Written on 11/27/2010 by Jim Cerny
Rangers head coach John Tortorella repeated something last night that he has been subtlely saying more and more often recently: "we are a tired team".
Nine games in 14 days in seven different cities will do that to a team. As will playing a hard-skating in-your-face style, which is the Rangers calling card this season.
Listen, I can see how tired they are. And I can understand it better than most. I mean, shoot, I keep the same travel, practice, and game schedules as the Rangers do, but with one big difference: they play...I report on it. And I am tired, and a bit beat up from this recent grind. So I can only imagine how the players feel.
But yet, even as Tortorella says this about his club, they stick together and battle. And they are a resilient team, much more so than last year. Bad loss in Tampa on Wednesday? No problem, bounce back with a 40-save Henrik Lundqvist shutout last night against the Panthers. Lousy loss in Denver two Fridays ago? Not an issue because they come back with an impressive victory in Minnesota the very next night. Lose two games in a row on a couple different occasions this season? Not going to panic because they are staying away from lengthy losing streaks this year, never losing more than two in a row, so far.
If you are a Rangers fan, this is the type of team you can really throw your arms around and embrace. It is a likable team, both in on-ice and off-ice personality.
"What I really like about this team is how together they are," Tortorella said the other day.
"This team has come together early in the season...we really like each other and get along well and have really gelled together quickly," added forward Brandon Prust, who is not one of the team's stars, but is a vital part of the fabric in the locker room and on the ice.
When Prust scored his first goal of the season last night, the bench erupted with just a dose more excitement than usual. Yes, it was a big goal---the one to ice a 3-0 victory---but it was "Pruster" who scored it, and that meant something to his teammates.
"If you see our bench when he scores, that's the important thing, the cameraderie they feel about him, and each other," explained Tortorella. "Guys pull for him. It's good for him, but for me as a coach, it's good for the team. Crap, he's done a lot of good things for us, and I am happy for him."
Every good and successful team in the National Hockey League has a Brandon Prust on its roster. Trust me on that one. Yes, you need your star players---in the Rangers case Lundqvist and Marian Gaborik---playing their best, but you need other intangibles, as well, in order to achieve success. Prust provides that. Brian Boyle is providing that. Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, and Dan Girardi are stepping up their level of play nad providing more. Derek Stepan is as good a rookie as there is in the NHL this year.
You can see it's coming together for the Rangers. There are going to be some bumps along the way, but it's coming together. You get the feel the team is on the right track. And you get the feel that the Tortorella has established an excellent foundation, and that the players are playing hard for their coach---just as they do for one another.
"Character" is an important word when you speak about a team. And the Rangers are proving they have it. Heck, just check out how they have weathered injuries to four key veterans---Gaborik, Chris Drury, Vinny Prospal, and Michal Rozsival---without major issue already this season.
It is all part of what makes this Rangers team so appealing.
True, they will be in a dogfight all year to secure a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference. No question about that.
But as a Rangers fan, I think you'll at least be able to enjoy this ride more than some other recent ones.
Posted in
Brandon Prust,
Henrik Lundqvist,
John Tortorella,
Marian Gaborik,
New York Rangers,
NHL,
Rink Rap
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Written on 9/30/2010 by Jim Cerny
By placing Wade Redden on waivers last week, and eventually removing his $6.5 million hit from the salary cap by assigning the veteran defenseman to Hartford, Rangers GM Glen Sather at least partially erased a big mistake from the Rangers' recent past.
Of course, it is a costly mistake as the Blueshirts are still on the hook to pay Redden, not only this year, but for three more seasons aftewards.
Stll Sather removed a mistake from the roster. And that, along with what I have seen so far in Rangers training camp, has made me think of what a great job Sather did in erasing another mistake: the pricey signing of free agent center Scott Gomez four summers ago.
After a solid 70-point first year with the Rangers in 2007-08, Gomez not only was limited to 58 points the following season, but his fit in the locker room was not a good one. Plus his cap hit, along with those of Redden and Chris Drury, was suffocating the team.
So Sather engineered a masterful trade with Montreal, one that I would argue is the type which could set up a franchise in a positive way for years to come.
Please follow my logic:
The Rangers unloaded Gomez and his big salary....
...which freed them up financially to sign the superstar sniper they desired in Marian Gaborik. That alone would make this a winning trade for the Blueshirts. Trading Gomez, a decent second-line center at his best, for an elite goal-scoring machine is a slam dunk win for the Rangers. Yes, I understand that Gaborik is a risk because of his past medical history. But after one healthy 42-goal season on Broadway, the Rangers have to love this swap.
The Rangers received Christopher Higgins in the trade...
....and though the Long Island native did not pan out with the Rangers, Sather shuffled him off to Calgary in the Olli Jokinen trade. Included in
that deal was winger Brandon Prust, a rugged third-liner who helped spark the Rangers down the stretch last season and who is a terrific locker-room presence. So, in essence, Prust, not Higgins, was part of this deal since Prust is still playing for the Rangers. Another plus.
The Rangers received Ryan McDonagh in the trade...
....and after leading the University of Wisconsin to the NCAA Championship Game last season, the 21 year-old defenseman turned pro this past summer. McDonagh, a former first round pick of the Canadiens, has looked rock solid and very mature in his first pro camp with the Rangers, and he is on the verge of earning a spot on the opening night roster. He is projected to be a top-four defenseman for years to come.
The Rangers received Pavel Valentenko in the trade...
...and though Valentenko flew under the radar since the deal went down he has emerged as the biggest surprise in this year's training camp for the Rangers. Valentenko is a bruising, fearless, hard-hitting defenseman who told me last night that rocking someone's world "is my favorite". Love it. He also has a cannon of a slap shot, and is not afraid to fire it. Valentenko may start the season in Hartford for more seasoning, but the 22 year-old has an NHL future without question. If he finds his way on to the Rangers roster at some point, that would be four solid NHL players in the lineup in exchange for one regular.
The Rangers traded away little else other than Gomez....
...not to demean center Tom Pyatt, who is a gritty fourth-liner, but the Rangers did not surrender a top prospect to Montreal when they sent Gomez up north. And not to demean Gomez either. He put up only 59 points in Montreal last year, but he did play very well at times in the playoffs, notching 14 points in 19 games as the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Finals. But especially with the emergence of McDonagh and Valentenko, this trade keeps getting better by the day for the Rangers.
Posted in
Brandon Prust,
Christopher Higgins,
Glen Sather,
Marian Gaborik,
Montreal Canadiens,
New York Rangers,
NHL,
Pavel Valentenko,
Rink Rap,
Ryan McDonagh,
Scott Gomez,
Wade Redden
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