Blueshirt Boggle

Live: Rangers vs. SC Bern

The Rangers and their hosts SC Bern have warmed up. The referees are on the ice, including Don Koharski -- could he ever have imagined being in the same building as Jim Schoenfeld, sharing donuts, in Switzerland? The 5,000 or so seats in this arena are only half full so far, but 12,000 fans have already crammed themselves into the standing room area, where there are few obstacles keeping them from spilling over into the lower deck. They're beating drums and chanting and singing and clapping. Talked to a few Ranger fans outside, including a Blueshirt Bulletin reader from England and a couple of Berners rooting for the Rangers instead of their hometown team (just for today).

The Rangers and Bern were introduced one at a time at the start, alternately, starting with starting goalie Steve Valiquette, emerging in a haze of fog that has permeated this building. When the Bern players were introduced, the announcer says the number and the first name, the fans in the standing room area yelled out the last name. Gomez and Drury are wearing A's for the game tonight, along with Redden. The Rangers literally owned the puck through the first period of a light-hitting affair and took a 1-0 lead on a Dan Girardi power play goal early on. They didn't capitalize on their second opportunity despite a plethora of chances. The Rangers got a two-man advantage late in the period when a second penalty was called during a delayed penalty call, a rarity in the NHL. Redden quickly converted on a point shot off a Rozsival pass. There were still 11 seconds left on the second minor when the period ended.

The Rangers were really feeling their oats after the first, having chased Bern's starter from net, so they started going all out -- started to remind me of an open hockey session. They also started hitting some, though not the punishing check finishes that are common in the NHL. But the undisciplined play came back to haunt them, as Bern started to press the attack for the first time and drew a couple of power plays -- the second period shot total won't be as lopsided as the 12-3 first period margin. The Rangers killed them off and regained control of the match, getting another power play of their own in which they did everything but score. With the pace of the game moving along at a rapid clip (no TV time-outs or post-whistle scrums, except for Callahan challenging someone who ran the goalie), the period came to a close with another Bern power play, easily quashed by the Rangers.

After a shaky start to the third period, in which Valiquette had to make several outstanding saves before Bern finally scored, the Rangers came roaring back on another five on three, converting both ends of the power play. The first goal was a nice passing play from Zherdev to Gomez for a back door slam dunk (somehow Drury got credit), the second Dubinsky on a two on one rush. Up 4-1 on four power play goals, the Rangers poured it on with a couple at even strenght -- Petr Prucha off a Dmitri Kalinin point shot (he confirmed deflecting it in even though it appeared Colton Orr was the one who might have tipped it), and Lauri Korpikoski deflecting a Corey Potter point shot. Potter got a goal of his on a power play shortly thereafter, Bern back-up goalie Jonas Muller not even realizing the puck was behind him. Dubinsky scored his second of the game to complete the scoring. The loyal Bern fans remained in the building, cheering their team on even for a shot on goal (no derision intended in that remark, just admiration).

After the game, the passion of the fans was all Drury and Dubinsky could talk about. They were of course diplomatic about the level of competition, as was Coach Renney during his post-game press conference. He did admit that his team needed a bit of a pep talk after the second period, when Bern got themselves back into the game. Coach Van Boxmeer pointed to the penalty calls against his team as part of their problem -- he noted that his league does not call things as tight as the NHL, a reversal from the past when NHL players complained about IIHF refs calling things too close.

Well, that's it from Bern for today -- tomorrow, the Rangers expect a bit of a tougher match against Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk, a team whose name translates in English to Magnetic Mountain Iron Works. We'll have an article for Blueshirt Bulletin+ in the morning and an update from the Rangers' morning skate, which will no doubt include new line combinations as Naslund, Dawes, and Mara no doubt see to action, and maybe Staal and Rissmiller too.

Update From the Morning Skate

Good morning, U.S.A.! It is already lunch time here in Bern, Switzerland, where the Rangers just finished their game-day skate in preparation for today's first Victoria Cup match against SC Bern. All hands were on deck except for Pat Rissmiller, who had been feeling "under the weather" (as Tom Renney put it) since yesterday. The forward lines and defensive pairs were otherwise the same as those reported at Blueshirt Bulletin+ yesterday, Dubinsky double shifting into Rissmiller's slot.

Marc Staal has a bruised palm from the last game against the Devils, when he blocked a Brian Rolston shot, so he will sit out tonight along with his current partner, Paul Mara, while the coaching staff take another long look at Corey Potter and Brian Fahey. Staal said he would play if this was a regular season game (but don't tell that to the Victoria Cup organizers who want the Rangers to play all out in these games). Staal and Mara stayed out on the ice working out long after everyone else left, along with Markus Naslund and Nigel Dawes, the other two players who will be sit out tonight. Rissmiller is out, of course, and third goalie Miika Wiikman will not dress. Henrik Lundqvist will back up Steve Valiquette.

Petr Prucha was interviewed after yesterday's practice by Czech reporters, and today we have a translation thanks to our friend DaTeL. "I do feel a bit sad about it," Prucha said in response to inevitable opening question about the departure of Jaromir Jagr. "Every Czech who leaves is missed," he addedd. "We were a Czech gang. We had a good time. But that’s hockey. I hope it doesn’t affect me on the ice." Prucha said that "time will tell" what effect Jagr's absence will have on the Rangers. "It's a big loss. You can’t just substitute one of the best players in the world. His presence in the locker room itself helped immensely. Not to mention his goals and performance on the ice. One certainly gets the feeling he’s not here anymore. I haven’t talked to him since the end of August. He’s got a lot going on in Russia, that’s for sure. I know that Omsk fired his coach and that they started winning. I wish him luck!"

Although Prucha has made remarkable progress learning to speak English since he first came to New York knowing hardly a word, language remains a barrier. "The Czech mentality is a bit different," he said. "It’s logical -- we’d more likely laugh at a joke in Czech rather than in English, which you don’t understand all that well. Although we do have some funny guys on out team now. But I still don’t understand double entendres [in English]."

Now in the final year of his contract, Prucha is worried about being traded. "That’s always the threat," he said. "I can’t think about it. I would like to work my way to one of the top three lines this season. I’d like to play 13-14 minutes a game." As he tries to regain the 30-goal form of his rookie season, he said, "It was clear to me that I wouldn’t have another such season very soon. I didn’t get much power play time last season and that’s a problem in today's NHL. At even strength, there aren’t that many goals being scored -- someone has to make a blatant mistake. This year, I had many chances in pre-season games, but I can’t find the back of the net it seems. I can’t be satisfied with myself."

You can read more on Prucha here. Other reading on the Victoria Cup: Dan Rosen of NHL.com on the Rangers' remaining rookie hopefuls; Dan David on former Ranger draftees now with Bern, Christian Dube and Phillip Furrer, at NYR.com, along with another article on yesterday's practice; Slap Shot with a report on the hybrid IIHF-NHL rules from a reporter who is here in Bern; and stateside, articles from the Journal News, Newsday, and Times. Thomas Pock being claimed by the Islanders is the subject in Rangers Report, Ranger Rants, and NYI.com.

Rangers Practice in Bern

UPDATE: Thomas Pock claimed by Islanders. This is actually a good thing for the Rangers, for Pock, and probably for the Islanders. For Pock, obviously, he has a chance to play in the NHL. For the Islanders, anything is an improvement at this point. And for the Rangers? Now they don't have to pay Pock, given that they already decided he was not going to make the team, and they do not have to worry about a cap hit should they ever have had to put him through re-entry waivers.

We're in Bern, reporting live from the Rangers' Victoria Cup games. The Rangers practiced today, and they used some unconventional lines that Tom Renney suggested would be seen at least in part tomorrow night when they take on SC Bern, the host team. See Blueshirt Bulletin+ to read more -- click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+ access.

Dan Rosen of NHL.com and Dan David of NYR.com are reporting live from Bern too -- see Rosen's first two posts here and here, and David's first two here and here. Ranger Rants reports that Marc Staal missed practice yesterday with an injury, but he practiced today. In other Ranger reading, Steve Zipay Czechs in from Prague at Blue Notes and also writes at Newsday, Stan Fischler has a post at MSG.com, Beyond the Blueshirts has Renney talking about his Russians, Prospect Park has an update on last night's action, and Howlings reports live from Wolf Pack training camp.

Rough Start Cuffs Rangers

Tom Renney was not taking any solace from the highlight reel goals Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev scored this afternoon in making the Rangers' 4-2 loss to the Devils look more respectable than it actually was -- the first pre-season goals for each of the two snipers the Rangers will be heavily counting on to score goals this season. "I wasn't real positive about today's game," he said. "I didn't think we were very good. Tonight was a classic case of trying to do too much when we weren't working hard enough to have anything successful happen. You have to outwork your opponent. They waited for us to make mistakes and they capitalized on them, and we made plenty of them too early."

Not helping the cause was a new set of line combinations that didn't click. Having gone with the same set of lines from day one of training camp until today, it was somewhat surprising to see things changed up so drastically for the first game where the entire team was pretty much together. The short of it is, as the New York Post reported, Chris Drury was moved to the right wing on the top line so that Brandon Dubinsky could move up to the second line, with Nikolai Zherdev on his right wing, and the Czech who couldn't shoot straight, Petr Prucha, scratched.

Not only did that belie Renney's assertion after the last game that he had enough depth to ice four NHL lines (why not stick with the energetic third line of Dubinsky, Callahan, and Fritsche or Voros?), but it became quickly evident that there was not enough rubber on the ice for Dubinsky and Zherdev to share. Things got further complicated when Lauri Korpikoski was ejected early in the game for an erroneous boarding major ("They've already rescinded the call," Renney said after the game), causing a lot of juggling to fill the middle on the third line the rest of the way.

Matters weren't better on the blue line or in net. While the Rangers left Henrik Lundqvist defenseless, he was also complicit in allowing four goals on eleven shots before being pulled halfway through, the original plan to play him the full sixty minutes scuttled at that point -- Renney made the move not only to get Lundqvist out of the line of fire, but also to "suggest to others they better step it up." He also juggled his defensive pairs, starting out with Paul Mara alongside Wade Redden but then moving Michal Rozsival into that spot, with Mara joining Marc Staal.

Renney defended Redden after another game in which he committed several glaring defensive errors. "It's hard to play this game with one foot on the gas and one on the brake," he said of his marquee two-way defenseman, praising his offensive contributions so far. "If you've got backchecking help, if you've got numbers at your blue line -- and even is good -- you're in good shape. If you don't, you get caught on the trolley tracks. When you've got numbers, you don't give up the blue line -- you stay up instead of letting teams in. Inadequate checking up ice, inadequate back pressure -- trying to be a proactive player that way and sometimes without the help that's required will expose anyone, whether it's Wade Redden or Bobby Orr."

So the Rangers finish the domestic portion of their pre-season with another two-goal performance. They won the one time they held their opponent to fewer than two goals, but they lost the other five, dropping two straight 4-2 decisions after losing three in a row by a 3-2 score. They fell behind by at least 3-0 for the third time (this time falling behind 4-0) before attempting to mount a comeback. They have two more pre-season tune-ups ahead, but they won't be easy, as they will be in Berne, Switzerland, against a pair of European teams determined to show that they can compete against an NHL team. The Rangers left for Switzerland by charter after today's game.

Game reports and notes can be found at the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Record, Post, Ranger Rants here and here, NYR.com, NY Sports Day, and AP. >From yesterday, see the Daily News, Newsday, and Record for stories on the Rangers' roster cuts. Howlings has the Wolf Pack training camp roster. Prospect Park has a report from junior action last night.

When the Rangers announced their roster cuts yesterday, they said of Thomas Pock, Hugh Jessiman, and P.A. Parenteau only that they will continue training camp with the Wolf Pack, not that they were re-assigned. That's because the trio was placed on waivers, which they haven't yet cleared. If they are unclaimed by Monday, they will then be officially re-assigned. Thanks to Rangers Report for digging up this information from a Ranger source.

Corey Potter's increasingly likely bid to make the Rangers out of training camp is the subject of our latest posting at Blueshirt Bulletin+ -- click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+ access.

Nedved and Pock Cut

The Petr Nedved experiment is over. Rangers Report spoke to Glen Sather about the two-time former Ranger, who was cut today. Last night's successful experiment of giving Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callahan a look at center ice confirmed for the Ranger brain trust that they should stick with their developing youth rather than going with the aging blast from the past.

As we noted during last night's game, Thomas Pock played himself out of an NHL job -- he is joing Artem Anisimov, Bobby Sanguinetti, Hugh Jessiman, Greg Moore, Dane Byers, Andreas Jamtin, Brodie Dupont, P.A. Parenteau, Dale Weise, and all the members of the taxi squad in being re-assinged to Hartford today as the Wolf Pack begin their training camp.

Still competing for the seventh defense slot are Corey Potter and Brian Fahey. Five forwards are still competing for the four remaining roster spots on the wing -- Aaron Voros, Dan Fritsche, Lauri Korpikoski, Pat Rissmiller, and Freddie Sjostrom. Miika Wiikman, ultimately headed to Hartford, will accompany the Rangers to Europe so they can have a fallback position in case of injury.

Ranger Rants, Rangers Report, Blue Notes, and Blue Seats have more from the MSG Training Center, including reconfigured lines that have Drury on the wing with Gomez and Naslund and Dubinsky centering Zherdev and Dawes, as first suggested this morning by Larry Brooks in the Post (who also reports that Shanahan is working out on his own at the training center).

At Blueshirt Bulletin+ today, we have an article on Korpikoski's bid to make the Rangers as the lone rookie left with a chance to break into the Rangers' forward lines -- click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+ access.

For more on Korpikoski, see Newsday. The Record has an article on Voros. In other reading today, game reports and game notes from last night can be found at the Daily News, Rangers Report, Ranger Rants, Blue Notes, NYR.com, NY Sports Day, and AP. The Journal News has an article on the competition between Nedved and Blair Betts written before this morning's news about Nedved being cut. Hockey Fights has the lowdown on last night's fisticuffs, highlighted by Colton Orr destroying something named Koci (Orr also had a breakaway that he set up for himself). The Vancouver Sun has an article about Markus Naslund. NHL.com has a feature on Rod Gilbert. Ranger previews from the Sporting News and the Hockey News.

The Rangers just announced the official cut list : "The club has released forward Petr Nedved from his try-out agreement and reassigned the following 16 players to Hartford (AHL): goaltender Matt Zaba; defensemen Mike Busto, Vladimir Denisov, Bobby Sanguinetti, and Mike Sauer; and forwards Artem Anisimov, Joe Barnes, Dane Byers, Brodie Dupont, Ryan Hillier, Andreas Jamtin, Greg Moore, Tom Pyatt, Justin Soryal, Dale Weise, and Tomas Zaborsky. In addition, defensemen Maxim Kondratiev and Thomas Pock, and forwards Hugh Jessiman and P.A. Parenteau will continue training camp with Hartford."

The wording on Pock, Jessiman, and Parenteau suggests that they are still on the Ranger roster, not the Wolf Pack's, which probably means that the Rangers are not yet ready to put them through waivers (if waivers are even required for the latter two). Interesting too that Kondratiev, who has been absent throughout pre-season, remains with the team. Not on the list but obviously sent to Hartford camp are players under contract directly to the Wolf Pack -- David Skokan, Sergei Demagin, Jordan Owens, Mike Ouellette, Chris Murray, and Dave Urquhart. No official word on remaining try-outs -- Lyon Messier, Tyson Dowzak, and Jeff Jakaitis. Also not mentioned is Antoine Lafleur -- as he has not been re-assigned to juniors, one has to assume he is going to Hartford camp.

Final Exam For Many Ranger Hopefuls

With the schedule easing up a bit on the Rangers after their 4-2 loss to Tampa last night (the game schedule -- the travel schedule is another matter), the evaluation period is coming to an end and preparations for the start of the regular season are about to begin. That process started this afternoon with the first four roster cuts -- as always, these are the players who were headed to juniors all along. But there was one surprise there -- while Mike Del Zotto and Tomas Kundratek were indeed returned to their junior teams, Evgeny Grachev was assigned to Hartford rather than Brampton. He may very well end up in Brampton after Wolf Pack training camp, but for now, he's going to Hartford. David Stich, a try-out, was cut outright.

The second step in bringing the evaluation process to a close was to dress almost every player still vying for an NHL roster spot in last night's game. Wade Redden, Dan Girardi, Colton Orr, and Steve Valiquette have guaranteed jobs. Maybe Dmitri Kalinin, wearing an "A" for this game, is a lock too. And between the "A" on his chest and coach Tom Renney's pre-game endorsement, Blair Betts is probably pretty safe in his role as well. Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan will make the team, but given Renney's post-game proclamation that even some jobs on the top two lines may now be up for grabs, Callahan may be pushing Prucha for the right wing slot on the second line (Prucha continue to struggle to finish scoring plays despite playing well otherwise).

Past that, this game featured most of the wingers competing for the last two openings on the third and fourth lines as well as the two NHL depth spots and post position at the head of the line for call-up from Hartford as the season progresses. Dan Fritsche remains at the top of our evaluation list after his sterling performance last night and Lauri Korpikoski has certainly inserted himself into the mix. Aaron Voros has an edge because of his ability to agitate and fight. Fred Sjostrom remains on the cusp, as does Patrick Rissmiller, who at this point, with his $1 million salary, has to be the top candidate to be the odd man out to make room for another salary (Korpikoski's, say). P.A. Parenteau, despite his six shots on goal last night, remains a candidate for early call-up at best -- he missed the net with the tying goal on his stick on a two-man breakaway with Prucha and was a team-worst -3.

Another player who seems to be making a case for himself and would only be able to make the team if a salary like Rissmiller's was taken out from under the salary cap is Petr Nedved. He was better last night than the prior night in New Jersey, but to put his scoring in perspective, he scored one goal against Ottawa's AHL team and one against Scott Clemmenson -- he remains a long shot to supplant one of the aforementioned wingers, though his chances to play in Berne may have been enhanced. The absence of other wingers who were hoping to make the Rangers -- Greg Moore, Artem Anisimov, Andreas Jamtin, and Hugh Jessiman -- suggests that they will be taking another physical exam tomorrow when Hartford training camp opens. Dale Weise played again last night, but he too is destined for to be a Packer this season.

On defense, in our estimation, Corey Potter won the job as seventh defenseman over Thomas Pock last night. Potter was steady -- Pock made a huge error on the Lightning's first goal, was not all that good defensively in other situations, and has not done what he does best, which is enhance the offense. Potter, meanwhile, was occasionally active offensively in addition to being defensively reliable. Physical play is not the hallmark of his game, but there is more there than with Pock. At this point, Pock gets the job only if the brain trust decides that they can't afford to bury him in Hartford with a waiver like they did last year and that they can't afford to leave Potter sitting in the press box to start the season. Brian Fahey, like Parenteau, seems to have solidified his standing as an early call-up candidate -- his best chance to make the team now is if Renney decides he can't let Potter idle and can't live with Pock's shaky defense.

Renney said after the game that he has a good idea of what he wants to do with his roster but wants to sleep on it. He also said that others in the organization will be making decisions based on salary cap and waiver considerations that could have an affect on his choices, even though he expects his input to carry weight in the decision-making process. He would not rule out cutting recently signed free agent contracts in order to make room for others, a glimmer of hope for the likes of Potter, Korpikoski, and Nedved and potential bad news for Rissmiller and maybe even Sjostrom. While the majority of assignments to Hartford will take place today, Renney suggested that some of the final battles may play out in Saturday's domestic pre-season finale, and with a handful of extra players traveling with the team to Berne, those battles may extend another game or two.

As for the game, the fact that all of the above takes priority over the result means that you can throw the loss out the window. In fact, considering that the Rangers dressed such a small part of the their best NHL team against what was almost all of Tampa's final team and dominated in every area except on the scoreboard is another sign of encouragement. From the time the Lightning scored their first goal shortly past the halfway point of the first period until the start of the third period, the Rangers outshot their guests by an astounding 30-6. But they only managed one goal, an ongoing problem -- they've scored two goals in each game despite generating 36 to 47 shots on goal per game (other than the scintillating battle in New Jersey). A Tampa staffer said that the Rangers have been awesome in the two games the teams have played and would have won both if not for the Lightning goalies.

Grind Bogging Rangers Down

The pre-season grind is starting to take its toll. Last night, the Rangers played their fourth pre-season game in the past five nights, the third in three nights, with another scheduled for today and Saturday's rematch with the Devils completing a compressed six game stretch in eight days. Even with split squads, even with last night's players having had a couple of days off, diminishing returns are starting to set it. The Rangers showed more energy in training camp scrimmages than they showed last night. Play has been on a steady downward tick since an excellent pre-season opener and a good follow-up back at the Garden.

While the Ranger brain trust is in evaluation mode pending Friday's first set of cuts, they have had to evaluate players in a catch-22 situation -- by definition, every unit other than the first unit is playing in a situation that above the level they are expected to play in during the regular season, and even the first unit is not playing in an environment where the full team is available to be what it is meant to be (for example, they have to kill penalties, something they will not have to do as much of, if at all, when the full team is together). And when do they get to work on systems play if they can't get the full team, or a reasonable facsimile, together against a meaningful opponent? Last night, coach Tom Renney admitted that his goal-challenged team hasn't even begun to address their offense.

Europe will provide the first opportunity to get some dress rehearsal for something close to a full NHL team, with Renney planning to take about 25 or 26 players to Switzerland. That the opponents there -- SC Bern and Metallurg Magnitogorsk -- will be playing all-out with their pride on the line will help the Rangers ratchet up their level of play. But the larger ice surface and the international rules and style of play will make things a little different that usual, and the side show, along with the travel, will continue to distract the team from working on the nitty gritty details of their team play.

Last night in Newark, playing against a Devil team that was skating in its first exhibition game, the Rangers didn't get a chance to work on their anemic offense -- they were too busy working on their nastiness in a game that got a bit chippy, with a lot of hitting and chirping (even Renney got into the act, jawing from the bench with Devil agitator David Clarkson, who was on the ice getting ready for a draw). The resulting power plays didn't help all that much, with the Rangers still improvising to little effect, Brian Fahey's power play goal not withstanding. And Petr Nedved's goal to make it a 3-2 final for the third time in four games was more of a credit to the referees for talking things over and allowing the goal (absent video replay) than to the Czech center, who was otherwise dreadful against half the Devils' full team.

The gridlock at the Rock caused the Rangers to have a low shot total for the first time in four games (just 22). But they once again were able to limit their opponent to a similar amount (22 too). The Dubinsky-Callahan line was again the most active for the Rangers, the Drury line had its least effective showing to date. Fritsche, Rissmiller, and Voros did little to advance their case for themselves against each other. Greg Moore is destined for another season riding the Merritt Parkway when injuries hit. Dale Weise was a factor, Brodie Dupont was not. On defense, Vladimir Denisov made his debut and looked just fine, thank you. Rozsival, Mara, Pock, and even Marc Staal were all spinning their wheels to little effect. Antoine Lafleur made one mistake on seven shots but was otherwise fine in net in relief of Lundqvist.

Game reports and notes can be found in the Post, NYR.com, Blue Notes, Ranger Rants, Rangers Report, and the AP. Lundqvist's knees are addressed in the Record and Newsday. Dubinsky gets all the attention in the Daily News and NYR.com, his fellow sophs Dawes and Callahan are the quotes in the Journal News. NY Sports Day features Fahey. Previews including the Rangers can be found at USA Today and the Hockey News. Mark Messier is still hawking his cold medicine, talking to Slam! Sports about life without hockey.

Rangers Shooting Blanks

After two encouraging pre-season performances, the Rangers stumbled last night in dropping a 3-2 decision in Tampa. The loss is not the issue -- an identical 3-2 loss in Ottawa, likewise the result of falling behind 3-0, was nothing if not encouraging, considering how the Rangers' B-team competed against a nearly full Ottawa squad. The players are not the issue -- almost everyone played well, individually, and this was virtually the full Lightning squad, with their number one goalie going all the way and minus only two top players, including Vinnie Lecavalier, who are out due to injury.

The problem is the offense. In three games, the Rangers have generated over 35 shots in each game and have given up no more than 22. Last night, the margin was 40-18. But when the Rangers could not finish any of their chances during an early stage of sheer dominance and Tampa countered with a goal on a defensive breakdown, the Rangers sagged, falling behind by 3-0 quickly. Overall, the Rangers have nearly doubled their opponents' in shots on goal (114-59) but have scored only five goals -- their goalies have an anemic save percentage of .879 (.830 aside from Lundqvist's perfect 12 saves) while opposing goalies have an enviable .956 save percentage.

But it's still just pre-season, a time of evaluation. And last night was about evaluation for the Rangers. Other than their top unit of five and incumbent fourth line checkers Blair Betts and Colton Orr, everyone was more or less competing for a job. Even the top unit was under the microscope in terms of chemistry, especially on the power play. They continued to skate well and press the offense, but they ended up with only one power play goal for their efforts. Nikolai Zherdev made some hair-raising plays and some hair-pulling gaffes. Wade Redden was burned on the rush again, with defense partner Dan Girardi falling asleep to allow conversion of the resulting rebound.

Lauri Korpikoski, Artem Anisimov, Corey Potter, Dane Byers, and even Hugh Jessiman all made strong cases for themselves. Mike Del Zotto continued to outshine Bobby Sanguinetti, who started off poorly but recovered later in the game. Freddie Sjostrom reasserted himself in a big way with a goal on eight shots despite skating on the fourth line with a center, Andreas Jamtin, who was among the few who failed to impress. Thomas Pock looked good, better than Dmitri Kalinin, though he still stands little chance of beating him out for a job. Miika Wiikman started the game looking as if he could challenge Steve Valiquette for an NHL job but ended his half of it looking as if he should look over his shoulder in Hartford.

There was one interesting sequence that led to the Rangers' power play goal that looked like a nice new wrinkle that cannot have been spontaneous -- it must have been planned. Twice, right point man Girardi slid down the slot, drawing the penalty killing forwards, freeing up left point man Redden. The first time, Redden got an good open shot from his point. The second time, Girardi got the puck and scored. As long as the Rangers can keep the puck from squirting out past the vacated right point -- something that did indeed happen several times -- this looks like a good play.

Today's entry at Blueshirt Bulletin+ is a training camp review of the original players on the Blue team, most of whom played last night -- click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+ access.

In other reading today, Newsday, Ranger Rants, Rangers Report, Blue Notes, NYR.com , and Stan Fischler at MSG.com recap last night's game; the Record features Redden; Stan Fischler looks at Petr Nedved's chances to make the Rangers at MSG.com, as does the Record; the Sports Network has a Ranger preview; and Howlings has news on the Wolf Pack's radio broadcasts. Meanwhile, over in Prague, tickets are still available for the Rangers-Lightning games, according to Denik Sport, even though iDNES says things are getting a little "loony" over there as the games approach.

We appreciate Slap Shot linking to our Victoria Cup preview at IIHF.com, but did they have to nitpick our choices on what to include and what to exclude? Of course we know that Ulf Sterner was blasted out of the NHL after just four games, but we chose to omit the reason because we felt that it was not relevant to the subject at hand -- it was not "“Welcome to the NHL, kid" as they flippantly suggest, it was a much more cynical "Go home you freaking foreigner". And the fact that the Rangers were the first franchise to play a European team was not all that noteworthy in our estimation because it was no more than a scheduling quirk, with other NHL teams participating in the 1975 Super Series with Russian clubs in the ensuing days (not to mention that the NHL had already played plenty of games against Russian all-star teams).

The Rangers are back at it tonight in New Jersey. According to Ranger Rants, the roster will be the White team for the most part, led by the lines of Chris Drury centering Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha, and Brandon Dubinsky centering Aaron Voros and Ryan Callahan. Nedved gets another chance between Patrick Rissmiller and Dan Fritsche, while Hartford hopefuls Brodie Dupont, Greg Moore, and Dale Weise make up the fourth unit. On defense, Marc Staal and Michal Rozsival go out together again, Vladimir Denisov gets his first shot alongside Paul Mara, and Brian Fahey and Thomas Pock get another audition as they bid for the #7 D spot. Lundqvist will start, with Antoine Lafleur getting the call for the second half.

Still Struggling to Score Goals

New season, same story -- 38 shots on goal (30-12 shot advatange through two periods), but only two goals. The Rangers buzzed relentlessly, if a bit sloppily, through the first two periods of last night's exhibition win over Ottawa, peppering the Senators' net with shot after shot. But for a second straight game, they had trouble finishing their many chances. But in the end, they prevailed on a first period goal by Petr Nedved and a second period deflection by Lauri Korpikoski seconds after Brandon Dubinsky caught a goal post with what looked like a sure goal.

Drawing conclusions from the Rangers' 2-1 victory is not really worthwhile -- this wasn't even a B-team that Ottawa sent out. While the Rangers' B-team could be highly praised for their showing on Saturday night against what was nearly a complete regular season Senator squad, their A-team faced few NHL players and even fewer NHL difference makers last night. Everyone should perform well against a team like that. So what is most noteworthy is who did not play well, and number one on that list is the player most likely to replace Marek Malik as the fans' number one whipping boy, defenseman Dmitri Kalinin. Kalinin's defense partner, Bobby Sanguinetti, demonstrated why there is much concern at this moment about the way he has been performing.

Beyond that, the most encouraging sign was Nikolai Zherdev apparently getting his game in gear now that the people he was playing against were wearing a crest different than his own -- although they failed to score, his line with Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund dominated shift after shift, as they very well should have given the level of the opposition. One first period play in particular presaged what we might expect from Zherdev -- the crowd, though sparse, oohed when he made one fabulous move with the puck, they aahed when he made another fabulous moved, and then they moaned when he turned the puck over just inside the blue line.

But that was nothing compared to Wade Redden's third period gaffe when he tried to attack former Ranger Brad Isbister along the boards on a two-on-one and was burned for a two-man breakaway that resulted in the Sens' only goal. "That was the highlight of the night," Redden said afterwards with only a bit of a smile. Otherwise, Redden showed what he was really brought here for as he quarterbacked the Ranger power play from the left point and did what fans have been yearning for for years -- shooting the puck. For Redden, playing his first real game as a Ranger against the team he had been with his entire career was a good way to start. "I don't know what was more weird, being here wearing this [jersey] or playing against that one," he said. "Got them both out of the way."

One tangential question that was answered last night was whether the Rangers would continue to salute fans after home wins with Jagr and Co. gone. After congratulating the goalie, half the Rangers started floating toward the exit without considering a salute. Dubinsky starting calling everyone to center ice. Suddenly realizing that it was not really his call, he turned to Gomez, acting as captain in this game, as if to say, "What do you want to do, Cap'n?" Gomez smiled, everyone gathered around, and they did the fan salute.

Another tangential question came to the fore with Nedved scoring a goal and earning first star honors for the game. Could the 36-year-old two-time former Ranger, who did not get all that warm of a reception from fans who do not have fond memories of either of his first two stints in New York, actually make a successful return to the NHL? Well, it was still Ottawa's B-team (even though it was their best defenseman, Chris Phillips, whom he beat for his goal), there is still a glut at center with four returning incumbents, and there is still a thing known as the salary cap which the Rangers are too close to to offer an acceptable contract to a player like Nedved (or Brendan Shanahan for that matter). His only hope is to replace Blair Betts, and not only does that remain a huge long shot, it would make him fourth line center, something he said he did not want to be.

At Blueshirt Bulletin+ today, we have an article on the Rangers' new-look power play, with comments by Redden and Ranger coach Tom Renney -- click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+ access. In addition to our recent training camp and pre-season reports, BB+ will be the place to see our reporting live from Bern and Prague -- I will be the only independent Ranger reporter in Bern and one of only two or three in Prague. For a preview on the Rangers' trip to Europe, see my article at IIHF.com, which I titled "Rangers No Strangers to European Hockey" rather than just "Rangers No Strangers".

Elsewhere, you can find game reports and notes at Rangers Report, Ranger Rants, NYR.com, Blue Seats, Ottawa Citizen, and the AP. The Post has the lowdown on Henrik Lundqvist's knee, which is not 100% even if it's not as bad as a Swedish report seemed to make it out to be. NY Sports Day has more on Lundqvist. Korpikoski's bid to make the NHL, more real than Nedved's despite being even more hampered by the salary cap, is the subject in the Daily News and Newsday. Redden is the topic in the Journal News. More on Redden haflway down this Ottawa Sun article on former Ranger coach John Muckler. The Record sums up the Shanahan situation. Prospect Park discusses Dubinsky and Dale Weise, among other subjects. The Hockey News looks at Mike Richter's potential entry into politics, which we first reported two years ago. ESPN has video of Mark Messier, who was in the house last night. CBS Sports looks at the Eastern Conference, including the Rangers.

The Rangers are in Tampa tonight for a pre-season tune-up against the wholly rebuilt Lightning team they will meet in Prague the weekend after next. Blue Notes has the line-up -- another go-round for the top unit and for Colton Orr plus a handful of likely regulars, the rest mostly guys who are vying for good spots on the Rangers' depth chart. Hugh Jessiman gets his first look of the pre-season, the ascending Lauri Korpikoski, Artem Anisimov, and Corey Potter get another skate, two Swedish players, Fred Sjostrom and Andreas Jamtim, try to halt their decline, Dane Byers and P.A. Parenteau hope to continue to impress people enough to earn promotions from Hartford at some point, and viewers will get a chance to see Mike Del Zotto and Bobby Sanguinetti play on the same roster.

Gomez Gets the C While Z Sees MSG

Tom Renney, back in town to guide the Rangers tonight, was a little coy in revealing who was going to wear the captain's C for this game. He said Redden, Naslund, and Gomez were going to be the three players wearing letters, but when pressed on which would get the C, he asked us whom we would choose, and just nodded and smiled when everyone said "Gomer". He admitted that he is no closer to choosing a permanent C. His options are a) Drury b) Gomez c) All of the Above (i.e. co-captains) d) None of the above (three A's).

Nikolai Zherdev was out at the boards in the near-empty arena looking around, taking in the place. The only time he ever visited before as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was in Coach Ken Hitchcock's dog house and sat in the upper press box, a healthy scratch. I asked Renney the question I posed rhetorically this morning about Brian Fahey, whether he has worked himself into the mix as a candidate for an NHL job or whether he is just getting a good look while he's here before heading back to Hartford, where he's expected to play. He was non-committal, saying only that he was getting an extra look at him, so that seems to be the answer at this time.