SB Nation - Ryan Kesler

Mitchell vs Kesler / Hodgson To Carry Torch / Inspiration / Krajicek

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:50:24 -0000

Don't read too much into the Kesler-Mitchell scuffle at Canucks' practice today. According the the Sun, Willie Mitchell accused Ryan Kesler of slashing him during a drill. Kesler hollered back: "It's never your fault, Willie!" Pushing ensued, nothing much more. Read more on that, including coach and player remarks here.

You may remember the Mitchell/O'Brien-Raymond incident from January 29, 2009. That was during the January to forget. What followed 2 nights later was a 4-3 OT loss to the Wild, followed by Vancouver winning 9 of 11 games in February, 11 of 15 games in March, and 3 of 6 games in April.

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Cody Hodgson was told by his dad that the mayor of his hometown of Markham Ontario wanted to speak with him. Hodgson was informed that he would receive the honor of carrying the Olympic torch to represent his town.

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As far as Canucks fans go, Parksy is one that I respect and hold in high regard. He has created another Canucks inspirational video that you gotta check out. Nice work! Check out his YouTube channel here.

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Oh and one more thing...The Lightning have placed former Canuck Lukas Krajicek on waivers today.

Oh My..The Canucks DO Have A Pulse!

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:21:39 -0000

That was a game the Canucks didn't have to win, but needed to. I'm sure they had a bit of fatigue issues themselves, having arriving in Vancouver the day after the Preds game, but they still took it to the Thrashers, who were playing in a back-to-back situation. I'll keep this in point form.

-I don't think Ilya Kovalchuk liked being limited the way he was. His anger boiled over at Ryan Kesler late in the game. Kovalchuk played 27:03 (wow), had 1 assist and only 3 shots and a -2. Rich Peverley continued his point-producing ways, tallying 2 assists, 2 shots and was a +1. Nik Antropov scored a goal, was a -2, and played over 23:00. Many of those minutes he was on the ice too long, to the dismay of Atlanta coach John Anderson. John Shorthouse and John Garrett said he looked like the Leafs version of Antropov more than the Thrashers version. I laughed. Nothing doing for Maxim Afinogenov either. The Thrashers tried for the stretch passes all night long to spring breakaways but the Canucks would have none of it.

More after the jump

-Thanks to yoata, Steve Bernier's middle name is now "Almost". That guy just can't bury his chances lately. Not consistently anyway. He still finished with 1 assist, 3 shots and a +1.

-It's all about the Sedins tonight. When they play games like that, we win. Daniel had several chances to score 4 goals. He finished with a hatty and 10 bloody shots! Whoa!

-Brother Hank had 2 assists. He is now 3rd in NHL scoring with 38 points, 1 behind Marian Gaborik and 4 behind Jumbo Joe Thornton.

-2 assists for Alex Burrows tonight. He could have scored a couple but was either snake-bit or missed the net.

-This game could have been a worse result for the Thrashers if not for Ondrej Pavelec. I thought he looked pretty good after the Canucks scored a few flukey ones on him earlier in the game.

-With Kyle Wellwood benched, Darcy Hordichuk got the call. But all he did was get into a fight, show some hustle, and play a MERE 4:29. Huh.

-For a supposed tired team...the Thrashers looked pretty quick throughout the game, but mentally their game was not there.

-Look at the shots on goal (click on the BOXSCORE link). The Canucks never let up on these guys.

Great game!

-For the record: the Canucks PPV channel (once they go off the air) turns into a "fireplace" channel. That's so smart. Now I can cozy up all by myself to a fake fire because my wife left me because I watch too much hockey. Thanks, Canucks! How about you put a vintage Canucks game on instead? You know...so I can get the best bang out of my $13.00?

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

MY 3 STARS:

1. Daniel Sedin...duh

2. Henrik Sedin

3. Rick Rypien. That's throwing the champ a bone. He didn't get a lot of ice-time, but was a force every time he was on the ice. Ripper...I love you man! Is his killing of Boris Valabik on YouTube yet? Why yes it is. Here ya go:

And just to throw in a screen capture...check out the Van fans after the Ripper fight...

Yeah..don't EVER eliminate fighting from the game. Ever.

Vancouver Canucks 2010 Olympic Preview

Yankee Canuck — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:26:58 -0000

Let's flip a coin. [Tenders Lounge]

View full size photo »

We already one great post at Olympic hopefuls for Vancouver but, as you may have seen, the SB Nation Hockey group has been running a series of previews as well, so Sean and I have to run one more least the higher-ups flog us.

We disagree on some of these too but that's the fun part. Here's our take on the Vancouver Canucks who - for the first time ever? - have the easy commute.

Pack Your Bags & Walk To Work

Roberto Luongo

#1 / Goalie / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Born: Apr 04, 1979

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Roberto Luongo	20	1124	10	9			48	2.56	531	483	.910	1

Roberto Luongo (Canada) - Let's get the big one out of the way. The meltdown that was the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino left a bad taste in Lui's mouth. Everyone knows he's been eying these winter games in his own city like a fat kid froths at a cake from 100 yards off. Let the haters hate on him, but he's a lock and we all know it. But the starter? Probably not. Brodeur is still the pony to bet on and his November numbers were ridiculous (8-2-1, 1.67 GAA, .939 S%). Expect Luongo to pass Fleury and be Canada's #2 man between the pipes.

Daniel Sedin

#22 / Left Wing / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 185

Born: Sep 26, 1980

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Daniel Sedin	8	1	6	7	3	4	0	0	1	0	30	3.3

Daniel Sedin (Sweden) - I don't think any other team can offer what Vancouver offers Sweden: an entire scoring line. Daniel had four points in eight games in 2006. And unlike in Vancouver, Daniel won't necessarily have to shoulder the offensive load with guys like Alfredsson, Backstrom, Eriksson, Zetterberg and Holstrom around. And I didn't even have to mention that Forsberg character either.

Henrik Sedin

#33 / Center / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Born: Sep 26, 1980

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Henrik Sedin	26	14	14	28	5	18	3	1	3	0	57	24.6

Henrik Sedin (Sweden) - Yeah, see above. Same deal with points from 2006. Creepy.

Mikael Samuelsson

#26 / Right Wing / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 213

Born: Dec 23, 1976

500 Internal Server Error

Mikael Samuelsson (Sweden) - What does Sammy offer? Prior Olympic experience? You betcha: in 2006 he added four points in eight games for team Sweden. Stanley Cup experience? Check. Can sort of tell the Sedins apart? The jury's probably out on that one.

Sami Salo

#6 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

Born: Sep 02, 1974

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Sami Salo	19	0	2	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	30	0.0

Sami Salo (Finland) - Great grandma's fragile chinaset Batman...the last thing poor Sami needs is MORE icetime. Finland's blueline isn't too deep as far as the NHL goes (only Timonen, Pitkanen and Koistinen spring to mind) and they can always elect to raid the European elite leagues or the KHL for replacements (Ossi Vaananen!!!). Salo has played in 10 Olympic games and has scored one goal and added three helpers.

Christian Ehrhoff

#5 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 06, 1982

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Christian Ehrhoff	28	6	11	17	9	10	3	0	0	0	59	10.2

Christian Ehrhoff (Germany) - Blastoff is one of the few shining stars for Team Germany. This will actually be his third appearance in international play: he was the second youngest player back in 2002 and had two points in five games back in 2006. He'll join Schuber and Seidenberg on the blueline and get a truck load of work since Germany is, well, awful (they haven't finished higher than sixth in damn near 20 years).

Nearly A Lock

Ryan Kesler

#17 / Center / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Born: Aug 31, 1984

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ryan Kesler	28	5	21	26	2	28	2	0	1	0	72	6.9

Ryan Kesler (USA) - Sean disagrees with me and I can certainly see why. However he wasn't a lock when the roster was first looked at this summer. He needed to go into camp, gel with the linemates and prove his worth. He's had a strong season so far and, though guys like Kane and Parise have past him on the scoresheet, Kesler has more points than both Brown and Backes so chances are he'll make it. He better too since he already went ahead and guaranteed a medal.

Work To Do

Pavol Demitra

#38 / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-0

Weight: 200

Born: Nov 29, 1974

Pavol Demitra (Slovakia) - I'm sure Demo would like nothing more than to join Hossa, Gaborik and Chara representing Slovakia, but obviously he has to be able to play first. It's probable he could be replaced by someone like Nagy or Satan if he can't make it. And, even then, I'm curious how Vancouver would feel letting him go play for the Olympics when he has yet to skate for the team. Demo clearly has the most work to do of all the current roster players.

Alexander Edler

#23 / Defenseman / Vancouver Canucks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 220

Born: Apr 21, 1986

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Alexander Edler	28	3	19	22	2	12	1	0	0	0	51	5.9

Alexander Edler (Sweden) - Edler's slow start coupled with a deep Swedish blueline (Lidstrom, Ericsson, Ohlund, Kronwall and maybe Hedman) probably nixes him from consideration.

How Will the Olympics Affect the Canucks?

nucksandpucks — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:55:13 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Soon to be enemies...

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It's less than three months until the 2010 Olympics kickoff, and speculation is rampant about the makeup of the Canadian and other national teams. It appears that a number of Canucks will skate on "home" ice in February, as a few players are likely to make their respective national teams. After the jump I give a rundown of what Canucks we can expect to see skating on GM Place ice during the Olympics, and raise some questions about the impact this might have on the latter part of the season.

Canada

Locks: Roberto Luongo

Other possibilities: none (sorry Kyle Wellwood)

United States

Locks: Ryan Kesler

Other possibilities: Mathieu Schneider (a dark horse, but maybe a PP specialist)

Sweden

Locks: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alexander Edler

Other possibilities: Mikael Samuelsson

Russia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sergei Shirokov? Okay, maybe not.

Finland

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Sami Salo (If he's healthy he should be on the team)

Germany

Locks: Christian Ehrhoff

Other possibilities: none

Slovakia

Locks: none

Other possibilities: Pavol Demitra (if he's healthy); Mario Bliznak (I don't know what Slovakia's depth is like, but hopefully they don't need to dip too far into the AHL ranks to ice a team)

If Only They'd Qualified

Locks: Michael Grabner (Austria); Jannik Hansen (Denmark)

So the Canucks could have up to 10 regulars playing in the Olympics. While it will be awesome to see our boys putting it on the line for their country, how will the team fare coming out of the Olympic break? The Sedins, Kesler and Luongo will all potentially be fatigued. Who will step up for Vancouver? We'll need Raycroft to shoulder a bigger burden, which he has demonstrated the ability to do. Secondary scorers like Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Kevin Bieksa and Steve Bernier will need to step up. Wellwood will have spent two weeks laying by the pool, so he should be good to... oh, wait, never mind.

It will be an interesting time for the Canucks, as it will for other teams with significant international contingents. Throw in Canucks' epic pre- and post-Olympic road trip, which will rival the journeys of Odysseus, and the new year looks like a giant wildcard for Vancouver. How do you think the Canucks will respond? Will the Olympics help us? Hurt us? Make no difference? Hopefully one of our boys can pull the rare Olympic Gold and Stanley Cup feat in 2010. I'm looking at you, Luongo.

Canucks-Red Wings Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:46:39 -0000

"ATTACK!"

Canucks (10-9-0)

Red Wings: (8-5-3)

GAME TIME: 4:30 PM PST

TV: Canucks PPV

THE ENEMY: Winging It In Motown

UPDATE: 3:22 PM: I forgot to mention that Mathieu Schneider is in and O'Brien is out. C'mon Schneider! Burn your old team! Do it!

UPDATE: 11:12 AM: We told you the top 2 lines, and now the bottom 2 lines:

Glass-Johnson-Bernier

Pettinger-Rypien Hansen

UPDATE: 11:05 AM PST: Chris Osgood and Kirk Maltby are ill and will not play tonight. The newest Wing, Drew Miller, who was plucked off the waiver wire by Detroit earlier this week, will play. Jimmy Howard, who has a 2-2-1 record and a .893 save percentage, will start in goal.

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Detroit had a few days to think about their 5-1 loss to the lowly Leafs on November 7. On Wednesday they took all that aggression out on Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets, destroying them 9-1. Concerning if you are a Canucks fan who just watched Vancouver lay a rotten egg in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Niklas Kronwall scored 2 goal and 1 assist in the win. Justin Abdelkader scored twice. Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg all had 2 points each. Despite the loss to the Leafs, the Wings have won 4 of their last 5. They now return home, where they have a stellar record of 5-1-1. The Canucks, as Mike pointed out in terrific, terrifying and in-depth fashion below, are lousy on the road with a 3-7 record. They have not found a consistency in their game at all away from GM Place. Slow starts are killing them.

On October 27, the Wingnuts beat the Canucks 5-4 in Vancouver. It was a great game despite the loss, from an entertainment perspective. AV's boys blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads. They were outshot 42-26. Generally, the Canucks 'get up' for games against Detroit, and we should see a much better effort from them tonight.

Roberto Luongo returns! Let's see if he has any rust on him after missing several games with a rib injury. The biggest factor is the team. They have a style of play that works. Now they have to, to a man, go out there and play that game.

We'll keep you updated on any roster adjustments. It looks like Darcy Hordichuk will serve his 1-game suspension tonight, even though he feels he is innocent, saying Cam Janssen dropped the gloves first. We could very well see Jannik Hansen make his regular season debut tonight.

The Province reported yesterday that AV was employing the following top 2 lines in practice:

Mason Raymond-Henrik Sedin-Ryan Kesler

Alex Burrows-Kyle Wellwood-Mikael Samuelsson

Burrows and Wellwood are being given a chance to shake their offensive futility. They had better get it going and quick.

Datsyuk: "I gotta...I gotta stop and go to the bathroom!"

Zetterberg: "Just go, man!"

On The Road Again: Canucks-Wild Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:04:26 -0000

GAME TIME: 5:00 PST

TV: CITY TV (Yay Baseball is done, so it may be on Sportsnet as well.)

THE ENEMY: HOCKEY WILDERNESS

UPDATE: 1:37 PM PST: From The Province:

Team general manager Mike Gillis said the team will explore the feasibility of getting vaccinated during the Canucks’ five-game, 11-day road trip through the United States, where H1N1 vaccine may be more available through the country’s private, for-profit healthcare system.

No panic. Just cautionary stuff in light of Bernier's flu. Next up: another Elvis sighting, the anti-christ emerges, and the sky falls.

UPDATE: 12:04 PM PST: Here's a little nugget to store in your head: In the 4 games since RyJo went down, the Canucks went 10/12 on the PK... 83.3%. That stat from the Opiated Sherpa on Twitter.

UPDATE: 11:24 AM PST: Oh for the love of Mary, it appears that Steve Bernier is suffering from the flu and will miss tonight's game. The lines, according to Ben Kuzma at The Province look like this:

Burrows-H. Sedin-Bieksa

Raymond-Kesler-Samuelsson

Glass-Wellwood-Rypien

Hordichuk-Johnson-Pettinger

On D:

Mitchell-Ehrhoff

Salo-Edler

Schneider-Rome

Raycroft

No that is not a type-o. Kevin Bieksa on line 1. Wee! This is so fun! Hat tip to vancitydan for the heads up.

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After a huge and chaotic win over the Rangers on Tuesday, the Canucks hit the road for 5 straight games, including a back-to-back scenario tonight and tomorrow against the Stars. This isn't going to be easy. The Wild have won 2 straight games against the Rangers and the Penguins and have won 4 of their last 7. There is belief out in that neck of the woods that Minnesota has turned their game around.

However they currently sit last in the Western Conference with the Ducks achieving a 5-9-0 record thus far. They are 4-1-0 at home and a lousy 1-8-0 record on the road. This fate, and they sit 13th in the NHL on the power play (Canucks are 6th) and tops in the NHL on the penalty kill (88%). The Canucks' PK is ranked 19th (79%). It's 5-on-5 where the Wild don't succeed, as they rank last in the NHL in that department (Vancouver is 18th). If you analyze the stats by following those links you'll also see that the Wild do not score a lot of goals (2.14 per game average) and allow too many (3.00 goals per game.)

This is a Wild team that is in transition. Under former coach Jacques Lemaire's long-term regime, the Wild were told to play scrutinizing defence. New coach Todd Richards is trying to get them to open up a little.

As for the Canucks, some key players are close to returning. Both Roberto Luongo and Ryan Johnson (edit: AND Jannik Hansen) are on the flight out of Vancouver. With Mario Bliznak being sent back to Manitoba yesterday, there is a chance that Johnson could play. Edit: Apparently Henrik Sedin's foot is fine.

-The Canucks have established themselves as a good team at home (7-2-0) but have not had much success on the road either (2-5-0).

-There is a part of me that wasn't caring much about the injuries anymore the way the Canucks tightened up after the Ducks blowout several days ago. They are playing solid hockey in front of Andrew Raycroft now. Can they keep this intensity up? They'll have to against a terrific goalie in Niklas Backstrom.

-Ryan Kesler's 5 points in 2 games has everyone talking not only about him being a lock for Team USA (16 points in 16 games), but also for the captaincy to be handed to him. Trust me, I thought the same thing after the last game. Not going to happen though. Get over it.

-Can we please see Rick Rypien fight Derek Boogaard?

The Canucks won the first of 6 encounters with the Wild on October 17, 2-1. The next day the Wild traded prospects and a 2nd round pick in 2011 for Chuck Kobasew. He has 2 points and 5 shots in 7 games with the Wild. Ouch.

Canucks Stay Defensive Course and Beat Rangers 4-1

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:23:44 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Ref caught in middle of mosh pit: "A little help here!"

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I'll try keep this brief as most of you saw what happened. If you missed the game...well you missed a beauty. There was so much talk about Marian Gaborik pregame and now it's all about Ryan Kesler, Mikael Samuelsson and Andrew Raycroft. Kesler is looking like a modern-day Trevor Linden of sorts, with 3 assists and playing a huge game. He's carrying the team. Word was that Samuelsson was feeling the pressure to score more prior to the game and he responded with 2 goals. He's good in front of the opposing goal. Both tallies came from in close.

Raycroft is turning into quite a story. He made some great saves tonight. He has played in 6 games for the Canucks and started 4 of them (3-1-0).

-He leads the NHL in goals against average with a bright and shiny 1.52

-He is second in save percentage with a .937

Tonight he made some decent saves, yes, but let's call a spade a spade here. Raycroft has been solid. He has not had to be great. The teams' play in front of him has been terrific, limiting odd man rushes and quality chances against. Gaborik, who can take over a game on his own,

played over 22:00 tonight, had ZERO points, 1 shot, and was a -1. If that is not a testament to the Canucks' defence then what is? Frustrations mounted in the 3rd as Kesler gave Gaborik a whack with his stick and melee ensued. Kesler and the Canucks, the injury-riddled Canucks, destroyed the Rangers and it was a beautiful sight.

It could have gone either way until some point in the 3rd. Kesler's disallowed "kick in" goal could have been deflating. Chis Higgins' tying goal 6:24 in the 3rd could have spelled doom. But the Canucks kept pressing. About 2.5 minutes later, Ryan Kesler charges into the Rangers' zone to chase a dump-in, draws about 3 Rangers to him and then feathers a beauty pass to Rick Rypien who roofed the puck over the dethroned King Henrik Lundqvist. Geez Ripper, with hands like that how come you don't score more? From there the Canucks scored a powerplay goal and an empty netter to seal the damned deal.

Guess I couldn't keep this brief after all. It's so bloody exciting watching this team spit in the face of adversity and pull out these wins. Yes folks, defence does win. So does a tenacious forecheck and a backup goalie who is playing solid.

Kevin Bieksa on the wing...not bad. Not bad at all.

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

QUOTED: "I got jumped and somehow we were on the penalty-kill," Ryan Kesler said. "He (Marian Gaborik) cross-checked me, so I gave him a little shot and the next thing you know I have got six guys on top of me."

Hold on a sec, let me get out my magic Howie Meeker pen.......

Haha! Woo! Canucks win!

Rangers Recap: Canucks 4, Rangers 1: What the French Just Happened?

Rob Luker — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:31:34 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

I'll take that.

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So much more actually went on in this game than I might relay over the next ten minutes you're reading this; but I'll do my best to cover this latest tango between the last team we beat in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The game started out reasonably ok with end to end action and a crossbar shot by Ales Kotalik that had Ranger fans believing the club would find the back of the net soon. But, as they failed to take their momentum onto the scoreboard, the Canucks eventually woke up and took over the second half of the first period. This eventually led to a goal being scored by Mikael Samuelsson which was assisted by Ryan Kesler to put the Canucks up one going into the second period.

The second period started out the same way as the last two games for the Rangers, in the fact that they actually decided to play to their potential. The Blueshirts outshot the Canucks 14 to 8 in the period that saw them level the game at one going into the third. The Rangers made their statement about six and a half minutes in when Brandon Dubinsky saucered a pass to a somehow open Christopher Higgins right in front of the net who snapped the pass through Andrew Raycrofts five-hold to tie the game (Late night/Labatt Blue's must have gotten to me as this actually occured in the third period). The Rangers could have had the lead going into the third when Shane O'Brien got four minutes for high-sticking Ryan Callahan. The Power-Play was above-average, and in the end set the game up for an interesting third period.

At this point of the re-cap, I want to state that I am going to just repeat what I saw, and leave my opinion to a rant which will come at a later date. The Canucks played great team defense when it came to Marion Gaborik tonight. They crowded him and cut off his shooting lanes, which is very frustrating as a forward. Kevin Bieska and Gaborik were battling all night, and Bieska got Gaborik pretty good one time. Gaborik went back at Bieska as best he could, but in the end received more of the same from the Canuck blueliner. This led to a line-change where Ryan Kesler found himself surrounded by Gaborik and three other Rangers, who had no intentions of asking him for an autograph. Tempers like you don't see that much nowadays were evident, to the point where Sean Avery ripped the stick out of a Canucks hand while both players were on their respective benches. But back to the boring hockey. The Rangers end up with a Power-Play out of all of this, where Christopher Higgins tied the game at one on a one timer from right in front of the net. The Rangers then get caught puck-watching Ryan Kesler skate circles around their zone while Rick Rypien snuck in back-door to put the Canucks up 2-1. Voros takes a penalty, Rozival puts the cherry on top, and the Vancouver Canucks grab the game by the neck with the spirit of the 18,630 at GM place to finish off the Rangers with a Power-Play goal by Mikael Samuelsson. The night was topped off by an Empty-Netter by Henrik Sedin (who took a hard shot to the foot), which finally ended an interesting game for both teams to say the least.

Quick thoughts as more will come:

The Rangers are standing around in the wrong ends of the rink. You're taught as a kid to play zone when you're tired, but to never stand still when you're in the Offensive zone. If you're in the D zone and you're tired, get it out. If you're in the O zone and you're tired, get off the ice. Simple as that.
I will not go into the Gaborik-Bieska situation in full detail at all, but who I am disappointed in is Dane Byers. Not for his role in the first situation, but for his fight at the end of the game. I understand he might have been trying to make a statement, but the Blueshirts tonight stood up for its star player but then couldn't get the job done where it matters; which is on the scoreboard. Just let it go at that point, in my opinion.
Admit it, you thought the Rangers were gonna win when Higgins netted the tying goal. I thought he was going to score two his next shift. Congrats to Mr. Higgins as I really like him as a player and I know he has the talent to riddle the scorehsheet.
Henrik Lundqvist was Vezina-caliber, again.
Finally, do not write this team off for the next two games. I really thought the Rangers were going to win the game after the Gaborik-Bieska situation. This team needs to be tested here early on if they have any hope in getting to an Eastern Conference final unlike any other Ranger team since the lockout. The next two games, to me, could be bigger than any Devil, Penguin, Islander, or Flyer game all year if they manage four points. We will see, though.

Rangers Analysis: The West Coast Swing

Jim Schmiedeberg — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:15:12 -0000

More photos » by Stephen Chernin - AP

about 1 month ago: New York Rangers' Marc Staal, left, clears the rebound after goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) made a save during the third period on his way to shutting out the Boston Bruins 5-0 during an NHL hockey game Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

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The Rangers took their 9-5-1 record and boarded a plane for parts west yesterday morning, and this swing to Alberta will be a good test for the Rangers. They will be up against the current 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th place teams in the Northwest Division, and all three currently have winning records.

For some reason, I had remembered the Rangers not playing particularly well on these west coast swings, but when I looked back at the numbers, they've been fairly average, coming in right around .500 over the last 5 seasons on these trips. But, the Rangers haven't won in Vancouver since a 6-3 win in October of 1997. I'm guessing some of us were still in elementary school then, while others didn't have quite as much snow on the roof.

Keys for the next 3 games:

Getting Henrik some rest: Only Craig Anderson of the Avalanche and Evgeny Nabokov of the Sharks have started more games than Henrik Lundqvist. This trip will be the perfect opportunity to get Stephen Valiquette between the pipes. Then we just have to hope he plays well enough to finish.

Get the forwards off the schneid: This trip could be a chance for guys like Christopher Higgins, Ryan Callahan, and Brandon Dubinsky to find their game. Sometimes it's good for players to get away from home for a few days, and get out of the spotlight.

Improve the face-offs: The Rangers have been terrible on face-offs the last 3 games, especially Brandon Dubinsky. They will need to improve in this area, but it won't be easy against the Canucks, who boast three centers well over 50% in face-off wins. (Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Ryan Johnson)

Stay out of the box: This one belongs in the "broken record" department, but it bears repeating. Calgary and Vancouver are 3^rd and 4^th in the league on the power play, and the best way to limit a power play's effectiveness is to not give them too many chances. The Rangers really need to play smart hockey, or else the Flames and Canucks will make them pay.

A little team bonding: 5 days on the road away from the distractions of home could help this team bond, maybe get the chemistry going.

After this trip, the Rangers will finally get a break, four days off before their game next Thursday night at home against Atlanta.

Olympics Watch: Americans off to hot starts

James Mirtle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:57:07 -0000

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Following up on a look at the hottest Canadian players in the NHL so far this season, here's a look at which American players may be impressing the Team USA brass so far:

Goal

	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L	OT	GAA	Sv%
1	Ryan Miller	BUF	10	10	8	1	1	1.86	0.936
2	C. Anderson	COL	15	15	10	3	2	2.11	0.936
3	Ty Conklin	STL	5	4	2	2	0	2.34	0.921
4	Tim Thomas	BOS	9	9	4	5	0	2.66	0.910
5	Jon Quick	LAK	13	13	8	3	2	2.59	0.905
6	J. Howard	DET	5	3	1	2	1	3.42	0.879

Thomas may be the reigning Vezina winner, but it's hard to argue with Miller and Anderson making the team based on their starts. The Americans have the NHL's two hottest netminders so far.

Defence

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
1	Alex Goligoski	PIT	14	5	7	12	12
2	Matt Carle	PHI	11	2	10	12	9
3	James Wisniewski	ANA	9	0	9	9	6
4	Ryan Whitney	ANA	12	1	6	7	3
5	Erik Johnson	STL	12	0	7	7	3
6	Ryan Suter	NSH	13	2	5	7	2
7	Jordan Leopold	FLA	12	1	5	6	2
8	Brian Rafalski	DET	12	1	5	6	-1
9	Zach Bogosian	ATL	10	5	1	6	-2
10	Keith Yandle	PHX	13	1	4	5	-2
11	Matt Niskanen	DAL	12	0	5	5	-3
12	John-Michael Liles	COL	8	2	3	5	-4

There will definitely be some interesting decisions to make on the Americans back end, with some of the less-heralded names playing th best to this point. Whitney, Suter, Rafalski and Johnson were the only ones invited to the team's summer camp.

Forward

	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PPG	+/-
1	Zach Parise	NJD	L	12	6	8	14	1.17	7
2	J. van Riemsdyk	PHI	L	9	2	8	10	1.11	4
3	Ryan Malone	TBL	L	11	8	3	11	1.00	2
4	Dustin Brown	LAK	L	14	4	9	13	0.93	0
5	Patrick Kane	CHI	R	13	4	8	12	0.92	4
6	Tim Connolly	BUF	C	11	4	6	10	0.91	-1
7	Ryan Kesler	VAN	C	15	5	8	13	0.87	0
8	Jason Pominville	BUF	R	11	3	6	9	0.82	2
9	Kyle Okposo	NYI	R	13	3	7	10	0.77	0
10	Keith Tkachuk	STL	C	12	3	6	9	0.75	1
11	R.J. Umberger	CBJ	C	13	4	5	9	0.69	-3
12	J. Langenbrunner	NJD	R	12	2	6	8	0.67	6
13	Mike Knuble	WSH	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	7
14	Bill Guerin	PIT	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	5
15	Scott Gomez	MTL	C	14	2	7	9	0.64	0
16	Brandon Dubinsky	NYR	C	15	3	6	9	0.60	6

More tough calls here, probably, especially with players young and old like Van Riemsdyk and Tkachuk. Connolly and Pominville were not at the orientation camp but could play their way onto the roster in the next month or so.