupp Knee Surgery Looming

The moment many have been waiting for has arrived as Andrew Gross is reporting that Sean Avery will be in the lineup tomorrow against Montreal.  Wolski is having an MRI on the groin and the results will be out tomorrow.  The New York Rangers will be without Wojtek Wolski who is out once again with a groin injury.  Should there be anything serious then he would likely be placed on IR and someone like Mats Zuccarello should get the call.

No word on where Avery will play, but look for him to play on the fourth line with Christensen and Deveaux or with Boyle and Prust depending on who coach John Tortorella uses to fill Wolski’s spot.  Avery being reunited with Boyle and Prust would give him more ice time and a line he has worked well on in the past.

In other injury news, Mike Rupp is going to have arthroscopic knee surgery next week where they will determine how long he is going to be on the shelf.  This is what Rupp was hoping to avoid, but better to get in there and fix the issue instead of going off and on trying to play through it.

Rangers To Place Marc Staal On LTIR, Create Cap Room

The New York Rangers have been silent on the Marc Staal front for weeks, and those optimistic he was coming back soon probably wish it had remained quiet this morning.  According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Rangers are going to place Staal on Long-Term Injury Reserve.  Staal is already eligible for the move because he has missed 10 games and 24 days of the season with his injury.  The status of his comeback from the concussions is still unchanged, which at this point means his return is only getting further and further away.  The move today is purely about the salary cap.

The move allows New York to exceed the salary cap by the pro-rated amount of Staal’s $3.975 million based on the number of days he was out.  If he missed the whole season, then they would be able to go over by that amount, but there is still hope that won’t happen.  The move is necessary for the Rangers to open up the cap space to sign Anton Stralman, have Sean Avery on the active roster and potentially recall Mats Zuccarello now that Wojtek Wolski is out once again with a groin injury.

Video: Did Danny Briere's Shootout Goal Violate Rules?

The boundaries of what is and what is not a legal move in an NHL shootout keeps getting pushed further and further.  The latest controversy about what is and is not a legal attempt came Thursday night when Flyers forward Danny Briere drove hard in at Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg before slamming on the brakes.  Hedberg dove out at Briere attempting a pokecheck and Briere walked around him for the easy finish.  The only problem was that Briere appeared to violate Rule 24.2.

Rule 24.2 in part:

"The puck must be kept in motion towards the opponent's goal line and once it is shot, the play shall be considered complete.”

Here is the video via The Score:

When Briere slammed the brakes he clearly used his backhand to stop the puck from rolling forward towards the net, which should have deemed the attempt illegal.  According to Tom Guilitti at Fire and Ice Briere knew he was close to if not violating the rule

 “He kind of surprised me with the poke check and I almost fell,” Briere said. “I wanted to keep moving forward but he kind of surprised me and I stumbled and almost stopped completely. I know the rule. You’re not allowed to go backwards and you’re not allowed to stop completely. To be honest, I wasn’t trying to stop completely. I just got surprised and stumbled a little bit.”

In the end the goal was allowed to stand because the NHL focused on the fact the puck stayed in continuous motion and never came to a complete stop.  So the question now becomes is the focus of the rule on forward motion to the net or continuous motion because it would change what sorts of attempts we could see in the future.

Rangers Clip Ducks On Gaborik Nets Shootout Winner

Historically Marian Gaborik has been bad in the shootout, but on Thursday night he netted the winner in the third round to give the New York Rangers the 2-1 victory over Anaheim.  Following Gaborik’s goal Henrik Lundqvist got a little payback against Bobby Ryan shutting him down to end the game.  The payback for Lundqvist was both from Ryan’s shootout winner October 8th and his goal earlier in the game.  Lundqvist was back on his game tonight after struggling in his two prior outings.

The shootout followed an amazing overtime where the Rangers had numerous chances, but could not solve Jonas Hiller.  Hiller was phenomenal tonight making multiple highlight reel saves to keep a sluggish Ducks team in the game.

The Rangers only goal in regulation came from and unlikely source as Jeff Woywitka tallied his first of the year.  Woywitka let a slapshot go from the point that beat Hiller low late in the first period.  The shot deflected off Andrew Gordon’s glove.  Obviously Woywitka is feeling the pressure of the Rangers reported signing of Anton Stralman to a one-year contract.  Personally the one who should be feeling the pressure right now is Steve Eminger.

Bobby Ryan got the Ducks lone goal on a beautiful passing sequence between he, Getzlaf and Perry.  Lundqvist had no real chance to stop Ryan’s snipe far side.

Expect Sean Avery to be in the lineup Saturday as Wojtek Wolski re-aggravated his groin injury during the first period and did not return to the game.  Be interesting to see how Tortorella mixes up the lines for Saturday as he had started to get some semblance of consistency with them.

Breaking News: Rangers Sign Anton Stralman

According to TSN'S Bob McKenzie the New York Rangers have signed defenseman Anton Stralman to a one-year deal worth 900K. The deal has been rumored for the last couple of weeks.

More later

Rangers Roundtable Part II: Dubinsky, Del Zotto, Boyle, Surprises and Broadway Hat

Various Rangers blog sites have gotten together and agreed to review each five game segment of the New York Rangers schedule for different items going on with the team.  The sites participating 5-hole, SNY Rangers Blog, Blue Seat Blogs, The Rangers Tribune,and yours truly at Bleeding All Blue.  Jess Rubenstein of The Prospect Park will also share his thoughts on what is going on in the Rangers prospect world. 

This week discussion involved questions around Dubinsky's goal scoring, Michael Del Zotto's play, biggest surprise thus far, what to make of Brian Boyle's play, and the of course The Broadway Hat.  To check out everyone's thoughts head over to SNY Rangers Blog.

Richards Taking Stepan Under His Wing Is Added Bonus For Rangers

When the New York Rangers signed prized free agent Brad Richards this summer much of the focus was on what he could bring to the team himself as well as how he would help return Marian Gaborik to form.  Lost in the discussion for many was what a player like Richards could do for some of the younger Rangers in terms of learning the position of center in the NHL and how to deal with the ups and downs of the game.  Jim Cerny at Blueshirts United gives an example of Richards doing just that with second year forward Derek Stepan leading up to Monday's game against San Jose. 

"This guy over here (pointing to Richards) grabbed me one day at practice and said don't let your head think too much, just go play," Stepan explained. "I battle with this quite a bit actually. I did it last year when I went (17) games without a goal after my first three (on opening night). You have to get in between your own ears and battle it, get an ugly (goal) and get going again. And Brad helped me with that."

Last week Stepan was on MSG during intermission talking about his low confidence and that possibly sparked Richards taking this step, but it shows excellent leadership to help out a young player who was clearly pressing.  Stepan gave it back to Richards Monday with his first goal of the season.

Avery Won't Play Tomorrow, Says All Right Things On First Day Back

Avery returned to New York Rangers practice today and found himself in a rotation with the fourth line leading tot he expectation that he would be a healthy scratch tomorrow as I suggested he should this morning.  In meeting with reporters after practice Avery said that there was no reason to change the lineup because of him not skating for a few days and the way the team played Monday.  John Tortorella confirmed that the same lineup will go tomorrow and Avery

Avery has a reputation of a selfish player from some because of the bad penalties he has taken at points in his career, but he has never struck me as selfish or a bad teammate.  It is excellent to see him with the understanding of how well the team played Monday and not wanting to change that up just so he can play.  He will get his chance shortly and I have no doubt he will be ready for it.  What comes of it, we shall see.

In terms of his feelings about being back in the NHL and more specifically New York, the Rangers official twitter had the following quote.

Avery: "I love playing for this team and I'm excited to play in the new building...I have loved every game I have ever played for this team" 

For the most part I am indifferent on Avery, but the one thing I have always respected about him is you never had to wonder if he loved wearing the Rangers sweater.  Obviously his effectiveness with it has differed through the years, but you always knew he wanted to be hear and wanted to do well.

Report: Rangers Had Discussion With Leafs Potential Deal

The New York Rangers have made no secret that they are still looking to improve their defense in the absence of Marc Staal from the lineup.  Having already picked up Jeff Woywitka on waivers and made a contract offer to free agent Anton Stralman, the Rangers are checking out all avenues of bringing in more options.  According to Pierre Lebrun over at ESPN the Rangers have looked into the trade market as well calling the Toronto to check on the availability of some players.

There is really nothing to see here other than GM Glen Sather doing exactly what he is supposed to do in doing his due diligence around the league.  Before people start freaking out over who might get traded to acquire someone from Toronto remember that this is routine.   If defense was the topic of conversation the Rangers have no room for contracts like Komisarek, Liles or Phaneuf on the roster.  Burke is not going to trade Luke Schenn without getting a steep return either.  Burke has been said to be trying to unload Cody Franson after acquiring him this summer but that is not an upgrade over what the Rangers already have.

Despite Avery's Return Rangers Should Stick With Same Lineup Thursday

In case you were living under a rock from just before noon Tuesday until now, you know that Sean Avery is back with the New York Rangers and will join the team for practice tomorrow.  Those who wanted Avery back have gotten at least part of what they wanted and those unhappy about the return need to get over it and cheer for him when he puts on that Rangers sweater and steps on the ice.  Beyond that comes the question of when Avery will play.  Coach John Tortorella hinted during last night’s postgame that Avery might not suit up Thursday because of how the team played Monday night.

"I'm not force-feeding anything," Tortorella said after the game. "If I look at the tape and think guys have done their job, you stay with your team. I just don't know what the lineup's going to be our next game. We'll see how it all works out."

While some might view that as Tortorella laying the ground work to leave Avery out for personal reasons, that is the right approach as the coach of the team.  The Rangers had a complete team effort Monday and no one played to a level worthy of being benched, so sticking with what they have would be the right call.  Sean Avery will play for the Rangers and soon, but he should be scratched Thursday, even if it will make the Garden explode with anticipation.

For the first nine games of the season the Rangers struggled to do anything consistently.  The forecheck never seemed to get going.  The lines needed to be shuffled virtually every other shift.  Secondary scoring was virtually non-existent.  Worst of all the level of energy in the Rangers play simply was not there.  The team failed to put one 60 minute performance on the books in those first nine games.  If that had happened again last night against the Sharks I would suit Avery up to give them the a spark Thursday, but the Rangers came alive for at least one night and that lineup deserves the opportunity to do it again next game.

The idea of sitting Avery will not make his supporters happy, but at the same time I would point out how  many of them complained about the amount of changes Tortorella has made in his lines thus far this season.  Last night each different line did their job, and maybe for some of the players it was a fluke, but if you cry about consistency, then be consistent and want it left alone when it works.  Calling for changes  to get any individual player in the lineup regardless of how the team did in their previous game puts that player above the team.  That’s wrong. 

Have no fear Avery supporters, Erik Christensen will likely go back to being invisible after his two assist effort against the Sharks and then the calls for him to be benched for Avery will be absolutely legit.  The obvious move for coach John Tortorella to make if Avery is going into the lineup would be to take out Andre Deveaux, but Deveaux was very effective in limited action against San Jose.  Deveaux skated well, took the body and made no glaring mistakes, which is exactly what you want out of a fourth line player. Wojtek Wolski is probably the player who was the worst on Monday night, but removing him from the lineup would likely throw multiple lines back into the blender, thus starting over on chemistry.

Avery will get his chance in short order, but for Thursday against the Ducks, the right call is the unpopular one for coach John Tortorella to make.  Stick with the team that finally put a full game of effort together and see if they can repeat that deed.  Avery will be a tremendous spark when he first steps on the ice for New York this year, but there is no reason to set fire to a lineup that did everything Rangers’ fans had been waiting for all season to do.