I know someone already posted something for Fantasy hockey but it seems like there might not be enough spots in that league. I'm doing a league and anyone that wants to join email me at roderider19@yahoo.com

Heres what the league looks like now

SORRY FOR THE LONG TITLE.

Did my late night hockey research and alot seemed to happen tonight.

Nikolai Zherdev took on the role of Elin Nordegran (Tiger Wood's wife) and chased down his spouse and beat her with a metal pole after a dispute occurred at breakfast at a restaurant. There are conflicting reports on whether it did happen but the Russian's problems seem to occur on and off the ice and last time I checked spousal abuse in most cases lead to jail time so good thing for philly that they are out of the playoffs already and will not have to tell him he is scratched.

Stephen Brunt of Globe & Mail is reporting that Atlanta to Winnipeg is a done deal. An official announcement will be held Tuesday.

TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT AS BETTMAN AND OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING IT IS NOT TRUE.

After 14 seasons Fredrik Modin retires. Not much else to it.

In Rangers news Cap Geek is reporting that the Rangers have signed 2009 5th round pick to an entry level deal. He will have a cap hit of $620,000 per season with an AHL salary of 65,000. He was 10 & 3 in the regular season with a GAA of 2.91. In the playoffs for the Owen Sound he had a record of 8 & 4 with a 2.79 GAA and save percentage of .909 leading his team to the memorial cup. His stats get better from season to season and seems to be a goalie that will take his time especially with the goalie situation in Hartford.

Also awesome news as Hockey's future has ranked us 7th in their organizational rankings. They move up two spots from their fall ranking. Kreider is number one on the Rangers list followed by Ryan Mcdonagh, Christian Thomas, Evgeny Grachev and Mats Zuccarelo. Glad to see this as we finally have prospects getting some love.

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 05/08/11 8:54 PM EDT Sad to hear the Rangers traded one of the guys I was looking forward to seeing play for them someday, but if you heard Jess Rubenstein on our show a few weeks ago, you heard him say Werek's stock had slipped somewhat. Thanks Gaborik for putting this up!]

The Rangers have announced they have traded 2nd round pick in 2009 Ethan Werek to phoenix (who else) for 19 year old  Oscar Lindberg.

Lindberg was selected 52nd overall in 2010 and has been playing in Sweden the last two seasons. 5 goals and 9 assists in 41 games.

10th ranked prospect on Phoenix.

His faceoff percentage seems to be his best talent at over 60%.

Hockeys Future "Lindberg provides good size and strength down the middle and is an effective two-way center. Like many Swedish forwards he is extremely reliable in his own zone and is even more reliable in the face-off circle, winning 60 percent of his draws last year."

Interesting trade to start off with I guess and that is about it.

For those curious as to how Mario Lemieux would respond to Cooke's actions in yesterdays most awesome win the owner is standing by his words. Nick Kypreos tweeted that Cooke and Lemieux spoke at great length and Mario said change your ways or leave. As much as I despise the Pens I am very happy to see someone who cares more about the league than their own team. Well I'm sure he needed to back up his own words as it would make him look bad  for a him to say this defiantly gives him a point in my book.

The AHL Transaction Wire, via Andrew Gross, says that Michael Del Zotto has been sent back to the AHL after the Rangers acquisition of Bryan McCabe.

Im glad he was sent down. Now he can work out his problems down there and get back on track. So this looks like maybe we're sticking with gilroy up here. Theres still a chance maybe he might get traded. I hope he doesn't because he's shown alot of improvement as the season has gone on.

According to Bob Mckenzie Brian Mccabe has been traded to New York for a third round pick and Tim Kennedy. I will be starting a new religion as Sather the Savior does it again. Not much else to say except wow is sather bi-polar when it comes to being a GM. Considering the price other trades have led to this is one of the greatest. Kennedy did not have a future with us and I cannot wait until to see him put on the blue and mess up Tamba Bay hopefully. I'm sure other articles will be written just thought I would let everyone know earlier...

WAY TO GO SATHERS AND WELCOME TO NY BRIAN MCCABE

According to Larry Brooks in the NY post Joe Nieuwendyk (Dallas GM) told Glen Sather on Tuesday that All star d-man Marc Staal, Leading goal scorer and point leader for the NYR Brandon Dubinsky and the reason were excited for the future Derek Stepan were needed to get Brad Richards. Sorry Joe but the price is way off so hopefully Sather will be smart enough to wait 4 months and get Richards in the off-season. Joe previously said it would take a tremendous offer to get Richards this deadline and tremendous does not even begin to describe the amount he is asking for and so it is necessary to say the price is wrong to Joe Nieuwendyk and wait 4 months

the trades continue today as the Dallas Stars have traded 23 year old left wing James Neal and 24 year old defenseman Matt Niskanen to pittsburgh for 25 year old Alex Goligoski. I find this trade intriguing as i feel Dallas gave up a lot for a good defenseman however you lose offense. Does this mean Pittsburgh is done as they have added their winger for Crosby or much more trades than previously? For Dallas does this mean they are open to selling this off season or do they think this trade benefits them? Interesting stuff and from what we have seen so far in the trade department.

Thoughts?

 
According to Pierre Lebrun at Espn.com The Rangers have been asked to be one of the six teams to open in Europe next season. The Rangers have yet to agree to this but being that renovations will be occuring at MSG until mid-October it makes sense for this to happen. The Oilers, Caps, Sabres, Kings, and Ducks are the other 5 teams that were asked.

I hope they do not do this although this is great for the NHL I missed going to the first home game and I hope that they reject going. The teams that were chosen should be great matchups however they come out but I would prefer for the Rangers to not go but if the renovations are not finished they may have to.

Roloson is heading to Tamba Bay for defensive prospect Ty Wishart. Roloson is a free agent after this season so it is most likely just to give them stability in net until deucherdan is ready to take the starting job next season. Wishart is ranked as Tampas 6th best prospect by Hockeys future. Not much to say on the Isles except they keep preparing for the future until the moment comes and then they will most likely continue to build for the future. Honestly this team should just be destroyed. There a shadow to the Rangers and every other NHL team. The good thing for the Rangers is a team we love to beat continues to get worse and bad news a team we have yet to beat this season gets a 4th goalie that has proven he is capable of beating us.

Tweets from Laurie Carr at beyond the blueshirts state that MZA will sit out the next game due to his actions in a December 17th game. He and Jonathan Cheechoo went into boards hard during race. I have no idea how to add the tweets so there is the link. This hobbit battles with previous Maurice "Rocket" Richard winners so I guess he must have a high level of competition.

Link: http://twitter.com/byndblueshirts

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 12/17/10 1:51 PM EST Thanks Gabby!]

In a move that makes me smile the rangers have recalled Dale Weise from Connecticut meaning no White. To clarify I know it felt that there was no White last night but he will not even be on the bench and Weise instead will be. The best to hope for out of Weise is to be solid nothing crazy just eat up minutes and play better than white (something I could do).

Lets Go Rangers!

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 12/17/10 1:51 PM EST According to Ranger Rants, Weise will play on the 4th line against the Flyers]

Tonight was an awesome night for hockey as I got to see a great game with the Rangers obviously. Christensen has some talent and although I don't think his future is with us I really hope he finds a home some where because he deserves it. Nice to see Frolov on the score sheet and heartbroken to see Callahan go down as well as happy to see the captain back.

Also you should add this to the list of games we probably would have lost last year)

The night of hockey concluded with the HBO 24/7 Pitt Wash road to the classic or whatever it is titled. The program was really good and as I suspected but did have a familiar feel to it as comparisons could be drawn to the HBO program Hard Knocks. Surprisingly at least to me the show was not entirely about the Crosby Ov battle but rather at the teams as wholes where they have been, where they are, and where they hope to be. It took you inside the locker rooms and you got to get a real feel for what it is like. I love how they showed the family lifes and how they joke around (mainly in pitt as wash has nothing to joke about recently). The prank they did to the rookies was awesome. I love how we saw the caps get demolished by the Rangers in a different angle and get to hear what Boudreau said during his timeout because when Trautwig said something among the lines of I heard everything he said and I cant repeat any of them for the most part I was dying to know what he did say.

The rangers were present in the show just for the game but I think it gave us a real look at the Rangers as much a we could ask for at least. You heard Ovi and Dubi exchange "Good Job Buddy" after the fight which is something I don't think anyone saw or heard during the game or after. The fights were awesome as they showed the refs telling England and Orr to "finish the fight".

Overall it was a great watch for any fan of the sport and I hope they continue in this manner leading up to the winter classic and for the future classics as well.

Also next week should be gr8 as we get to see what was going on during tonights game as well as last nights for Pitt.

In unrelated news to the rangers two dangerous plays occured yesterday. One was by Jody Shelley the other by Ovechkins shadow aka Mr. Bitch Slaps in fight aka Alexander Semin. The two were different plays but I consider both extremely dangerous. Shelley boarded the Bruins defenseman Adam Mcquaid and Semin cross checked to the back of the head the Avalanches defenseman Liles. Shelley will be having a disciplinary meeting with the nhl and an almost guranteed suspension. Semin on the other hand  will be getting the "worse" punishment with the fine. Semin will take this fine extremly hard considering he is only making 4.6 million this year. Shellys is clearly the worst penalty and im not saying Semin deserves to be suspended but players with more skill than alot of the other nhl players are surely getting away with less than a slap on the wrist. IMO that makes them not change the way they play. Punishment is supposed to defer a person from committing the same mistake / murder attempt with a hockey stick again. However with these silly punishments they laugh it off and I am sure that many stars will continue to make these plays unless some changes (punishment) is handed out.

Also did anyone see what Guerin said about how Crosby doesn't get favoritism but could easily have penalties called on the opposing team every shift he is on the ice. It was either in between periods or on the post game. I mean come on Guerin like you need to hop off Crosbys "hockey stick."

Shelleys video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGfiSjuZU5Q

Semins Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKnjiF21vKI

Michael Del Zotto will be scratched tonight. This is interesting for two reasons. One is it gives Del Zotto a chance to view the game from the box giving him a different perspective and a chance to evaluate his game. Secondly is does this mean they are trying to showcase Gilroy possibly for a trade. Both of these are possibilities however my guess is that it is the first one. Another note being we have 5 right d-men playing tonight which if I recall correctly it will be the first time this season so it will be interesting how the lines play out with most likely Eminger and Gilroy being on the left side

When players are lost to trade or free agency there are a few basic reactions. Thank God, Whatever, or how could they let him go. Three restricted free agents coming up are Anisimov, Callahan and Dubinsky by far in my opinion the biggest ones for the team this season. These three have made great strides this season. Dubinsky's point production, Callahan has become the leader of this team and leaves it all on the ice something no one can argue with, and Artie is only in his second full year with the team and has shown in spurts what he is capable of. Which brings me to my point. With all the talks of trades and other I just wanted your thoughts on which two would you keep and who is expendable if need be.

Also Messier is continuing his work with the team and has been doing video work with them which is awesome.

My friend and I were talking about the day Messier becomes GM and what he will do. We'll discussing this we talked about when he would take over. With Sathers not likely going anywhere for awhile I brought up the idea of if he should take over as coach when Torts is gone. I am not giving a time table for when Torts will be gone rather saying that it is inevitable that he will be gone and in my belief it will be before Sathers is. So Messier would be the head coach then when Sathers is retired Messier takes over as GM and he puts in a coach he can trust maybe someone he brings in as an assistant. So I wanted your ideas on whether or not you think this is a reasonable idea.

Also congrats to Scott Stajcer, Ethan Werek and Christian Thomas for being named to Canada's roster in Subway Super Series.

A really cool article that states the Rangers are the most improved team and gives tons of information on why that is the case. It covers gf, ga, the usual and is really telling of how we were not as bad as many made us out to be last season. You guys should defiantly check it out as it gave me a major confidence boost in the direction the team is headed and how Sathers has not completely lost his mind.

Here is the link: http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=637

Just a quick messed up story as Atlanta Thrashers goalie ondrej pavelec collapses just 2:25 into their game against Washington. No one was even around him. Sounds extremely similar to what happened to the departed Cherapanov. He was taken to an undisclosed hospital. Really sad if it is the same situation as Cherapanov and if it is rules need to change for proper physicals so this does not occur over and over again.

ooga booga ooga booga (filler).

. Pumped for tommorows game lets go rangers.

On prohockeytalk.nbcsports they are saying that HBO will have a documentary series about the upcoming winter classic between the pittsburgh penguins and washington capitals. This is a huge step for hockey and seeing as how it's HBO this should be awesome. They produced a one hour special on the Philadelphia Flyers called "broad street bullies" while ago and one on the 1980 miracle on ice both were really good so I am expecting this to be as good probably better. It will be an in depth look of the teams (more than just the Ovechkin Crosby rivalry) which is awesome. Basically Hockey is starting to pick up and whether or not you like the teams it will be a great thing to watch. Plus maybe it will get such good ratings that a "hard knocks" of hockey will actually come about.

The link: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/hbo-to-produce-documentary-series-based-around-capitals-and-penguins-in-the-winter-classic.php

Henrik Luindqvist went on wfan's morning show with Carton and Boomer. Some very interesting things were said as Carton attacked Torts saying he should have been fired after the incident that occurred against Washington in the 2009 playoffs which Lundqvist did not respond to but then went on to say that Torts hates Avery which is where Lundqvist claimed that Torts does like Avery and stressed the importance of him being on the team. Carton then asked the big question of Lundqvist asking him to guarantee making the playoffs which Lundqvist responded with "“Absolutely… we will. I promise.” This is just awesome and I thought I would put it up but it really doesn't mean anything if they fail to make the playoffs again.

Also if you would like to hear the full interview the link is right here sorry you will have to copy and paste it

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd0%2FdV%2FdL%2Fd9%2FdA%2FVL9A_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561247572240152246_2ewqSR6QTFMu6qlSGSABBPSuHM&podcast_name=Boomer+and+Carton+with+Henrik+Lundqvist&podcast_artist=&station_id=91&tag=&dcid=CBS.NY

According to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Rangers have acquired center Todd White from the Atlanta Thrashers.

There’s no word yet on what the Rangers have traded for White, 35, who scored 26 points in 65 games last year, but put up 73 in ’08-’09. In his career, he has 379 points in 635 games.

Very interesting. I cant say anything on this trade until we know who they gave up. But seems like a solid player.

http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/399618

Here is the article from Russia where his agent says he has chosen the Rangers.

Says he will play one more season in the NHL and then decide where to go after.

Very Interesting. If this is true it would be a great signing. One season play with Gab and for one season the money should be right. Hopefully it will be official soon. but you never know with these sites

Heres the translated link

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sovsport.ru%2Fgazeta%2Farticle-item%2F399618&sl=ru&tl=en

Editor Note By Joe Fortunato: Since you broke the story, enjoy the bump!

Editor Note By Dave Shapiro: The deal is $102 million over 17 years, broken down to $10 million for the first 8 years, and $7.5 million for the next 2 years. The remaining $7 million is distributed over 7 years.

Ilya Kovalchuk has resigned with the New Jersey Devils. The devils official twitter has it. Looks like the saga has finally concluded and we can all start to worry about what this means for the rangers. Only good thing is we got Avery who knows how to get under kovalchuks skin so the rivalry got a little more interesting. And what does this mean for the devils in the future including Zach Parise whose contract is up soon

http://twitter.com/NHLDevils

Demitra is best friends with gaborik due to their time together in Minnesota and has stated he would like to come to the rangers. Furthering the talk is a recent interview he did in which he said that the rangers and him have been in contact and are negotiating and also said that talks have started shortly after the Olympics. Demitra is a capable player when healthy and adding him would be a very interesting move especially since we resigned Prospal. Have we found our number one center for at least a year? We will know soon

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 05/04/10 3:03 PM EDT keep in mind this is just some conjecture from Larry Brooks, but I thought it would be fun to discuss)

Found this article and thought it was interesting as Brooks talks about trading Green for Staal with other players involved. http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/caps_on_right_track_wxsKypBvSnhzRxdkSVEBmM and for a short version go to http://www.snyrangersblog.com/2010/05/03/poll-would-you-make-this-trade/. It intrigues me because of how opposite these players are and how each team could benefit or suffer depending.

In the New York Post yesterday, while writing about the Washington Capitals, Larry Brooks writes about Mike Green who struggled in the post season.

Mike Green, caught in purgatory, is a blue-chip stock who never has traded lower. And OK, here’s a two-part question: If McPhee were to come calling tomorrow offering Green and maybe Tomas Fleischmann or Eric Fehr to the Rangers for Marc Staal and, say, Ryan Callahan or Brandon Dubinsky, what would you do and what would you have GM Glen Sather do?

For some background on this fictional trade, Green, 24, had 74 points this past season, is a Norris Trophy finalist and is signed for the next two years at $5.25 million. Fehr and Fleischmann are both RFA’s this summer and had 39 and points respectively.

Please leave thoughts because I am undecided.