After and exciting playoffs, HIFK swept the Espoo Blues today to take home their first championship since 1998.  Each team had their hardships to reach the finals, but heading in HIFK was clearly the better team.

HIFK beat Jokerit in 7 games in a very exciting series before beating Lukko in 5 games. 

Blues had a much harder time getting to the championship.  They had to beat Karpat in a best of 3 series requiring overtime in their two wins. They then had to face the second best team in the league Assat, winning the series in 6 games.  Their next series proved that the best team in the regular season may not always be the best team int he playoffs, as the 7 seed Blues shocked the number 1 seed JYP in 5 games. 

It was a very exciting season for HIFK that saw Ville Peltonen return to his home team, the first outdoor Finnish ice hockey game, and Mikael Granlund not miss a beat after suffering a massive concussion in December.  I just got this email from HIFK too (translated):

CHAMPIONSHIP IS OURS!

13 years of waiting has been rewarded!

Ville & frisky group of thieves to thank the fans throughout the season!
The atmosphere was incredible home in the hall!

Welcome to tomorrow 04/19/2011 at 18
Stadium championship party!

 

Can't wait to break out my HIFK Granlund gamer to celebrate!!!

Having just discovered this site, it is nice to see other international hockey nerds!  The Asian Winter Games is a great way for Asian National teams to show themselves in a respectable manner before the IIHF World Championships, as the level of play across Asia varies vastly.  Kazakhstan and Japan are the two favorites in the Mens Championship division (though I feel Kazakhstan should have an easy time being the only team to play in the premier World Championship pool in the last 5 years), though South Korea does benefit from playing Japan and Kazakhstan.  The weakest teams do get some benefit from playing teams, but the talent level drops out considerably after the first three of five teams. 

While that level of the tournament is easily watchable, I could care less about it.  The Premier Division is where it is at.  Created this year to prevent (bolded because this point will be revisited stay tuned!) lopsided scores such as Kazakhstan's 52-1 thrashing of Thailand 4 years ago, the event features Ice Hockey powerhouses such as The United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait (with recent IOC suspensions!), Mongolia, and two entirely new national teams of Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan.  I know you are wondering how the UAE and Bahrain have Ice Hockey teams when they are in the desert, but let me remind you oil money can provide anything.  Even Qatar was supposed to debut at this tournament, but they could not attend, like India.

The reason this tournament is "where it is at" because it gives young, emerging hockey nations a chance to play at a fair level, and could even have some nice rewards for some teams back home.  Like Malaysia for example:

The probably biggest motivation to perform well was given to the Malaysian team, in a letter from the country’s highest sports authority.

“Bring back a medal and we will build an Olympic-sized ice hockey arena,” Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the Youth and Sports Minister of the country, issued in a statement published by state-run agency Bernama. “We are ready to help the sport and the ministry will do its part to help promote and develop the sport. It is not impossible to see the sport become a favourite among Malaysians one day.”

 -Taken from The IIHF Website

Malaysia headed into the tournament as the favorite to take the Bronze Medal behind UAE and Thailand, but after 5 days of play Malaysia is tied for fourth with Mongolia.  Kyrgyzstan has taken this tournament by surprise and ruthlessly dominated everyone they faced so far!  Through five games they have scored 80 goals (an amazing 16 goals per game, wasn't this division created to prevent these types of scoring feats from happening?) and given up 19.  Their Goals Against should be much lower, but Bahrain (who had scored 1 goal through four games) exploded for 10 goals in their match against the mighty Kyrgyz (who managed to score 15, in a highly defensive affair)!  Thailand and UAE are currently tied for second with two games to play, and all four teams (Thailand, UAE, Malaysia, and Mongolia) all have an opportunity for a medal.  What does this mean for each team, we'll find out after the jump.

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I wanted to just start this post off by saying this is merely a response to the title of this great piece.  I really enjoyed the article (as I enjoy tracking our prospects) and am not trying to bash it in anyway.  The title did get me thinking though why does this team need another Ryan Callahan? 

Before I start I just wanted to say this piece will have nothing to do with Wade Redden nor any screwed up premonitions/dreams that stood with me for some reason.

Back to the original topic.  After cracking the big club for 14 games in 2006-07 Ryan Callahan has been a staple in the New York Rangers ever since.  His best season came in 2008-09 where he scored 22 goals and 40 points, which were all career highs.  In 2009-10 Cally became an Alternate captain and scored 19 goals, yet in 4 less games than his 22 goal campaign.  He has quickly emerged as a fan favorite because of his grittier style of play, which has helped the Rangers forecheck considerably.  He has been described as "blue-collar" and an everyman's players by some, and has earned praises from the organization culminating with becoming an Alternate captain.

This is where I have to ask the title's question: why does there have to be a "next Callahan?"  I'm not trying to knock the man, but why aren't the questions who is the next Marian Gaborik? and who is the next star on this team?  Again I really want to reiterate that this isn't trying to knock Ryan, but to question the expectations on some of our prospects.  On a team starved for offense I just wonder why there's no articles about how Grachev still has the potential to be a top 6 scoring threat, or how Anisimov is fitting nicely in the organization and should get more icetime next year? 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the Rangers need offense and we need it bad.  I love homegrown players like Cally, and love the skillset they bring to the table, but do we really need more of the hardworking 20 goal types, or do we need the flashy scorers that could help kickstart a seemingly anemic offense?  Let's face it this organization backed itself into a corner and the only way we can acquire players is through promoting from withing, so why don't we "reach for the stars because if you fail you land on a cloud" (yes I included a Kanye reference here, but does that really matter?) 

Maybe I'm just rambling right now, and maybe I'm finally starting to lose faith in an organization I hate watching slowly fail more and more.  I just feel that we need to have some faith in the guys and hope for the best with them.  If they fail then so be it, but we put ourselves in this position, so why not ask "who's the next Gaborik?" instead of "who's the next Callahan?" because these are the guys we'll need to rely on for some offense when the next big free agent is another bust.

I'll end with something we all can agree on: I sure as hell hope we don't screw up this draft.  We need to somehow just not get "Jessiman'd."

I had the weirdest dream last night. The Rangers traded their first round pick +Evgeny  Grachev + Michael Del Zotto to Detroit for the number one overall pick in the 2010 draft. Mark  Messier then came out to announce the pick in a  Team Finland jersey with Messier in gold lettering. He then started to give this large rambling speech that was full of BS, while I was in the audience shouting WE WANT TAYLOR WE WANT TAYLOR all while updating tankfortaylor.com. I was so happy that we did something good for the organization even though we gave up a high price to Detroit (this still baffles me) for some reason. Messier was being a moron and I couldn't take his speech anymore, and woke up right as he was announcing the pick. I'm pretty sure they were going to take Granlund.

I can't tell if this is a screwed up premonition, or a nightmare.

A few days ago I came up with that line and thought it would be a good article for blueshirt banter.  The line "a good start" in this case comes from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros from their second album.  The band made an album in 1997, and then after looking back on their work realized it was "a good start" and then crafted their second album with that name.  In their native Icelandic the title is Agaetis Byrjun, which is the last translatable line (if you understand this you have an awesome taste in music, and if not then don't worry I'm just going on a tangent) of the album.  How does this have anything to do with the Rangers?  I realized that by filling one of the major holes in this roster only creates another question for down the line and isn't going to be a panacea (or cure all) for this roster. 

The 2009-2010 New York Rangers was a roster that was like the mysteries on the television show Lost.  As Lost fans know in a recent episode a certain character (I am being vague to prevent spoilers) was quoted by saying "asking questions will only lead to more questions so stop."  This comparison is valid because this was a flawed roster that did not need one little thing to put them over the hump.  Don't look at the recent playoffs to say that if we had beaten the Philadelphia Flyers in that shootout we'd be in the conference finals because this team was just mediocre.  Very mediocre.  The main problem is that I honestly don't see one main problem, I see a flawed organization that has lost its way and a team that will be mediocre for years to come unless change is made.

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Ladies and Gentlemen of Blueshirt Banter I've had enough of this Wade Redden to Hartford talk.  I know he has quite possibly the worst contract in NHL history, and had an anemic season points wise, and was a healthy scratch for a few games.  To the average Rangers fan he is the worst defensemen ever to play the game (seriously what happened to the hate for Rumun Ndur or Sylvain Lefebvre anymore?)  But if you look deeper Wade Redden really isn't the anti-christ.  He's not a great defensemen, but he is better on this team rather than off it: here's why.

1. Surprising Stats you probably never thought to look at: To most hockey fan there are only 3 stats that matter: goals, assists, and points.  That is far from the case, as most fans don't ever spend the minimal time or effort to look deeper.  This isn't to criticize most fans, but I'm going to show you 3 numbers that ought to be looked at: 17:31, 66, and :18.  The first stat is Wade Redden's average ice-time per game.  It is fifth on the team.  Yes most people don't realize his icetime was slashed by over 5 minutes from the previous year either.  Now, most people will probably say that a 6 million dollar man shouldn't be a 3rd pair defensemen, but I'll address that later.  This number is surprising because Wade Redden averaged almost 2 shifts more than Michael Del Zotto and 3 more than Matt Gilroy, yet Del Zotto received more minutes than Redden.  You probably also didn't realize that this has to do with Redden's 2:07 a game on the penalty kill.  While we think of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi as our primary killers and even Michal Rozsival getting more time than Redden, Wade Redden was 3rd on the team in terms of time on our 84.3% (7th best in the league by the way) penalty kill.  Only Staal, Girardi, Drury, Callahan, and Dubinsky had more time on the ice shorthanded.  The next stat is 66 shots, the lowest Redden has taken in his career.  This is alarming because Redden has never taken below 100 shots in a year.  But this probably came from 5 minutes less ice time a game, and less time on the Power Play, which leads us to our last stat 18 seconds.  18 seconds per game is how much time Wade Redden was on the power play.  That's no time at all and shows that he was never on the power play to begin with.  Why is this alarming?  Because Redden was brought in here to help our power play, as he has been a force on Ottawa's for years.  No time on the Power Play means Redden cannot score power play points (the bulk of his points in his career) or take shots on the power play which probably is why he had a career low in shots.  IN 08-09 Redden was on the PP for over 3 minutes a game, and it is so surprising he lost the time he was brought in here to excel on.  I know Redden was not great on the Power Play last year, but NO ONE WAS (I blame Perry Pearn), and the fact that Michal Rozsival scored 4 power play points this year and got 2 minutes a game, while Redden got 18 seconds is ridiculous.  The final stat I just want to throw in is +8.  Plus Minus is a team stat I know, but it is an indicator about how team players play at the end of the year.  Redden was second on the team in terms of defensemen (behind only Marc Staal) and way ahead of compadres Michal Rozsival (+3) Matt Gilroy (even) Dan Girardi (-2) and Michael Del Zotto (-20).  So is Wade still looking like the anti-christ now?  If you said yes, then you agree that he shouldn't be sent down.  If you said no, I'll continue.

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For all of those that will always believe the season should have thought Marian Gaborik take the last shootout shot, just don't read this article.  You are only going to comment that "ZOMG HE IS OUR BEST GOAL SCORER" using different, (and hopefully) more sophisticated wording.  You're minds won't be changed despite the overwhelming stats I'm about to show you and links I have used to compile this information.  But for the rest of you I am going to attempt to explain why John Tortorella chose Erik Christensen (waiver-wire pick up 1st line center), PA Parenteau (Hartford Call up) and Olli Jokinen (a man I once called Hockey AIDS) to decide whether the Rangers playoff hopes.

Using: this link I have found out everyone on the Rangers career shootout stats.  The top three guys are Erik Christensen, PA Parenteau (though he has a vastly smaller sample size), and Vinny Prospal.  Now the first question is why Torts didn't use Prospal in the shootout.  Doing some research from the link I showed you it seems Ollie Jokinen was 5 for 9 this season, while Prospal was 1 for 1.  Prospal obviously has a higher percentage, but these stats show that Calgary trusted Ollie Jokinen (again a guy I called Hockey AIDS) nine separate times to perform to help their team gain the full 2 points.  The fact that Olli succeeded over 50% of this time is a testament to his success.  I would also like to ad Parenteau's 2 attempts before this game resulted in him getting the GW shootout goal beforehand.

So in the end the first two guys seemed like no brainers.  Rid a hot streak, and go with the guy who has the most shootout goals in his career on the Rangers (obviously not all with the Rangers, but all time).  The third guy came down to Ollie has twice as much experience in the shootout (36 for Ollie vs 15 for Prospal), and had a 5 for 9 record this year alone.  Torts went with experience rather than try with Prospal.

But what about guys like Brandon Dubinsky?  Or Captain Clutch Chris Drury?  Well I'm glad you asked.  Here are the stats for them and others:

Brandon Dubinsky is 0 for 3 lifetime in the shootout.

Marian Gaborik is 2 for 18 lifetime in the shootout.  1 for 5 this year alone

Chris Drury is 3 for 14 lifetime in the shootout .

Even Ryan Callahan is only 1 for 5 in the shootout. (I know he didn't play, but I was just quelling the what ifs)

Basically Torts went with the only competent people in the shootout he had.  The fact of the matter remains that the blame shouldn't be placed on the coach in this situation because he did everything by the books and for the benefit for this team.  Blaming the Rangers for having to go to a shootout against Brian Boucher and not scoring goals when it mattered is valid, but blaming Torts for keeping Marian Gaborik on the bench where he belongs isn't justified.

Just like the 1-0 debacle against Boston, the New York Rangers decided they were too good for a "Game 7" in the regular season and decided to crap out as usual.  I mean as fans what should we have expected?  A win?  This team hasn't looked competent since the beginning of November, so we should start trusting them now?  I've always been an optimistic guy, but this "playoff push" is infuriating.  The clearly was overmatched tonight by a superior team, and they obviously couldn't overcome them to stay in the playoff hunt which was handed to them.

Why should this team, which didn't try from mid-November to about a week ago deserve to go the playoffs?  They don't.  I've already said my piece on that, so I won't reiterate much of what post said, yet here we are again.  The Rangers have been handed this playoff push by a weak lower half of the Eastern Conference, yet they can't decide what to do.  Even today the team looked good in the first period.  They bailed Henrik Lundqvist who looked like an average backup after an amazing save in the beginning of the game.  They tied the game 2-2 today after being down twice, and looked like they could pull this off.

Yet, they let the Buffalo Sabres dominate them for the rest of the game.  Besides one fantastic save by Ryan Miller (that was highway robbery what he did to Marian Gaborik) the Sabres offense controlled the game.  It was sad to see a team's offense be controlled by the 3rd and 4th lines, while the top guys haven't scored in what seems like forever.  This team counts on Lundqvist to bail them out, yet when he looks human they don't do anything about it when the going gets tough.  It was like the Rangers tried, but when they went down a 3rd time they just completely lost it.  It's infuriating as a fan because I didn't want them to make the playoffs for personal reasons, yet I still am a fan and watch these games.  I want them to win because I love this team, but watching what was on the ice tonight was not even worth it.

Someone alerted me that the Florida announcers made a comment about us controlling our own destiny and how winning out would basically guarantee us a playoff spot.  I couldn't believe someone could trust the Rangers with their own destiny.  That's absurd!  We've seen time and time again this year this team does not know how to step up when it counts.  This is one of the reasons why they don't deserve a playoff spot.  We just can't win when we have too, we will fold like a lawn chair.  I thought Tortorella was supposed instill a fighting attitude in this team, now I'm not saying its all Torts' fault because where are the veterans when its time to just f*****g win!  This team is ridiculous!  We've been handed not one but TWO opportunities to grab this playoff spot by the horns and hopefully get a hold of it. 

Just don't show up to the game against Toronto boys, you didn't earn your cab fare to the stadium.  Thanks for being an utter disappointment the 2009-10 New York Rangers.  You had a chance to redeem yourself to some people (not me but that's not the point) and lift their spirits after a trying season.  Well you failed.  You needed to hear it straight because you just screwed up and miserably failed.  You don't deserve the extra games.  You deserve to sit in the locker room for the next four months and think about what you've done to yourselves, your teammates, and your loyal fans.  Try again next year boys, we'll be waiting.

***Disclaimer: I originally posted this on TankForTaylor.com, but felt it was relevant here also.  Just thought I'd mention that to clear up any confusion.***

It’s really weird when you can’t behind a 5-0 statement game by your team.  The Rangers went up early and never looked back.  It was 4-0 by the end of the first period, and by that point no one really cared.  The game was over.  Even Aaron friggin’ Voros scored.

Why can’t I get excited about this game is the part we should be worried about right?  If the Rangers beat Florida tomorrow, and with my luck they will, the Rangers could have a very good shot at making the playoffs.  But TankForTaylor why is this bad, we are going to the playoffs?  Playoffs are good right?  You have to be in it to win it!  No.  Not in this case.  The Playoffs are bad.

Why?  You can’t win the Stanley Cup without being in the playoffs right?  Great.  BFD.  The Rangers aren’t going to win the Stanley Cup this year.  This team is utterly mediocre, and frankly this playoff push is sugar coating it.  This team has gotten me though some bad times.  I always had someone to cheer for.  I’ve defended Chris Drury more times than I can count.  I love the Rangers, I really do.  Someone just needs to come out and say this team doesn’t deserve a playoff spot because they don’t.  Making the playoffs would be a travesty for the "New NHL".  This is why you are failing as Commissioner Gary Bettman.  Not because of the "Wheel of Justice" you let Colin Campbell create.  Not because we all know you have a secret crush on Sidney Crosby and frantically market him to cover it up.  Not because you deprived us of a hockey season (we will never forget that) and almost lost the NHL.  Not because the shootout is the biggest travesty in the game.  Because you’ve created a watered-down, boring NHL that lets teams like the 2009-10 New York Rangers possibly make the playoffs.  I’m all for contraction, but that’s for another time and another place.  This league is a joke where no one wants to win the 6th-8th seeds in the Eastern Conference.  Give Washington a bye in the first round then make the 2nd-5th teams play to get in a 3 team round robin to decide the Eastern Conference because anyone below Ottawa doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs (man who thought someone would utter those words this year).

The Rangers had the opportunity to stay within 4 points of 14th place in the Eastern Conference.  I’ve said many times why getting a high draft pick will bring much needed personnel changes in the organization and give us a top rated prospect (As the self-anointed President of the Taylor Hall fan-club I can say at this point it doesn’t matter who the Rangers get, we just need a young player that is NHL ready and can make in impact while our other prospects start to come up) and hope for the future.  This team isn’t winning any hardware in the near future.  They are mediocre and are probably going to stay that way for a bit.  We have too many long-term contracts strapping this team down to make the necessary moves to fix our team.  We rely on waiver pickups to be our top line centers because said contracts are not living up to their hype.  Glen Sather finally has been royal screwed by the salary cap and cannot make his mistakes disappear.  Why not start planning for the future when we can actually compete?

I’ve lost faith in this team.  It took a while, but once again I feel like its 2003.  Frankly this team has been mediocre since 1997 and the way they keep flip-flopping when it matters it seems they’ll stay mediocre for a bit longer.  The Rangers aren’t good enough to tank, yet they aren’t good enough to get a playoff spot.  They suck, but they just can’t suck enough.  No matter what they do they just end in heartbreak.  This isn’t the ‘91 Northstars, there will never be a Cinderella run with this team.  History will not be made.  Infuriating decisions, poor finishes, and another mediocre season is what’s being made.

I just needed to get my frustrations out.  Someone needed to just say without the sugar-coating how bad this team is and how much heartbreak there is going to be.  Thank god there’s another game in the Windsor-Plymouth series coming soon so I have something to look forward too.

The trade deadline couldn't have come at a worse time for me.  Investing 90% of my energy on the Olympic Hockey tournament I haven't had as much time to weigh in on all the of trades the Knicks made.  I know I don't frequent Posting and Toasting as much as I should, but I originally was thinking about writing a Eulogy for Nate Robinson, but I really don't like him.  Actually I hated Nate and never thought he should have been resigned this off season.  Well I didn't get my way, but I am thrilled he is gone, so I've decided to write a thank you letter to Donnie Walsh.  Enjoy!

Dear Donnie,

I know you were brought in here to pretty much be a savior.  That is a tough job to be.  It seems only one man, Jesus, has satisfied a large amount (but certainly not everyone) in that department.  Now I'm not saying you are Jesus, but the expectations have been there sometimes.  But I digress.  Basically this letter is designed to thank you for having the balls to trade total abomination epic clusterfuck fan favorite Nate Robinson.  The reason why I am thanking you is because you got a decent return (I mean who really though you'd fleece the Boston Celtics that much for a 1st rounder) for a player who really isn't that good.  The reason I am thanking you is because its tough to defy the fans sometimes.  In the curious case of Nate Robinson, Nate dazzled the NYC fans with his shortness, energy, and Nate Being Nate.  The main problem was Nate Being Nate meant his basketball IQ drops from above average to that of a 7 year old Pee Wee player when the game is on the line.  Fans, including myself at first, wanted Nate to succeed.  We really did, but we wizened up when Larry Brown (yeah he coached the Knicks remember?  Most of us hid those memories trust me) started benching him.  Nate went plenty of games without seeing any action, but the fans attributed it to being a rookie.  Later is the Isiah years approached (man this is a trip down dark years lane) Nate kept working towards cracking the starting lineup but never could.  He'd cause the fans to forget his horrid defensive play, and inablility to pass the ball as a PG (something they kind of need to do) because of highlights.  Those highlights included winning the dunk competition 3 times (which apparently means you are good at being a PG), blocking Yao Ming (which was awesome, but no reflection on Nates play), and randomly showing he could score 40 points (without PASSING THE BALL WHEN HE NEEDED TOO).  Despite that, Mr. Walsh, you realized that you needed to make this team better.  You traded a young, too raw, and still valuable (that beats me but hey the deal went through) Nate Robinson to the Celtics ending his time in New York.  Love him, hate him, abhor him to death, thank you Donnie Walsh for getting this headcase out of New York.

With eternal Gratitude,

Aaron

This is something I had been coming up with for about a month in theory and finally put it into action TONIGHT!  www.tankfortaylor.com is finally up and running.  Now this is a completely original idea, as it focuses on the draft, Taylor Hall himself, and of course your New York Rangers.  Here's a quote of what the blog is aimed to do:

We are going to, following the Olympics (because the Olympics are just awesome and should not be tainted with the Rangers recent sucktitude):

–Start a tracker of the Rangers points and the points of the sucky teams around them.

–Provide draft analysis for the top prospects.

–Follow up on the Rangers plight and provide post games for all their games.  These post games will look at the grand scheme of the bottom teams of the league and see how the Rangers can move to the #1 draft pick.

–Follow Taylor Hall in his quest to become the next first overall pick in the NHL Draft.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the Tank For Taylor New York Rangers blog!

So hopefully some of you will check it out (I really want to make this awesome) and maybe even email me (xcdudesquad@gmail.com) about even contributing if you want.  See you after the Olympics and let the tank begin.

*Also I want to note this has been an original idea of mine and had nothing to do with the other tanking website.  This focuses on Hall as a person and just happens to have a New York Rangers theme*

I haven't written an long thoughtful article here in a while, and while this team continues to suck the life out of a me a recent purchase has got me thinking.  I purchased today an authentic 2003-04 Vintage Rangers throwback.  Got it at a great price, and its one of the throwbacks to the late '70s the Rangers wore for a few games right before the lockout.  Now how does this purchase relate to today's team?  To understand we need to take a trip in a time machine back to a dark age in New York Rangers history...

The year is 2003.  Dan Blackburn cannot lift his arms.  Mike Dunham is our goalie.  Mark Messier is the "the messiah" (whatever that means now).  The Rangers cannot grab Dion Phaneuf in the draft, so they settle with Hugh Jessiman.  Granted, he is still the only player from that 2003 1st round class to NOT make the NHL.  Pavel Bure's career is over, but no one knows it yet.  Bobby Holik is our leading scorer for the upcoming season, and Jamie Lundmark is still a Ranger.  It was a horrible time to be a fan, and the team flat out sucked.  So Sather starts a new "5 year plan" and trades away Brian Leetch.  Rebuild on.  The team tanks and get's the 6th overall pick, and selects Al Montoya! The future is now.

Fast forward to now.  We are a much better team.  We have talent, and a whole lot of large contracts.  With the Olympic Roster Freeze and the Trade Deadline slowly approaching the Rangers are a bubble team at best.  What should we do then?  The team has 2 viable options: become sellers and tank or become buyers at the deadline...

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The lovely boys over at the SBNation Maple Leafs Blog Pension Plan Puppets are using the contest between the Maple Leafs and the Nashville Predators to help with the relief fund in Haiti.  For every comment on their game thread they will be donating $0.06, and testing SBNations comment capabilities.  Also, another Maple Leafs blogger (who's blog is a must read for EVERY NHL fan) Down Goes Brown is matching Pension Plan Puppets donations for the first 10,000 comments.  Everyone on this board loves hockey, so for any fan it would be cool to sign up and spam their board for charity.  I know the New York Rangers do not have a game tonight, so why not branch out a bit and get our daily hockey fix while helping the devastated people of Haiti.  Just thought I'd pass this along!

Here is the article: http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2010/1/18/1257578/maple-leafs-at-predators-operation

Originally posted this over at Rangerland.net, but thought you guys over here would love it too!  Just to warn you there are some references to things I said there at the beginning of the season, so hence the beginning. And references to myself, but just enjoy.  (Dos Nueve is Chad Johnson if you don't get the joke just don't worry.)

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A friend of mine named Jeff (who runs the great website thirdstringgoalie.com) gave me one of the funniest hockey quotes of all time: "You don’t like to see 20 kids punching 20 other kids. But it’s not a disgrace, It’s hockey." - Michael Farber.  The quote (about the Punch-up in Piestany) captures the essence of the IIHF U20 World Ice Hockey Championships in my opinion.  Every year the world’s best prospects from the world’s top hockey countries go at it in a week long tournament (usually held in Canada recently) to see which country has the best of these prospects.  The tournament showcases these young, developing kids playing every game like it’s their last, so that maybe some NHL scout will like them, and the dreams of these kids of playing in the NHL might come true.  The game is at its purest form in this tournament.  The kids are playing for national pride, without pay, and play every game like it could be their last.  Usually the big dogs in Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden, and Finland dominate the tournament, but every once in a while there is an underdog crashing the party (case in point Slovakia playing for the Bronze last year).  And nothing screams big dogs like the New Years Eve matchup of USA-Canada this year.

After John Tavares took the charge (with a hat trick) to lead Canada to a 7-4 win after going down 3-0 early, the United States is out for revenge.  While each roster is loaded with talent (on team Canada only Taylor Hall, potential #1 draft pick has not been eligible for the draft, and on team USA only 3 players Jack Campbell, Jason Zucker, and Cam Fowler are not draft eligible) three names stick out on Team USA’s roster: Chris Kreider, Ryan Bourque, and Derek Stepan.  All three of these players are Rangers prospects in the tournament.  All three’s impact in the tournament is undeniable.  Each prospect has at least one point, and all have positive ratings (through three games).  Ryan Bourque (3rd round 80th overall 2009) has two assist and is a +3, while Chris Kreider (1st round 19th overall 2009) has four goals and an assist while being a +2 as well.  Derek Stepan is the standout of the bunch though.  Drafted in the 2nd round at 51st overall, Stepan is in his second year at the University of Minnesota, as well as the captain of the USA’s World Junior Squad.  Stepan leads team USA with 3 goals and 5 assists in 3 games and is a +6.  Ladies and Gentlemen these boys are our future.

Now while the future Rangers battle the evil yet star-studded Canadians, the Rangers of today have a matchup with the worst team in the NHL your Carolina Hurricanes.  Now instead of listening to the Rangers announcers blab on about how there are two Staal brothers (Marc and Eric) playing in this game, slowly killing yourself with complaints about Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Ales Kotalik, and no secondary scoring for Marian Gaborik, and wishing the Rangers would take the next step and no longer be mediocre, why not watch the World Juniors game as a nice refreshing break.  The World Juniors game is scheduled to start at 8pm on December 31 and will be aired on the NHL Network (or online at http://usahockey.fasthockey.com/login.php).

Here is what is happening over at the Rangers game:  Rangers take an early lead 1-0.  Gaborik gets the goal.  Henrik Lundqvist stands on his head for most of the game but lets in a softie at some point to have the game tied 1-1.  Each team trades goals and the score is 2-2.  The game goes to overtime and Christopher Higgins misses a "goalden" opportunity as usual.  Rangers win in a shootout as Henrik is unstoppable.  Chris Drury and John Tortorella think we need to play harder, and of course we can only score on the Power Play.  Redden and Rozsival play alright, yet their gaffes are criticized and ridiculous trade rumors are formed online.  The team somehow gets two points, but we are reminded it is against the Carolina Hurricanes, so it is nothing special.  Lecavalier trade rumors start up again, and the media attacks the team.  Blah blah blah, been there done that all season long.  Why not take a night off and watch some pure, inspired young guns work their butt off to get into the NHL in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (boy that is hard to spell)?  The Rangers are going to want to pay attention to this team because most of the prospects are outscoring, and frankly playing better than the veterans (I know, I know the talent pool is different but you get what I mean).  These young men work their whole lives to get to this stage to show you what they got, so why not witness the magic yourself instead of watching the boring same old, same old mediocre Rangers that we love to hate!

Last year Ranger greats Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate had their long overdue numbers retired.  Having attended the ceremony I took a great interest in these two Rangers.  Having never seen either play, I started to research their careers.  After scouring the interwebs and talking to some elder Rangers fans I started to realize something: Andy Bathgate reminds me a lot of Marian Gaborik today.  Bathgate's Hart winning season in 1958-59 especially reminded me of Gaborik's season today.

In 1959 the NHL awarded Andy Bathgate the Hart Trophy.  It was the only one he won in his career, and won it on a mediocre Rangers team.  They missed the playoffs in a 6 team league (in a time where you had a 2/3 shot of making the playoffs) and New York hadn't hoisted the cup since 1940.  Bathgate was a superstar in the league and was 3rd in the league in scoring with 88 points that year.  More surprising, he had 40 of the Rangers 201 goals that year.  That is 1 out of every 5 Rangers goal or 20% of the team's goals.  He was the team.  Hence the Hart Trophy win!

Flash forward 51 years.  Marian Gaborik is second in the league in points with 49 through 37 games of the Rangers season, and leads the league in goals with 26 so far.  Here's the surprising stat: Marian Gaborik has scored 25.2% of the Rangers 103 goals.  Hmm seems like a superstar on a mediocre Rangers team (tied for 8th in the Eastern Conference).  If Gaborik continues his pace for the rest of the season (that is a pretty big if and I realize that) he will have 55 goals and 109 points on a team that scores 228 goals for the season.  That's a Rangers record for goals in a season, and a team carrying performance if this team makes the playoffs.

Pretty close to what Bathgate did in '59 in my humblest opinions.  The two also have the distinctions of being number 9 (Bathgate) and 10 (Gaborik).  Just trowing that out there.  So basically, no matter if this team makes or misses the playoffs Marian Gaborik deserves the Hart Trophy.  Even though Ranger fans already knew how awesome he is!

And for the Christmas spirit let's add a poll!  Happy Holidays Rangers fans!

Remember in January of 2006 when the New York Knicks won 6 games in a row to start the new year.  Plenty of "We are going undefeated in 2006 and making the playoffs" and "WOO this team is starting to suck less" jokes were passed around the 2 or 3 Knicks fans I knew.  It was a spark of optimism this team needed, after amassing a record of 7-21 to start the season.  Larry Brown, yes he coached the Knicks, was still our coach (but not for long!) and expectations were high (well aren't they always unfortunately...).  The win streak made this team a little more confident than they were and ultimately they lost their next 6 in a row and 16 out of their next 17 to show they this team was the 2005-06 New York Suckfest. 

Fast forward 5 seasons, because none of us want to relive the Isiah years even in print form.  The Knicks start of the season 4-15 (what else is new), and then all of a sudden we are on a 4 game win streak!  Against talent such as the New Orleans Hornets, the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trailblazers, and the greatest team in the NBA your New Jersey Nets. This streak is ironically the next longest streak since that run in January of 2006.  It is going to draw comparisons (hey look that's what this article is about), but the circumstances are completely different.  Stephon Marbury went insane and was finally banished, Isiah is gone (which makes waking up everyday a bit easier trust me), a competent President in Donnie Walsh has emerged, Mike D'Antoni is the savior, some white skinny guy (hey we can play ball too) named Danilo is showing why he may not have been the worst choice at number 6 overall, the Knicks are letting a rookie do what Toney Douglas do, and the way we play this game is just getting better.  Basketball is a team sport and lately this team is playing, well like a team. 

The 2006 Knicks won games because Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford scored 50-70% of the team's points, David Lee might have had a good game, and Eddie Curry didn't fuck things up.  The 2009 Knicks are a two-faced team so far, but are looking like they are conquering the evil part of Harvey Dent.  Let's compare 2 box scores to show what I mean.

Continue reading this post »

Do you know what happens in 8 days?  The Rangers open their season in Pittsburgh, and I am extremely excited!  So should all of the Rangers fans out there.  This is the first season in a few years that I have a general overall good feeling for this team.  Here are my top ten reason's why I'm excited and the analysis for each:

10. Vincent Prospal.  I wrote a post earlier about how one free agent signing can change a team, and how Vinny Prospal does exactly that.  A former goal scorer that could regain form on a line with the likes of Brandon Dubinksy and Marion Gaborik.  Prospal has been coached in the past by Tortorella, and has stated that he and the coach have no ill will.  Look for Prospal to have a rebound from a poor season with the Tampa Bay Lightning last year.

9. Brandon Dubinsky is back.  I have always loved the young Dubinsky, and argued that even though he is holding out, Brandon Dubinksy will have a break out year with the New York Rangers.  Dubinsky is building on a sophmore slump where he had 41 points (1 more than his rookie year), and is excited to be with the team.  I honestly don't care about the holdout, because that is all in the past.  Move on and start centering some great lines Brandon. 

8. Christopher Higgins.  Higgins is a former 20 goal scorer with the Montreal Canadiens and had a rough season after an injury.  He's signed for one year (hopefully more after this year) with the Rangers and is in a contract year.  I think he can score 30 goals.  Higgins and Ryan Callahan should be on a line together, and whoever is centering them should have a career year.   Higgins will score those dirty goals, help on the Power Play (or in our case the Powerless Play), and can even play on the Penalty Kill.  Got to love Chris Higgins!

7. Henrik Lundqvist hopefully playing less games this year.  As we all know the Olympics will be drawing our beloved NHL players duing February, and everyone remembers Henrik Lundqvist's infamous flame out during his rookie year.  Hopefully the veteran netminder can handle the Olympics and the rigorous NHL schedule, but he should still play less games.  Let Henrik play 62-65 games instead of his usual 72-75 and let Stephen Valliquette take up to 20 games.  Valliquette has proven to be a quality backup, so let him prove himself.  Giving Lundqvist some rest will keep him fresh for April when the games really matter.

6. Hopefully a 5th straight year in the Playoffs.  After the "Dark Years" where the Rangers missed the playoffs from 1997-98 until 2005-06.  The Rangers have the opportunity to make the playoffs for the 5th straight year (and hopefully get past the second round!).  It's going to be tough especially in the Atlantic Division, but I know Chris Drury and crew will make it to the games that count. 

5. Artem Anisimov.  After years of failed prospects the Rangers are getting younger and some nice draft picks are establishing themselves.  One that I am especially excited about is Artem Anisimov.  Drafted in the 2nd Round in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Anisimov just finished his second year in Hartford posting career numbers.  His 81 points in 80 games earned him a spot on the All Star team and helping the Hartford Wolf Pack to a division title!  Anisimov should find himself as a 3rd line center under coach John Tortorella.  Look for a nice solid Rookie Year (and maybe some nice hardware) from young Anisimov.

4. Two Rookies on defense.  If all goes according to plan Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto should be 2 of our starting defensemen on opening night.  Gilroy, and undrafted free agent from Boston University and Hobey Baker award winner, showed very quickly that he belonged on this team.  He quickly established himself as our 5th defensemen, and continued to have an amazing camp.  Michael Del Zotto came in here with nothing to lose, but quickly showed he belonged.  Del Zotto will be a force on the Rangers, hopefully, improved power play.  Del Zotto paired with maybe Ales Kotalik could be some great pointmen for the Rangers.  Del Zotto has earned his spot, with Bobby Sanguinetti being sent down, but can he last the full 82 game season?  Maybe, but I think he can.

3. Opening Night In Pittsburgh.  I'm excited to, hopefully, spoil the defending champions and division rival's Pittsburgh Penguins banner raising night.  Hopefully this team can get off to a fast start, and actually keep it this time.  October 2nd here we come!

2. Depth.  Looking at the roster of this team, there are many goals that this team can accomplish.  We only have 1 true superstar (Marion Gaborik), but we have 3 solid lines full of players that can score.  This team on paper could have 8 20 goal scorers.  Marion Gaborik, Chris Higgins, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Ales Kotalik, Brandon Dubinksy, Enver Lisin, and Vincent Prospal could all easily chip in 20.  Maybe even Avery has 15, and Brian Boyle and Donald Brashear have 10 goals.  That's a pretty deep forward lineup.  This a team that is going to get the job done under John Tortorella and make some New Yorkers very happy!

1. The superstar himself Marion Gaborik.  2 years ago he had 40 goals, and last year he had 13 goals in 17 games.  Gaborik caused some concerns by saying that he was sore at the beginning of camp, but being a rower and the member of my university's crew team I wake up sore every day.  Now I don't play professional hockey, but soreness after an offseason seems like something that will happen to everyone.  Gaborik has looked phenomenal in the preseason, and could be an offensive dynamo for Tortorella!  I'm not saying he's going to brake Jaromir Jagr's goal record, but 40 should be an easy goal for Gaborik this season.  I'm excited for the breakaways, the rubber hitting the twine, and the arms in the air of celebration.  I plan on seeing number 10 on the back of the jersey plenty of times and loving it every time.

That's why I'm excited about this season.  Hopefully everything lives up and we have a great season.  LETS GO RANGERS!

Missed the cut: John Tortorella's temper tantrums, and Avery's shenanigans!

Hello everyone welcome to hockey season.  Its been a long summer, and I want to just say thank god Hockey is BACK!

Ok now to the real point.  It seems like the Rangers have something in defensemen Michael del Zotto.  He has looked alright in the two preseason games, and has survived the first of the cuts here in preseason.  Should the Rangers keep del Zotto and let him crack the opening day lineup?  Lets look at the Rangers' options....

Option 1: Send him back to the OHL.  This is a very viable option as it has worked in the past (see Staal, Marc).  The only problem I see in this scenario is del Zotto is truly one of the best defensemen in the OHL and could possibly get away with some mistakes that could develop into bad habits in the NHL.  On the flip side, Michael del Zotto could be valuable experience and surely could make the jump to the NHL after this season.

Option 2: Send him to the AHL after the next series of cuts.  Del Zotto has looked good, in my opinion, but I do not see an NHL ready defensemen yet.  He's still young and makes plenty of mistakes.  Hopefully he uses the preseason to iron out all those mistakes because there is a HUGE difference between the NHL and the OHL.  In the AHL del Zotto could adapt to more of an NHL-like game (even though we all know there is still a difference between the tempo of play in the AHL and the NHL).   He could also be hampered in the AHL by the log jam of defensemen the Rangers currently have. Finally, as we all know, AHL success does not always translate to NHL success.  Del Zotto may light it up in Hartford, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's Ranger material.

Option 2: Keep him in the NHL for a full year no questions asked.  Since Del Zotto cannot be sent down to Hartford (as I have been informed due to his age and draft status) the argument could be made to keep Del Zotto on the Rangers squad for a full year.  He could serve as a 7th defensemen or a partner to Matt Gilroy (who's spot is his to lose so far by his play).  If Del Zotto is a 7th defensemen it would be pointless to keep him around.  He won't get game experience, or even playing experience for that matter.  If he's horrible as a defensemen and we figure this out too late, he'll be on the roster getting a whooping which could label him prematurely as a bust, or ruin his confidence.  Which leads me to option 3...

Option 3: The 10 game look.  The Rangers could keep Michael Del Zotto on their roster for 10 games before they can no longer send him back to the OHL.  Should Del Zotto need another year in the OHL the team can use these 10 games to decide.  The St. Louis Blues did the same thing with defensemen Alex Pietrangelo last year.  Also, after these 10 games the Rangers can decide to keep Del Zotto in the NHL, or even send him to Hartford.

I think Option 3 is the Rangers best bet.  It gives the Rangers a sample size (even if its small) to see if Del Zotto can keep up with the big boys, or if he needs some conditioning.  The 10 game sample gives the Rangers 3 options to consider after the sample size.  Del Zotto is a first round pick with a lot to prove, and a lot of talent to show as well.  Some said he was better than Tavares in the OHL playoffs last year.  Great.  Now prove it Mike.  Its your destiny, and work hard for it.  He should be rewarded with a 10 game look, and then let his fate be sealed.  We have plenty of defensemen that can take his spot if he is sent back to the OHL or the AHL, so that shouldn't be an issue.

What do you think... Here's a poll! (sorry I don't want to close the poll, but option 2 from now on does not apply to the original.  Sorry for the confusion)

**Just to warn everyone this article is based on Brandon Dubinsky being signed. **

Let me start off by saying that Vaclav Prospal is not a superstar.  He is a good player that will ultimately change this team for the better (hopefully!!!).  Can one man named Vaclav entirely change the face of an organization?  In the case of the 2009-10 New York Rangers it looks like it!  Let's look at what the lineups would (tentatively) look like before and after Prospal signed with us, and how it impacts the numbers:

The 2009-10 New York Rangers before Prospal:

Higgins-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Kotalik-Drury-Callahan

Avery-Anisimov-Lisin

Brashear-Boyle-Arnason

Now that Prospal has been added let's see the new and improved Rangers:

The 2009-10 New York Rangers with Prospal:

Prospal-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Higgins-Drury-Callahan

Kotalik-Anisimov-Avery

Brashear-Boyle-Lisin

Now I'm a numbers guy.  I love playing around with stats, so here are some that will show why this is a good signing.  I'm going to present 3 goal totals for each roster.  The first goal total is a disaster year.  It is the players goals from their worst season to date.  Hopefully this NEVER happens again!  The next goal total is an expected year.  This is calculated from their career goals per game applied to an 82 game season.  This is what they average over a career per season.  The final goal total is a breakout year, or in some cases a contract year.  This is the total from their best season in their career.  We want this team to push its limits!

Roster without Prospal: 116-213-257 (I got this by adding 1 to the averages of Boyle's and Lisin's average because they have not played a full season yet, so there is SOME but very little speculation which I try to avoid).

Roster with Prospal: 116-217-268.

Now as you can see the numbers with Prospal are better than the ones without (except the total failure season, which I hope does not happen at all).  This is a huge plus.  Also, this frees up the lines to be more accurate.  Ales Kotalik and Sean Avery are more third line players, while Christopher Higgins and Ryan Callahan deserve to be on the second line with Chris Drury.  Our first line has 2 players that deserve to be there, but one question mark in Brandon Dubinsky.  Dubinsky can surly be our second line center if he is not first line material, and Vaclav Prospal and Marion Gaborik will do nothing but make Chris Drury better.  The Rangers have added a first line player on their team for 1.1 million, so there is no question that he was a steal.  On top of that, this signing made the team better and eliminated some questions in Higgins on the first line, Arnason in the lineup, and Anisimov with 1 quality player and one enigma.  His signing places less pressure on Higgins by putting Higgins on the second line, gives us a better 4th line (because we all know it matters more than the first line in NY), and gave Anisimov 2 NHL talented wingers to play with.  I had some confidence in this team before the Prospal signing, but after today I have some more.

Let's end with a poll!

Now that all the drama *cough cough Nikolai Zherdev cough cough* has seemed to end, all that mostly remains before training camp is the signing of Brandon Dubinsky, as well as whatever The Overlord Glen Sather decides to do with the remaining cap (which should be around 3-4 million depending on how much Dubi takes).  This is the time where the Rangers are transferred to the hands of Head Coach John Tortorella before training camp begins.  An idea for what this rag tag group of hockey players will become is formed in this time.  But looking at this team there are plenty of unanswered questions. 

1. Who will be the number one center this team needs?

2. What are the lines going to be

2a. What is the fourth line going to be (because as we all know Rangers fans are nit picky and a seemingly unimportant line of 3 players that will probably get 3-6 minutes of ice time a night  will get elevated to be more important than the 1st line)?

3. Can this team finally make the next step and get past the 2nd round in the playoffs?

4. What type of offensive is this team going to run?

5. Can we score more than last year?

6. Will Henrik Lundqvist step up and finally have that elite 40 win season we all know he is possible of having?

7. Will Staal and Girardi take the next step in their developments and become elite defensemen?

8. Will the two rookie defensemen prove to be HUGE liabilities or future Norris winners?

9. Can we stay healthy?

10. Will Chris Drury finally show us those clutch goals he was famous for in Buffalo?

...and the list goes on.

Well no one can argue that this team is completely different than last year.  Here's what last year's lines may have looked like:

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev

Antropov-Drury-Callahan

Avery-Dubinsky-Korpikoski

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

And this is what this year's may look like:

Higgins-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Avery-Drury-Callahan

Lisin-Anisimov-Kotalik

Brashear-(Aranson/Boyle)-Voros

Wow.  What a huge change.  Personally I don't mind the change, but this team still lacks a number 1 center.  Sorry Brandon Dubinsky, you are good but you aren't a number one center (yet).  This team can surprise us, so its too tough to say if they will be a good team.  I think they will be a 6-8th seed again and lose in the first or second round of the playoffs.  Hopefully Tortorella encourages this team to score and can get this team to do just that.  What I see is a bunch of goal scorers with not many people to set these guys up.  Hopefully Wade Redden-Michal Rozsival and run the point on the PP (with Kotalik) and fix the Power Play.  Hank can step up, but I'm worried about the Olympics.  Stephen Valiquette will become much more important this year.  He can play goalie, let him start more than 10 games!  In the end the only way this team will succeed is if everyone steps up.  We can, and we better will.  We are Rangers, that is what we are and nothing else, but this team needs to show us that.  When they do finally show us that, all the questions will be solved.

Its been all over the news recently that Nikolai Zherdev has received a 1 year 3.9 million contract from going to arbitration.  This was a fair ruling in my opinion because the Rangers were looking to somewhere around 3.3 million, while Zherdev was looking towards upward to 4.5 million.  This ruling then was right smack dab in the middle of both sides. 

Well what does this ruling mean for the Rangers?  Glen Sather has a few options right here.  He can:

1. Sign Zherdev to this offer.

2. Sign Zherdev, but then proceed to trade him to another team.

3. Let Zherdev walk and let him become an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Now I know as a man who doesn't usually let an asset like this go for nothing (maybe he gets traded to Ottawa for Heatly), so I highly doubt the Rangers choose number three.  Also, over 300 people voted in the last poll saying they think Zherdev is REALLY that important to this team (it was very close though).  Another thing to consider is Brandon Dubinsky.  He has yet to sign a contract.  I think if the Rangers sign Zherdev that they will give Dubinsky a smaller contract, so the Rangers can stay under the cap, and then give him an extension after January like we did for Henrik Lundqvist a few years ago. 

In the end I think the Rangers will keep Zherdev, but Sather is the magician of trades in this league, so anything can happen.

What do you guys think Sather will do with Zherdev?

As most of us Nik Zherdev's arbitration hearing will be held tomorrow (July 31), but what is uncertain is what Zherdev's next season salary will be.  Zherdev seems to believe he will command around 4 million, while Glen (the Overlord) Sather thinks Zherdev is worth around 3.25 million.  The results of the hearing will, most likely, determine if Zherdev is signed by the team or if Sather walks away.  But one question remains: are the Rangers REALLY that much better with Zherdev? 

Here are the reasons why.  Zherdev is a young, offensively gifted forward.  He's only 24 and will turn 25 in November.  He's had 2 very similar seasons in a row where he's scored over 22 goals and had 35 assists, so its safe to say he's either going to stay at that ~60 point level, or hopefully increase his production.  Zherdev was also one a a select few Rangers that were above 0 in their +/- rating.  Zherdev was a +6, while star players like Chris Drury was a -8 and defenseman Michal Rozsival was a -7.  Zherdev is a gifted forward, who no matter what will impact this team.

Here's the reason why they aren't that much better.  Zherdev remains to be an enigma.  He's the next Alexi Kovalev.  Zherdev also had (in 21 GP under Torts) 13 points and a +4 rating.  Not bad right?  Problem is those points came in bunches.  He's score a bunch in 2 or 3 games, then disappear for a bunch.  Zherdev was held to one point for the last 7 regular season games, as well as pointless all 7 of our postseason games.  That's a 14 game streak with scoring one point.  And that stretch is where the Rangers had success and Torts thrived.  To bring up that scoreless postseason again, even Lauri Korpikoski netted 2 points. 

Well both arguments are compelling.  Let's take a look up at what the lineups would be with or without Zherdev (offensively not the defensive pairings.)  These are all theoretical by the way.

Higgins-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Avery-Drury-Callahan

Kotalik-Anisimov-Zherdev

Brashear-Boyle-Lisin

Wow.  Lisin on the fourth line because of an abundance of RWers.  Zherdev creates a little bit of a logjam, but his talent is a must for this team.  I could definitely see this team be a lot more offensively minded, and easily outscore last year's team.  It Lisin is the headcase Phoenix says he was, we could see Voros crack the lineup again, and we all know that means the reuniting of the Playstation Line!  For all of you who don't know the Playstation Line consists of Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev who were formed after Voros put himself with Dubinsky while playing Playstation one day.  The next day Tom Renney formed this line and they were very hot in the beginning of the season.

What does this lineup look like without Zherdev though?

Higgins-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Aver-Drury Callahan

Grachev-Anisimov-Kotalik

Brashear-Boyle-Lisin

Grachev is a LW and if he has a great camp will earn a roster spot.  This lineup removes the logjam at RW, and can allow Lisin and Grachev to flip-flop to help with either of their developments.  The question remains is this lineup worse off or better off?  I can't answer because there are too many questions with chemistry (the perennial question), Torts' system (I did not follow Tampa Bay enough to know it too well), and health issues.  So I leave it up to you all the readers: Is Zherdev THAT important to this team?