Blueshirt Boggle

Moment of Truth

The injury to Martin Rucinsky -- two to four weeks with a sprained MCL, resulting from a reckless uncalled charging major by Montreal's Craig Rivet -- creates two critical decision points for the Rangers when they complete their home and home series with the Canadiens at the Garden tonight. The Rangers, one of only two teams without a fighting major this season, and with no enforcer on the roster, have to send a message to Rivet, the Habs, and the NHL about running players, as Larry Brooks points out in his Post article today. How will they respond?

And the Rangers have to replace Rucinsky on the left side of Steve Rucchin's second line, the subject of much speculation in the Asbury Park Press ("Petr Prucha is a likely candidate to take Rucinsky's roster spot"), Star-Ledger ("Renney said Prucha was coming back after the weekend anyway"), and Newsday ("no word Sunday on who will take Rucinsky's place"). We were going to let the Prucha thing drop after hammering away at it the past few days, but Rucinsky's injury brings him immediately back onto our radar screen. He is the only logical choice to replace Rucinsky, especially after scoring again in Hartford's shootout loss last night. If someone else gets the call, then we'll have to find some other way to sort out the logic of the situation.

Dominic Moore, the subject of John Dellapina's article in the Daily News today, and his line (with Jed Ortmeyer and, at times earlier this season, Prucha) could get more responsibility to make up for Rucinsky's absence.

Henrik Lundqvist got some much-deserved nationwide attention after his performance against Monteal in a profile by the Canadian Press that was carried almost everywhere. Brooks in his article suggests that the Rangers nevertheless get Kevin Weekes some work, because Lundqvist is going to need help before long. Some comparisons around the web to the Rangers' good start to the ultimately disastrous 2003-04 season present one good reason for caution, especially because the prime reason for any early season success that season was Mike Dunham's goaltending, which went south after an injury.

Things are different now -- the signs from this team are positive, especially the work ethic, while the signs from that team were not encouraging even when they were winning. When Dunham's injury stopped masking them, the record became a more accurate reflection of the effort.

His injury occurred when the coach unwisely played him on back to back nights, against Dunham's wishes, causing a predictable groin injury. The coach then shattered Dunham's confidence by questioning his courage as he struggled to return from that injury. Coach Renney does not have it within him to repeat that kind of scenario, and Lundqvist's confidence seems unshakable, but the potential for injury must not be overlooked. Likewise the potential that the opposition will begin to figure Lundqvist out. Brooks is right, Weekes will be needed at some point, sooner or later, so it's best to keep him sharp.

Lundqvist Steps it Up Another Notch

How do you cobble together a blowout? Well, that's what the Rangers did last night in Montreal, and here's the formula. First, you take advantage of the home team coming out flat footed and spot yourself a three goal lead before they even knew what hit them. Next, when you give them three first period power plays with which to get themselves together, you play strong tight down-low team defense to keep them from getting a good sniff at the net. Then, when you try to cut down on the penalties and they start getting some good scoring chances, you rely on your phenom rookie keeper to keep them off the board. But when even he is ultimately not enough to keep them from coming back to within 3-2, you have your checkers come up with a couple of opportunistic goals to restore your three-goal lead and allow you to win going away.

If there is a unifying message in this game and similar ones the Ranger have played this season, it's that they are at least learning how to win even when they face periods of adversity.

Now we know why the Rangers take all those penalties -- because the alternative is to just let guys like Alexei Kovalev walk in untouched and shoot away to their heart's content. Good team defense is still a better antidote, as the Rangers showed at the end of the first period and through half of the second period. After that, it was the Lundqvist show. He made a phenomenal point blank save on Alexander Perezhogin, got just enough of a piece of a Kovalev semi-breakaway to deflect it onto the goal post, and with the score 3-2 stopped two Pierre Dagenais shots from the slot and got back to stop Mike Ribeiro's rebound shot at what he thought was an unguarded net. And those were just the highlight reel saves -- there were other superb stops as well. Until this game, Lundqvist was doing it more with steady, positionally sound netminding. This time, he was simply spectacular.

Speaking of spectacular, how about Dominic Moore? His first period solo rush from inside his own blue line, around Andrei Markov, and across the crease was nothing short of spectacular, as was his conversion of his interception of an errant Saku Koivu pass under pressure from Ville Nieminen. In between, he kept working and working as he usually does. Linemate Jed Ortmeyer, double shifting with the second line in the third period, also made a key offensive play with a head's up centering pass for Steve Rucchin on the goal that broke the Habs' momentum (they had been outshooting the Rangers 11-1 in the third period up to that point, with two of those shots already in the net). Martin Rucinsky also continued his consistently solid play in setting up that Rucchin goal and scoring one himself, both the result of his own hard work -- he left the game in the third period with an apparent leg injury after being charged by Craig Rivet, an uncalled major penalty on a play the Rangers have been called on several times in much more ambiguous circumstances.

How did Moore not rate one of the game's stars? Lundqvist was clearly first star, and Rucinsky was deserving as third star. But Moore was better than second star Kovalev -- he scored more goals, he made more of a difference for his team, and his team won. A home team call all the way.

The shot totals tell the story of the ebb and flow of the game. The Rangers outshot their hosts 13-8 over the first fifteen-plus minutes in building their 3-0 lead. The Canadiens then outshot the Rangers 12-3 over the next fifteen-plus minutes, all three Ranger shots coming on the only power play of the second period. The Rangers then regrouped and outshot Montreal 6-1 over the remainder of the second before the Habs unleashed their 11-1 third period barrage. Overall, Montreal outshot the Rangers 40-29, 32-16 after the 15:26 mark of the first period. Including all shots, Montreal had a 73-50 advantage over the entire game, 62-32 from 15:26 of the first period on.

Tom Renney called a time-out after the Habs' second goal. Reading his lips, the word that stood out was "calm". He was asking his team to calm down. At that point, he made the adjustment of inserting Ortmeyer on the second line. Lundqvist made some spectacular saves coming out of the time-out, and the next time the second line was out on the ice, they scored the backbreaking goal.

Game reports: Andrew Gross writes about the Rangers' approach to road games in the Journal News and Larry Brooks writes about what the Rangers learned during the game about playing on the road in the Post. Colin Stephenson leads with Lundqvist in the Star-Ledger, Steve Zipay focuses on Moore (who has scored all six of his career points vs. Montreal) in Newsday, and John Dellapina gives both equal time in the Daily News. Glen Sather sighting in the Montreal Gazette's coverage of the game -- he hasn't been seen in New York, but he'll talk to the press in Canada. If you can read French, you can read the game report in Le Matin -- or you can get the gist of it in the portion of the headline that talks about the "largesses de Théo", blaming the goaltender for the loss.

Al Montoya was busier in Hartford's net than Lundqvist was, making 51 saves in a 3-2 win -- Petr Prucha scored a highlight reel goal. Both Renney in Montreal and Don Maloney in Hartford said Prucha was in Hartford for ice time while the team looked at Fedor Fedorov and Jeff Taffe. We still don't understand why Fedorov was not left in Hartford to prove that he can perform consistently and why Taffe (scratched last night in favor of Marcel Hossa's return) wasn't the one sent to Hartford for ice time. And why Ville Nieminen, despite a slightly more energetic performance in this game (though the energy was for the most part futile), is getting ice time ahead of anyone at this point -- did you know that he got five more shifts and 2:42 more ice time than Moore (and that Fedorov, even though he was benched for most of the third period, got more ice time than Moore)? That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

Ranger prospects Juris Stals (two goals, one assist) and Rory Rawlyk (one goal, three assists) helped Charlotte win 5-4.

The Petr Principle

Ranger news today, as the team heads to Montreal for the front end of a home and home series with the Habs, is mostly about the penalty situation -- Larry Brooks in the Post says the Rangers should be worried about Henrik Lundqvist's health if they keep subjecting him to this much power play time, while Newsday has an update on Tom Renney's feelings on the subject ("I'm a little -- -- off," he predictably said). Andrew Gross in the Journal News writes about how the Rangers have broken the season down into five game segments, shooting for six points in each segment.

A mere footnote in these reports is that Petr Prucha was sent to Hartford so that the Rangers could take a longer look at Fedor Fedorov and Jeff Taffe, with Marcel Hossa possibly returning from injury. On one hand, in a vacuum, it makes sense to send down the guy who doesn't have to clear waivers so that he can get ice time down there while the Rangers look these over guys over. On the other hand, the Rangers do not operate in a vacuum, they have a long history that demonstrates that this type of move of convenience is unfair for a young guy who has already shown enough to stay in the line-up.

Fedorov and Taffe needed to find a way to get ahead of Prucha on the depth chart on merit, not by age or contract status. Ville Nieminen has earned a seat in the press box or a walk down the waiver wire, he hasn't earned any form of special consideration as a Ranger and should not keep any of these younger guys off the ice. This may just be a minor blip, but for the moment if feels like an uncomfortable reminder of how business was conducted here in the past, a past better left behind.

Cablevision and Comcast have reached a compromise that will result in the lifting of the blackout of Ranger games carried on OLN, the NHL's new network. Cablevision will take OLN off the premium sports tier that required an extra $4.95 per month subscription fee, but the station will remain on its digital tier -- Comcast wanted it moved down to a basic or basic-plus tier that would reach every Cablevision household (less than half have digital service). Full stories in the Star-Ledger and Newsday, smaller items in the Times, News, and Post.

Hartford came back to win 3-2 last night on goals by Chad Wiseman, Nigel Dawes, and Colby Genoway, and the goaltending of Al Montoya.

Post-Game News and Notes

Late in the game, an Islander player coming up the left wing had just blown by the Ranger defenseman. Looked like a possible break-in on net. From out of nowhere, Jed Ortmeyer dove head-first, stick outstretched, and knocked the puck away. After the game, we asked Jed how you make a play like that, is it just instinctive, how do you know when to commit yourself to a dive? "Just trying to do whatever I can," he answered. "The puck was there, so... I think I might have jumped a little too early on the forecheck -- it was my way of making up for it."

A reporter asked Tom Renney after the game why the penalty killing was so good this season after years of being miserable. "I think we have outstanding coaches," he quipped. The reporter had a ready response for that: "You were out on the penalty killing unit?" Renney said, still in the jocular mood a win can create, "I have nothing to do with it, I'm just a spectator." He went on to clarify that he meant to praise Benoit Allaire's goalie coaching and assistant coach Mike Pelino's work with the special teams.

Perhaps most importantly, he praised the PK specialists and the pride they take in filling their assigned roles, and how he would not contemplate diluting their role just to get his top players the ice time they were losing as a result of all the penalties. Those of you who have followed this team for the past seven years and saw the team's top players jump onto the ice in any situation, including the penalty kill, as if it were their birthright, can understand the significance of this change in attitude on the part of the coaching staff.

Game reports today: Lundqvist and the penalty killing are the focus of most -- Times, News, Newsday, and Star-Ledger. Reporting on the PK story, Andrew Gross of the Journal News says the Rangers were lucky not to have burned themselves, while Larry Brooks of the Post credits the Rangers' "blue collar" work ethic.

Newsday reports that Brad Lukowich, who physically pounded the Rangers the last time the two teams met, was benched for the last forty minutes after taking two first period penalties that led to Ranger goals. "Lukowich's benching seemed to get [the] message across. The Islanders took two penalties [after that]" -- the Rangers took eight. Meanwhile, Ville Nieminen was not benched, as had been expected, for three bad minors in Buffalo. Instead, in limited ice time, he got to take another bad one at the start of the third period. In fact, he even skated three more shifts later in the third after taking the penalty.

Weekend is here, so minor league affiliates are back in action -- preview Hartford at the Courant, Charlotte at the Observer. Ranger line-up changes are the subject of the Star-Ledger's game notes. Last, and in this case certainly least, is a Newsday column still stuck on the outdated concept of whether New York fans would stand for a rebuilding -- the ill-informed piece by someone who apparently watched a different game than the rest of us is an excuse to take a couple of last potshots on the Rangers for the way they used to be. Doesn't matter if this guy never heard of Jed Ortmeyer before -- you know opposition scouts are making sure their power play units hear of him before they have to face him. Speaking of which, there was only one other NHL team in building on a scouting mission (Ottawa).

Back on Winning Track

This time, the Rangers were the team coming in with four days' rest. This time, the Isles were the team that couldn't shoot straight, missing the net time and time again. This time, the Isles stopped Jagr from scoring, but they couldn't stop his teammates from converting his set-ups or rebounds. This time, Henrik Lundqvist was the star in net, not the other guy. This time, the Rangers won, by a 3-1 score.

There was one similarity between this week's Garden match-up between the Rangers and Isles and last week's match. Both games, the Rangers came out relentlessly pinning the Isles in their own zone -- they outshot their opponents 8-0 in the first 5:05, and they outshot them again 5-0 in another five minute span later in the first period, two of those shots going into the net for a 2-0 lead. But both games the Rangers threw the Isles a lifeline, a reason to believe that they could compete against the Rangers in the game, as Coach Tom Renney put it last week.

This time, the lifeline came in the form of penalties -- to the tune of eleven Islander power plays for a total time of just under 20 minutes. "I'm jacked right up," Renney said when asked about the parade to the penalty box. "I can't even verbalize that right now, I'm so hot." Renney's job is to address that with his team -- at least they can console themselves with an awesome performance on the penalty kill, particularly Lundqvist of course, but also the primary forwards, Dominic Moore, Jed Ortmeyer, Blair Betts, Jason Ward, Steve Rucchin, and Martin Rucinsky.

But our job is to rant about how one-sided the calls were for the third straight game against the Islanders. One on hand, there were at least three occasions where the Islander player flat out flew off the end of the diving board, with a noticeable lag time between infraction and dive, but there were no diving calls against them. And there were numerous times the Rangers did not get the same calls the Isles were getting, especially in the third period when the Rangers were sent off four times and the Isles not once -- or the time in the second period, just after a Ranger was sent off for holding, when Alexei Yashin dragged down Moore, lay on top of him, and then shoved him as they got up, with no call.

The Islanders' lack of sportsmanship extended from the obvious diving to the last shift of the game, after Betts sealed it with an empty netter, and a nobody named Kevin Colley, on only his fifth shift of the game, threw two dangerous and unnecessary illegal hits against the Rangers.

The Rangers were outshot 74-52 in this game -- they were outshot by an astounding 72-38 after the six minute mark of the first period. But the Rangers blocked 25 of those shots (Ortmeyer, Tyutin and Kasparaitis alone combined for more than half the blocks, 13 total), and the Isles missed the net another 17 times. Despite their territorial edge in the final 54 minutes of play (after not crossing the red line in the first six minutes), the Isles were fighting the puck all game long -- the penalty kill was aided numerous times by point men fumbling the puck at the blue line or lazy cross-ice passes being tipped out of the zone.

Tyutin and Rozsival both rebounded from a couple of sub-par games to register a superb one tonight -- sub-par to superb. Oleg Kvasha kept coming down his left wing trying to beat Rozsival one on one, and Rozsival kept him to the outside every time except once, with Lundqvist bailing him out that one time. Ward was good all game, even before all the penalty killing work kicked in. Ortmeyer and Moore -- again, what can you say? Martin Straka finally got his goal on a gorgeous give and go with Jagr after Rozsival made a couple of good plays at the blue line, but Straka was also the player standing around when the Isles scored their goal after Kasparaitis twice blocked Jason Blake shots.

Fedor Fedorov and Jeff Taffe made their Ranger debuts. Both looked nervous early, spinning their wheels and not getting much done. Both got a bit better as the game progressed, but not by enough for anyone to really take notice. "Tough to say," Renney answered when asked what he thought of them in this game. He praised Taffe's skating and sense, Fedorov's skill and presence, but "other than that," he said, "I wish I could tell you more, I'm not sure."

Because of the win, there were some unasked questions. Question one: Why was Petr Prucha ultimately scratched in favor of Taffe instead of Ville Nieminen, as suggested yesterday at practice? Nieminen earned a benching, Prucha did not. Nieminen did nothing tonight (he didn't even look like he was trying, which you notice now with these Rangers because everyone else is trying) -- no, he did one thing, he took another bad penalty at the start of the third period. Why did the veteran get the benefit of the doubt at the expense of the rookie?

Question two: Why was Maxim Kondratiev scratched in favor of Tom Poti? Yes, Poti played better tonight than in the past couple of games, but he still made some highly questionable decisions that nearly proved costly (we're not going to pick on his penalties because we thought both were dives). More importantly, after coming away from his meeting with Renney still complaining rather than saying, "OK, now I understand what he likes about my game and what he wants me to improve on," Poti was clearly in need of a further message. Kondratiev struggled as much as any other defenseman over the last two losses, yet he was the only one not given a chance to improve upon that, as Tyutin and Rozsival, and even Poti, were allowed to do. Youth vs. experience again?

Question three: Dominic Moore has historically been about equal to Fedor Fedorov in offense at every level, is a year older, and played a lot more during the lockout. He has worked tirelessly and effectively since the first minute of the first day of training camp. But it was Fedorov, with no Ranger history, who got the second line ice time at even strength and on the power play, while Moore primarily killed penalties. This is obviously not a case of a rookie vs. a veteran. Still, why does one player get a free pass while another doesn't get something he has earned?

Ozzy Osbourne's former lead guitarist, Zakk Wylde, played the Star Spangled Banner Hendrix-style on his guitar. There are two women who sit in the front row of the blue seats, a mother and daughter by the looks of it (the mother maybe in her 60s, the daughter 40s), who always stand tall and proud, hand over heart, and heartily sing along with the national anthem every game. Tonight, they stood, arms hanging at their side, dumbstruck and disgusted, as Wylde wailed away. The mother said, "I don't even recognize it -- they should be ashamed."

One of Two in Net Tonight

There will be no booing in the Garden tonight when the Rangers' starting goalie is announced. Kevin Weekes said last week that he needed to know if he was one of one or one of two, meaning goalies in the starting rotation. He is now officially one of two, with Henrik Lundqvist getting the start vs. Islanders despite Weekes being back to full health after four days of rest. Read what Coach Renney and Weekes have to say on the subject in the Daily News, Journal News, Newday, and Star-Ledger.

The articles also report that Jeff Taffe will make his Ranger debut in place of Ville Nieminen, who will be scratched for his undisciplined penalties. Fedor Fedorov is likely to make his Ranger debut as well, unless Marcel Hossa is good to go. Tom Poti will be back on the ice, though it is uncertain who will not dress on D as a result.

The Post revisits the issue of Jaromir Jagr's still reluctant captaincy. Profile of Jagr and his hot start by the Canadian Press. The Times gets the take of several NHL people on whether the new rules have opened up the game (only Bobby Holik doesn't think so, but that may have more to do with how poorly his team has fared than anything else).

Tomfoolery

Looks like Fedor Fedorov will get a chance to skate on the second line in place of fellow younger brother of a star Marcel Hossa when the Rangers retake the ice tomorrow night at the Garden. He was on Steve Rucchin's right wing at practice yesterday, and coach Tom Renney was apparently happy with what he saw. That must mean that Renney was not all that thrilled with what he saw from Jeff Taffe the day before (or from Jason Ward as a second liner). Stories today on Fedorov in Newsday, the Journal News, Star-Ledger, and Post.

Tom Poti's meeting with the coach was the story in the Daily News. John Dellapina's story doesn't really change our perception that Poti has taken his benching completely the wrong way, failing to look at his own on-ice culpability in the matter. He used the meeting, which he said should have taken place before his second benching not after, to vent about how he felt, and he complained that it ruined his confidence. Nothing however about learning what the coach wants of him from the video session held during the confab. Nothing about working harder to regain his and the coach's confidence. No reason not to expect more of the same from him when the Islanders come back to town tomorrow evening.

New Blueshirt Bulletin subsciber Oleh Posnachiwsky may have a good motivational tool for Poti: Pick up a copy of the New York Post and look for the picture identified as you, and try to play like the guy who is actually pictured -- Bobby Holik.

WHL Ranger prospect scoring update from Jess Rubenstein: Ryan Russell, the Rangers' 9th selection in the 2005 draft (7th round), is currently 3rd in the WHL in scoring with 8-12-20, only 2 points behind the leader. Brandon Dubinsky is 23rd with 14 points (5-9). Dane Byers is 32nd with 12 (6-6). Zdenek Bahensky is 66th with 9 (4-5). Brodie Dupont is 67th also with 9 (4-5) but has played 2 more games.

In significant business news, the Dolan family has decided not to pursue their plan to spin Cablevision's cable systems off into a private company, a plan which would have left the MSG properties (including the Rangers) is a separate publicly-held company. That means that MSG will continue to have the financial backing of the highly profitable cable business and will continue to have its finances aggregated into overall company reports. But the decision sounds anything but amicable and speculation is still rife about the future of CVC's cable assets. Stories in the Times, News, Post, Star-Ledger, and Newsday.

Fedor Up, Dale Down

Fedor Fedorov signed to an NHL contract and called up to the Rangers. Dale Purinton back to Hartford.

Taffe Maybe in For Hossa

News out of Ranger practice yesterday was that Jeff Taffe will probably make his Ranger debut in place of slightly injured Marcel Hossa. With Jason Ward taking Hossa's spot on the second line, Taffe lined up on the third line in practice. Reports in Newsday and the Journal News. The Post has that item below their lead story about Tom Renney having a talk with Tom Poti. Dale Purinton is the subject of the Star-Ledger's story today.

The most interesting story of the day (came out yesterday actually) is from Russia, courtesy of Hockey Rodent, who provides translated excerpts -- an article about Jaromir Jagr. One nugget in there is that the Rangers did indeed try to sign Jagr's Omsk linemate Maxim Sushinsky but were unable to because of his Russian League contract commitment. There is also a bit about Jagr being the Rangers' de facto captain in the locker room, which jives with Jagr's comments about assuming that role publicly -- it's the part about being captain for public consumption that he is trying to avoid. Rodent also quips about how Jagr must feel to have been Petr Prucha's boyhood idol, which reminds us of something Jagr said last week when asked about how the young guys on the team are doing -- "I'm still young too," he said laughing.

Jess, you weren't left out on purpose yesterday, you were being saved up for today, this part where it says, please scroll down to the next entry for a message about the next issue of Blueshirt Bulletin. In addition to the professional hockey writers who contribute, we also feature regular contributions from fan reporters Jess Rubenstein, Anthony Mastantuoni, and Ron Boesgaard -- although Jess has become more than a fan reporter in his coverage of Ranger prospects in the Western Hockey League.

Next Issue Ready to Hit the Newsstands

The latest issue of Blueshirt Bulletin has been put to bed and will go out early this week. The theme is "The Game Plan" -- an image of the cover is at the top of the column at right. Inside, coverage of the Rangers' game plan for this season is broken down into eight areas. The two-page spreads covering six of those areas can be seen in the image at left (click on the image to get a slightly larger view). Articles for this issue have been penned by, among others, John Dellapina of the Daily News, Andrew Gross of the Journal News, Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger, and Steve Zipay of Newsday, plus Shawn Roarke of FoxSports.com, Kevin Greenstein of InsideHockey.com, John Halligan of NHL.com, and Ranger prospect Brandon Dubinsky, who contributed part two of his training camp diary.

We really appreciate the support we've gotten since the start of the season from Ranger fans. But we really need more support to keep things going. Please consider subscribing to Blueshirt Bulletin or renewing your subscription -- click on "Download Subscription Form" at right for full information. If you or anyone you know would like to advertise in Blueshirt Bulletin, please click E-mail at right and let us know. Thanks!

Today's news, as the Rangers head into four days of rest and practice after a season-opening ten games in sixteen days that left them, despite three losses in the last three, with an unexpected 4-3-3 record: Zipay's Newsday article looks at the "bump in the road" represented by those three losses, Dellapina's News article looks at their next four days of "retooling," and Larry Brooks's Post article list eleven points to go along with the team's eleven points, most of them right on target (our favorite, predictably: "Ville Niemenen rather than Ryan Hollweg? Uh, no.").