With the Rangers' pre-season schedule having come to an end last night with a 3-2 win in Philadelphia, the immediate question is who will be among the last three cuts? All three goal scorers from last night -- Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, and Marc Staal -- are on the bubble. One is likely to start the season in Hartford, although there is a small chance two might be sent down and an even smaller chance that all three will stick for the start of the season. We'll find out sometime on Monday which way the brain trust decides to go on these players, along with Artem Anisimov, Thomas Pock, and the backup goaltenders, where Al Montoya may end up starting the season in New York because of Steve Valiquette's injury.
But the bigger question heading into the regular season is whether the Rangers are going to be treated as rudely on a routine basis as the Islanders and Flyers have treated them. Conventional wisdom says that teams cannot risk points in the standings to go after players the way some Rangers have been targeted. But Ryan Hollweg just does that to people -- and so does Sean Avery. Last night, Chris Drury and Brendan Shanahan dropped the gloves coming to the aid of teammates, joining frequent flyers Colton Orr and Jason Strudwick. In the past three games, unlikely pugilists have included Fedor Tyutin, Thomas Pock, Marcel Hossa, and Montoya. Fasten your seat belts, Ranger fans -- it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Not many game recaps today -- only Blue Notes, NYR.com, and the AP. Season preview season is upon us -- see the Daily News, Newsday here and here, FoxSports, SportsNet, and the AP. The Sports Ticker has an interview with Henrik Lundqvist on a few personal matters. And Larry Brooks in the Post runs down the Rangers' lawsuit against the NHL over control of its web site, including excerpts of a letter Jim Dolan wrote to other NHL owners. On the prospect front, the Courant has an article on Hugh Jessiman, and Prospect Park has a round-up of last night's action.
There is "something called hockey, which I think is being threatened by global warming," says the New York Press in an article on the Isiah Thomas trial (which is a good gateway to stories and videos about that trial, if you're interested). The writer doesn't know enough about hockey to understand that there is an apt metaphor in that lame joke, that the NHL is in fact cooking its own goose with pollutants of its own making. With little to glean from the Rangers' 5-2 rout of an Islander squad that had the minimum allowable eight NHL players, we turn to the renewed nastiness in this game. In concert with the fallout from prior meetings between the two teams, the Steve Downie suspension, and MSG's lawsuit against the NHL over control of the Rangers' web site, we get a mostly Ranger-centric view into how the NHL undermines itself at almost every turn.
It all starts with Ryan Hollweg. The Islanders, the referees, and the league all seem to think that Hollweg was the one who swung the stick last fall, not Chris Simon. In two pre-season games, every time Hollweg threw a check, the Islanders responded. In the first meeting, Simon was assessed a match penalty for charging Hollweg from behind, but he was not assessed the requisite one-game suspension for intent to injure, nor subject to further review over his run at the same player he tomahawked last season for a 25-game suspension. Although Hollweg was properly assessed a high-sticking minor after checking Chris Campoli, he received two other penalties that were unwarranted, one when a player tripped over him after backing up into him, and one for charging when he did no such thing -- it's as if the referees have bought into the notion that Hollweg deserved the Simon hatchet job because he hits people.
Meanwhile, with three Islanders jumping him after the charge that wasn't a charge, and with something bearing the unlikely name of Bootland twisting his helmet by its straps, there were no calls against the Islanders -- indeed, the referee stood right beside the two players as Bootland twisted Hollweg's helmet and did nothing, and made no call against Bootland other than coincidental majors with Hollweg. This situation can only favor the Rangers in the regular season, with the Islanders so distracted by Hollweg to their own detriment. But the treatment of Hollweg by the league and its officials is curious at best.
At the same time, Downie was punished severely for his hit on Dean McAmmond, while Andy Sutton got no more than a fine for his headhunting on Ryan Callahan. Now Downie is someone I and all other Ranger fans will elevate toward the top of our most hated list if he ever plays regularly for the Flyers -- the guy is a lunatic. And he deserved his punishment. But contrast his act against Simon's -- yes, it was a dangerous hit, a shoulder to the head while leaving his feet after taking a long run into McAmmond, but it came during the course of play and was exacerbated by McAmmond hitting the boards with his head. It was a far cry from Simon taking a measured swing to Hollweg's head or throat, one which could have been tragic had Hollweg not been fortunate to avoid major injury. It was no different than what Scott Stevens was praised for doing to Eric Lindros, and the penalty was equal to Todd Bertuzzi's after his mugging of Steve Moore. Simon was allowed to play in pre-season, but Downie is banned from tonight's match between the Rangers and Flyers match (so Hugh Jessiman would be safe, were he to play). Makes no sense.
Meanwhile, Sutton got off with a slap on the wrist for his elbow to Callahan's head, the play that Tom Renney singled out for igniting the Ranger-Islander war last Monday. Why? Because Callahan (fortunately) emerged unhurt. "As far as a legal blow to the head, that wasn't legal, that was illegal," Colin Campbell said of Sutton's hit. "But there was no injury. I don't think he made complete contact from what I saw." In fact, Callahan staggered away from the hit, so there was something there, but why should injury be a factor in enforcement of a rule? "Andy Sutton was suspended before for a hit like that against the glass," Campbell said. "This is an elbow he launched that did not injure the player -- the player ducked to get out of the way. I fined Andy Sutton for that play itself, and warned Andy Sutton that this is a suspendable offense. Whether you're 6'6 and he's 5'8, it doesn't matter." But he only warned him and fined him for what he admits is a suspendable offense.
Then there is the lawsuit against the NHL over control of the Rangers' web site. As further details emerge, the AP reports that the NHL forced the Rangers to stop "making Rangers-branded merchandise available through the Rangers web site and making Rangers games available to subscribers on its web site" during last spring's playoffs, and withheld $200,000 in funds due to the Rangers when the team refused to pay fines imposed for doing those things. While the Rangers are clearly taking this action to protect their financial interests in their web offerings, the NHL has in the process taken away valuable web-based opportunities for fans. And they wonder why they are taking a back seat to NASCAR, horse races, and no limit Texas Hold'em.
In Blueshirts Blog, John Dellapina discusses the strange case of Andrew Hutchinson. Not to contradict him, but when he asked the question of when Hutchinson was placed on waivers, the answer was, "He went on today, at noon today [Friday], I believe." The delay, it was explained, was for strategic reasons, to get him on waivers when he was least likely to be claimed (or perhaps most likely?). "My decision to place him on waivers was strictly hockey," said Renney. "There's a part of his game came to the forefront as we thought it would that at this point in time prevents him from playing as a Ranger." We were told that he was in Hartford, but reports from there say that he is not actually with the Wolf Pack. He has not worked out with the Rangers since Wednesday.
Starting for the Rangers -- Gomez centering Shanahan and Dawes. Girardi with Tyutin on D. The Isles have brought their B team, leaving many of their NHL players home. Dawes avoids a hit, then hits Aaron Johnson hard into the end boards. Second line -- Drury between Prucha and Straka. Malik and Rozsival on defense. Third line -- Betts, Callahan, Hossa. Strudwick and Staal on D. Fourth line -- Dubinsky with Orr an Hollweg. That makes Anisimov the scratch up front along with the injured Jagr and Avery, Pock and Mara down on D. Dawes hits Johnson again.
Rangers all over Isles early with 8-0 shot advantage in first three minutes. Isles get some action and a power play -- Lundqvist making the saves, but not looking too steady in the process. Girardi flattens Bergenheim in open ice, but Shanahan gets a slashing penalty. Rangers finally get a power play -- trying Rozsival on the left point with Straka on the right, almost set up an open net goal for Prucha (how did it not go in?). Pre-season and the fans are already yelling "Shoot!" on the power play -- and Jagr and Nylander aren't even out there!
Bergenheim outraces Rozsival to a loose puck and sweeps a backhander through Lundqvist -- lackluster D, lackluster goaltending. Tempers flare over Islander hitting Ranger defenseman after icing touch, but it settles down quickly. First period ends with the Rangers down 1-0 despite have myriad chances to score against an Islander team bereft of most of their top players.
Opening minute of second, shot gets through Lundqvist and sits behind in the crease. Rangers get power play seconds later -- need to ratchet their game up to regain control. Gomez splits D with deflected puck, backhander initially stopped, rolls in over MacDonald's back to tie the score. They nearly score again off ensuing face-off. Islander point shot sails in, but is negated by goalie interference. Hollweg hits Campoli -- called for high sticking, though it looks like his stick never came up. Rangers kill it off easily.
Shortly thereafter, Gomez down left wing, cross-ice to Shanahan on right wing, bullet top shelf puts Rangers up 2-1. Straka deflects Girardi shot, 3-1. Shanahan blasts another one in, 4-1. With the rout on, and my battery dying, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the Isles are not going to overcome this 4-1 lead, not with Morrison in goal, and sign off until later... unless things explode with the Isles, not known to be the most sportsmanlike of competitors, getting frustrated -- and so it happens before I can even turn off my computer, Dubinsky takes on Johnson, rebounds from going down early to land some hard lefts that leave Johnson reeling.
The Rangers and Islanders haven't taken the ice yet, but a big fight has already broken out here at the Garden -- between the Rangers and the NHL. The AP has reported, and the Rangers have confirmed, that the team has filed a lawsuit against the league to prevent it from taking control of its web site. The NHL was set to fine the Rangers $100,000 a day beginning tomorrow for its failure to hand over control of the web site, prompting the Rangers' legal response against the league. You can see the league's version of the Rangers web site here -- the Rangers are the only remaining team that hasn't switched over to the NHL network.
Will the Rangers and Islanders light up the new Madison Square Garden scoreboard tonight with more penalty minutes than it can handle? Or will, as so often seems the case, the rematch fizzle, with the expected renewal of conflict after Monday's fight-filled game failing to materialize? The latter seems to be a strong possibility, with Chris Simon, the sociopath who ignited much of the antagonism with his inability to withstand a Ryan Hollweg check, not expected to play, and with the Rangers' own agitator supreme Sean Avery still sidelined by a nagging groin injury.
So there is a chance, albeit a slim one, that we will actually witness a hockey game. Except that the Rangers will be without their scoring star, Jaromir Jagr, now sidelined with a hip flexor sustained by pushing himself too hard in practice yesterday. Aside from the absence of Jagr and Avery, as well as Paul Mara not dressing, the Rangers will be icing clost to their full NHL team, with rookie hopefuls Marc Staal, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and Nigel Dawes battling it out for the final roster spots. Henrik Lundqvist is expected to go the distance, but Rick DiPietro will not be in net for the strangely costumed bridge and tunnel team.
All of these bits of roster movement come courtesy of updates from the morning skate in Rangers Report and Blue Notes. Other articles on the rematch can be found in Newsday and their Islander blog, at NYR.com, and at MSG.com in a Stan Fischler entry surprisingly skewed in favor of the Islanders. MSG.com also has Boomer Esiason's interview with Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. Kevin Greenstein predicts a first place finish for the Rangers in his season preview in the New York Sun. Joe Micheletti considers the Rangers contenders, but surprisingly does not list them among Cup favotires in a brief interview in the Post.
This time of the pre-season is always devoted, at least in part, to rookies. Several league-wide previews of this year's freshman class are out, and most include Staal, although not at the head of the class -- see TSN, ESPN, and USA Today (but not CBS Sports, which omits Staal). The Daily News also has an article on Staal still being in the mix for the start of the season. SNY looks similarly at Dubinsky, the other favorite to start the season in New York rather than Hartford. In Hartford, another round of cuts includes the continuation of the precipitous fall of Mike Busto, who went from Traverse City to being disinvited from Ranger camp to being assigned to Charlotte. Former draftee Eric Hunter was also cut -- he will be attending college instead of playing pro hockey. For more, see the Courant and the Wolf Pack web site. More prospect news can be found at Prospect Park.
Having pared their roster down to 26 with seven cuts yesterday, there are some subtle nuances to the Rangers' final decisions. Several factors make it more than simply a matter of keeping the best possible player. Up front, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and Nigel Dawes are the candidates for one or two remaining spots. On the blue line, Marc Staal and Thomas Pock are either battling for one last spot, or may both be retained. And in goal, Al Montoya has outplayed Steve Valiquette but has other factors working against him making the Rangers as Henrik Lundqvist's back-up.
Anisimov is nearly NHL ready. An ounce of doubt will be enough to ensure that he starts the season in Hartford when you consider his need to adapt to North America (especially the language) and his need to get stronger. So it boils down to Dubinsky vs. Dawes, last year's co-winners of the Lars-Erik Sjoberg award for best rookie in camp. Dubinsky has not only outplayed Dawes, he brings a wider skill set and fills the primary need as third line center, where he complements the energetic Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan. Dawes must be on a scoring line, not on the fourth line or in the press box. He didn't help himself by not scoring goals playing with top forwards in two pre-season games, even though he did some other good things along the way. Unless the team finds a way to keep both, looks like Dubi will do.
On defense, Staal is clearly the better player already, and will be better in the future, except in terms of experience, with Pock showing more poise in pre-season action. With Paul Mara as a partner, the Rangers will need Staal's superiority in the defensive end. And he will get enough ice time in that slot to develop at a reasonable level of expectations. But Pock may yet win the job because a) a demotion will cost him the entire season in Hartford if he is not lost altogether to waivers, because he will certainly not survive a call-up via re-entry waivers, and b) unlike Staal, spells in the press box will not hurt him when Jason Strudwick starts against certain opponents. This is a tough call -- the best course of action is to start with eight defensemen since both Pock and Strudwick can swing up to forward if necessary, but the possibility of starting the season with 22 players due to cap pressure may put the kibosh on that type of thinking.
In goal, Montoya has two things working against him -- his salary and the lack of playing time behind Lundqvist. Since his bonuses count under the cap, he is simply too expensive to keep as a back-up who will play only once every nine or ten games. And he will not progress while sitting behind Lundqvist. But Valiquette has shown nothing in pre-season -- can the Rangers afford to gamble with his ten or twelve starts this season? But it's not an all or nothing proposition -- perhaps the most sensible course of action is to start Montoya in Hartford and then call him up later in the season after giving him a ton of work there. And then, with a few good NHL outings under his belt, trade him in March for the player who will put the Rangers over the top in the playoffs.
Sam Weinman considers many of these same issues in his entry at Rangers Report today, just as John Dellapina did a couple of days ago in Blueshirts Blog. Steve Zipay gives the nod to Dubinsky and Staal in Newsday. Rangers Report and Blue Notes had some notes from yesterday's practice, as did the Post and Journal News. From the wider world, Lindsey Berra writes about Chris Drury and Scott Gomez for ESPN Magazine, MSNBC has an extensive Ranger preview, the CP picks the Rangers first in the East, and a Globe and Mail roundtable discussion labels the Rangers as the most improved team in the league. Jess Rubenstein has another entry in Prospect Park today on the prospect of the week (Ryan Hillier). From Hartford, Bruce Berlet writes about Darius Kasparaitis in the Courant, and Mitch Beck has a report on the Pack's pre-season opener last night:
The Wolf Pack dropped their first pre-season game in a fight-filled, physical contest against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, losing 3-1 on two goals in the third period. Matt Zaba was excellent in goal backstopping a team made up of guys mostly headed to Charlotte or points unknown. Only six players certain to make the team played. Tommy Pyatt scored the lone Wolf Pack tally on a power play off a nice assist from Ivan Baranka. While certainly not NHL quality, Jordan Owens played a nice game. Particularly impressive was Darien native Ryan Murphy, showing great speed and incredible energy on every shift. Almost invisible was Brodie Dupont. Not invisible by any means was the presence of Ranger AGM/Hartford GM Jim Schoenfeld and Ranger broadcaster Dave Maloney.
Rangers Report saying that Andrew Hutchinson and Mark Smith have been cut. Also to Hartford: Lauri Korpikoski, Michael Sauer, Miika Wiikman, Mark Smith, and Dane Byers. The official announcement from the Rangers includes Francis Lessard among those re-assigned. But it does not mention Hutchinson, who has to pass through waivers first, and reports the number of remaining defensemen at nine, which would include Hutchinson -- but if Sam heard at the Training Center this morning that he is headed to Hartford, all this really means is that he has or will be placed on waivers and remains on the Ranger roster until he clears and is re-assigned, or is claimed. The announcement also specifies that Smith was released from his try-out contract -- it's not clear whether that means he is going to Hartford or is no longer under consideration either way. This leaves Marc Staal in the running, still battling it out with the seven other NHL defensemen, while Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and Nigel Dawes are still battling it out with a dozen NHL forwards.
After much teeth-gnashing over the complete lack of availability of last night's Ranger-Red Wing game either on TV or radio, it proved to be a boon to Ranger fans to not be able to witness Detroit's 6-1 rout. Although the Rangers did not have their NHL lineup against the Wings' full varsity, they did have their top line of Jagr, Gomez, and Straka (Jagr and Gomez teamed up for the Rangers' only goal but were each -2), and they had their number one goalie Henrik Lundqvist (who was chased after giving up four goals on a dozen shots), and they had five NHL defensemen (three of whom -- Malik, Mara, and Hutchinson -- were each -2).
A few silver linings, going just by the box score: Hard to imagine Hutchinson and Mark Smith (also -2) making this team after their lackluster (to be kind) pre-season showings; the young guys -- Dubinsky, Dawes, and Korpikoski -- did not give up anything (all were even) and generated some chances; and Al Montoya, who starred at the University of Michigan, got an unexpected chance to play, although he gave up two goals on ten third period shots. Not much by way of local area game reports -- NYR.com is it. Blue Notes has the lines and pairings. And Detroit area game reports with little to say about the Rangers can be found here and here.
So Chris Simon is allowed to play in pre-season, but Mark Bell is not. Why? As NHL VP Bill Daly told the Toronto Sun, it's because Bell was suspended under the league's substance abuse program, Simon under supplementary discipline, with different rules about practicing and playing in pre-season. So try to kill a guy on the ice, and you can play. Get drunk, and you can't. Granted, Bell did more than just drink -- he got into a hit and run accident, and deserves everything he was slapped with. But if it was just drinking, like Sandis Ozolinsh, he would still not be allowed to play. Meanwhile, Simon is not only allowed to play, he is allowed to attempt to injure the very player he was suspended for attempting to kill -- with impunity (Garth Snow told Newsday that the league is not investigating). Reason #124 why the NHL is such a joke.
For more on the Rangers-Islanders debacle: Newsday, Rangers Report, and Blue Notes on Sean Avery wishing he could have been on the ice, the Daily News on Montoya, Blue Notes on Simon being allowed to play, and Kenny Albert at MSG.com. From Hartford: the first round of cuts from Wolf Pack camp at the WP web site (no one you ever heard of), and the Courant on Ryan Murphy, trying out for a job. Finally, over at Prospect Park, Jess Rubenstein compares Marc Staal and Mike Sauer.
No one expected either Ryan Hollweg or Chris Simon to avoid the other in their pre-season meeting last night, their first since Simon leveled Hollweg with a baseball swing and earned a 25-game suspension as a result, one that is still ongoing. They are two physical players, and they will finish their checks every chance they get -- even start a few checks if they get a chance. But what was surprising was Simon's utter inability to absorb a check from Hollweg without going back at him, even while Hollweg skated away. Simon reiterated his contriteness over his major, ahem, indiscretion last season in speaking to the New York Post before the game, but his actions during the game, going after Hollweg three times after Hollweg hits, proves him three times a liar -- once in pretending that he didn't know what he was doing when he took that swing, once in attempting to apologize to Hollweg after the initial incident (although not right away), an apology that Hollweg appropriately refused to accept, and once again last night.
The NHL will look at what happened last night and make a decision on whether Simon merits additional punishment. They not only have a moral obligation to do so, given Simon's behavior, but they have a legal obligation to, since Simon was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure when he charged Hollweg from behind and smashed him into the boards, prompting the all-out brawl that included four fights, including one between goalies Al Montoya and Rick DiPietro. Hollweg went right after Simon after being charged, Colton Orr scrapped with Kip Brennan as he tried to get at Simon, Jason Strudwick got through his guy and got Simon in a headlock, DiPietro jumped in to try to neutralize Strudwick, and then Montoya came down the ice reluctantly and eventually took DiPietro up on his challenge for the rare goalie fight.
"Basically I didn't really have a choice," Montoya said. "You stick up for your teammates. We were outnumbered there, and I made the choice to come down. I wanted to be in this game, showcase my talents, but he [DiPietro] wanted to get something going. My teammates would have done the same for me." The scrap cost Montoya the rest of a game in which he was going to get the full sixty minutes to make a case for himself. Tom Renney said he could not judge Montoya on his work up to the point of ejection because the Islanders had gotten so few shots against him (eight). But he didn't begrudge him the choice he made. "What Al did is honorable," the coach said. "No one's gonna feel any less of him if he decides not to go past the red line, but he made a choice that everybody embraces." He also had some words of advice for him. "If you're gonna throw 'em, you gotta bend your knees.," he said, joking.
Montoya still likes his chances. "I gained a lot of experience," he said. "I've prepared to jump to the next level. I did everything I could this summer to get there, and now that I'm here I just have to go out there and do it. I know I'm capable. This camp, for the first time, I felt like I've a had a chance to make this team. I'm putting my best foot forward trying to do the best I can." He's not allowing the presence of franchise goalie Henrik Lundqvist to deter him. "Hank's been phenomenal, which has helped turn this organization around," Montoya said. "No matter where you go, you're going to have to beat the best if you want to be at the top. Being a goalie in the NHL is elite. If I just prepare, it'll soon come." There were two bumps on Montoya's forehead, but he said they came from taking a puck to the head, not from the fight.
Whatever decision the NHL chooses to make on Simon, if any, it will not be instigated by the Rangers, who again let Simon off the hook for his bush league antics. "When have you seen me not play a physical game?" said Hollweg after the game. "It doesn't matter who I'm out against, I'm gonna be playing the same way. We got matched up a couple of times. It's two hard guys going at it. What happened is behind me -- I'm just playing my game. It's all about playing together as team. Part of that is sticking up for your teammates. There wasn't a guy on the ice tonight that was gonna let anybody get pushed around. It shows that we're coming together. It's two rival teams, two good teams going hard. It's been a long summer, guys are anxious to get back at it. I can't say I'm surprised by the intensity. It's been a rivalry for years. It's just a case of two close teams going at it hard. For Al to step up and do what he did -- not just Al but all the guys, there wasn't a guy that backed down tonight, from the goalie all the way up to the forwards -- it was great to see."
Renney didn't blame Simon, he blamed Andy Sutton for going after Ryan Callahan with an elbow in the opening minute. "Based on the non-call on Callahan, to me it looked like a deliberate elbow to the head," he said. "That's exactly what the coaching staff spent time watching, as per the league's mandate to look at their clips, and that might have served as one of their best clips they might have shown. From that point on, I thought, this might be interesting. So no surprise. It was a physical game -- both teams were finishing their checks. I don't think anyone looked for what number was on the back. What opportunities were there to finish checks, people did that. I don't think anybody was out to hunt anybody down. It was a matter of the spontaneity of the moment. I thought Chris Simon was out there to play hockey, to play a good strong game of hockey, get himself ready for the regular season. But this is not the gong show that we're depicting here. It's a pre-season game, there were some hits, there were some fights, it got emotional -- great. Somehow I don't think when there are two points on the line you're gonna see a whole lot of that."
Well, that may be true in most cases, but Simon cost his team two points last season to take the original swing at Hollweg, didn't he? And that was all he was sorry for immediately afterwards. The truth is, the Islanders played the role of cheap shot artists this entire game, starting with Sutton's elbow to Callahan's head right off the bat, right down to DiPietro continuing to punch Montoya after he was down on the ice, and of course Simon being completely unable to control himself, especially when it was #44 in white checking him. The Islanders had almost their entire regular season line-up on the ice against half the Rangers' varsity squad -- only a handful of regulars, like Brendan Witt, Jon Sim, Mike Sillinger, and Chris Campoli, sat out. That has been the case for the entire pre-season, and will continue tonight in Detroit. But that's good for the Rangers, to test their players against full NHL squads.
What bothered Renney more than anything else was not being able to evaluate some of the young players he had in the line-up. "I intend to come back with those young fellows in Detroit," he said. "So I'm content with the fact that I'll get another look at them. But it's also one of those games that's an acid test, whether or not you're in a position to stand up for your teammates. To a man, including those young guys, they were certainly exuberant in their support of their teammates. We'll continue to look at young guys who are very close, and we need to be sure if they are, so it does provide a good opportunity to take a look at those guys."
He doesn't need much more of a look to determine who should be his #6 defenseman. Marc Staal has been very good in all areas, despite the occasional rookie mistake, and warrants development at the NHL level, even if he starts out in a reduced role as third-pair D. Andrew Hutchinson on the other hand has shown nothing that would cause the Rangers to start Staal in Hartford. Hutchison should follow Darius Kasparaitis onto the waiver wire to make room for better up and coming young defensemen. Another young defenseman, Mike Sauer, didn't play last night, but wishes he did. I asked Sauer during the second intermission whether he was happy to have missed all these shenanigans or would have liked to be out there. Not surprisingly, he didn't hesistate an eyeblink in answering that he wanted to be out there. Miika Wiikman, who came in unexpectedly for Montoya, was unhappy about losing the game, and would not accept as an excuse that in his first real NHL game, he spent so much of the time down five on three or four on three. Amid all the fighting, Chris Drury put together the best hockey performance of the night.
John Dellapina has an analysis of the Rangers' opening night line-up at Blueshirts Blog. For more on the brawl-filled game, see Newsday here, here, and here, Post, and AP. For more on Kasparaitis being waived, see the Daily News and Journal News. From NYR.com, a review of last night's game and a preview of tonight's game. ESPN has another season preview of the Rangers. Articles on Scott Gomez and/or Chris Dury from NHL.com and the Sports Network. Mike Richter, who has considered a run for office and will soon run in the marathon for charity, continues to carry out his socially conscious agenda, starting an evironmentally-oriented private equity firm (story here). If you missed the game last night, here is a video that includes most of the fights and goals:
Just spoke to a friend here at the Coliseum who works for the Islanders' web site, and he confirmed that Chris Simon will dress tonight -- his suspension does not apply to pre-season games. But I wouldn't expect any fireworks between him and Ryan Hollweg -- Simon still must repent for what he did, and Hollweg is not holding a grudge. But that doesn't mean they won't check each other if the opportunity arises. Sam Weinman reports at Ranger Report that Darius Kasparaitis has been placed on waivers with the hope that some team claims him. Dave Liffiton has also been waived, but the Rangers hope he passes through unclaimed.
Nigel Dawes is starting on left wing with Drury and Shanahan, with Malikand Rozsival on D, so consider this another big audition for him. Anisimov is centering Hossa and Callahan. Callahan wiped out by Andy Sutton in the opening minute -- appears to be shaken up, but he stayed on for the resulting power play. Sutton out of the box with a breakaway, Montoya save, Orr goes right after him and makes him pay for the hit on Callahan. Strudwick challenges Brennan right off the ensuing face-off and doesn't fare as well in his bout. Hollweg hits Simon, Simon goes after him -- bright move, Chris. But Hollweg gets the extra two minutes -- not sure why.
Montoya still making the saves, but still mishandling the puck. Dawes looking pretty good so far. Dubinsky line hasn't seen much ice time with all the penalties. Ice Girls take to the ice for the first time -- Montoya vacates the crease for them. Now that the rough stuff has settled down, the Rangers are looking good -- Anisimov and Hossa are a good strong pair. Staal goes end to end to set up a decent play, then checks someone hard on the way out of the zone. The Islanders' top line of Comrie, Guerin, and Fedotenko are not inspiring any fear. The way Comrie wears his jersey, his #89 looks like #99 -- bogus move by the Edmonton native. Only about 500 fans in the building (OK, a thousand -- really, not a soul over 2,000). Nice rush by Dawes in the final seconds of the first period, gets off a good shot, open net on the rebound for Drury, but he shoots wide. 0-0 after one.
Hollweg hits Simon and Simon goes after him again while Hollweg's skating away -- take a hit, tough guy! Orr steps in and fights Simon -- somehow, Hollweg gets the extra two again! Meanwhile, Dawes and Staal continue to impress on a pair of early odd man rushes for the Rangers, Shanahan is playing better, and Blair Betts in his third straight game continues to play well. Islanders score on the power play -- Hutch standing around doing nothing as Fedotenko waltzes into the crease. OK, you know things have gotten out of control when Hossa and Pock start fighting -- and Pokey won his fight vs. Andy Hilbert! An now Dubinsky takes on Sutton -- gets the worst of it. Refs finally starting to protect Rangers -- Dawes draws five on three and double minor. Drury all alone in front roofs a bullet over DiP to tie it up -- still 2:52 to go on the double minor. They're calling Hutchinson with the goal, but it looked like Drury -- don't think Hutch was even on the ice (the official scorers have Drury scoring with Hutch assisting along with Shanahan). Rangers fire away on PP -- seven more shots, but nothing gets in... until Hollweg shoots -- and scores! Betts on the screen or maybe the deflection.
Now it's the Gong Show on the ice, all thanks to the biggest idiot in the world, Chris Simon. He hits Hollweg from behind into the boards -- penalty. Then he challenges Hollweg to fight, Orr tries to get in but is held off, Struds gets through his guy and gets Simon in a headlock while Simon keeps punching Hollweg. DiPietro jumps in as third man, Monty comes down the ice but doesn't want to fight. Finally goes in, tackles DiP, and then DiP rolls over on top of him and punches Monty while he's down -- real classy. While the refs are sorting things out, kicking out guys and handing out penalties, and the teams warm up their new goalies -- Wiikman and Dubliewicz -- Miro Satan is on the big board welcoming the president of the Slovak Republic. Good timing by the Islanders' PR folks there. Hollweg and Strudwick get two minutes each, Simon a major, so it's four on three Isles for two minutes, then a three minute major power play for the Rangers. Simon, Struds, Orr, Brennan, and the goalies are all gone with game misconducts -- Hollweg is in the box.
Now Guerin high sticks Rozsival for the rarest of manpower situations, a three on three. Now five on three, Drury sets up Pock for an easy open netter -- Dubie gets a glove on it, now it's up to replay booth to figure it out. It's a power play goal! The official scorers in the row below me are having a devil of a time figuring this all out. Now the Rangers get another five on three. Rozsival tries to set up Staal three times from the point, third time he passes low, puck ends up on Callahan's stick, empty net. Rangers have four goals while taking the last 15 shots on goal. Hutchinson takes another needless penalty, Rangers can't hold off five on three -- Betts and Staal block shots, Wiikman makes two saves, but Comrie gets open net rebound goal. And now Malik takes a dumb penalty, and it's another five on three goal for the Isles to make it 4-3. An so ends one of the most eventful periods in memory -- but it's just a pre-season game, it doesn't mean anything.
Another five on three as the third period begins -- Wiikman's first real NHL experience, and it's all five on three. But a good play by Malik and Staal negates it -- now four on three, and Wiik makes a good save, and then another one. Byers takes a shot off the foot/leg and limps off -- he was already hurting on his left foot from a shot he blocked in camp. They're playing the chicken dance now, but Chris Simon is not out here to play the role of chicken like he did before. Vasicek blows by the overmatched Hutchinson and beats Wiikman to tie the score -- Hutch has got to follow Kaspar onto the waiver wire. Byers is OK -- he's right back out there. And so an uneventful third period ends in a 4-4 tie and we head to OT.
And now in OT, Vasicek blows by Hutch again, but this time can't get a shot off. Shanahan goes after wee Freddy Meyer the IVth and takes a penalty. Puck pinballs around the crease, barely goes over the line, 5-4 Isles. Whew! After the game, neither Hollweg nor Renney want to implicate Simon in the meshugoss -- Renney blames Sutton more for his early elbow on Callahan, and the refs for not setting the tone by handing him a major/misconduct. Renney was unhappy that the craziness got in the way of his ability to evaluate the young players -- he says they'll be right back out tomorrow night, getting another chance to show their stuff. More tomorrow...
With the Rangers' pre-season schedule having come to an end last night with a 3-2 win in Philadelphia, the immediate question is who will be among the last three cuts? All three goal scorers from last night -- Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, and Marc Staal -- are on the bubble. One is likely to start the season in Hartford, although there is a small chance two might be sent down and an even smaller chance that all three will stick for the start of the season. We'll find out sometime on Monday which way the brain trust decides to go on these players, along with Artem Anisimov, Thomas Pock, and the backup goaltenders, where Al Montoya may end up starting the season in New York because of Steve Valiquette's injury.
