Prospects Sweep to Championship

In what Ranger fans hope is a good augur for the rest of the season, a dominant group of prospects swept their way to the championship undefeated at the Traverse City tournament with a 5-1 rout of defending champion Columbus. Alex Bourret starred again, with a Gordie Howe hat trick -- two goals, an assist, and a fight. David Skokan had three assists -- helpers on both of Bourret's goals and one (along with Bourret) on Bobby Sanguinetti's power play goal that sealed the deal in the third period.

In the upcoming issue of Blueshirt Bulletin, Anthony Mastantuoni writes about dark horses who emerge from the lower depths of the draft -- Skokan is his example for the 2007 draft, the Slovakian center who plays for Rimouski in the QMJHL having been selected by the Rangers in the seventh round (#193 overall) [see page image at left with photo of Skokan]. To read about the game, see NYR.com and NHL Connect. For more on Bourret, see NHL.com.

Ranger training camp activities kick off tomorrow with a Tom Renney press conference at 10:00 AM and continue on the official opening day Thursday with players coming in for physical examinations and media availability. The players then take to the ice beginning Friday morning. We'll be there to let you know what's going on. Sam Weinman was at the training center today and has a few observations over at Rangers Report.

Jess has a message to pass along to those of you participating in the fantasy hockey league: "One of our subscribers, Greg C., has kindly offered to host our Fantasy Hockey league over at CBS Sports.com. I just checked out the set-up and it is awesome. Unlike Yahoo, CBS is going to allow us to have a more exciting in-depth game with live scoring. I for one am very excited about playing there and I think you will too. So first off, all of you who are already registered to play at Yahoo will get first crack at the leagues there -- I will contact you. We also have openings for 11 more people in both leagues, so speak up by leaving your E-mail address here at the Blueshirt Bulletin."

Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post explained to our readers why he was so testy with them yesterday when they pointed out to him that Tom Poti was not a Ranger last season: "Sorry, but the smarta$$ part came from about 10 of your brethren pointing out the same thing. If it makes you feel any better, a correction is running in on page 2A of today's paper." In a follow-up missive, he said, "I understand you became upset over my response yesterday. Hope you can understand I received a number of e-mails pointing out the same mistake you did and opted to lash out at you, which I regret. Please accept my apology. (And by the way, I do have the Rangers going to the Cup Final in my response to a Hockey News poll this week, so I guess their D can't be that bad.)" Shouldn't that last parenthetical have read "your D" instead of "their D"?

Comments

[Jeff L.]

Great news. This bodes well for the future, which for the Blueshirts indeed seems bright.

[Josh Rif]

I'd definately like to participate in the fantasy league with my fellow ranger fans! please e-mail me the info! jkr5049@psu.edu

[Chuck I]

Id love to get in on the hockey league. Hplaya94@aol.com

[chase]

i would like to get in a league
chase1083@hotmail.com

[Ted]

I'd just like to point out how dominating the prospects were during the tournament. Here's a list of statistics I compiled.

Tied w/ Blues for most goals (19)

Fewest goals allowed (10) next had 12

Largest goal differential (+9) – next largest was St. Louis with +5

Scored in every period of play

Never lost a period

Only outshot in two periods: in 3rd period of Thrashers game (8-6) and 1st period of Tampa game (11-9)

Fewest Shots Allowed (77) – Next Fewest was the Blue Jackets with 106!

Biggest differential in shots taken to shots given up with +40 – next closest were the Wild with +26

Best power play percentage of any team (30.77%) and most power play goals scored (8) – next best power play percentage was 17.86% (Thrashers & Blues) and next most goals scored was 5 (Thrashers, Blues & Wild)

Fewest times short handed (20)

Tied w/ Blues, Thrashers, and Red Wings with the fewest short handed goals allowed (3) – in spite of this only had 85% penalty killing percentage, due to giving up so few power plays.

Out of 16, our goalies ranked 8th (LaFleur) and 11th (Wiikman) in SV% – 0.892 and 0.850 respectively

Ranked 3rd (LaFleur) and 6th (Wiikman) in GAA – 2.0 and 3.0 respectively

From this it looks as if the Rangers squad won the series by dominating both offensively and defensively even though their goalies were just OK in the tournament.

[emscam]

Championship Game

Alex Bourret comes to the rink with the idea that he'll make a difference ... and he does. He's a nice combination of skills in a hockey player. He can bang and he can score. In the New York Rangers' 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night, Bourret had two goals and an assist. The first goal broke a 1-1 tie and the second was an exclamation point, the final goal, a power-play score, at 18:23 of the third period. With former Red Wings defenseman Mark Howe looking on, Bourret had two goals, an assist and a tussle with Blue Jackets' left winger Tommy Sestito, or what's known in these parts as a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick."

Sestito wasn't the only dance partner that Bourret found. Columbus center Derek Dorsett is another player whose game is based on knocking the opponent off the puck. Bourret and Dorsett hit each other hard all night and the Traverse City crowd loved it. It could be a preview of intense play to come in the NHL.

Bourret played for the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack late last season and didn't do anything here to hurt his chances of breaking into the Rangers' lineup soon.

http://fans.nhl.com/Groups/2007_NHL_Prospects_Development_Tournament/

[Inferno]

Ted:

Hope you dont mind, I posted those stats on my site (rangersreview.com) i also gave you credit for it though.

[Jess]

OK first things first anyone who has been a subscriber to the Blueshirt Bulletin should have expected to see this kind of performance.

After all we have brought you profiles on Dubinsky, Staal, Sauer, Dupont, Hillier, Zaborsky, Sanguinetti, Pyatt, and Kveton. We have been telling Blueshirt Bulletin readers just how good these kids were.

It was the Blueshirt Bulletin who was telling you how bright the future was 2 years ago. If you subscribe you will know about these kids before anyone else will. Click the link and join us

Fantasy Players

OK second league members will receive their email by the time they read this so the sooner you respond the sooner we can begin play. We all need to give a HUGE THANK YOU to fellow Ranger fan Greg C for all his efforts in setting this up.

We also have to say that CBS Sports is working really hard to give us a great place with more toys to play with than we can imagine. Hey you can even gain points for guy who fight LOL.

[Colton Orrrrrrr said Knock you Out, Your gonna get Knocked Ooooout]

Is there any possibility that Bourret can make the team this year...Cause it seems like as long as we have both Hollweg and Orr under contract, then he wont get his shot. Even though he'd be playing on the 4th with Betts and who ever. I dont know, i just have a good feeling about the kid. What ever. I just want to watch some friggin hockey already.

[Jess]

Colton

If I was Hollweg or Orr I would worry because Bourret is going to get his shot and he has to be viewed as a legit contender for a roster spot.

However AB is not like Hollweg or Orr, he is supposed to be an offensive weapon not an enforcer

[martyd]

I would like to try cbs sports. I have been doing yahoo for almost a decade.

rangerfan_79@yahoo.com

Thanks

[Godot]

The team's youth seems very very strong for the first time in years. Swept the TC series. Woot!

Considering this, what do the Rangers look like this year? Which D will make it. Who will the third line center be? And who will be the odd forwards out???

[Mike O]

Would like to get into the league...

msobjr@hotmail.com

Thanks!

[ak]

I'd love to participate in the fantasy hockey league. email me at akakkar@gmail.com

thanks!

[Ted]

Inferno:

That's fine by me. Read your site all the time, so it's good to see something of mine posted :-D

[rangerbill94]

While I agree that the kids did very well, a lot of credit needs to go to Ken Gernander and Shoeny! The stats posted by Ted reflect a complete team effort and while skill is necessary, solid coaching spelled the difference.

Things are looking very bright for the long term future of the Rangers.

[Erik]

would like to get into that league also !

bbnyrleague(at)iemednis.com

spam sux.

[Ryan Sevean]

Hook me up with the fantasy league stuff.
rysev@earthlink.net

[Colorado Mark]

The coverage of the Prospects tournament from the various sources seems to be a little inconsistent. I have read that Bourrett had the Gordie Howe Hat Trick, but in the box score it shows Dubinsky as the guy who got in a fight and not Bourrett (maybe they both got roughing penalties?) Then again, Marc Staal's goal in game three was listed as nobody scoring with two assists, so what can you do. The NHL.com blog guy seemed to ignore the Rangers altogether. (Although there was a nice bit on Michael Sauer in one of the entries!).

[Eric]

I would like to get in on the fantasy league also. Thanks.
jahoba1witness@yahoo.com

[Bob Merchant]

Just wondering, did I read someplace that we are going back to white jerseys at home? Were the colors at home just an experiment or something. There had been some talk months ago on that and I don't remember the outcome.

[Colorado Mark]

Doesn't NYR.COM usually have the training camp roster up before the start of camp? There's nothing there. Usually we are lambasting the aging invitee's like that Novotney guy last year. I wonder what happened to Ryan Baldwin, who I thought would be interesting to hear about in the Prospects tournament. He seemed like an Avery type. Did he get a better offer? Is there an eligibility problem? Injury? Just seemed strange.

[Phill]

I honestly hate the dark jerseys at home. I grew up watching white as the home jerseys and when they changed it, I was a bit perturbed . . . it still looks weird and out of place to me to this day.

To my knowledge, there was talk of going back to home-white, but I think they stayed with the home-dark, as well as ditching the 3rd jersey concept.

[shesends]

is anyone else pumped about bourret? i can't wait for this kid to make it to the big club.

camp is going to be interesting, that's for sure.

[The Dude]

any spots left in the CBS league? hit me at kcanberg (at) gmail dot com.

[Colorado Mark]

Jess- I won't be able to move to the CBS league until tonight, as I was away from my home computer/e-mail! Hope that doesn't mess you up.

[Mike]

Jess please include me in the fantasy league as well.

emailmike1994@yahoo.com

Thanks so much...

[Brian]

Hey if it's possible I'd like to participate in one of the fantasy hockey leagues you guys are starting.

Thanks

[alex]

if there's still room, I'd like to get in on the CBS Fantasy League. Let me know, thanks.
My email is arch2011@yahoo.com

[David Rabinowitz]

Hey Dubi, in case you're interested, Brodie Dupont did his last video blog from Traverse City on MSG's Game On! today ... http://gameon.msg.com/2007/09/rangers-prosp-7.html

[Rob]

Are there any more openings for the fantasy league? I'm down to play if there are any slots open...

[dave]

ditto the last comment - i'd love to be in the league.

dho@dartmouth.edu

[ToCa]

Hey Dubi, I left a message when you first mentioned recruiting for the league and haven't heard a word. I'm still interested if there's room. I've won 6 ESPN FHL hockey league Championships so I think I can strengthen the league. tca295@gmail.com