SB Nation - Bobby Sanguinetti

Rangers News: Sanguinetti and Heikkinen sent back to Hartford

Jim Schmiedeberg — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:31:22 -0000

So much for playing the kids.....

New York, December 19, 2009 - New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defensemen Bobby Sanguinetti and Ilkka Heikkinen have been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Sanguinetti, 21, has skated in five games with the Rangers this season. He made his NHL debut on November 27 at Tampa Bay. Sanguinetti returns to Hartford where he has registered six goals and 17 assists for 23 points, along with 10 penalty minutes in 27 games this season. He was tied for the AHL lead among defensemen in scoring and ranked second overall on Hartford with 23 points at the time of his recall on Wednesday. He has registered six multi-point efforts on the season, including an AHL career-high four-point performance on October 31 against Providence (two goals and two assists). Last season, Sanguinetti led Wolf Pack defensemen in points (42) and assists (36), and set a Hartford single-season rookie record for assists by a blueliner. He also led all Wolf Pack skaters with five points (one goal and four assists) in six AHL playoff contests.

The Trenton, New Jersey native was originally the Rangers first round selection, 21st overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Heikkinen, 25, has appeared in seven games with the Rangers this season. He made his NHL debut on December 5 at Buffalo. Heikkinen returns to Hartford where he has recorded five goals and 11 assists for 16 points, along with eight penalty minutes in 24 games this season. He was tied for fifth among AHL defensemen in goals, sixth in points and ninth in assists at the time of his recall on December 3. He also ranked second on Hartford overall in shots (54), fifth in points, and was tied for second on the team in shorthanded goals (one), third in assists and seventh in goals. Heikkinen has recorded four multi-point performances on the season, including two multi-assist efforts. He tallied a point (assist) in his AHL debut on October 3 at Binghamton, and notched his first career AHL goal on October 11 at Providence.

The Rauma, Finland native signed with the Rangers as a free agent on May 20, 2009.

Rangers News: Morning (or Mourning?) Thoughts

Jim Schmiedeberg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:20:03 -0000

More photos » by Mike Carlson - AP

"So there I was, nice cushy job at TSN, all I had to do was sit there, smile, and bash Sean Avery. Then Sather calls, offers me this job, and what do I do? I take it. Dumb, dumb dumb."

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There's a storm front coming
White water running and the pressure is low
Storm front coming
Small craft warning on the radio

(Billy Joel, "Storm Front")

As I was reading the John Tortorella quotes from last night, that song just kept running through my head. Things are ugly right now, too many underachievers in the lineup, and it sounds like the head coach has finally had enough.I don't know if you guys were able to see them on MSG, somehow I doubt it, but I caught them on TSN in between periods of the Ducks-Nucks game.

Check out the quotes, courtesy of Ranger Rants:

On the Islanders first goal being a "dirty" goal, one gotten simply by skating hard to the net:

"That we don’t get. There’s horse*$)#@! coverage around the corners, he just brings it around the net. It’s a fluky goal. But we don’t get them."

What’s the remedy for the way the team started in the first period:

"What is the remedy? I don’t know how you want me to answer that."
What do you think you need to do: "Play ^#(^&@ harder."
As the coach, what do you need to do: "That’ll be something we’ll decide before tomorrow’s game."

More after the jump.....

Is this group capable of figuring it out as constituted:

"I’ll tell you right now, the thing that’s unacceptable about tonight’s game and we’re trying to stay positive around here, trying to work our way through it, but when we play like ^*^#@ like that for 20 minutes in a game like this in a back-to-back situation, it’s unacceptable. I’m not even going back as far as a month and are we capable. It’s simply unacceptable. There has to be something done and we’ll see along the way before tomorrow night’s game. We’ll see where we go with them. It’s just simply unacceptable how we started that game. I wish I could give you a ($@#*%# explanation about it. I can’t.

If you click the link above for Ranger Rants, there are also quotes from the players, but its pretty much the standard "we need to be mentally tougher", and "we need to set the pace" stuff we've heard for a month.

TSN has video of some of the Torts stuff on their NHL page.

So will we see changes tonight? What changes will they be? Bobby Sanguinetti is waiting in the wings, will he take Rozsival's spot in the lineup? Are undeserving forwards still going to be given bulks of ice time? I guess we will find out as the day goes on.

Finally,

Rangers Analysis: Rangers rookies making a difference (in a good way)

Joe Fortunato — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:24 -0000

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

about 1 month ago: Montreal Canadiens' Travis Moen, right, is checked into the boards by New York Rangers' Michael Del Zotto during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Graham Hughes)

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Rookies are generally the "weak links" of a sports teams. They are generally the youngest players on the teams, guys who are incredibly inexperience and who's ability to handle play on the big stage is questioned often. On the flip side rookies are the future and their flashes of brilliance excites fans for what can be. The Rangers currently have three rookies starting every night in Artem Anisimov, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy. Let's take a deeper look:

Michael Del Zotto has already proved everyone who doubted him wrong. He is leading all defensemen on the Rangers in points and he is easily the most physical defenseman on the blue line. Currently John Tortorella is giving him more and more ice time, and against Detroit he lead all players in the TOI category. Del Zotto has been the quarterback of the power play since game one and his 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points. While Del Zotto is sporting a -9 his defense has increased massively and he is currently playing 19 minutes a night. That's pretty impressive for a 19 year old kid.

Artem Anisimov has also made a pretty positive impact for the Rangers, although his was more expected. Currently Anisimov has seen time on every single line but with the injuries to Brandon Dubinsky and Chris Drury he is starting to see some top line minutes. His 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points are good for 5th on the team in points, and his two way play has really come along quite nicely. Many expected him to make the team last year and when he didn't he responded by having a point per game effort for Hartford, now that he has made the team he is showing that he belongs here.

Matt Gilroy was another player that Ranger fans were wondering if they were going to see on Broadway this year. Signed from Boston University Gilroy has made pretty instant dividends for the Rangers. His speed allows him to pinch in on every rush and find a way to get back in time to make the defensive play. His hockey IQ is off the charts and once he gets better accustomed to the game he should start putting up awesome numbers.

P.A Parentenau, Bobby Sanguinetti and Dane Byers have all seen time but not enough to do a full report on. Thoughts on who has surprised you thus far?

Rangers News: Can you play defense? Can you do it cheap? Call Glen.....

Jim Schmiedeberg — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:01:19 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

"Dammit Chris! We're out of cap space! Where am I going to find a defenseman?"....."Search me boss, hey, have you seen pictures of my Ferrari?"

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So according to Andrew Gross, Wade Redden skated today, but does not look comfortable in contact drills (insert joke here), meaning he probably won't be ready to go Saturday night.

This leaves the Rangers with a bit of a sticky wicket. With the addition of Chad Johnson and Erik Christensen's salaries to the payroll, even with the subtraction of Steve Valiquette, the Rangers do not have the cap space to call up anyone, like Bobby Sanguinetti.

From Andrew's story:

The quick story on the numbers, though. The Rangers, who reportedly had about $800,000 of wiggle room, did substract Valiquette’s $725,000 but Johnson is on the books for a reported $660,000 and Christensen is at $750,000 so the Rangers must figure out how to squeeze another defenseman onto their roster. The brass is working on that now.

Perhaps the Rangers will have to shed Aaron Voros and his $900,000 salary. Or Brian Boyle at $500,000.

Rangers may be looking for a defenseman on Craig's List by day's end.

Rangers News: Bobby Sanguinetti back to Hartford

Jim Schmiedeberg — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:10:33 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

Pittsburgh Penguins' Mike Rupp knocks Bobby Sanguinetti all the way to Connecticut

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Oh well.....

NEW YORK RANGERS TRANSACTION/PRACTICE UPDATE

New York, December 1, 2009 - New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Sanguinetti, 21, skated in three games with the Rangers following his recall on Thursday. He made his NHL debut on Friday at Tampa Bay. He returns to Hartford where he has registered six goals and 16 assists for 22 points, along with 10 penalty minutes in 21 games this season. Sanguinetti led all AHL defensemen in scoring and ranked fourth in the league overall with 22 points at the time of his recall. He has registered six multi-point efforts on the season, including an AHL career-high four-point performance on October 31 against Providence (two goals and two assists). Last season, Sanguinetti led Wolf Pack defensemen in points (42) and assists (36), and set a Hartford single-season rookie record for assists by a blueliner. He also led all Wolf Pack skaters with five points (one goal and four assists) in six AHL playoff contests.

Rangers News: Lines for tonight, Lisin scratched (as in not in uniform this time)

Jim Schmiedeberg — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:40:03 -0000

by Mike Carlson - AP

This picture says it all, from Prospal's confusion to Tortorella's ire to Drury's indifference.

View full size photo »

From Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants, here are the lines for tonight, subject to change after everyone's first shift:

Sean Avery-Vinny Prospal-Marian Gaborik
Christopher Higgins-Artem Anisimov-P.A. Parenteau
Donald Brashear-Chris Drury-Ryan Callahan
Ales Kotalik-Brian Boyle-Aaron Voros
Matt Gilroy-Bobby Sanguinetti
Marc Staal-Michal Rozsival
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi

Can't wait to see Drury and Callahan get it going with Brashear on their line.

Also, Enver Lisin will be scratched this evening, I guess at this point we can call him "Enver Lesson" (ba-dum-bump)

Henrik Lundqvist in goal, in case you had any doubt, and if you did, why?

Be here all week folks........

Rangers Recap: Lighting 5 Rangers 1 the "we still have no secondary scoring" edition

Joe Fortunato — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:13:50 -0000

More photos » by Mike Carlson - AP

22 days ago: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30), of Sweden, is replaced by teammate Steve Valiquette after giving up his fourth goal of the game during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

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Except this time it did matter. The Rangers had no heart, they had no passion, they didn't care and it showed. John Tortorella's return to Tampa Bay was ruined, and good; Tortorella deserved to get nothing from this one. His boys came out flat and he did nothing to change them. Few Rangers came out to play tonight and I include Tortorella in that category.

The first period was all Lightning, aside from a secluded minute where the Rangers moved the puck well and Sean Avery took a perfect feed from Marian Gaborik and rang his shot off the post. Steve Stamkos snapped home his 16th of the year finishing a pretty pass from Martin St. Louis and as the period drew to a close Kurtis Foster scored a power play goal with Ales Kotalik sitting in the box. The Rangers were outplayed all period and I was actually quite surprised that John Tortorella didn't call a time out, especially in the beginning moments of the first when the Rangers were getting completely dominated. Regardless hats off to Tampa Bay who came out firing and had the Rangers on their heels the entire period.

The second period continued to be bad for the Rangers. With Artem Anisimov sitting in the box for a high sticking penalty the Lightning went on yet another power play. It was there that Stamkos took the puck all the way from the point to the slot with Michael Rozsival just backing up and giving him space. Rozsival then let Stamkos pass the puck to St. Louis and then stand there as Steve Downie banged the puck home. You may not blame Rozsival here but I do, play the man with the puck or if you do decide to hang back don’t let the puck get past you.

I'm sorry but here is yet another gripe I have with Tortorella, Rozsival is playing horrible hockey right now; why is he on the ice in key moments? I know that Wade Redden is out but Michael Rozsival is just a waste of a hockey player right now.

Shortly following that goal Lighting scored again after Bobby Sanguinetti couldn't keep Paul Szczechura off the puck and he banked the puck in to make it 4-0. That goal chased Henrik Lundqvist, who didn't play as horrible as the score line would indicate but he didn't play a good game.

The third period was basically an encore of the other two, from all respects. The Lightning continued to dominate the play and scored their fifth goal (Foster scored his second, another rocket this time right off the faceoff). Nothing changed, including the Rangers play.

I’m going to put this here because it is way too important for the empty netters section below. I fully believe that John Tortorella has lost or is losing this team. No John Tortorella team should come out and play like this consistently, which they have been. As Jim said to me during the game "this nice little two game winning streak will probably turn into a three game losing streak." If the Rangers keep playing like this who can blame us for the thought?

Empty Netters:

If I hear Sam Rosen or Joe Micheletti say the phrase "The Rangers need to generate some scoring chances" or "The Rangers need a spark right now" I am going to punch a baby. We know boys, shut up and call the game, we are irritable as is.
Jim mentioned this during the game but big props to Brian Boyle for taking one for the team and fighting in the second period. He isn't a fighter and got the crap kicked out of him to try and spark the team. Good for you Boyle, the boys let you down tonight.
After a fantastic game against the Florida Panthers Chris Drury was invisible tonight. Sorry Chris but you need to start stepping up.
Look Chris Higgins might be playing really well but if he doesn’t start scoring I say relegate him to the 3^rd or even 4^th line. I know he makes the moves and gets some shots but he simply isn’t scoring and it’s hurting this team, period. He needs to step it up big time.
The same goes for Ryan Callahan who is not scoring goals and unlike Higgins is not getting many chances. He had a few tonight and didn’t bury them, of course. (I wrote this recap before the game was over and don't feel like changing it. He scored to make it 5-1 (congrats) but the point still stands, where was that for the past 16 games? I don't want to be too hard on him because he works his ass off and is one of the few Rangers who I really think cares but the point has to be made.)
On the bright side if Tortorella does make the call to go with Lundqvist tomorrow against the Penguins he has half a game off. Personally if I were a betting man I would say that Steve Valiquette starts tomorrow, just a hunch.

Won’t have to sit on this one for long as the Rangers play the Penguins in Pittsburgh tomorrow. Vent here my friends, the floor is yours.

Rangers Pregame: Tortorella returns, Sanguinetti arrives, Scouting the Bolts

Jim Schmiedeberg — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:30:11 -0000

The Rangers have won two in a row. If they win tonight, in the immortal words of Lou Brown in Major League 2: "That's called a winning streak, it has happened before."

It won't be an easy task against the Lightning, who have a 5-1-4 record at home this year, and are 5-2-3 in their last ten games.

As we told you yesterday, Bobby Sanguinetti was brought up from the Hartford Wolfpack, and will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Wade Redden, who is expected to miss a week with an apparent shoulder injury. Looks like Sangs will pair with Gilroy, with Gilroy moving to the left side.

Bobby Sanguinetti

#54 / Defenseman / New York Rangers

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Born: Feb 29, 1988

Ales Kotalik and Henrik Lundqvist are playing tonight, according to Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants.

Lines for tonight are about the same as Wednesday night, with Kotalik sliding into Voros' spot probably:

Christopher Higgins-Vinny Prospal-Marian Gaborik
Sean Avery-Artem Anisimov-P.A. Parenteau
Enver Lisin-Chris Drury-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-Ales Kotalik/Aaron Voros

The Tampa Tribune has a story on John Tortorella that shows his other side.

Don't forget, while the focus has been on Torts' coming back to Tampa, Vinny Prospal will also be returning to the St. Pete Times Forum for the first time since the Lightning bought out his contract. I think we can expect him to play with a big chip on his shoulder tonight as well.

Ok. let's take a look at the Bolts after the jump.......

Lightning Leading Scorer:

Steven Stamkos

#91 / Center / Tampa Bay Lightning

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Feb 07, 1990

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Steven Stamkos	22	15	11	26	4	10	6	1	2	0	69	21.7

Lightning Record: 9-6-7 (3rd place, Southeast Division)

Head Coach: Rick Tocchet

SBNation home of the Tampa Bay Lightning: Raw Charge

Notes from Yahoo Sports:

After making his season debut on Sunday in Atlanta, defenseman Mike Lundin was sent back to AHL Norfolk on Monday, only to be recalled to Tampa on Wednesday to play against Toronto. Because of his contract status, Ludin is not subject to waivers until he either spends 30 days with Tampa or appears in 10 games.
Tampa Bay suffered its first regulation loss in 10 homes games at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning are the last team in the Eastern conference to suffer a home loss in regulation.
A 4-3 loss to Toronto is the first time Tampa Bay has lost in regulation to the Leafs in 11 games. The Lightning had been 8-0-2 in the previous 10 meetings.
The four goals allowed by goaltender Antero Niittymaki against Toronto matched a season high Niittymaki had done one other time on Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh. The loss was also the second this season suffered in regulation by Niittymaki in 11 starts.

Lightning co-owner subject to probe. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

The Lightning are coming off a loss at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 on Wednesday night (yikes). Cassie over at Raw Charge has the full recap.

Things to watch for:

The Rangers penalty kill is now first overall, which will make it tough on Tampa's struggling power play.

The Lightning's penalty has also been bad, they are 25th overall in the league. Rangers power play is 8th overall. Rangers look to have a big edge on special teams.

Rangers are 9-3-0 when they score first, Tampa is 6-1-2 when they get on the board before their opponent.

The Lightning have three different players averaging better than a point a game: Ryan Malone, Martin St.Louis, and Steven Stamkos. And oh yeah, Vincent Lecavalier is pretty good too.

Mike Smith is 0-2-1 lifetime against the Rangers, with a GAA of 2.92. Henrik Lundqvist is 4-0 for his career vs. Tampa with an astounding GAA of 1.48.

Rangers News: Wade Redden out 5 to 7 days

Jim Schmiedeberg — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:00:31 -0000

More photos » by Mary Altaffer - AP

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Steve Zipay over at Blue Notes is reporting that John Tortorella said that Wade Redden will miss 5 to 7 days with an "upper-body injury". It appeared Redden hurt his shoulder last night on a check from Victor Oreskovich of the Florida Panthers.

Looks like we are going to get a good look at Bobby Sanguinetti, as the Rangers play three games in the next four nights.

Rangers News: Bobby Sanguinetti called up from Hartford

Jim Schmiedeberg — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:29:46 -0000

Presumably as a pre-caution in case Wade Redden cannot play (insert your own joke here), defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been called up from the Hartford Wolfpack for tomorrow night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sanguinetti has been playing well at Hartford, leading all AHL defensemen in scoring with 6 goals and 16 assists.

It will be interesting to see who he is paired with should Redden not be able to play.(again, giving you guys a setup here)

For those of you that are new to Blueshirt Banter, Bobby Sanguinetti did an interview with us and took questions from our readers, you can check it out here.

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 11/26/09 1:13 PM EST The official release from the Rangers:]

New York, November 26, 2009 - New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced
today that defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey
League (AHL).

Sanguinetti, 21, has registered six goals and 16 assists for 22 points, along with 10 penalty minutes in 21
games with Hartford this season. Following a two assist performance last night at Lowell, Sanguinetti leads all AHL
defensemen in scoring and ranks fourth in the league overall with 22 points. He has registered six multi-point efforts on the season, including an AHL career-high four-point performance on October 31 against Providence (two goals and two assists). Last season, Sanguinetti led Wolf Pack defensemen in points (42) and assists (36), and set a Hartford single-season rookie record for assists by a blueliner. He also led all Wolf Pack skaters with five points (one goal and four assists) in six AHL playoff contests.

The Trenton, New Jersey native was originally the Rangers first round selection, 21st overall, in the 2006
NHL Entry Draft.