Glen Sather spoke to the media late yesterday afternoon, after the trade deadline came and went, and the only move he made was for hulking 2-way player John Scott.

As people generally noted, the prices were high for any players that other teams were interested in - and Glen attributed that (as do most writers and analysts) to the fact that so many teams can still smell the 8th spot in the conference and think they can make it - there just weren't many 'sellers' in the market.

As he discussed the situation and reacted to a question about John Scott and the roster as presently constituted, there are 2 "gems" nearly in the same sentence.

First - he seems to be indicating that Chris Kreider may indeed turn pro this spring.

"....and we have some other people that are probably going to turn pro at the end of the school year...."

Very interesting.

The comedic gem follows right after - you can see and hear the sequence starting at about the 3:25 mark of the video: http://blueshirtsunited.com/videos/841/glen-sather-news-conference

Now - I don't know who the reporter was, but talk about a setup. And Glen must've been in a great mood to follow it up with a perfect comebacker....

reporter: "...College year?"

Glen (smirking a bit): "Right!.......we're not talking about pre-school.....(raucous laughter).....we can't have that young of a team (more laughter)"

Who knew Glen really had a sense of humor like that ? I mean, c'mon, his previous best efforts were "Our Number one guy - best first passer in the game" and the like. Funny? Hell yes - but in that "I can't believe you really said that" sarcastic kind of funny.

Way to go Glen! Way to go....

which defenseman in the NHL is in the top ten (in that mostly useless statistic) in Plus/Minus, and plays top pair, with an average 25:21 Time On Ice per game - would you be able to name him?

Don't go looking it up. Just sit back and think about it.

At the beginning of the season when Marc Staal was out, many of us were dreading what was to come. He was clearly the No. 1, and 'that other guy', you know, Girardi, was his partner. A good player to be sure, but not the #1. "Woe is Us!" we cried.

And maybe a month into the season, we saw that Danny G. - without the shadow of Marc Staal, had significantly elevated his game.

Then there was his partner. Oh yeah....Ryan McDonagh. A second year player - well you really could call him a rookie since it's his first FULL season in the bigs. Who just quietly goes about his business (not terribly unlike either Girardi or Staal, if you think about it), plays a superbly smart game, gets his stick in the right position more often than not,

(continues)

Continue reading this post »

....and it's right up the alley of some of our esteemed colleagues here who deal in advanced metrics.

Now, this one seems a bit simplistic to me, but it's no more or less flawed than any other metric used in player ratings - and it's probably less so because it takes into account a variety of factors.

Those of us who follow the NY Rangers won't be all that surprised at some of the names on the list - although we MAY be a bit shocked at where those names fall among the list.

Go to the Hockey Independent for the read: (link) -> Hockey Independent Top 25 NHL Defensive D-men 2011-12

More after the JUMP

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OK - so we're all twittered and twangered and posted out about so many topics.

Chris Drury - OH NOES! He didn't get bought out!?!? Oh. wait. I can haz waivers?? U means he can haz buy-out??!! We've been around and around the CBA trying to get a grip on that - yes Virginia, there is a Darth Sather and Chris can still be bought out. I won't drag that thru the mud again - see the other fanposts where it's been discussed....

Somebody's interested in Redden? Really?

No - not really - but it's probably an (E3)....

Brad Richards wants to go to NY. No he doesn't. Well, maybe he does. He's a good fit. No he's not. He wants too much. Maybe he doesn't want that much, but he's not giving out discounts.....

How about some humor? The gang at Down Goes Brown did a great job on this one - a little long - but really worth the watch.....rofl...

http://video.thescore.com/watch/hoth-presents-ranger-state-of-mind

(New York) Monday, June 20, 2011

At a press conference today at Madison Square Garden, New York Rangers President and General Manager turned the podium over to Chris Drury.

Mr. Drury proceeded to announce his retirement from the NHL after a career spanning 12 seasons with the Avalanche, Flames, Sabres and Rangers. In 892 career regular season games, he totaled 255 goals and 360 assists. In 135 career playoff games, he totaled 47 goals and 42 assists.

Coming off a disappointing season which saw him injure the same hand twice, and then fall victim to a balky knee, Drury's big moment of the 2010/11 season came when he rallied the Rangers from a 1 goal deficit by scoring a diving tally against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils in the final regular season game, in his first shift back from a long injury layoff, helping to assure the Rangers (with help from Carolina later in the day) of making the Stanley Cup playoffs.

More after the jump.

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At this point, it appears inevitable that the Devils will file for team-elected arbitration before next week’s deadline, which will either be 5 p.m. Wednesday or next Friday if there is a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals. Filing for team-elected arbitration would prevent Parise from fielding offer sheets from other teams if he’s still unsigned at noon on July 1, when he’d become a restricted free agent.

Presisely what I expected would happen - Lou doesn't want to deal with the prospect of an over-pay offer sheet that could drive up the price tag - so he's going to preempt that possibility and file for arbitration. A good read from Tom Gulitti (Andrew Gross' counterpart for the Devils) - which goes on to say that there's nothing preventing negotiations and a deal before the arb hearing takes place.

Link:Tom Gulitti on Devils/Parise

Another twist to the Drury saga. And a decidedly interesting twist:

Plus, there's the option that the Rangers could get Drury to waive his no-movement clause for a trade -- presumably for a player signed to a similarly overpriced deal, but for a longer term, that the Rangers might deem useful. The other team would want a veteran leader to bridge the gap for a year and try to revive his career.

So, there's a lot in play right now, and none of it is set in stone, the source said.

That's not to say Drury won't be bought out. What seems certain is that his days as a Ranger are over, however that will be sorted out in the coming weeks.

The tone would certainly suggest that what HAS been decided is that he's no longer part of next season's plans for the NYR. Now you have 2 confirmed 'sources' saying Drury's headed for Buyout Circle, and one that says maybe it's Trade Lane.

As for Wolski:

As for Wojtek Wolski, whom a report said would not be bought out, the same source said nothing's been decided there either.

Going to be an interesting couple of weeks in Rangerland....

Note: Link to Staple's article on NewsDay: Staple: Not decided.

It seems that an annual "rite" around any blog/forum/board talking hockey ends up being about going after RFAs.

And more often than not, people forget a few simple rules.

1 - If the offer sheet (which is really a contract that the current team can either agree to, or allow the player to sign with the 'poaching' club) is successful and you "get your man", you're liable for compensation to the old club in the form of draft picks. Links are available in other threads/posts that have the current salary bands and compensatory pick information, or GOOGLE works really well.

2 - The picks have to be your own picks for the next draft, and you must have those picks available. You can't have traded the pick away. And the pick can't be another team's that you received from a trade. Example: Team "Y" swings a trade tomorrow with Dallas for the rights to Brad Richards and Dallas' 3rd round pick in 2012, and included is Team Y's 1st and 3rd round pick  in 2012. After July 1st, they sign Matt Gilroy to an Offer Sheet for 1.5mm. Oops! They can't, because 1.5mm requires a 3rd round pick to go to the Rangers if successful, and they just traded it for Richards' rights, and they can't use Dallas' 3rd rounder. Them's the rules.

3 - A club must submit a Qualifying Offer (edit: or file for arbitration) in order to retain negotiating rights with the player. If they do not submit a qualifying offer (edit: or file for arbitration), the player becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent

4 - For players earning less than $1mm on their 'old' contract, the QO must be 5 or 10% higher depending on what they were earning. If the old contract salary was $1mm or greater, the QO must be the same as the old value. For example, since Matt Gilroy's salary was 2.1mm, if the NYR extend a QO, it must be $2.1 or higher. It cannot be lower (thus the suspicion that the NYR will allow him to become a UFA). So too would the QOs for Callahan and Dubinsky match their current annual salary. Mike Sauer, being on a sub-$1mm contract, would be required to get a 10% raise based on his $500k salary last season (to $550k).

More after the jump:

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Ruslan Fedotenko was a significant factor in the Game 3 win over the Washington Capitals.

While the lack of scoring of Marion Gaborik, the game-winning goal from Brandon Dubinsky, the snipe from a ridiculous angle of Eric Christensen, and the continued monster play from Marc Staal and Dan Girardi garner most of the headlines and commentary - "Feds", to borrow a painfully overused cliche, "did all of the little things" and did them well.

Example one - with only one defenseman back, Feds hustles as hard as he can to get back in the play. As the pass goes from right to left - to what appears to be a wide-open Cap player, he lays out full extension, gets his stick in the way of the pass, and then swats at it a second time so that no second-chance can occur - and Hank gobbles it up. Without that backcheck, it's a prime scoring opportunity of exactly the type that the Caps will cash in more often than not. Huge play.

Example two - with time running down in the 2nd, he works the boards, then twirls the puck towards the crease from behind the goal line. You can argue that he was 2/10ths of a second late - but it was still a hard-working play - and unlike so many others, he got the puck TO THE NET (even if it was "from the side!!!").

Example three - the available videos on NHL.COM suck - they start a few seconds too late to show the tremendous impact Feds had on the game winning goal sequence. And it won't show on the score-sheet, since it was technically an unassisted goal. Dubinsky is getting harassed against the boards - Feds is just behind him to lend support if the puck pops out. Hannan is cross-checking Feds, who turns, confronts him, and gives him a whack back, holding his ground. As that happens, Dubinsky gets control and an opening, skates towards the goal line away from Ovechkin and Backstrom. Hannan, pre-occupied with Feds, is too late in recognizing what happens, and ends up in between Dubi and Ovechkin, preventing a backcheck. Dubi looks like he's going behind the net, Alzner hesitates, and the rest is history. Without Hannan being tied up with Feds, that play never develops.

It's things like this that led to Feds being on this team, and why John Tortorella trusts him in big situations. He's not the fastest, he's not the biggest or strongest - but he's a smart, playoff-tested, savvy veteran who contributes in ways that often go unnoticed.

Last night was one of many situations where I'm glad he's a New York Ranger.

From the SBNation unofficial Boston College blog - BCI - comes news that Chris Kreider, who's been out with a broken jaw for several weeks, is expected to return to practice, and join the team on their trip to the NCAA tournament.

While Kreider hasn't had the kind of season he did last year (partly due to injury), and the Eagles have played well in his absence, his presence is missed - both his size, speed and hands.

You can catch the whole article over at BCI:

Kreider to return (link)

Matt Cooke Elbows Ryan McDonagh (via BroadStreetHockey)

So, Mr. "I want to be a leader of the NHL"  - are you going to take the lead on this one?

This *ssclown has gotten away with more dirty hits than anyone in the league in the last 2 years (maybe more). After already being suspended for running Fedor Tyutin from behind and boarding him in February, now he pulls the same stunt that took Marc Savard out a year ago with a flying elbow from behind on a defenseless player.

Mario - you're right - there's no place in the game for this. Have you got the cojones to fire Matt Cooke regardless of what the NHL does in terms of supplemental discipline? Your chestnuts big enough to put your money where your mouth is - and see to it that this guy never plays again ?

Or will you stick your foot in your mouth, and chew long and hard - with some mamby-pamby press release about how "it was just a hockey play and unfortunately the player was in the way of Matt's elbow"......

NHL fans everywhere await your response.

And the NHL wheel of discipline needs to come up with a MINIMUM of a 12 GAME SUSPENSION.

Edit/Late Edition: Others in sports journalism are weighing in: Matt Cooke’s despicable dirty elbow puts Mario Lemieux and NHL on the hot seat (link)

5:20 PM EDT 21-March-2011 - multiple sources confirming suspension is balance of regular season, plus 1st round of Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Final Edit: Official on NHL Website: NHL.Com release/story on Cooke's Suspension (link)

The NHL/Gary Bettman today announced a 5-step 'program' to deal with the serious issue of concussions and overall player safety. I won't go through the laundry list, since it's practically the only thing being talked about today in the hockey universe, with the possible exception of the fact that Cindy returned to the ice and then held court approving any option that would eliminate headshots. As expected certain bloggers and Twitter users waited with baited breath for him to condemn slew-footing - and they're still waiting......

But I digress.

The link to the NHL press release is here: Bettman presents 5-point plan to reduce concussions

Now, to me, this is just more politically correct..... (more after the jump)

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Here you go - all you ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzherdev fans.

Hey - how about 2 for the price of one?

Flyers and Flames waivers

News: Flyers Place Nikolai Zherdev On Waivers

By Adam Rotter on February 23, 2011, 12:19PM

Kevin Allen of USA Today tweets that Nikolai Zherdev has been put on waivers.

Ales Kotalik is on waivers as well.

 

ROFL!!!  This would be perfect - Torts would have 2 permanent assignments to the Dog House - which would keep guys like Del Zotto and Eminger out of it....

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Philadelphia.....

The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that they have acquired 5-10,190-pound right wing Kris Versteeg from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a first-round and a third-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Read the full release:

Press Release: Kris Versteeg

All Philly had to give up for a guy who helped Chicago to the Cup last year was a 1st and 3rd round pick? Wow.

Give Holmgren credit - this will make the Flyers an even tougher out in the playoffs this year, if they stay healthy and get reasonable goaltending.

This move makes it all the more interesting to see what Glen Sather will do - not that Versteeg would have been a fit with the Rangers - but the forward depth that Philly has is pretty remarkable.

Friend of the BSB Radio show, Rick Carpiniello ("Carpy" as Torts calls him), has a great reprint of his newspaper article from yesterday on his blog.

The lead-in:

It is the quote of the season for the Rangers, because it is everything they are about.

Brandon Prust, the tough-as-shoe-leather winger, had been playing with at least two bad injuries — a bum shoulder and a banged-up hand — two things you don’t want when part of your job description is to fight.

On Saturday, he had blocked a shot off his foot and he toughed it out, limping the rest of the game. He had gone for X-rays, which were negative, and on Monday his foot was still in terrible shape but there were games to be played that night and the next.

Prust was being asked if he might play, and he told reporters:

“It’s just pain.”

It's well worth the read - because, truly, to those of us who've been Ranger fans for what seems like forever, there have rarely been teams with this kind of "blue-collar grit" gracing the grand stage at Madison Square Garden in days gone by.

Join me after the jump for more thoughts.

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Interviewing Marc Staal in the locker room - here's the question:

Marc, the video evidence clearly shows that you were speared by Burrows on that play.

OK - good set up. Set the stage, now ask the question......

Did you know it right away....and .. and did you speak to any of the officials about it?

Are you freakin' serious?? Good grief - prepare your questions better than that before you talk to the guy !!

The guy got what was the equivalent of a two-handed underhand slash to the COJONES, and you're asking if he KNEW IT RIGHT AWAY ??  He dropped to the ice like he'd been shot you moron - OF COURSE HE KNEW IT RIGHT AWAY!

Someone please take John Giannone out on the ice and whack him with a stick - then ask him if he knew it right away. Let Joe Micheletti do it - at least he can probably handle a stick better than he handles a microphone.

Un-freakin-believable. The question was worse than the fact that the refs yet again missed another major penalty infraction against the Rangers - and then they call Drury for Delay of Game on the luckiest foul ball ever.....

AAAArrgghhhh!

At least it didn't cost them the game - great win by the Rangers tonight!

Sather Press Release on Eric Christensen (Link)

Eric Christensen was put on IR and will be out 4 to 6 weeks.

Until Prospal and Callahan are ready to dress, that leaves the NYR with exactly 12 healthy forwards. The scuttlebutt has Todd White not being placed on re-entry waivers - so it would appear that Zuke and Weise get a pretty extended chance to prove their abilities at the NHL level.

If someone else goes down - who gets called up? It might depend on who gets hurt and the teams being played in the next couple of games - but it might make sense to look for someone with a similar skill set - possibly Tim Kennedy or Chad Kolarik (though neither appears to have the raw talent that E.C. has).

Thoughts ?

I'm not normally one to "beat the drums" for anything.

But I have to admit - the notion of getting Sean Avery into the starting line-up for the All-Star game holds a certain poetic justice factor for me - if for nothing else than this:

So I was thinking, with Gary Bettman continuing to ruin the great game of hockey, what better way to get back at him than getting Sean Avery in the starting lineup at the All Star game.

Seen HERE at NYRangersBlog

So - just do it!  Read the reasoning over at the link. Then go to NHL.COM and write in SEAN AVERY. You can do it 30 times each day. Make Gary Bettman's day - or year !

Saw this in my blogroll perusal this morning and thought others might be interested.

Jess over at The Prospect Park (hey Jim/Joe - you need to update the link to: http://networkedblogs.com/7hQk7) has a brief chat with Dylan.

While "Undertaker" is a 'sexier' nickname - I think "Truck" is more appropriate.

Jess interviews Dylan McIlrath

While still  at least a year away from turning pro - maybe more - Dylan's poise and self-awareness are impressive, as are his desire to improve all facets of his game and become even more of a 2 way player.

Well - not really - just an attempt at an eye-catching headline.

via cdn.msg.com

In a 2-part blog entry, Stan Fischler talks with Coach John Tortorella.

Part 1: Offense, Biron, and 'Young Core'

Part 2: Redden, Defense, Boogaard

Some prime quotes:

"Marty is a good back-up goalie," said Tortorella. "I'd like to see him play between seventeen and twenty games next season. He's solid and I expect him to win games.

"I'm anxious to see Frolov in offensive positions," Torts went on. "He'll start with Gabby and we'll see how they work together. Frolov can score; he's a talented guy."

(Speaking of Dubinsky) "He's best on the wing," said the coach. "I liked the way he came on in the last months of the season and I hope he keeps improving. Another core guy is Ryan Callahan. He brings a lot of intangibles -- killing penalties, blocking shots -- and I hope he can score more this year."

More after the jump:

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The initial reports of the Devils handing Kovy a 17 year/$102mm contract had me shaking my head. It seemed so, well, so "un-Lamoriello-like". Know what I mean? It just didn't seem like something he would do - especially presuming that like most of these long-term 'relationships' - it was heavily front-loaded.

The early reports, indicating a very high salary for the first 8 years, dropping slightly for the next 2, and then radically dropping for the remainder (10/7.5/1mm respectively) were pretty consistent with other deals of this magnitude - but drawn out even longer to lessen the "pain" to $6mm on the cap hit side.

Then the real deal came out.

Fascinating, isn't it. And it's really been bugging the hell out of me.

"Why the hell would they have a 'reasonable' salary of only $6mm for the 1st 2 years?"

My "conspiracy theory" can be found after the jump.

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Unable to come to terms on a long term deal with soon-to-be Unrestricted Free Agent Dan Hamhuis, the Flyers traded his rights to the Penguins for a 3rd Round Pick in today's 2010 Entry Draft.

PIT has been unable to agree on a new contract with Sergei Gonchar - who has reportedly been seeking a 3 year deal. The Pens, unwilling to risk 3 years on someone already 36 years old, were supposedly offering 2 years - which is still risky - given that even if he retired they'd still be on the hook for the contract.

It would appear that Gonchar will hit free agency now, and Hamhuis will be a Penguin unless his demands are way too rich for the Pittsburgh brass.

Link: Hamhuis Rights to PIT

Now confirmed with a release from the University of Wisconsin.

NY Rangers fans will have to wait another year to see McDonagh and Stepan in Red, White and Blueshirts.
McDonagh will be the team Captain, and Stepan was named Assistant Captain.

Interesting read on the awards, and Stepan led the team in scoring this season.

Also of note are Wisconsin’s captains for the 2010-11 campaign. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who served as one of the team’s tri-captains this past season, will hold the duty by himself next season. Joining McDonagh in the leadership corps will be forward Derek Stepan, who will serve as assistant captain. Stepan finished this past season as the Badgers’ leading scorer, and also captained Team USA to a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Link to Badgers Hockey Announcement

Stick Salute to Jess @ TheProspectPark who had this rumored about a week ago based on his sources.

From Jess @ The Prospect Park

    A friend told us that Derek Stepan plans on returning to Wisconsin for his junior season. He wants to help lead that team and we think it is in typical Stepan fashion a right choice for him to make.

    We think Derek is close to being ready to make the jump to the professional ranks but as Gordie Clark likes to say "let us see a prospect dominate at one level before advancing to the nest". We see next season as the year we lead the call for Stepan as a serious candidate for the Hobey Baker award.

Ryan McDonagh - It's curious that there's been no commentary at all on Ryan turning pro since the Frozen Four ended with Kreider and BC taking the title from Stepan/McDonagh and Wisconsin. While there seemed to be pretty universal agreement that McDonagh is ready for the leap to the pros, I for one would not be surprised to see him return to Wisconsin to get that NCAA title - especially if Stepan has already said he's returning. On the other hand, it could be quiet because the NYR are negotiating with him and we'll see an announcement soon....

As for Heikkinen - In an interview with Steve Zipay in February, said he could not see any way that he'd  be in North America next year and would be looking to go back to Europe and possibly the KHL. He wants a one-way contract (was on a 2-way contract this year) and does not believe that will happen - also disgusted with how he was treated and did not feel he was given the chance he believed he would get.

Just posting some information - as people start to put their "Here are my lines for next season" posts together, it would probably be a good idea to consider the above until some official announcements are made.

Update: See comments 4/17 11AM below for an update on McDonagh