Blueshirt Boggle

Things Coming Together for Rangers

Last season, when the Rangers got off to an unexpectedly good start, skeptics dismissed all indications of organizational progress and said they were just riding Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist. This season, with neither Jagr nor Lundqvist at 100%, the Rangers got off to a rocky start. Well, Jags and Hank are back, and there is nothing wrong with that. So apparently are the Rangers after a pair of nearly identical wins against the last two Stanley Cup winners, this time hanging on for the 4-0 shutout over the Hurricanes that eluded them near the end of Sunday's 4-1 thrashing of the Lightning.

Jagr, insisting that he is still not back to full strength after off-season shoulder surgery, has rediscovered his shot nevertheless. He has scored six goals in the last five games, more than doubling his output (four) in the first seventeen games. In scoring his second goal of the evening, Jagr surpassed Jari Kurri last night as the highest scoring European in NHL history with 602, a feat he calls more important to him than merely hitting the 600 mark. He is now back at the top of the league in overall scoring.

Lundqvist, it was feared, had been solved by league goal scorers after giving up four or more goals in six of his first ten games. But he has reversed course in the past seven games, going 5-2 with a goals against average a hair under 2.00 (1.998) and a .932 save percentage. After giving up at least one bad goal a game early on, he has given up only one even strength goal per game on average in the last seven -- we have to say "on average" because he didn't give up any goals last night in recording his first shutout of the season and gave up only a power play goal the prior game. Henrik credits sessions with team psychologist John Phelan with helping him re-focus his game.

But just like last season, there is more to this than just Jags and Hank. Brendan Shanahan has of course been front and center, his 17th goal of the season tops in the league and putting him on pace for a 60-goal campaign. Matt Cullen had a superlative performance last night against his former team. The crash line of Hollweg, Hall, and Orr combined for five hits and four shots on goal. And the newly created line of the reuntied Blair Betts and Jason Ward with rejuvenated Marcel Hossa on the left led the way with work ethic, teamwork, and the opening goal of the game, Hossa's first of the season.

And on defense, Michal Rozsival is playing like it was 2005 and Marek Malik's head seems to have been screwed back on correctly -- he even had a miraculous four hits last night! The Rangers blocked 24 shots last night, with Karel Rachunek leading the way with seven and with Rozsival and Malik each blocking one during the 'canes' five on three power play early in the second period that could have turned this game around.

The issue remains sustainability -- the Rangers really need to get on a roll to establish themselves firmly as a top team in the league. They will get a chance to do that after Thanksgiving when they go back to Pittsburgh one week after stinking up that joint with a chance to win three straight for the first time this season. They then have to return to the Garden one night later to see if they can continue to close the gap against Buffalo.

In other news, Jed Ortmeyer was cleared to practice with the team after a new embolism scare proved to be scar tissue rather than a new clot. He is still not ready for full contact, but should be later in the week. Tom Renney cautioned that Jed still needs to get into game shape before he can return to action.

The acquisition of Brad Isbister may have been catalyzed by the belief of his first NHL coach that he can revive the former NHLer's career. Wolf Pack coach Jim Schoenfeld was head coach in Phoenix when the underachieving power forward first entered the league. Schoenfeld, in the process of adding veterans to the Pack in an attempt to get some leadership for what was the youngest team in the AHL, has added Isbister (29) and Chris Ferraro (33) in recent days (see Bruce Berlet's article in the Courant on Ferraro).

Game reports today come from the Daily News, Newsday, Journal News, Post, Times, NYR.com, NY Sports Day, AP, and Raleigh News & Observer. More on Jagr, Ortmeyer, and Hossa's pre-game car accident from the News. More on Hartford from Bob Crawford and Wolf Pack Weekly. Charlotte's offense was back in gear in a 6-3 win, this time led by Mike Ouelette with his first goal of the season and a pair of assists. Bruce Graham had two more goals to make it eleven on the season. Prospect update from NYR.com, and last but certainly not least, Prospect Park by Jess Rubenstein:

In the feature game of the night, Marc-André Cliche was named Player of the Game as he scored two goals to help lead the QMJHL All-Stars over the Russian Selects 4-3. Cliche also went 9-4 on the faceoffs and once again helped fuel our call for him to be named to Team Canada's World Junior Championship team. Fellow prospect Ryan Hillier may have been held scoreless but his play showed that his selection to the QMJHL team was deserved.

In the NCAAs, Dylan Reese of Harvard was scoreless as his Crimson fell to BU 2-1, the Terriers playing without Kenny Roche. Yale, minus Greg Beller, skated to a 4-4 tie with Mercyhurst. Wish we had more to report on why Roche and Beller did not play, but we will once we can get confirmed information as to their status.

In the WHL, Michael Sauer led his Portland Winter Hawks into action against Lukas Zeliska’s Prince Albert Raiders. Zeliska took a first period penalty which led to a Winter Hawk power play goal but then assisted on a Raider goal with 52 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 3-3. PA went on to win in a shootout. Zeliska finished with two assists, while Sauer wound up scoreless. Eric Hunter and his Prince George Cougars hosted the Regina Pats and Hunter put one in the net for a third straight game, his sixth goal in his last five games to bring him up to ten for the season. Prince George won the game 3-0.

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a most happy Thanksgiving. With 34 people coming in tomorrow for dinner here chez moi, and me having to do most of the cooking, I might not have anything for you tomorrow, not for the three of you who will still be online during the holiday.

But if anyone is watching MSG tomorrow night, there is a show on Mark Messier that will most probably include some choice sound bytes from yours truly. I'm not sure how much of my one hour interview will make the 30-minute show -- certainly not any of the politically incorrect statements made about Messier's latter years in New York. But if you're interested in seeing just how little hair I have left on my head, set your VCRs or DVRs for 6:30 PM.

Isbister Brought Into Hartford

The Rangers acquited left winger Brad Isbister in a trade from the Carolina Hurricane organization for Jakub Petruzalek and a conditional fifth round draft pick. The 29 year old, who stands 6'4 and weighs 231 pounds, is a veteran of 467 NHL games with four teams, most of them as an Islander, for whom he tallied a career best 22 goals and 42 points in the 1999-2000 season.

Isbister has been with the Albany River Rats of the AHL this season after failing to make Carolina out of training camp as a UFA. He has played just nine games for Albany, and will report to Hartford, who add their second veteran this week after signing Chris Ferraro to a PTO. TSN.ca's scouting report on Isbister: "Takes far too many nights off, and has yet to shake the tag of chronic underachiever. Doesn't use his size nearly enough to maximize his potential." The only thing they have on the plus side is "untapped potential" of his "physical package."

In Petruzalek, the Rangers are giving up a diminutive playmaker who is just 21. In seven games for Charlotte of the ECHL, the speedy center had nine assists and ten points. He had two assists in six games for Hartford. Hard to imagine what the Rangers get out of this deal -- even if Petruzalek is a longshot to ever make the NHL, Isbister is a dinosaur whose NHL days are over. It doesn't seem to be worth giving up anything for a transient player just to increase the veteran presence of the young Pack, not when there are freebies like Chris Ferraro in abundance.

Hurricanes Blow Into Town on a Hot Streak

The Rangers have a rematch with the defending Cup champs tonight at the Garden. Things will be a little different this time -- the Rangers will be rested after yesterday's day off, they will be at home, and they will be relying on Henrik Lundqvist rather than the goal posts to keep the puck out of the net. But will the result be different? The 'canes come into the game on a 6-1-1 streak. Aside from their only loss to Buffalo by a 7-4 score, they have outscored opponents 27-13 during this stretch.

Not much in the papers today -- Larry Brooks reports in the Post that the Blackhawks are still trying to pry Petr Prucha from the Rangers in an article mostly on Darius Kasparaitis, while John Dellapina has a brief spot on Brendan Shanahan in the News. The Wolf Pack have signed one-time Ranger draftee Chris Ferraro, now 33 years old, to a professional try-out contract. Drafted in 1992 along with his twin brother Peter, 14 of Ferraro's 74 NHL career games were played in a Ranger jersey. Jess Rubenstein reports on junior action last night (NYR.com's prospect update has a bit on it too):

In Game One of the Canada/Russia Challenge, the QMJHL All-Stars -- including Marc-Andre Cliche and Ryan Hillier -- had no problem taking out the Russians 6-2. Both Ranger prospects walked away from this game with good reports -- Cliche did not score but was dominant in the faceoff circle, going 14-4; wearing #71 brought Hillier some good luck as he scored his thirteenth goal of the season in the third period. The series will shift to Val D'or for Game Two on tonight.

In this week's college polls, Maine (Billy Ryan) as expected dropped to #2 in both the USA Hockey and USCHO.com rankings. BU (Kenny Roche) continues its slow decline in the standings, while MTU (Jordan Foote), NMU (Darin Olver), and Yale (Greg Beller) hold firm down near the bottom. Harvard (Dylan Reese) has fallen completely off both lists.

Rangers Roll on Replay Rulings

Last Tuesday, after Tampa Bay dropped a 3-1 decision in Montreal on three Canadien power play goals, Lightning head coach John Tortorella complained to the press about how NHL officiating is ruining the game. So how did he feel last night about having two replay rulings go against his team? We don't yet know, because Tortorella was not available to the press after the Rangers' 4-1 win, having left the building after his second period ejection for abusing the referees when they explained the second ruling to him.

Both rulings were based on nuances subtle enough to cause controversy, but both were ultimately the correct calls. On the first, Michael Nylander was credited with a power play goal after redirecting a point shot that may or may not have been deflected before it got to him with a high stick by Brendan Shanahan -- because Nylander redirected the deflection, the possible high stick was not a reviewable incident, so all calls on the ice stood. By all appearances, Shanahan deflected the puck legally -- while the criterion for a goal off a high stick is the height of the cross-bar, the criterion for a pass is the player's shoulder, and Shanahan clearly hit the puck at chest height, even though his stick most definitely came down from above his shoulders.

The second call was actually more arguable, in our opinion. The use of feet to redirect pucks into the net at this time is not based at all on intent and strictly on whether the puck was kicked -- you're allowed to use your skate to redirect a puck into the net even on purpose as long as there is no "distinct" kicking motion. In this case, the call was close, but replays definitely show an extremely slight but nevertheless distinct jerk toward the net just as the puck hit Eric Perrin's skate. This call really could have gone either way, so one team was going to be incensed. Having come out of the short end of a majority of calls, the Rangers will take this one.

Even without these calls going their way, the Rangers were in control of this game from start to finish. The top line lit up the scoreboard with a goal and two assists credited to each member. The power play scored twice, with Shanahan netting one and assisting on the other -- on the disputed Nylander goal, all five players touched the puck as it made its way around the perimeter and eventually toward and into the net. The reunited tandem of Blair Betts and Jason Ward, along with Marcel Hossa, was given the task of shutting down Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, and did the job, with Betts outdrawing Lecavalier 13-2. And with his Team Sweden backup in the opposing net sporting a personal five game win streak, Henrik Lundqvist quietly went about his business and fell one late power play breakaway short of a shutout.

The way the Rangers rebounded from their brainless performance in Pittsburgh the night before was gratifying, especially in their second game in two nights in two cities. But the team is still stuck in a win one, lose one, win two, lose two rut. With Jagr now back to full strength, Lundqvist back to his rookie form, and the defense somewhat tightened, there is no reason for it not to happen -- a 4-0-1 run at the start of the month appeared to launch the team, but a 1-3-0 run punctuated by a couple of lackluster efforts and the sudden evaporation of offense undid much of that. With six of eight games scheduled for the Garden, the time to make a statement is at hand, although there are some tough opponents ahead, including two more games vs. Buffalo.

Jagr's 600th NHL goal was the story of the night, but with only the last 78 scored for the Rangers, we just can't muster that much enthusiasm for the milestone. Jagr himself was uncomfortable talking about it -- on MSGN, he joked that he couldn't recall many of his previous milestone goals, and in the locker room afterwards he could not single out one goal as the most memorable, even having just seen all those milestones, including his first NHL goal. He joked about giving the puck to his mother and was more concerned with his current goal scoring than his past.

Game reports all naturally focus on Jagr's 600th and the disputed replay rulings -- see the News, Newsday, Journal News, Times, Post, NYR.com, NY Sports Day, AP, and from the Lightning camp, the Tampa Tribune. Also from the Tampa area, a pre-game article on Holmqvist, noting that he was a Ranger draftee nearly a decade ago. In the reporters' blogs, pre-game entries on Thomas Pöck suiting up to play topped by postgame musings in Rangers Report, Blueshirts Blog, and Blue Notes (with Mike Casey filling in for Steve Zipay, who recounts his adventures in Pittsburgh's hospitality industry). In other leagues, the Wolf Pack won on two Dale Purinton goals and a late goal by Dwight Helminen, Charlotte's potent offense abandoned Chris Holt in a 1-0 loss, NYR.com has their daily prospect update, and Jess Rubenstein has Prospect Park:

Russia announced their preliminary roster for the Canada/Russia Challenge, and Ranger draftee Artem Anisimov was not on it. This series typically helps both Russia and Canada decide which players to carry on their World Junior roster. Several of Anisimov’s Yaroslavl teammates were selected for the Challenge team. Six Canadian Ranger prospects have already been named to the three Canadian teams.

In game action, first star of the game Marc-André Cliche scored two goals to help power Lewiston to a 4-2 win over Moncton. Cliche now has fourteen for the season. Ryan Hillier was scoreless as Halifax lost in OT to Saint Johns. First star of the game Eric Hunter scored his ninth goal of the season and added an assist to help lead Prince George to a 5-1 win over Seattle. When the new college polls come out, Billy Ryan’s Maine Black Bears will probably drop out of the number one spot, as they lost for the second Sunday in a row, this time to Boston College in overtime 4-3. Ryan had an assist in the losing effort.

Prospect Park wants to recognize players when they give the kind of performances that Ranger fans are going to want to see in the future, so tonight we award two first stars: Eric Hunter (Prince George WHL) with goal number nine, his fifth in four games and sixth point in the same span -- this is the Eric Hunter we were told about at the NHL entry draft. And Marc-André Cliche (Lewiston QMJHL) with two goals that helped Lewiston continue their winning ways. Cliche is now 14-18-32, making a strong case to be named to Team Canada’s World Junior team. Nothing would be more exciting to see than a Canadian World Junior team with a line made up of Brodie Dupont, Marc-Andre Cliche, and Tom Pyatt -- that, folks, could be the Rangers' scoring line of the future.

A week to the day after we gave you a link on one of the Rangers' zamboni drivers, here is a short interview with another one. And back at the Post, a blurb about the Rangers' salute to firefighters, related to the ongoing MSGN series on the 50 greatest moments at the Garden.

Lobotomy

The only person missing last night when the Rangers traveled to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins was Dorothy Gale. The Tin Man was there, as evidenced by the Rangers playing without an ounce of heart. The Cowardly Lion was there, with only a handful of Rangers having the courage to step up and play (Lundqvist, Shanahan, Hollweg, and Tyutin are the only ones who come readily to mind). And looming larger than them all was the Scarecrow -- was there ever a performance more brainless than this one?

A season-high eleven power plays allowed, with only one, maybe two of the calls arguable, the rest for the most part downright idiotic, including two delay of games over the glass and one bench minor. The penalties were especially dumb considering the circumstances -- nearly half of them, five, occurred while power plays were already in force. Two negated Ranger power plays, not that they were doing anything worthwhile with the man advantage. And three handed the Penguins five on three advantages, the only ones they could convert, having come into the game without a goal in their last twenty chances.

That was hardly the extent of the Rangers' brain dead play. They let a team coming into the second of back to back games in different cities with a 1-4-2 record and dismal special teams get the better of the play in general, and the better of special teams play in specific. Twice, players iced the puck from just inside the red line because they forgot to take one extra stride before dumping it deep. On a night when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were nothing special, the Rangers' coterie of resident superstars were special only in the sense of the term "special education." They put puck after puck into high traffic areas, never forced to do so by the opposition, only by their own stubbornness.

There was one notable exception to the putrid play, and that was the heroic defense on the Penguins' only even strength goal. Sandis Ozolinsh made an exceptional decision to bat a loose puck right back to Colby Armstrong so he could pass to Crosby for a two on two -- Ozolinsh could hardly be blamed for Crosby continuing to skate after Armstrong flubbed the puck, blowing by for a two on one. And then Karel Rachunek, defending the two on one, made an equally exceptional play, sacrificing his body in going down to try to block Crosby's pass to Mark Recchi. Faced with the job of taking the pass away, and with Crosby already having no shooting angle, Rachunek went down to stop the pass. Hardly his fault that the pass got through and that Lundqvist, that deadbeat in net, couldn't stop Recchi's quick point blank redirection.

The hallmarks of the new Rangers were supposed to be hard work, attention to detail, and accountability, three things that were sorely lacking during the course of seven years of futility. After a 1-3-0 slide in which the Rangers have managed only three goals in 238 1/2 of the 240 minutes played, with the penalties mounting at a rate that outstrips even the number of times the opposition hits the goal post, it's time for accountability -- serious accountability, not just Darius Kasparaitis getting a chance ahead of any of a number of underachieving defensemen.There is no better time to send a message than now -- and if that message is not sent, the message will be that this kind of effort is acceptable, any words to the contrary ringing hollow.

Ranger fans have lived through enough of that. We are on the brink of bringing back those bad old days. Who will step up and snatch the team back from the brink and keep them from falling back into the abyss?

Game reports from the News, Newsday, and Post, additional notes from Newsday, as well as from Pittsburgh here and here and a pre-game note about Jagr hearing boos. More from the reporters' blogs -- Blueshirts Blog and Blue Notes. NYR.com doesn't have a recap of last night, just a preview of tonight back at the Garden. Sunday columns: Sherry Ross of the News on Herb Brooks; Steve Zipay of Newsday on new uniforms; and Larry Brooks of the Post, refreshingly refusing to name Mark Messier's promotional product, and wondering whether you'd want to trade Jessiman and Korpikoski for Parise and Zajac -- Brooks is drawing a direct comparison between the players the Rangers drafted vs. the ones they left on the table for the Devils, but we'd like to add that the Rangers actually traded up to get Korpikoski, using the second round draft pick they got for not signing R.J. Umberger, so the ledger is even worse than all that.

Hartford lost in San Antonio against a team that gave them nine goals a week ago. Charlotte won again, with Bruce Graham and Mark Lee each registering a goal and an assist. NYR.com has its daily prospect update. Jess Rubenstein has Prospect Park:

The battle of Ranger first rounders wound up with neither scoring, but Marc Staal's Sudbury Wolves beat Bobby Sanguinetti's Owen Sound Attack 4-2. Dalyn Flatt was also scoreless in this game. On Sunday Staal gets to go against yet another fellow prospect -- Trevor Koverko and his Oshawa Generals. Tom Pyatt got Saginaw going with goal number twenty as the Spirit defeated Sarina 4-3 in OT. Teammate Tomas Zaborsky was scoreless as the Spirit continued their reign as the best team in the OHL.

In what is becoming a nightly ritual, Brodie Dupont earned third star of the night, scoring goal number fifteen on the season and adding an assist as Calgary whipped Moose Jaw 6-1. Dupont is going to be featured in the next issue of the Blueshirt Bulletin. Lukas Zeliska had an assist on Prince Albert's only goal as they fell to Brandon 3-1. Michael Sauer and his Portland Winter Hawks were shut out 3-0 by Saskatoon. Eric Hunter is showing signs of heating up -- he had two goals in a losing effort as Prince George fell to Chilliwack 4-3. Hunter, who will also be featured in the next issue, now has four goals in his last three games.

In college, Dylan Reese scored his fourth goal of the season but his Harvard Crimson continued to struggle as they lost to Greg Beller's Yale Bulldogs 5-2. Beller missed his second game this weekend -- we are still awaiting word as to why. Darin Olver was scoreless as NMU lost to Western Michigan 3-2 in OT to split the weekend series. Jordan Foote had a goal and an assist as MTU continued their surprising season with a 3-3 tie at Denver.

Prospect Park's Stars of the Night: First Star -- Eric Hunter (Prince George, WHL), with two goals in a losing effort but a hot Hunter will have an impact on the WHL standings; Second Star -- Brodie Dupont (Calgary, WHL), with another goal and another assist as the hottest Ranger prospect makes his case to be selected to Team Canada's WJC roster (we say give him the roster spot already); Third Star-- Jordan Foote (MTU, WCHA), with a goal and an assist with an injured wrist, which says a lot about Mr. Foote (who is featured in this month's Blueshirt Bulletin). How's about some applause for these three who on this Saturday night showed up to play, unlike a certain team in red, white and blue.

Jagr's Happy Feat Possible vs. Penguins

Jaromir Jagr goes for his 600th career goal tonight against the team he scored the first 439 for, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jagr has scored 77 goals as a Ranger, including 54 last season, the Ranger single-season record. The new generation of Penguin stars, Gene Malkin and Sid Crosby, are the guys the Rangers have to watch out for -- there's a huge dropoff after that. The Pens have cooled off after their hot start, with a 1-4-2 record since going 7-3-0 in their first ten games. They are playing their second game in two nights, having lost 4-2 in Buffalo last night mainly because of the failure of both of their special teams -- with the Rangers having played well on both special teams during their 5-2-1 November, there is an opportunity there to take advantage of their young hosts.

Game day reports from the Journal News and Post are about the revival on defense. Game preview at NYR.com -- prospect update there too. In Charlotte, Rick Kozak came off the DL to score two goals, including the game winner for the Checkers. Jakub Petruzalek had a pair of assists in his first game back after a stint in Hartford, and Zdenek Bahensky added a goal and an assist. Prospect Park from Jess Rubenstein:

Seventeen Ranger prospects took to the ice for action on Friday night with a very mixed bag of results. Marc-Andre Cliche’s Lewiston MAINEaics took on fellow prospect Ryan Hillier’s Halifax Mooseheads again in the second game of a back-to-back series. Just like Thursday evening, the MAINEaics came out on top, this time 4-1. Cliche had an assist while earning third star of the night honors while Hillier struggled with a -2. In the OHL, Trevor Koverko did not score as Oshawa lost to Barrie 7-5. Marc Staal also was scoreless as Sudbury dropped a 5-2 decision to Guelph. Tomas Zaborsky scored his fifth of the season in a losing effort as Saginaw lost to Plymouth 7-3. Tom Pyatt did not score in the game, the first time since September 27th that he has gone two games without scoring. Bobby Sanguinetti and Dalyn Flatt were scoreless as Owen Sound edged Kitchener 2-1.

In the WHL, it is not often that a player scoring just one assist in a losing effort earns raves, but Michael Sauer’s defensive efforts actually helped keep Portland's 6-2 loss to Brandon from being worse than it was. Lukas Zeliska did not score but Prince Albert blew out Saskatoon 5-1. Second star of the game Brodie Dupont had two assists to continue his strong November but Calgary fell to Kootenay 4-3. Ryan Russell did not return to the Kootenay lineup as expected. Eric Hunter and his Prince George Cougars visited Everett and came away on the short end of a 3-1 decision, with Hunter scoreless.

In the college ranks, Dylan Reese and his Harvard Crimson dropped a 2-1 decision to Brown. Reese did not score. Greg Beller was out of the lineup as Yale defeated Dartmouth 4-2. Kenny Roche assisted on the game's only goal as BU shut out Providence 1-0. Darin Olver’s three-point night led Northern Michigan to a 7-2 win over Western Michigan. Olver had two goals and an assist to earn second star of the game. Jordan Foote, playing despite an injured hand, was scoreless as his Michigan Tech Huskies were shut out by Denver 1-0.

Prospect Park Stars of the Night: First Star -- Darin Olver (NMU CCHA), two goals and an assist as the Huskies won big time; Second Star -- Brodie Dupont (Calgary WHL), two assists to give him nine points for the month of November; Third Star -- Michael Sauer (Portland WHL), a solid all-around game in a losing effort.

Ortmeyer's Medical Treatment to Continue

Jed Ortmeyer's course of blood thinners will continue longer than expected, setting back the winger's return to action following a pulmonary embolism, according to a footnote to Sam Weinman's article in the Journal News today. The main body of the article discusses the drop-off in offense past the first line and Brendan Shanahan, echoing Sam's most recent posting at Rangers Report. John Dellapina analyzes the power play in the Daily News and the defense in his Blueshirts Blog. Steve Zipay reports on the weather in Raleigh, which puts him in mind of Dante's Inferno, in his Blue Notes blog, and provides a weather forecast for the Rangers in his regular space in Newsday. The Post sent a second stringer up to practice to write about Jaromir Jagr's impending 600th NHL goal.

The Wolf Pack's growing pains are the subject of Bruce Berlet's analysis in the Hartford Courant. Pack forward Ryan Callahan is the subject of an article at NYR.com. They also have their daily prospect update. Jakub Petruzalek is back in Charlotte after a two-week call-up to Hartford. And Jess Rubenstein checks in with Prospect Park:

Marc-Andre Cliche and Lewiston hosted Ryan Hillier and his Halifax Mooseheads last night with Cliche and his MAINEaics coming out on top 3-1. Neither prospect scored in this match-up. Bobby Sanguinetti had a goal along with an assist but his Owen Sound Attack dropped a 5-4 decision to Barrie. Dalyn Flatt returned to the lineup but did not score. Trevor Koverko did not score in Oshawa's wild 6-5 loss to Peterborough. Tom Pyatt and Tomas Zaborsky did not score as Saginaw edged Erie 4-3. Speaking of Pyatt, we got confirmation that he will be a guest on Blueshirt Bulletin's next Rangers Four on Four on December 4th.

In other Ranger reading -- Glenn Anderson's elusive quest for the Hall of Fame, the oldest living Hall of Famer and oldest living Ranger Clint Smith, and former Czech president Vaclav Havel's visit to New York in which he snubbed the Devils' Patrick Elias.

Crossed Up By the Crossbar

The Rangers refused to use the circumstances -- two games in two nights in two different cities against two tough teams -- as an excuse for last night's 2-1 loss to the defending Cup champion Hurricanes, so we will too. We're going to scapegoat the goal frame. The iron gave the Rangers their best chance to win this game, but as the third period wound down, it just could not withstand the pressure and choked, allowing Rod Brind'amour's shot to deflect in off the cross-bar.

That left the goal frame with an unacceptable .800 save percentage. The goal posts, which did their job by stopping all four shots they faced, were left wondering what exactly Tom Renney sees in the crossbar to have allowed it to stay on the ice that late in a game that tight so that it could give up the deciding goal on the only shot it had to stop.

"We prop that crossbar up for a full sixty minutes," said one post, requesting anonymitiy. "And we would have been willing to prop it up for another five minutes of OT and even a shootout, if it had just done its job and controlled that one shot. But after a result like this, we're just tired of carrying it game in, game out." Added another pipe: "There are an awful lot of young crossbars in the minors just looking for a chance to make the show. Maybe it's time to give one of them a look."

Seriously, though -- there are lot of ways this game could have turned in the Rangers' favor (or, for that matter, more emphatically in the 'canes' favor, and not just by beating another goal post or two). The Rangers could have cut down on some of the defensive errors, even though only two of them ended up hurting on the scoreboard (Karel Rachunek took more potentially costly gambles than the one that led to Carolina's first goal). They could have especially cut down on the number of defensive errors committed on the one play -- the deciding goal, where Aaron Ward's turnover and lax coverage by Matt Cullen and Fedor Tyutin conspired to give Brind'amour the chance to take advantage of the beleaguered crossbar.

In addition, Jaromir Jagr or Michael Nylander could have converted just one of their two breakaways to change the complexion of the game completely. And even on a night when few penalties were called, Marek Malik still found a way to take two too many.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that this team will win or lose on special teams. The power play has really come on lately, as it should given the firepower it boasts with Jagr and Shanahan and the others. And the penalty killing has been excellent since its early season woes -- and it was again last night. But even though the Rangers scored their lone goal with the man advantage and had only three other chances, it really needed to convert at least one half of the double-minor at the start of the third period to give the Rangers their best chance to win this game despite the adverse scheduling circumstances.

Ward and Cullen made their first appearance against the team they helped take to the Stanley Cup last spring, and it was an eventful night for both, even beyond their role in the deciding Hurricane goal. Ward, who was miked, was caught giving his teammates insight into the Carolina system. He also provided lame defense of his mugging of former teammate Kevyn Adams in the first period, even after Adams skated up to him and accused him of a cheap shot. Cullen, meanwhile, was bloodied by his former teammate Eric Staal off the opening face-off of the third period, giving the Rangers the double minor they failed to capitalize on. Five other Rangers played with this franchise either in Hartford or Carolina -- Shanahan, Nylander, Malik, Ozolinsh, and Weekes.

Game reports today: News, Post, Newsday, NYR.com, and Raleigh News-Observer. Additional notes from Newsday. John Dellapina answers the question of what Renney sees in Hossa in his Blueshirts Blog (hint: exactly what you'd expect Renney to say, which doesn't seem to apply to players like, oh, say, Nigel Dawes). New York Press has a paean to Ranger fans, with a strange photo of Henrik Lundqvist on the cover (this free paper can be found on street corners all over the city if you want a copy of the cover for yourself). Doug Weight, who ironically plays his 1000th NHL game in Edmonton tonight, describes what happened to him the day the Rangers traded him to the Oilers back in 1992, which happened ironically on the day the Oilers came to the Garden to face the Rangers. Prospect update at NYR.com, Prospect Park from Jess Rubenstein, back off the disabled list:

In addition to the Rangers, we had some prospects in action last night. Darin Olver had a goal along with two assists but NMU had spotted Minnesota-Duluth a 6-1 lead before a furious third period rally fell short at 6-4.

No prospects in the QJMHL or OHL were in action, so we head west to the WHL where Michael Sauer and the Portland Winter Hawks looked to rebound from an embarrassing 7-0 loss the night before. While Sauer did not score, his Hawks did, defeating Moose Jaw 4-3. Lukas Zeliska did not score as his Prince Albert Raiders were beaten 5-1 by Medicine Hat. Brodie Dupont remained hot with two assists to help lead Calgary to a 4-3 win over Kootenay (still missing Ryan Russell). In the final game of the night, Eric Hunter’s fifth goal of the season tied the game at three and then his shorthanded goal was the finishing touch in Prince George’s 7-3 win over Kelowna.

Prospect Park’s Stars of the Night: First Star -- Eric Hunter (Prince George WHL) with two goals to help Prince George to a road win; Second Star -- Darin Olver (Northern Michigan CCHA) with one goal and two assists in a losing effort; Third Star -- Brodie Dupont (Calgary WHL) with two assists including one on the game winner.

A special Blueshirt Bulletin and Prospect Park hello to Mike Davis and the rest of the folks with the Prince George Cougars.

Renney's Rant Revs Rangers

Tom Renney has said on several occasions, when given the opportunity to take credit for something, that it's usually a gut reaction rather than forethought that makes things happen. "Coaching has a lot to do with your guts," he said last night after the Rangers came back to beat the Devils 3-2 on the strength of three goal in 90 seconds early in the second period. "There's a visceral component to coaching, having a feel for the room and the situatuon and what might be required."

In most cases, Renney sticks with what brung him to the dance. In this case, what brung him to the dance turned into two periods of Chinese water torture as the Devils clogged up the middle of the ice, limiting the Rangers to nine shots on goal over the first 35 minutes of the game while capitalizing on a pair of Ranger errors -- a bad goal allowed by Henrik Lundqvist and an unforced clear into the stands by Blair Betts that gave the Devils a five on three goal.

That's when Renney's gut told him it was time to do something. During the second intermission, he read his team the riot act. "I don't think it would be good to put in the newspaper," Jaromir Jagr said of Renney's rant. "[You want a] rendition?" said Renney when asked what he said. "It wasn't musical. There comes times when as a coach you gotta conjure up the proper emotion to go out there and tackle the task at hand. We weren't being proactive with respect to putting them on their heels. In a manner of speaking, we proposed that to the guys." Yes, in a different manner of speaking than that.

"I've had some practice since I've been here, yeah," Renney answered when asked if he's had to do much of this kind of thing. "This year, that's as passionate as I've been. They need to know that I'm passionate about them and for them. And they in turn should be for themselves and their fans. That was their challenge. In the third period, we placed the ultimate challenge on them and they responded well to that."

"Speeches," said Jagr. "Sometimes it's useless if you don't do it on the ice. We all know what we have to do, it's just a matter of doing it." Jagr wasn't talking about Renney's speech -- he was talking about why none of the players, especially himself as captain, made any speeches. He of course did it on the ice in the third period, with two goals on one shift to erase a 2-0 Devils' lead.

One of the things that put him in position to do that was another inspired coaching decision -- double-shifting Jagr with the fourth line. "We figured if we did that it would achieve two things," Renney said about getting Jagr more ice time and keeping him away from his shadow, Jay Pandolfo, at least part of the time. "Coach wanted to do some change in the line-up, try something different," said Marcel Hossa, a major beneficiary of the move with two excellent assists on Jagr's goals. "It worked. He was putting us every time Jags was coming from the first line to our line."

"Honestly, it wasn't about double shifting," Jagr said. "It was more putting me on a different line so I was playing against different line. They're putting Madden against our line," meaning his regular line with Michael Nylander and Martin Straka. "Now I'm playing with the fourth line, they have to make a decision which line they're going to play. That way we change it, I have the puck more on my stick."

But there was more to it than that. "We believe there's a strategy in playing New Jersey that will give you those opportunities," said Renney. "I don't want to say much more than that. There's a way to beat this team. I felt that combination of three guys might be effective for us. In large part, [it was due] to [Hossa's] size and strength. He's played a determined game for us in the offensive zone, below the dots, cycling the puck, protecting it, trying to get it to the net -- that's where you can beat New Jersey. It sort of added up."

From there, the Rangers' momentum snowballed. "You put combinations of people together that you hope can get you one [goal]," Renney said. "And you hope that lifts the arousal level of your group. When you get some success, then you think you've broken through and you keep going on." Even Adam Hall was aroused enough to finally finish a check -- one check, which was two fewer than little Petr Prucha finished (even after Mike Rupp plastered Hall earlier in the game, the 6'4 winger passed up an opportunity to finish a check on Rupp seconds later, choosing instead to reach for the puck futilely with his stick).

Actually, the Rangers had a couple of excellent chances earlier in the period, one sequence by the line of Matt Cullen (who was 12-1 on draws), Brendan Shanahan, and Prucha, and one when Marek Malik walked in for a shot that went just wide. And they had a couple more good chances after Shanahan broke in off a Michal Rozsival headman pass up the middle to score what would prove to be the winning goal. And Lundqvist came up with a couple big saves when the Devils pressed on the shift right after Jagr fanned on a shot that floated over Martin Brodeur, deflected slightly off Brodeur's blocker as he reached back for the puck, and then deflected down off the crossbar for Jagr's second goal in a span of 26 seconds.

"They have a good system they, have a great goalie," Jagr said of the Devils and Brodeur. "It's not easy to score against them, it's not at all, trust me. I've played against many teams, many great goalies, but this is probably the toughest -- they have the system and the goalie." But for five minutes, both the system and the goalie broke down. "They give us more room, more space in the middle," said Hossa. "We created some offensive chances and we score the goals. They give us the juice for playing hard."

"We've been pretty good against the real good teams," Renney said. "I think our team likes those challenges. Maybe we like kind of being the underdog. And certainly by the nature of how we played originally [in the first two periods], we were the underdog against anyone."

"It's always a good feeling when you put some points on the scoreboard, but especially when you won," said Hossa of scoring his first points of the season. He admitted to knowing about his scoring slump. "Oh yeah. I'm trying not to think about it -- try to do what they want me to do. It's sometimes stressing, but we have a lot of guys here who can score. I'm just trying to work hard." Hossa played a great game tonight -- and we won't diminish it one bit the way Rozsival's detractors diminish what he accomplised last season because Hossa was playing well even before Jagr started double shifting on his line. The challenge for him is to keep doing it over the long haul.

In a less heralded coaching move, Renney helped neutralize the Devils' checkers, primarily Cam Janssen and Rupp, by making sure to send out Colton Orr and Ryan Hollweg every time Claude Julien sent out his big bangers. That way, the only guys they could hit were guys who would hit back. Orr did well in a marathon bout with Janssen in the first period (with the Devils typically getting the better of the officiating, Janssen was not flagged with a minor for his sweater coming half off or for the late check that precipitated the fisticuffs).

We counted three distinct dives by the Devils that resulted in Ranger penalties, only one of which was possibly deserved -- the boarding call against Rozsival, on which John Madden went down like he was shot but then bounced back up instantly when he heard the whistle blow for the penalty call. But when Shanahan tripped over a Devil into Brodeur and when Jagr was assessed a hooking penalty in the third period, the calls should have gone against the Devil divers, not the Rangers.

Game recaps by Ranger writers at the Daily News, Newsday, Journal News, Post, Times, NY Sports Day, AP, Staten Island Advance, and NYR.com. The Jersey point of view can be found in the Star-Ledger, Record, and Post, including Brodeur criticizing his coach for not matching up on Jagr (although the coach refrained from criticizing Brodeur for three soft goals). More on the game from Rangers Report, Blueshirts Blog, NY Sports Day, and the Ledger.

Mark Messier was in the building to give Shanahan the inaugural Leadership Award, which was not meant as reflection of his leadership this season but over the course of his career (see reports at the News, Newsday, and NYR.com). Sadly, this award seems little more than a blatant promotional opportunity by its sponsor, which Messier has been relentlessly hawking all season long. Messier's legacy of leadership is too valuable to be tainted by commercialism.

USA Today is a little late with their story on Lundqvist's sophomore slump -- Lundqvist is back on track, going 3-1 in his last four, with a 2.48 goals against average and a .915 save percentage in those four games. Bruce Berlet of the Courant has a story on Nigel Dawes returning to the Pack. Prospect update at NYR.com -- with Jess Rubenstein on IR, and given that not all that much happened on a lightly scheduled evening, and with this post already way too lengthy, we'll leave it at that for now.

Dawes Demotion Still Doesn't Answer $60,000 Question

While the major news outlets all focus today on Darius Kasparaitis's return to New York (Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Post), Ranger fans are filling up message boards with their feelings about Nigel Dawes being sent down to Hartford. The short term view, that Dawes needs ice time in Hartford that he is not getting in New York in order to continue to develop, is of course correct. But so is the long term view that the team's handling of young players this year belies the promise of rebuilding the Rangers from the inside, from the bottom up. And you can say the same about Thomas Pöck, except that management is afraid to assign him to Hartford for fear he will be claimed on waivers.

Even in the short term, though, to echo our brief post from yesterday, it's impossible to fathom how Dawes could not be given ice time that other players are doing nothing with -- in some cases less than nothing. A year ago, Tom Renney justified putting Petr Prucha on the third and fourth lines because he wanted to manage the young player's minutes and expectations while "hiding" offense on checking lines -- Renney even proffered the same notion with respect to Prucha during this year's training camp. But Dawes, with a similar profile as Prucha, all of a sudden doesn't fit the bill as hidden offense on a checking line. Hmm. What's changed over the course of a year?

What's changed is this: a year ago, five rookies made the Rangers out of camp, along with a virtual rookie (Betts), a sophomore (Ortmeyer), and two virtual sophomores (Hossa and Ward) -- and a sixth rookie (Orr) was added off the waiver wire a short time in. That's nearly half the roster right there. Maxim Kondratiev was the only one of those ten who was not able to hold onto his role for the remainder of the season. Most of the rest brought a combination of energy, work ethic, hitting, defense, and penalty killing. Two rookies (Prucha and Lundqvist) became major front-line contributors while a third (Tyutin) established himself as capable of developing into a front-line player -- three contributors who would never have emerged had the team taken the same approach with them that they are now taking with Dawes and Pöck.

This year, there's no room for two more additions to the core of young developing players. This despite the lack of contribution by at least one and maybe as many as five forwards, and at least one and maybe as many as three defensemen. One can debate whether any of these players should be cut or benched, but at the very least, a message could have been sent to them that there are young players ready to take their place permanently by having those young players take their place temporarily. Both Dawes and Pöck could have by now gotten into a number of games that way, giving them a chance to show whether they require more ice time here or more ice time in Hartford, and thereby giving the team a better chance to figure out the best roster configuration.

One could hardly argue that the Rangers would have been worse off with Dawes and Pöck on the ice than non-contributors who have been playing regularly. Sticking with guys who are seriously underachieving just because they have more NHL games under their belt than other guys just invites more underachieving, as Ranger fans learned the hard way over the course of seven seasons. No wonder fans are freaking out -- we've seen this before, and not only do we not want to see it again, we were promised that we would not see it again. Last season's results proved conclusively which was the right way to go -- we don't need to waste another season re-proving the contrary.

John Dellapina tackles some of these issues in his latest Blueshirts Blog entry. In other news, the NHL has created a new monthly award for leadership in honor of (and partially selected by) Mark Messier. Dellapina reports that the first recipient will be Brendan Shanahan in a ceremony before tonight's game vs. the Devils. Messier himself will be a part-time commentator for Vs. (it pains us to use that silly network moniker), starting with tonight's match (game preview at NYR.com). Both Steve Zipay and Sam Weinman report from practice today that Kasparaitis will not play tonight and that Lundqvist will be in net.

In college hockey news, Maine has relinquished its top ranking in the USA Hockey poll by a narrow margin but remains atop the USCHO poll by nearly as slim a margin after its blowout loss to UNH last weekend. All other schools featuring Ranger prospects remain pretty much where they were a week ago. For more, see USCHO's poll story and FoxSports.com's weekly hockey round-up.