Season Preview: Fewer But Bigger Ifs This Season

What to expect from this year's model Rangers? Ah, the perennial question. Perhaps the only thing we know for sure is that this franchise will somehow confound all expectations. Coming out of the lockout, they were routinely predicted to finish out of the playoffs yet again and ended up being one of the best teams in the league until they ran out of gas after Henrik Lundqvist won the gold medal at the Olympics. Expectations were flipped on their head the next season despite Jaromir Jagr's iffy shoulder, but the results were inconsistent until Sean Avery joined the team in mid-year. The addition of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury in 2007 was supposed to get the team past the second round -- instead it was a fight for their playoff lives.

Last year's massive makeover left everyone with nothing but a bunch of ifs, which all seemed to be going in a positive direction in a record breaking month of October but which all broke the other way by the end of the season, with the coaching staff fired and more than half the team starting their trek through the revolving door out of town. So forgive us if we have little to offer after this year's makeover but another bunch of ifs. There's only one thing I know for sure -- the last time I took a step back from the team to tend to burgeoning business and family obligations, the Rangers were coming off a dismal year in which they failed to make the playoffs, and they promptly proceeded to win the Stanley Cup. So maybe it's just me and this is going to be The Year.

But really, there's little mystery about how this season is going to break. If Marian Gaborik stays healthy and Henrik Lundqvist isn't beaten down by having to singlehandedly keep other teams from scoring, the Rangers will do well -- maybe not win the Cup, but will generally be an entertaining team that produces many more wins than losses. But if Gaborik goes down or is even hampered by nagging injuries, or if Lundqvist cannot consistently prop up what would be a porous defense even if they concentrated primarily on defense rather than John Tortrella's attack game, then fasten your seat belts, Ranger fans -- we're in for a bumpy ride. These are two elite players, among the very best at what they do, and they can carry the team a long way. But they cannot do it on their own, and there are a good number of ifs left over even if they do their part.

Up front, there are nothing but ifs. Chris Higgins has to rebound from an injury-riddled season too, and even if healthy, he has to ramp up to front-line scoring threat if he's going to be the first line left winger. He stands a good chance of doing just that if he can play the role of garbageman to whatever Gaborik cannot put into the net himself. Brandon Dubinsky will have to step up his point production as well, and he too stands a good chance of doing so if he maintains his work ethic while centering Gaborik. Vinny Prospal, regardless of what position he plays, will have to continue his career pattern of good season, bad season, due for a good one after a bad one last year. Ales Kotalik has to find consistency at age 30 -- or he has to at least help revive a perennially moribund power play with his cannon shot from the point. Sean Avery has to stay physically and mentally healthy without losing the edge that makes him what he is, Ryan Callahan has to just keep grinding away like he always does, and Chris Drury, well, we need the real Chris Drury to please stand up.

Speaking of ifs, just how well can the Rangers do with a defense that is iffy at best? Even the best of the bunch, Marc Staal, has to step up to the role of number one stopper while meeting Tortorella's demand of adding offense. As good as Staal is, as good as he can be, he still has to prove that he can match up against the league's best every night. If Dan Girardi is going to be his defense partner, he will have to be an order of magnitude better than he was in pre-season -- a solid second pair defender, I'm not sure there is even a valid if that can be attached to him as top pair D. But he will have to try, because the duo earning first pair money will have their hands full just trying to be a productive second pair. Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival will munch up cap dollars -- can they munch points and opposing forwards as well? And what precious few cap dollars remain will be used to sign Alexei Semenov, heir apparent to Marek Malik and Dmitri Kalinin.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this team will be how well an enticing group of young players do, if given a chance to contribute -- always a big if in Rangerland. It looks like the Rangers will find their power play quarterback of the present and future somewhere between Matt Gilroy and Mike Del Zotto, both of whom won jobs in pre-season with eye-opening performances. But can they play defense in the NHL for 82 games? Will the Rangers even let them once they start hitting the inevitable bumps in that long road? At forward, Artem Anisimov was alternately electrifying and electrocuted during pre-season -- how much of a chance will he get to do the former, especially if he experiences too much of the latter once the games start counting? He will not be able to do much of anything as fourth line center -- he needs more of a chance than that, especially since he will get little help from his wingers (unless they end up being countrymen Enver Lisin and/or Evgeny Grachev somewhere down the road).

In net is where the Rangers seem to be most set, with Lundqvist returning along with steady understudy Steve Valiquette. Lundqvist has always had to erase the myriad mistakes of his defense. But they haven't gotten any better and will be taking more chances under Tortorella, so he will have to show even more fortitude than ever. Valiquette too, if he's going to get more playing time in this Olympic year, Lundqvist expected to be Sweden's starter in their gold medal defense. How the Rangers have improved themselves by flipping out one of the league's best penalty killing duos (Blair Betts and Fred Sjostrom) and a popular and effective young enforcer (Colton Orr) in favor of the tall trio of the reviled Donald Brashear, the ineffective Aaron Voros, and a non-entity in Brian Boyle remains to be seen. It may not even matter much if they rarely play, unless they take away ice time from young players who have some upside.

Then there is the new coach, sinking his teeth into this team from the start, and doing so under the vigilant eye of a massive media contingent with whom he is frequently at odds. A lot of what Tortorella does with the media is an attempt to manipulate them to his own ends -- for example, he knows full well why Ranger fans boo Brashear, but it's more productive to protect his player by blaming the media than the paying customers. But -- and here's another big if -- he is simply going to have to win if his act is going to work both in the dressing room and in the press room. All of his machinations will appear masterful if the results are there -- or they will backfire loudly if fails to get more out of the likes of Redden and Drury and a whole new cast of characters than his predecessor did with the tools Glen Sather gave him to work with.

In the end, so many faces change both on and behind the bench, so many ifs are asked year in and year out, but one thing remains constant -- the GM, completing a decade in New York with just two playoff series wins to show for himself over the first eight seasons. There's the biggest if of them all.

In the news: Del Zotto making the team, for at least nine games, was the story in Newsday, NYR.com, Ranger Rants, Rink Rap, Blue Notes, and Blueshirts Blog. More from the Post on Higgins, the Record on Girardi, the Post on Anisimov, and Ranger Rants on this and that. The Record begins its season preview as well. On the farm, Hartford cut down to its final roster size -- see analysis in Beyond the Blueshirts and HF Rangers Blog. Chris Doyle, the Ranger draftee who could not attend training camp for medical reasons, has had personal problems this season, having been suspended for tripping a linesman and now having spent a night in jail for assaulting two women in a bar -- see the PEI Guardian and CBC for more on him. Fellow Q prospect Ryan Bourque sustained a concussion in his most recent game (see Prospect Park and Le Journal) -- and more prospect news from Prospect Park.

Some programming notes: This season's first issue of Blueshirt Bulletin is going to press this week -- look for it in your mailboxes next week. The new Blueshirt Bulletin web site is days away from going live -- look for news at BB.com, where you'll find an announcement about Ranger Nation becoming the official BB bulletin board. I will be traveling from Thursday through Sunday, so expect only a post of two during that time in this space.

Comments

[rangerbill94]

Good write-up. It seems that every year we have a new team and a new set of "if's".

[Rich]

From the previous thread: "For all Direct TV Center Ice customers, NHL.com has an e-mail link to allow you to voice your displeasure that Comcast has cut off Direct from airing the VS channel. FYI, Comcast owns VS so by jacking up the rates to hostage levels, Direct was forced to drop the VS channel."

Bob - When I tried to use that link Sunday night my email just bounced. I wound up having to use the "contact us" page to send them the message. This DirecTV/VS business is in reality a DirecTV/Comcast problem as you point out. This is just Comcast attempting to stick it to a competitor. Only this time Comcast (through Ed Snider) is applying pressure on DirecTV through Gary Bettmann. In a way this is the parallel situation to what Cablevision does to NHL Center Ice subscribers who are not in the NY Metro market. In Cablevision's rush to have exclusive HD programming in their home market, they screw the rest of us who no longer live there.

[ZenGolfGuy]

Sucks for us in the area as well. I have FIOS and MSG is the only sport channel that I on't get in HD. Ridiculous.

If Comcast had as good a product as FIOS, I'd have Comcast. But it doesn't. The picture is better on FIOS and the internet speed is significantly better. So Comcast thinks they can strong arm me into taking their service due to them holding Ranger games hostage?

[i]

zen the picture on vios is good. I had them but now i'm stuck with cablevision , but it is hd. i don't think comcast is hd.

[Matty]

From the previous thread

"However, his media usage was AFTER private discussions followed by more poor on-ice performances. The media should be a last resort kind of thing. No doubt, Iron mike voiced his opinion. Torts sometimes opens his mouth before he puts his brain in gear."

Rangerbill,

How do you know that he hadn't already talked to Girardi before he told the media what he thought of how Girardi has performed? Tortorella seems to make it a point to talk to his players specially if they are doing things he doesn't like on the ice or in practice, he also makes it a point not to tell the media what the discussions are about ... he seems to bring up their poor performances to the media only when said players don't seem to improve their performance after their private convos with him ...

I still maintain that I see no issue with him, if Henrik was playing bad as in "Not up to his capabilities" then I would hope and expect Torts to call him out

[marty from rfc]

According to Andrew Gross, Semenov has been signed so looks like the only remaining question on D is if Del Zotto sticks beyond the 9 games. Guess we'll know that come mid-Oct.

By the way, anyone else think Gross has done a great so far this pre-season? Always seems to be providing some type of update.

[Jess]

Marty

Gross clearly has been head and shoulder above the other beat reporters who have either been on vacation or just passing along rumors

[kwill]

i wanted to point out something that seemed to be lacking in the dan girardi conversation from the last thread, (had to post it here I just got time to read through it all). and it may have already been said but if I was torts I would call out girardi over redden, simply because at this point I have figured out redden is a lost cause. Why bother? let redden stink up the place, the fans already hate him and he still is as slow as ever and come back with something to prove but so far has done nothing but hang his rookie d partners out to dry on a number of occasions. The good news is for semenov there is no way he could possibly be worse than redden. And even if he is... at least he isn't eating up 6.5 mil in cap space.

[bring back mike gartner]

"Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival will munch up cap dollars -- can they munch points and op
pposing forwards as well? "

N-O-P-E!

[Bob M]

Rich, I did not use the NHL link to contact Versus or Comcast or where-ever it goes when you send it. Two-three weeks ago, I called Direct and sent an e-mail to yell at them, I sent a nasty note to Comcast. I already did my venting. I even sent NHL.com an e-mail stating this is exactly what the NHL needs, less viewers! I wonder if my e-mail helped them start that e-mail campaign.

So you all enjoy the game while I watch a re-run of Porky's Revenge or something! Guess I can check the scores tomorrow.

[Jed Orts]

October 1st, it's hockey season baby!

[rangerbill94]

Matty, I know Torts talked with Girardi before saying anything to the media. And Torts may be right. I just don't think the you play those cards in pre-season. I'm glad that Dan responded, at least in the press, the way he did. I don't think Girardi will ever be a #1 pair D'man. He is a solid 2nd pair guy, more a stay at home type. He is positionally sound, willing to use the body, has average speed and has very good hockey sense.

Now, lets look at what Torts may be doing. If Tortorella is trying to make a defense that will join the play when they get a good opportunity, that's admirable. But you must have 6 defensemen who are capable of that. Redden may have been that type some years ago, but not today. Girardi is not that type of player either, nor is Rozi. Yes, all three "could" do it, but that isn't their game. Staal, DZ and Gilroy are that type of player. If Torts is looking for all 6 D'men to play that style, then Lundqvist better be ready.

Tomorrow we will see what Torts "system" really looks like. We really didn't get to see it last season, no fault of Torts for sure. But now it counts, the speed, energy and attack style should be in full swing. That will put our defense to the test. Frankly, I like pairing 2 agressive D'men together (assuming they are responsible) and putting two stay at home types together and have one pair with one of each type. I will be looking at Redden, Rozi and Girardi for solid play and DZ and Gilroy for speed and agressiveness. I look for Staal to be Staal.

I think Torts has the right system for the state of hockey today, I'm just not sure we have the defense to play that style. Time will tell.

[bring back mike gartner]

Just did a breeze through of the Rangers broadcast schedule. 8 games to be on VS and 9 games to be on MSG 2. that's nearly 25% of the season will not be seen in HD and 10% of the season won't be seen at all. I lothe Dolan. I really wish the Steinbrenners would purchase the Rangers and have them on YES. They may not know hockey (like Dolan ever will) but at least they want to win and won't play these kniving games to screw everybody.

[Rich]

Well I won't be watching the NYR on Friday night either. I'll be watching my son's midget team play.

[Andrea]

Off-topic, but interesting: Shanny steps away from the Debbies. See NHL.com for details. It's an "amicable" parting.

[Bones]

Can't wait to see how this team stacks up against the Pens tomorrow night. Too bad I can't watch the Sens game on Saturday but its the year end Dragon Boat gala!

[Matty]

Andrew,

I do wonder, because even though it was "amicable" it seems to me that he was pushed out because LL said that unfortunately for Shanny he was downgraded to 4th line duties if he wanted to remain with the club due to the Devils desire to use their younger players in more prominent roles ... not that I can blame them but they did sign him knowing that he wanted to be in one of the top 3 lines whether he can still perform there or not ...

[Colorado Mark]

Fridays game is on NHL network, not Vs. In case there was confusion. Still sucks what's happening, and someday the NHL and center ice will figure out that pre season and pre games would be watched a lot more than they think.

[Chris QCT]

So.... now we're fighting to keep Semenov?!?

What the hell?

[Rich]

I for one hope that Senenov takes the KHL contract.

[Matty]

Whoops .. Called you Andrew, Andrea lol ... sorry!!

[Matty]

BTW It seems that Semenov's WIFE is the one that doesn't want him here ... so she nixed the deal according to Steve Zipay, who was told by Sather that Semenov was very upset and had tears in his eyes over this ...

Perhaps he should't have a wife that dictates what he does with his pro career ... just saying

[Bob M]

Yeah Colorado Mark, looks like Direct people get it on 215 and the rest on Versus.

How weird!

[Cutter]

Hey everybody! How was your summer?

Can't wait for the game tonight. Hopefully we see a glimmer of the success we're all hoping for.

On a slightly random note, I'm gettiong really tired of "fans" on various sites parroting that "Let's Go Rags" crap, as though it weren't an insult. I mean, have you ever known a pile of rags to be good?

Anyway, looking forward to the new issue and the new site too. Best of luck with everything, Dubi, and thanks for the last few years of coverage.

[Jed Orts]

The only thing I don't like about playing the Pens game 1 is that we are going to start with the officiating right away. Amd Bettman making the Rangers play against the Pens the day they raise the Stanley Cup banner, that is his way of saying screw you to us.

[Rich]

I would like to personally thank Mrs. Semenov for rejecting the opportunity for her husband playing in NY. Hopefully we get to see one of the Wolfpack D get the chance to play with the big club.

[Adam Silleg]

Sorry to hear Semenovs wife held up the deal for him, but overall its great news. I know Torts will play the kids, but now the Rangers are forced to leave Del Zotto up part the 9 game mark and that is amazing. Love the fact that the young guys are getting big responsibility. Let's go Rangers, let's take game 1 and get the season started off on the right foot!

[Vince R]

Just wanted to say...LGR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NCSteve]

Rich
FunNEE. I hope if the big Dman heads home, then that'll mean we might get a dman with some grit.
Opening night! Spoil the party, boys.

[rangerbill94]

Redden just got married. Any hope on that front?

[Andrea]

Wade's wife may be a model, so sadly, she probably LOVES it here! Gotta wonder about these guys not consulting their wives on career moves. A lot of Donald Drapers out there . . .

On the other hand maybe he was surprised he was offered a contract. Heaven knows, I was!

WOW. Opening night! FINALLY! Enjoy it fellow fans, even you Mattie ;-)

And Brandon? Go grab that second alternate A.

[marty from rfc]

Well, another couple of hours to go...

In looking at the lines from the morning skate, not sure what to think. On one hand, we've definitely improved the speed aspect and this group could very well be able to pull off Tortarella's attack/puck pursuit stlye. On the other hand, I keep thinking of Larry Brooks' article post-free agent signing period where he called the Rangers line up a patchwork of players, reminding one of a 4th year expansion team.

Either way, as exicitng as it is to get the season started, not sure how much we can really take away from tonight as I'd assume Tortarella's teaching agenda will continue into the reagular season.

[Matty]

Cutter,

I 100% agree, I can't stand it when other Rangers fans refer to the Rangers as the Rags because the only people I've seen refer to the team in those terms are non-Rangers fans who are trying to be insulting to the Rangers ...

Andrea,

Enjoy opening night ... I don't know if Semenov was surprised with the contract offer or not but Zipay posted that it was Semenov who asked Sather for a tryout so wouldn't you think that he should've consulted his wife, if he knew that the decision to sign with us would depend on her if he got a contract offer, BEFORE he wasted his and the team's time?

[Rich]

Maybe Semenov thought he would get a bigger offer. If so he might have used the big $$$ as a reason to stay in NY for a year. When the money turned out to be the $600k the team could afford to pay him, his excuse would have vanished.

[njaco1215]

glad to see Cally with the well deserved A on his chest

[rangerbill94]

One thing for sure; we don't have a 4th line. We were lucky that we didn't give up any goals while these three were on the ice. They only got about 6 minutes, but that 6 minutes seemed like forever!

Dubi with Gabby seemed to work well. We missed Avery. Rozi just watched as another tip created a goal, very poor positioning. Girardi looked like he was thinking instead of just reacting to the play. Anisimov seemed to be looking over his shoulder. DZ and Gilroy played very well. The powerplay looked much improved, Soild passing, quick and hard passes, should be better this year.

All in all, not bad for the first game and facing the Pens at that. I have the Rangers winning only one game in the first five. Torts is not happy, I'm sure. There were some bright spots and enough things to work on that make this game a difficult loss.

[brian]

While I liked the signing this summer (I know I just jinxed him and now he'll be on DL rest of season), I have to say after watching last night, he's right up there with the best of the players. He's got an extremely quick release and always seems to find the right spots on the ice. Area of concern is the high risk/reward system with our defense. While it's exciting, it seems there should have been some short handed goals (more or less we got lucky on a few of them) with the king.

[Ant]

2 games in and no updates?

Except for Rozie our boys looked amazing tonight

[Mike Hock]

Rosy actually played well in the 3rd period.

[Ant]

He played good on D but everytime he had a puck he was more nervous than a rookie

[K24]

Ant--
No new updates here because they're moving to a new page:

http://www.blueshirtbulletin.com/plus.php

[Ant]

got it