Blueshirt Boggle

Rangers Get Orr for More Punch

The Rangers claimed enforcer Colton Orr off waivers yesterday. This is the guy Dale Purinton eye-gouged to earn his ten-game suspension. Whether the Rangers need an enforcer is the debate taken up by Andrew Gross in the Journal News and Colin Stephenson in the Star-Ledger. The Rangers certainly need to pick up their physical play and their intimidation factor, but whether Orr can provide that without possessing any NHL caliber hockey skills is one question. Who sits if he dresses in another question.

Martin Rucinsky and Steve Rucchin inched closer to returning to the line-up, practicing with the rest of the team yesterday. Both remain uncertain for tomorrow night's game vs. the Penguins. Reports in Newsday and the Post. Tom Poti remained sidelined with a groin injury. Kevin Weekes skated again but remains out.

Check out Hockey Rodent for some interesting (though unverified) news from Russia about the Fedor Fedorov fight in Tampa a few weeks ago.

Who Are Those Guys?

The latest issue of Blueshirt Bulletin went out today. The theme of the issue, with the Rangers surprising everyone around the league, including their own fans, with a good showing -- "Who Are Those Guys?" [See cover image at right.] You knew a few of these guys coming in, and you know a lot more about them by now. But we asked a half dozen professional writers who cover the Rangers and the NHL to find out more about them and why they are doing so well. And they came up with a great nine-page spread that answers every question you had about these guys (except for where Marek Malik came up with that shootout move).

In addition to the main theme, Jess Rubenstein interviews WHL prospect Brodie Dupont and his coach, Kelly Kisio; Bruce Berlet writes about Nigel Dawes; John Halligan and Anthony Mastantuoni contribute three pieces on Ranger history; and Ron Boesgaard has his Views From the Blues. For a bit of fun, we have our Reasons to Be Thankful holiday spread [see page view left] and a large sampling of some of the humor that makes a winning locker room a breeding ground for even more success.

We've said it before, but we have to say it again -- the print publication, with all of its exclusive Ranger content, supports the web site, and your support is needed to keep it all going. Please consider subscribing. Click on "Download Subscription Form" in the sidebar to the right for complete pricing and ordering information. Blueshirt Bulletin also makes a great gift. Thanks!

Midway through the Rangers' four-game break, limited news: on the injury front Martin Rucinsky participated in a full practice with the team yesterday and is close to returning, but remains uncertain for Thursday; Tom Poti and Steve Rucchin both rested yesterday but are expected to play Thursday; Kevin Weekes skated on his own without equipment. In the papers, with all the beat writers taking a break too, the Post has more on Malik's shootout winner, Newsday pays some much deserved attention on Jason Strudwick, and the Journal News has a long piece on what makes goalies unique.

Elsewhere, SI.com counters all the gushing about this year's rookie phenoms with a report on the renaissance of European veterans, with the bulk of the piece focusing on Jagr, Nylander, and Straka. The Hockey News polled teams around the league on their view of shootouts. Jagr, representing the Rangers, told them: "I think the shootouts are OK, but I think they should give three points to a team that wins in regulation, and two for overtime and the shootout. I don't think winning in 60 minutes should be the same as winning a shootout."

Congratulations, Brandon!

Brandon Dubinsky, a top Ranger prospect, has been named the WHL Player of the Week. He capped off his big week with a big goal on Teddy Bear night, a holiday charity event in which fans throw teddy bears onto the ice when the first goal is scored -- Dubinsky scored the "Teddy Bear Goal" that precipitated the teddy bear toss (the bears are donated to children).

We here at Blueshirt Bulletin are particularly proud of Dubinsky's accomplishments -- he was the first prospect we featured during the lockout (interviewed by Jess Rubenstein), he was kind enough to keep a diary for us during training camp, and he acquitted himself quite well in that training camp, the first we've covered since taking over the publication.

[Photo by Chris Collins]

Shootout Lives On

Continued fallout in the press today from Saturday night's Garden thriller. Jason Diamos reviews the epic shootout in the Times, Mark Herrmann of Newsday waxes rhapsodic over the grand new rule, Sherry Ross of the Daily News reminds us that it masked a brutal Ranger performance, and Larry Brooks of the Post believes this contest sealed the ultimate fate of shootouts in playoff games.

Not that we're in favor of shootouts, but if the powers that be (especially TV) are going to insist on using them to decide playoff games, how about a sensible compromise that they be banned from elimination games? If a team's fate is not on the line and a twenty minute OT cannot put an end to a game, go to a shootout. But don't let anyone be eliminated that way -- play on in OT if a team's playoff life is at stake.

While we're making outrageous suggestions, this occurred to us when a penalty was whistled with twenty seconds left in overtime: why not play on until all power plays have expired? If a power play commences with less than that amount of time on the clock, reset the clock for the duration and give a team a chance to capitalize on the advantage it earned. It's a small thing they can do to help offset the impact of shootouts.

By the way, no one noticed that about 15-20% of the Garden crowd left after the end of overtime, before the start of the shootout. Maybe it was because the late-starting game was running over and they had a train to catch or a child to get to bed (there were a lot of kids there, with no school the next day).

Playing it Down

Before the marathon shootout, before the Marek Malik showstopper, there was a game. "This was not a masterpiece by the New York Rangers at all," coach Tom Renney noted bluntly after all the talk of the shootout was over. "This was brutal in lots of ways." We won't enumerate the many ways in which this game was brutal -- not when Hockey Rodent has already done such a masterful job of it. But just as Renney was willing to address what came before once he was done celebrating the final outcome, so too must we.

The Rangers won a shootout in Florida a couple of weeks ago after Dominic Moore scored from behind the goal line with three seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. That helped a lot of people forget a truly forgettable performance against a weak team. On one hand, you can continue to say, good teams find ways to win these kinds of games, and the Rangers have won five straight now and eight of their last ten dating back to that Florida game. You can even start saying that these cardiac kids are starting to build something magical, inevitable.

On the other hand, you got a glimpse last night of what life can be like for the Rangers without Jaromir Jagr -- because they played this game pretty much without getting anything from Jagr, and therefore from those who rely on him the most. And you got more than a glimpse of what could happen to these Rangers if they forget who they are. Jagr has the pre-season prediction taped in his locker that forecast a 30th place finish for the Rangers in the NHL. When the Rangers opened up in Philly, they looked for all the world like they were going to fulfill that prognostication. But then they rose up and smote the mighty Flyers, and lot of other teams they supposedly had no business being on the same ice with.

However... the Rangers have played the three worst teams in the Conference twice apiece, have suffered two of their seven losses against those teams, and came close to losing two others before pulling them out in shootouts (last night's game and that Florida game). What happened in those game is instructive. Last night, despite being outshot 5-0 over the first ten minutes of the game and 17-4 in the first period, the Rangers actually had a significant territorial edge over their opponents.

But they didn't use their edge, built on superior skill, to their advantage, choosing instead to try to force plays up the middle in all three zone right through Washington, as if the Caps weren't sitting back daring them to do exactly that so that they could counterattack and counterattack. Which is exactly what the Caps did, eventually coming to believe that they had a chance to win this game, even down 2-0.

As fortunate as the Rangers were to have a 2-0 lead in the opening seconds of the second period (and unable to extend it to 3-0 moments later when Tom Poti could not get the handle with an open net in front of him), the Rangers still hadn't learned their lesson and continued to play "brutal in a lot of ways," letting the Caps tie things up. And both Cap goals came for want of a body check, a single solitary body check. Heck, even just a good backcheck. But the lack of hitting almost caused the Rangers to lose this game. One hit on anyone during the sequence that led to the Caps' first goal, and the attack would have been defused. Instead, it took the marathon shootout to get the two points.

The Rangers have to look at those predictions in Jagr's locker before each game and remember that they have to play better than their best every game in order to win, no matter who the opponent might be.

Of course, it doesn't help when the officiating is so atrociously one-sided that your centers can't even take a draw without getting kicked out of the faceoff circle. It happened so often to the Rangers that when a Cap finally got tossed late in the game, the crowd gave the linesman a derisive cheer. Far worse were the referees. Matt Bradley reached around Maxim Kondratiev, put his sticks between his legs, and twisted him down dangerously into the end boards, all in open ice no more than fifteen feet from Bill McCreary, who was watching the play, and there was no call. Blair Betts slid headfirst into the goal post, missing Kolzig, and had his head ground into the ice by Kolzig after the Cap goalie jumped on top of him, with Blaine Angus standing right over them, and there was no call.

But Petr Prucha has his stick lifted by a Cap into the face of a Cap, and he gets high sticking? Dominic Moore reaches into a player, yes, and that is a penalty, but he already had his hand off his stick showing the ref that he was doing nothing when the Cap visibly throws his feet out from under himself and goes down, and there is no offsetting diving call? Martin Straka taps a guy harmlessly across the shin pads, yes, maybe that's a penalty in the new NHL, but the guy goes off the diving board with a perfect ten, and no call?

JD, calling the game for MSGN, was right that the call on Prucha was a mistake by Angus, but he was wrong that Prucha's stick never hit the guy -- it was his stick, just not his fault. JD was also wrong about Ovechkin's trip on Ortmeyer on the shorthanded breakaway. Doesn't matter if you get the puck or not -- you're still not allowed to trip a guy. And it doesn't matter if you trip him with your shoulder or butt instead of the usual stick or leg -- if you take a guy's legs out under any circumstances, it's tripping. No point arguing about getting the puck first -- we've all seen refs call tripping on guys who got the puck first. It may be a useful guideline, but it's not a hard and fast rule. Ovechkin dove into Ortmeyer's path and tripped him on a breakaway -- should have been a penalty shot.

Curiously, the Rangers played most of the game with a Czech line (Jagr, Prucha, Straka), a non-Czech line (Sweden's Nylander, Finland's Nieminen, Slovakia's Hossa), and two checking lines made up entirely of North Americans (Moore, Ortmeyer, Hollweg and Betts, Ward, Strudwick). Hossa didn't play much in the third period, with Strudwick dropping back to defense to replace Poti, Nylander rejoining Jagr and Straka, and Prucha rejoining Betts and Ward. Hossa had three shifts total in the third, none past the 12:00 minute mark or in overtime, and his shootout attempt was downright feeble. Time to address that situation.

Game reports focusing mostly on the shootout from the Star-Ledger, Journal News, Post, Times, News, and Newsday. Ira Podell of the AP on the two OT thrillers at the Garden yesterday (the Knicks won on last second heroics too in the matinee). Additional game notes from the Star-Ledger, and a story on Chris Holt from Newsday. Hartford's win in the Courant, the Checkers' loss in the Observer.

For a bit of controversy, check out SI.com's trophy nominees for the first quarter, where Lundqvist doesn't make the top three rookies (though he does make the list of Vezina candidates), and where Jaromir Jagr is not a Hart candidate, even though two of the other three -- Heatley and Forsberg -- are part of a strong cast of characters, while Jagr and Staal, the third candidate, are truly carrying their teams beyond all expectations pretty much on their own, offensively at least. Renney appears, deservedly so, among the three Adams candidates for coach of the year, the writer giving him even more credit for the Rangers' turnaround than Jagr and Lundqvist.

Malik Shoots Out of the Shadows With Style

There was no shortage of story lines at the Garden last night as the NHL's longest shootout worked its way inexorably through the rosters of the Rangers and Caps. There was rookie phenom Alex Ovechkin starting things off, only to be stoned by fellow but less heralded rookie phenom Henrik Lundqvist, ultimately the first star of the game with 35 saves during play and twelve more in the shootout. Then came Michael Nylander, who has yet to be stopped during shootouts by anything other than goal posts, answering Andrew Cassels back, the two playmaking centers both coming in slowly and scoring on nice moves and quick accurate shots.

Jaromir Jagr then had the Rangers' first chance to end it, a chance to redeem a lackluster game. But he was stuffed by Olaf Kolzig despite an effective deke. In the first round of sudden death, Petr Prucha was the Rangers' sure thing, looking for his third straight shootout winner. Not this time, however -- though he came close enough for the replay official to take a second look. Jason Ward, one of the stars of the game with the Rangers' first shorthanded goal of the season, was next. Save.

Brian Willsie then beat Lundqvist, leaving it up to Ville Nieminen. Using the same move he used on a breakaway in Tampa, according to coach Tom Renney, Nieminen knotted things up again. Then came a succession of players not paid to score goals trying to score the biggest goal of the game. Each member of the HMO line -- in that order -- got a turn, each with a good story line. Ryan Hollweg was supposedly the secret shootout weapon, recommended by the Ranger goaltenders who had to practice against him. Dominic Moore has been a huge story for the Rangers all season and had a chance to score another clutch goal. Jed Ortmeyer is the workhorse, the dark horse from Nebraska, the fan favorite, and he beat Kolzig but lost the handle (Kolzig figuratively wiped his brow in relief afterwards).

Things were getting easy for the goalies. The feeling in the crowd was starting to lean heavily toward, maybe a tie isn't such a bad idea after all. Then, in the fourteenth round, Bryan Muir, the defenseman who was the goat on Ward's shorthander, put the Caps ahead for the third time. But Jason Strudwick, a surprise choice for third alternate captain in Steve Rucchin's absence and a surprise choice for the equalizer, came through with the Rangers' third straight answer, beating Kolzig exactly the same way Lundqvist had just been beaten. Lundqvist then made another save to put the Rangers in position to end it.

The Rangers were down to three unlikely choices. Fedor Tyutin would have gone much earlier had he not been playing with a broken finger (the coach later said that he was next up). Darius Kasparaitis has in the past joked that his turn comes up after Lundqvist shoots (the coach joked around later saying that he had the worst shot in the league). Tom Poti was out of the game with a groin injury -- he too would have gone a lot earlier were he available. That left Marek Malik.

This is the guy Jagr tried to set up last week for a goal, prompting him to joke that even Wayne Gretzky couldn't accomplish that impossible task. This is a guy who has been largely anonymous, which one could argue is perhaps one of his strengths as a defenseman. There wasn't all that much of a story line here, and not much of a feeling that he was going to pull this one out. So Malik made his own story line -- he won the game with an incredible move, literally a showstopper, drawing the puck back between his legs, drawing his stick back through his legs, and shooting it past Kolzig.

Malik then coasted up the ice looking up at the crowd with a straight face that said, "And you doubted me?" His teammates mobbed him. The press gathered round him for the first time as a Ranger. Fans were waiting for him outside when he left the Garden an hour later with his wife and kids, chanting "Mar-ek! Mar-ek!" and asking for autographs and photos.

And a dismal performance by the Rangers against a last place team was forgotten, the team sitting pretty with a record 16-7-3, a five-game win streak, in third place overall in the entire league. Things keep getting better and better for the Rangers, making this all seem less like an illusion with each passing game.

More tomorrow on the rest of the game and the rest of the postgame festivities...

Weekes Not Bad, Others on the Mend

The news on the injury front brightened overnight for the Rangers. Kevin Weekes's ankle injury in not serious after all, an ankle contusion that should sideline him only briefly. Fedor Tyutin is expected to return to action tonight vs. Washington and Martin Rucinsky possibly Thursday vs. Pittsburgh. Jaromir Jagr will play tonight and then benefit from four days off in resting his hip. Ditto Steve Rucchin, who might play tonight, but probably not. Chad Wiseman was returned to Hartford, with Jason Strudwick moving to forward to make room for Tyutin. All this culled from reports in the Star-Ledger, Journal News, Newsday, and Post.

Elsewhere, Andrew Gross writes about Jason Ward and Blair Betts in the Journal News, John Dellapina reviews the current state of the captaincy in the Daily News, and Wayne Gretzky is the subject of a Jason Diamos article in the Times -- one interesting tidbit there is that Jeff Taffe is engaged to Gretzky's niece, putting his trade from Phoenix to New York in a new light (just kidding!).

Speaking of trades, a TSN.ca review of rumors -- in addition to mentioning Larry Brooks's call for the Rangers to inquire about Petr Sykora, they mention that the Rangers have expressed interest in Martin Havlat and that the Bruins have expressed interest in Tom Poti. Boston would have to shed salary in order to make a Poti trade work, with UFA to be Sergei Samsonov likely to go the other way in any event.

Barry Melrose lists Jagr and the Rangers as his number two "Good" story in a Good-Bad-Ugly ESPN.com piece. The Wolf Pack lost in a shootout last night, while Charlotte won again, with Hugh Jessiman scoring his sixth goal in eight games as a Checker.

Rangers Fight Through Injuries to Beat Thrashers

There was another pivotal moment in the young lives of this new Ranger team during the first period of their Thanksgiving Day game in Atlanta. Jaromir Jagr had gone off to the locker room with medical trainer Jim Ramsey just as the Thrashers began their second power play of the period. The first had resulted in a goal, and here they were one-touching bullet passes around the Ranger zone, and you just couldn't see how the Rangers could possibly weather this storm, not without their fearless leader.

But as they have done so often so far this season, the resilient Rangers took that moment of doubt and turned it on its head. Jason Ward, skating in place of Jagr on the top line, backhanded a puck past the feeble Steve Shields to tie the game, the Rangers went immediately back on the penalty kill and denied the Thrashers again, and the rest, as they say, is the stuff of a legend in the making. Where past Ranger teams, fragile despite the centuries of experience loaded onto their veteran rosters, would fall apart, this young hungry lunch-pail crew refuses to ever say die.

Far from dying, they grabbed this game by the throat and pounded it home -- notwithstanding a second period blip where they blew a two-goal lead. Another goal and assist for Jagr, who was limited somewhat by a hip injury but was nevertheless able to beat defenders on the outside with speed and break relief goalie Mike Garnett's sparkling netminding with a screamer of a shot. Another goal and assist for his protege Petr Prucha -- these two have to remain teamed up as much as possible, they feed off each other so well. A goal and assist for Michael Nylander, both without Jagr, both with Ward, who also had a goal and assist.

There were long stretches of time in this game where the Rangers completely dominated play -- five on five play that looked like Ranger power play, that looked better than Ranger power play. Never mind that the other team had Marian Hossa (a couple of flashes, nothing more), Peter Bondra (one flash, nothing more), and Ilya Kovalchuk (nothing at all in a performance he didn't seem interested in even mailing in) -- that former Ranger enfant terrible Marc Savard was better than all of them tells you something. Just as telling was the -4 posted by former Ranger Greg de Vries.

The Rangers had to make do with mostly makeshift lines, the unit of Dominic Moore, Jed Ortmeyer, and Ryan Hollweg the only one kept together. But that had more to do with necessity than anything else, as injuries are starting to catch up with the Rangers. Martic Rucinsky remains out, and Steve Rucchin finally sat out to rest his weary body after playing through pain most of the season. Jagr's hip threw a scare into everyone, but he played through it and will benefit from the four days off following Saturday's home game vs. Washington.

The worst was Kevin Weekes, who will be lucky to learn that his ankle injury is anything less than serious. Mike Richter blew out one knee slamming into the right goal post and blew out his other knee on the other goal post. Weekes was done in by the crossbar, which fell onto his right skate blade in a freak accident as Marek Malik checked J.P. Vigier into the cage and toppled it into the crease, where Weekes was making a save. The Rangers are lucky to have Henrik Lundqvist on board, the popular netminder coming in with a hyper-professional relief performance and a proven ability to carry the team while Weekes is out.

News reports, courtesy of the Rangers' impressive corps of beat writers, who traveled to Atlanta on this family holiday to cover the game: John Dellapina of the Daily News, Andrew Gross of the Journal News, Larry Brooks of the Post, Anthony Rieber pitching in relief for Newsday, and Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger. This Thanksgiving, Ranger fans owe these guys a good measure of thanks for their work.

Turkey Day in Atlanta

Thanksgiving Day finds the Rangers traveling to Atlanta for a game tonight rather than feasting at home with their families. Andrew Gross of the Journal News writes that this is just another day at the office for hockey players, especially the Rangers, who have twelve Europeans and eight Canadians on the roster, none of whom normally celebrate this day. For American fans, today is a double delight -- we can celebrate the day as usual, and then take in a Ranger game in the evening.

Steve Rucchin's health is the subject of articles in the Star-Ledger and Newsday. He rested yesterday and is expected to go today, but his sore groin and back continue to plague him. In the Post, Larry Brooks wonders whether the Rangers should make a play for Petr Sykora and, down the road, Brian Leetch.

Hartford won in the debut of their latest goalie, Robby Gherson, who participated in Ranger training camp but didn't make any of the organization's teams at the time. Hugh Jessiman re-emerged with a goal and a pair of assists in Charlotte's 5-2 win.

Happy holiday!

Giving Thanks for Jaromir

All about Jagr in the papers today, and why not? See stories in the Star-Ledger, Post, News, Newsday, and Journal News. Good quotes from Jagr on feeling lucky vs. feeling sorry for yourself, and from Weekes comparing Jagr to the top stars of other sports.

Coach Tom Renney has had to hold team meetings during both trips to Buffalo. A month ago, it was after the game, and it was about penalties. This time, it was during the first intermission, and it was about that abyssmal first period, from which the Rangers rebounded. Other notes (most of them encapsulated in a separate Star-Ledger item), including word that Rucinsky has started to skate again and will return in a week or so.

Kasparaitis suffered a broken nose on that late hit by Mike Grier. There is speculation the Rangers might send it into the league for disciplinary action, but the only action that would really make any sense would be against the referees who failed to call that infraction, or the tap to the helmet by Daniel Briere as Kasparaitis checked his nose, but who let Jay McKee draw a penalty seconds later with an obvious dive, all of which put the game on the line in the final two minutes. But that will never happen.

Bruce Berlet on Hartford's penalty killing in the Courant, Cliff Mehrtens of the Observer on Charlotte absorbing a blow-out. Hugh Jessiman has gone quiet after a splashy start, at least on the score sheet. And the recently re-assigned Chris Holt continued to struggle even at a lower level, giving up five goals in his debut for the Checkers.

Lovely piece on how upset Bruin owner Jeremey Jacobs is with his team's performance thus far in the new NHL he helped create. "There doesn't seem to be the intensity or the desire or the hard work it takes to play the game," he told the Toronto Sun. Of course not, not when it's evident that you just took a huge pay cut in order to enhance the profits of your billionaire boss. That might be an abstract concept for other teams' players, but not for the Bruins, with Jacobs clearly leading the charge to take back the money he had previously agreed to pay his players. "A Bruin stands for something on the ice, it always has," he went on. Yeah, it stands for lining the pockets of your already filthy-rich owner, as the team's record over the past few decades demonstrates.