February Rangers Articles - nyr.gordtep.com

Wow. That is the best word to describe the new Rangers incredible success in a season for which many thought a playoff berth was out of the question. With wins in each of the last two nights to close out this portion of the season, which will be halted for the Olympic break, the Rangers have extended their winning streak to 6. Lundqvist picked up the victory in New York, and Kevin Weekes took last night's game in his hometown of Toronto. Jaromir Jagr had a pair of goals in both games, taking his league-leading season total to 40. Petr Sykora also scored on both nights, giving him more goals this year as a Ranger (8) in 16 games than he had as a Duck (7) in 34 games.

In previous years, the Blueshirts were a roster full of talented underachievers. All the star-power of an all-star team, but the accomplishments of an expansion team. The change in philosophy and personnel produced a franchise-turnaround that occurred faster than anyone could have ever imagined.

Talent is absolutely an attribute that this team has no shortage of. Jaromir Jagr is the single most-dangerous offensive weapon in the entire league. Placing Jagr on a line with Straka and Nylander has made for one of the most deadly line combinations in Ranger history, but it just isn't the top line. Petr Prucha's scoring-spree added a dimension to the offense that was completely unexpected, and now Petr Sykora has proven himself to be an awesome option on power plays in addition to giving his team another line of scoring depth at even-strength.

Team defense has been better this year than any year in recent memory. As great as John Vanbiesbrouck and Mike Richter were early on in their careers neither of them could compare to the brilliance Henrik Lundqvist has displayed. A leading candidate for the Vezina, and perhaps even Calder and Hart Trophies, Lundqvist has been labeled the best goaltender in the world by many, most recently Dominic Hasek. It doesn't just stop with Henrik, the pair of Malik and Rozsival has been as important to this team's accomplishments as the pairing of Leetch and Beukeboom was during the early-to-mid 1990's. All of this talk may sound insane to those that are not closely paying attention to the team, and certainly would have sounded impossible prior to the start of the season, but it has happened. Fedor Tyutin is coming into his own, and Darius Kasparaitis ahs been solid for much of the season. Dominic Moore, Jed Ortmeyer, Blair Betts, Jason Ward, and Steve Rucchin (among others) have all been a part of one of the most phenomenal penalty-killing units New York has ever seen.

It's not just a pile of talent this year. There is heart. There is grit. The Rangers exhibit determination on a nightly basis, and have everything you need to be a top-level team. Tom Renney and his staff of Perry Pearn, Benoit Allaire, and Mike Pellino have a great deal to be proud of. Glen Sather has a lot to be proud of too. After all, he built this team. Finally, after so many years, the Garden faithful has something to cheer about. The New York Rangers are 20 games over .500 for the first time since February of 1996.

We'll be back on Sunday to recap both important games the Rangers will be participating in this weekend. Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to post articles.

Unbelievable. The New York Rangers dominated the Ottawa Senators last night at Madison Square Garden. Squashing the Sens in this fashion is an accomplishment that not even the most hopeful Rangers fan could have dreamed of. Henrik Lundqvist out-dueled Dominic Hasek, and the Ranger' skaters put on a spectacular exhibition of defense (including a remarkable penalty kill that was 8 for 8), passing, and scoring. New York was the better club hands-down in a 5-1 victory over the team with the lowest goals against average in the entire league.

Jaromir Jagr racked up three more points (1g 2a) and regained his league lead in goals with his 36th, and extended his stranglehold on the race for the Art Ross trophy extending his point-total to 83. In the absence of Petr Prucha, New York received balanced scoring with goals from Marek Malik, Jason Ward (Shorthanded), Michael Nylander, and Petr Sykora.

Lundqvist was sensational, as always, with 24 saves. King Henrik is proving to be a favorite for the Vezina, and certainly garnering a great deal of consideration for the Calder. If he continues to play like this, he may very well be walking away with the Conn Smythe trophy when all is said and done.

This dominant victory continues a brilliant run the Rangers where they have now only lost three times in their last 19 games (12-3-4). New York is 5-0-1 in their last six games, and have proven themselves to be one of the NHL's elite. It won't be long before the 18,200 strong at MSG are chanting "We Want The Cup!"

The last time the Rangers took on the Senators, the result was a bit lopsided. Kevin Weekes surrendered four goals in the first fifteen minutes of play before being yanked in favor of Henrik Lundqvist. Unfortunately for the Blueshirts, it was too little too late, and the the Sens squashed the Rangers 6-2.

In that game, Ottawa appeared to be a far more polished team, and simply a cut above. Since that day (Dec. 26), the Senators have slowed a bit, and the Rangers have started to put things together-- New York has gone 11-3-4 while Ottawa has been 11-6-2.

With only 27 games remaining, it is safe to say that both of these teams will be among the most-feared clubs in the post-season. Up front Daniel Alfredsson provides Ottawa with the same kind of explosive scoring threat that Jaromir Jagr has been for the Rangers. However, it has always been said that defense wins championships, and on the backline, Ottawa boasts the strongest Defensive corps in the league. Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, and Chris Phillips are all legitimate Norris Trophy candidates. The Rangers defense has been stabilized all season long by the solid tandem of Marek Malik and Michael Rozsival. Darius Kasparaitis and Fedor Tyutin have both stepped their game as of late, giving New York depth at this crucial position. Let's not forgot the last line of defense, and the biggest reason for the success of each team: goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist and Dominic Hasek have proved to be the elite netminders in the Eastern Conference if not the the entire NHL, and appear to be in a duel over this year's Vezina Trophy.

After tonight's match-up of first place teams, the Rangers have a home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs this weekend before taking a two and a half week-long hiatus for the Olympics.

Less than a month ago, the Rangers trailed the Flyers by 9 points. With a dramatic come-from-behind overtime victory in Philadelphia on Saturday, the Blueshirts have surpassed the Broad Street Bullies in the standings.

With an 11-3-4 record in their last 18 contests, New York has picked up an outstanding 26 of a possible 36 points. Also worth mentioning is the three losses in their last 18 were all by one goal. In fact, discounting the empty-net goal in December 20th's 3-1 loss to the Devils, the Rangers have only lost one game since December 3rd by more than one goal. That one game? The December 26th debacle where Kevin Weekes got humiliated in Ottawa. That is a span of 27 games where they have lost by more than a goal on just one occasion.

Henrik Lundqvist's goaltending is a huge reason why New York is currently ranked first in the Atlantic Division. Already a legitimate contender for the Calder and Vezina trophies, Lundqvist even has an outside shot for the Hart. Jaromir Jagr is the league's leading scorer, and also a front-runner for the league MVP. The decision to go give rookies Petr Prucha, Fedor Tyutin, Blair Betts, and Dominic Moore significant ice-time has been paying off substantially. Free Agent acquisitions of Marek Malik, Martin Straka, and Michael Nylander among others have provided the Rangers with a strong foundation of veterans and the strongest team chemistry in over a decade. The mid-season trade for Petr Sykora worked out as well as anybody could have envisioned. Not bad for a rebuilding year, eh?

On January 27th, we examined the final 8 games before the Olympic break and discussed what would be deemed a successful series of matches. Through the first five games of tat run, the Rangers have come away with 9 of 10 possible points, and have regained their early season form that made them the league's biggest surprise. Tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden the Ottawa Senators will try their best to put a halt to the Rangers 3-game winning streak and stretch of 5 games without a regulation loss (4-0-1).

The Rangers received some good news concerning Petr Prucha's injury. After Turner Stevenson's knee-on-knee collision with Prucha in Saturday's game, the Blueshirts feared the worst. Yesterday, it was determined that Petr Prucha suffered a second degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. This injury will keep him out of action for 3-4 weeks, and forces Team Czech Republic to find a replacement for the Turin Olympics.

Prucha, 23, has been a tremendous offensive force New York this season, second in the team in goal-scoring behind only Jaromir Jagr. He is currently 4th in rookie goal-scoring with 25 markers, behind Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Marek Svatos. His presence will be missed most on the power play where he has scored 12 times. New York forwards Steve Rucchin, Petr Sykora, and perhaps Ville Nieminen will have to take Prucha's place on the power play in front of and to the side of the net.

Fortunately for Prucha and the Rangers, there are only three games left before a two and a half week break for the Olympics, so in that regard the injury comes at an ideal point in the season in terms of recovery time. Wednesday against Ottawa, and this weekend's home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely allow Tom Renney to get Ville Nieminen and Ryan Hollweg (or Colton Orr) into the lineup.

It is even possible that now might be the time to call up Jarko Immonen who is starting to find his scoring touch for the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL. Immonen set a Wolfpack record on Saturday when he scored 5 goals in a 6-0 victory over the Portland Pirates.

Monday night at MSG, the Flyers came back to tie it with less than 90 seconds to go in the third period, and finished the game in overtime with a goal less than 90 seconds into the extra session. Last night, it was the Rangers who would score a game-tying goal in the last minute of play with Henrik Lundqvist on the bench, and miraculously come away with two points when Jaromir Jagr notched the game-winner at 1:24 of the fourth period.

The Rangers started strong and were riding a 2-0 lead on goals by Marcel Hossa and Michael Nylander. With five minutes remaining in the 2nd period, it was Mike Knuble who would put the Flyers on the board. Jeff Carter scored early in the 3rd period, and Knuble put home his 2nd of the game and 25th of the season to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead with under 9 minutes to go. It seemed as if the New York had completely blown the game and would walk out of Philadelphia in 2nd place, but it was Petr Sykora who was credited with the tying marker on a deflection off a point-shot by Martin Rucinsky. In the final seconds of the period, Martin Straka drove hard to the net and drew a penalty when he was tripped by Joni Pitkanen. Jaromir Jagr would one-time a pass from Michael Rozsival through the legs of Robert Esche on the ensuing power play for his league-leading 35th goal and 80th point of the season to put the Blueshirts in first place.

Although the Rangers are riding high with this tremendous victory, and sit at the top of the Atlantic Division, the team has to be concerned about the status of Petr Prucha. With a little less than six minutes to go in the 2nd period, Prucha had to be helped off the ice after suffering a knee injury after being hit by Turner Stevenson. The early word was that Prucha suffered a knee sprain, but we should find out more later today following an MRI. If the injury isn't that severe, Prucha could very well return following the Olympic break, but by the looks of his reaction to the hit, it does appear that Prucha will be unable to play for the Czech Republic in the Olympic Games.

The Rangers will now have three days off until returning to action Wednesday night at the Garden against the Ottawa Senators.

Henrik Lundqvist is the number one goaltender on the New York Rangers. There is no disputing the fact that Lundqvist is a legitimate contender for the Calder, Vezina, and Hart trophies. Tonight against the Flyers, with first place on the line, should not go to Weekes, tonight is Henrik's night.

In yesterday's New York Post Larry Brooks, one of the finest hockey writers out there, had a somewhat controversial article that tore into Ranger fans for booing Kevin Weekes at the Garden. Brooks made it seem as though fans booed Weekes for no apparent reason, and that the 18,200 that wanted to see Lundqvist against the Flyers were unjust in voicing their disgust when Weekes was put in for a start against a top team. If you read between the lines, it truly appeared that Larry Brooks was saying that many Ranger fans were racist for booing Weekes, but I disagreed strongly enough to write a letter.

I recognize that the New York Post must receive thousands of letters and getting a response is incredibly unlikely, but I sent the e-mail nonetheless. Considering that it is rather doubtful my letter would ever be printed or mentioned, this website seemed like an ideal place to post an excerpt from it. I want to preface my comments by saying Larry Brooks is far and away my favorite sports writer, and more often than not I actually agree with him. I've also had the opportunity to converse with him on a few occasions and he was a terrific guy.

".. you ignored the constant running commentary we were getting from Coach Tom Renney early in the season about how Weekes was our number one netminder. Henrik Lundqvist was wowing the world, gaining the love of the fans, respect of players, and praise of pundits alike. We had a Calder and Vezina candidate (as you stated) on our hands, and yet Renney was consistently talking about him like he was merely a backup to King Kevin. Your article clearly makes it sound as if the fans had some sort of vendetta with Weekes, perhaps even racially-based—that’s just what I took away from your article—but, I beg to differ. The barrage of boos was generated by Renney’s patronizing words about how Weekes is “the man” directly after each and every marvelous game for Henrik. Weekes’ sub-standard play and excuse-laden post-game interviews hurt his standing with the fans as well. Kevin Weekes is one game over .500 on a team that is 16 over, similar to Glenn Healy in ’94 (10-12-2), but we never had Mike Keenan tell us Mike Richter was a backup that year when he was stone-walling the league with a 42-12-6 record. Kevin’s victory against the Blues (the most recent before Thursday) was one of the most atrocious played wins by a goalie in Rangers history, but we heard Sam & JD laud Weekes like he had the game of his career that night. Had he not complained about having to go a few days between games, or the new rules, or how hard it is for him to accept being a backup (it is his 6^th team in 8 NHL seasons, it’s not like he’s Patrick Roy), and most notably Renney’s comments that detracted from Henrik’s brilliance, the fans wouldn’t have so greatly turned against him. I find it funny how everyone speaks about the importance of playing Weekes to give Lundqvist rest following the break, and yet Weekes whined about how difficult it is to play in a game after resting for two weeks. How is he going to handle the recess brought on by the Olympic Games? Hopefully not by allowing goals on the opening shots as he so often did earlier in the year.”