8-5-1: Selective Memory

The Rangers skated away from Sunday's 'matinee' match against the Capitals with two points. In the end, that is all that is important. Aside from the two outstanding tallies by the Blueshirts, most of the details of the one-goal win are not worth remembering.

The fact that they were taken to the wire by the worst team in the Eastern Conference, well, we need to forget about that. An inexcusable goal against on a wide open shot just over a minute in, Hank's good looks erase that. Sitting on a one-goal lead rather than trying to make it a two-goal lead? Slip it from your mind. Four poor penalties? Let 'em go. Darroll Powe getting knocked out by Matt Hendricks? Already ignored, no one bothered to avenge him anyway. Yet another occurrence of Braden Holtby-ism, a syndrome where the Rangers make the mediocre netminder look good by inflating his stats with easy saves? Definitely worth deleting from the memory bank.

Once all that is consigned to oblivion we can bask in the brilliance of the two goals scored by the Blueshirts and the two points they took for defeating the Caps. Beating Washington is always wonderful and, at the end of the day, that is what the boys in blue did. They triumphed over Ovie and improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games. Selective memory is a wonderful thing.

Late Hits:

*A power play goal. By the Rangers. Really. And it was glorious. I felt like James Bond. Richard$ actually won a faceoff, Nash's fancy-pants move actually worked to pass it back, then tic-tac-toe Richard$ to Del Zaster to Stepan and we're winning.

*Step finished that play, and he started the game-tying tally. He hustled to the boards, pressuring Troy Brouwer into making a poor pass that McDonagh intercepted and fired deep. Hagelin then tipped Tom Poti's clearing attempt, allowing Rick Nash to get it and feed McDonagh for the shot that Hagelin redirected in. Bork, Bork, Bork!

*And Poti - of all the blueliners in all the world - Poti being the player to lose his cover ... simply spectacular. POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII, POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII, POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII. Peanut Butta Poti Time, Peanut Butta Poti Time! It is soooo much fun to revel in his mistakes, now that they aren't made while he's wearing a Ranger sweater.

*The current Blueshirt blueliner to draw my ire, Del Zaster, didn't suck. He saw way too much ice time, made a few blatant mistakes and took a terrible penalty, but he didn't suck. Maybe he just looked passable thanks to Poti being on the same ice ... yeah, that probably was it.

*DZ was one of several Rangers guilty of going down to try to block passes. Sure the play looks pretty, but it just shows how far out of position the player was.

*Bravo to NBC Sports for including the national anthem, which featured John Amirante. Sad they missed his trademark fist-pump, but still more than we get during MSG broadcasts. And no Micheletti, can't beat that.

*Sounded like a loud crowd on tv. It was helped that the 6pm start was the earliest of the season (pending the last two NBC games) and that it came on the eve of a holiday. Nice to see the Rangers recognized it with a give-away ... oh, wait, they didn't.

*Kinda sad to see that Ovechkin shaved his dastardly Van Dyke. Ah well, at least we know he's still evil.

*Cally tangling with Ovie? What a moment. And his honest, selfless work at the end of the game? It is getting hard to love our captain more.


*Not only does it appear that Adam Oates has no idea how to coach, but it looks like he had some bad plastic surgery too. Bet he scares all the children on Halloween. Loved that it was him, rather than our dynamic duo behind the bench, that got called for a too many men on the ice.

*Don't tell me Hendricks didn't nail Powe intentionally, I watched the replay a number of times and you can see him lower his right shoulder right before impact. He saw Powe coming and used it to his advantage. The only surprise is that it wasn't John Erskine who did it.

*Asham helped Powe off the ice, the first instance of him actually doing something positive for his Ranger teammates.

*PHW Three Stars:
3- Braden Holtby - 38 saves.
2- Rick Nash - one assist.
1- Carl Hagelin - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3- Hagelin - While he gives credit to Nash for making room for him, last season Hags had chance after chance last season that he couldn't capitalize upon. Now he's finishing.
2- Stepan - Some games Step looks amazing, others he disappears. Once he gains some consistency we will have ourselves one terrific second line center.
1- Callahan - The wind beneath our wings.

Aye Aye Cap'n Cally

It was as inevitable as raised ticket prices at MSG - Ryan Callahan was named the captain of the Rangers this morning.

Callahan was the obvious and expected selection, albeit one that was expected to be made next week. He was the pro tem captain last season when Drury battled his injuries so he steps into a familiar role. His heart and dedication to the franchise is unquestioned and his playing style has long made him a fan favourite. As we have seen in his interviews, Cally has matured from a fresh-faced kid a few years ago into a man that the guys in the room and around the league respect. He is a fantastic choice.

However, I wouldn't be me if I didn't see the possible gray clouds lurking on the horizon.

As I wrote in the Captain Conundrum, the Blueshirts did not step up at the sight of the injured Callahan before an important game against Atlanta on April 7th and had one of their worst performances of the entire season. You can respect someone without following that person's lead. I respect the Dalai Lama but I am not a Buddhist.

The other concern is the obvious - Callahan gets injured. Annually. His 100 percent style puts his body in the line of fire and it takes a toll on him. As my buddy Phil pointed out to me, as a captain he is Brendan Morrow. Unquestioned passion and ability but a tendency to miss time because of it. In his five seasons as captain, Morrow has made it through two of them unscathed. Cally has yet to play a full 82 regular season games in his NHL career.

That is where the Alternates will come in. Marc Staal retained his A from last year and Brad Richards, who wore that letter in both Dallas and Tampa, will join him. Richards' experience makes the decision a no-brainer, despite the perceived oversight of Brandon Dubinsky. One of Dubi's most endearing qualities is his occasional hot-headedness, so perhaps it is for the best that the more experienced, more level-headed veteran gets the A instead. That being said, once Callahan gets hurt should Callahan get hurt, the trainers can easily add a letter to Dubi's sweater and the team can go with three Alternates.

Today's decision puts the team in a far better position then they were in the last few seasons. Jagr was famously moody on and off the ice and Chris Drury was more concerned with celebrating holidays than winning hockey games. Unlike the two of them, Callahan was raised a Ranger and now he is in a position to lead the team to the next level. Let's just hope he stays healthy enough to do it.

The Captain Conundrum 2011

The news is out, the Rangers are done with Chris Drury, leaving the Blueshirts without a captain.

Before the C was sewn to Drury's sweater I held the belief that the team needed a cult of personality to lead them and, if anything, the last few seasons strengthened that philosophy. Us fans will never know what Drury brought to the table in the room and outside the rink - he may very well be responsible for the quick acclimation to New York by all of the Ranger kids the last few seasons. We will never know. But it is sad the way things worked out from what we did see.

We are pretty much right back where we started from. Back in 2008 the Rangers were transitioning from the Jagr generation to the Renney's American Rangers and it was clear that the C would go to one of the two big money Cs that were signed, Drury or Scott Gomez. Seeing as Gomez was a clown, that pretty much sealed the deal for Dru. Now the team is transitioning from the mercenary Sather signings to a generation of home grown kids.

So who will it be?

The obvious choice is Ryan Callahan. Cally's on-ice abilities are well known and he matured before our eyes as the New York media turned towards him in Drury's injury-caused absences. Callahan may very well be the next captain and he may very well prove to be worthy of the letter (and I truly hope so) but April 7th opened the door to doubt. Cally stood on crutches alongside Steve McDonald to present the extra effort award before an important home game against Atlanta. The sight of their injured teammate alongside New York's hero cop did nothing to inspire the team and they fell 3-0 in an utter embarrassment.

What we need to figure out is who will be able to inspire this team and lead them to a Stanley Cup? Callahan may very well be the man, but let's just look at a few other candidates:

Henrik Lundqvist: Hank is clearly deeply emotionally tied with the team and it's performance - after wins he is happy, after losses he looks like someone kicked his puppy. He doesn't hide from the media and isn't afraid to call out his teammates. As much as he is the King, he is also the Atlas holding up the Ranger world. But Roberto Luongo proved that goaltenders just shouldn't be captains in this day and age. While Hank can surely handle the pressure, he doesn't need or deserve the distractions.

Brandon Dubinsky: Dubi has been right there alongside Cally, growing up and giving all he has for the team. He is willing to fight for his teammates - physically at times - and call out the opposition *cough, cough, Crosby, cough, cough*. But he is on the verge of yet another possible contract holdout and you simply don't want to see that from the captain.

Marc Staal: The Rangers' top defenseman, Staal is yet another product of the developmental system who is rightfully taking his place among the best blueliners in the NHL. On the ice he is quiet and steady and perhaps the best foil for Alex Ovechkin in the league. While we saw a hint of a sense of humour with him at the All Star draft, Staal is usually as straightforward, bland and dour as Drury was with the media. He is best just going about his business rather than having to deal with all that captaincy holds.

Derek Stepan: In his first season Step stepped right in and often didn't look like a rookie. With the media and the fans he is gregarious and gracious and is already well loved by his teammates. A leader at Wisconsin and with the junior Team USA, Stepan clearly has the personality and ability to be 'the man' when called upon. But, going into his sophomore season he needs to be able to work to avoid the infamous slump without having the team's fortunes weighing upon him.

Brad Richards: Since it seems to be all but certain Richards is signing with the Rangers on Friday, he should be considered a candidate. The former Conn Smythe winner already has a good relationship with the head coach and several of the players and at 31 years old has plenty of experience in dealing with the ups and downs of the league. However, Richards will need to acclimate to the city and, unless his contract demands are far less than expected, will be just another mercenary coming to New York for the money.

Twice in recent history the Rangers chose poorly between two candidates for captaincy - picking the reluctant Leetch over Graves and Jagr over Shanahan. Drury was definitely a better selection than Gomez would have been but he didn't prove to be the leader the Rangers needed. Let's hope that they decide on the right one this time.

The NYR Facts Of Life: #24 Ryan Callahan

For each player who suited up in a Blueshirt this season we will take the good, we will take the bad and take them both and see what we have. And this time around we started with the high numbers and are up to #24, Ryan Callahan.

#24's #s: 60 games, 23 goals, 25 assists, -7, 46 PIM.

Take the good: It would be easy to throw out the stats - Cally had set career highs in goals, assists and points despite missing 22 games, blah blah - but a quote sums it all up. I have always been of the belief that there is no higher praise than that from an enemy and after Callahan broke his ankle blocking a shot from Zdeno Chara, Chara told ESPN, "Callahan is a top-six guy, yet he still plays with so much heart and grit. You don't see many guys that throw their bodies around to block shots like that. He plays the game so hard. You have to respect a guy like that. I just hope that he's OK long term."

Take the bad: When Chara shoots the puck, get the hell out of the way! There is being brave and there is being stupid. Don't throw your life away young man! That's a joke, and is only intended as a joke. But it is something to fill this space as there was hardly any bad in Callahan's game.

Take them both and then we have: A young player who took another step towards seizing one of the biggest, toughest, most infuriating, most rewarding jobs in professional sports - captaincy of the New York Rangers. He showed a terrific combination of leadership, selflessness and skill this season and hopefully will only get better. He isn't there yet - his appearance on crutches before the Atlanta game should have inspired his team to a far better showing (they lost 3-0, to the Thrashers) - but it is plain to see that that C will adorn his sweater at some point. He's won us fans over, he just has to win his teammates the same way. And Chris Drury has to go, there is that too.

True Blue Subscriber Night

The Rangers held a fan forum for season subscribers tonight inside the Manhattan Center. It was the same space that held last year's Lifer Forum and the team kept the same formula this time around. Parade the Rangers in, have the team banter with a moderator, then open the floor to questions from fans.

Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Brian Boyle were on the panel last year and were joined tonight by Vinny Prospal, Brandon Prust and Ryan McDonagh. Some randomness to come out of all of the talking:

*The biggest thing to come out from the players was Vinny Prospal's admission that all is not well with his rehab. Prospal said that he has been testing it and was skating "on one leg." The one thing pushing him is his promise to his son that he will play again but certainly he did not seem optimistic.

*Prospal is so tan from spending all summer playing tennis outdoors. Hank is tan because he spent the off time during the recent Florida trip out by the pool.

*Hank overdressed with a sharp, skin-tight suit while Prust underdressed and was given a bit of grief for it.

*The guys have good chemistry and there was a bit of fun banter to be had. McDonagh, however, did the smart rookie thing and kept his mouth shut. Kinda felt bad for him because he was barely acknowledged after his initial q&a with Al.

*McDonagh admitted that he is not a big television guy and he prefers to read while Cally admitted that he has a passion for reality TV - specifically Toddlers & Tiaras and Jersey Shore.

*As ridiculous as that was, Cally came across as the captain. I'm not sure how to phrase it any other way - he had a certainty to the way he was talking and the way he spoke to the other guys that just seemed to me to show leadership.

*Brian Boyle's nickname is Boiler. And the guys acknowledged that hockey nicknames are not particularly inventive nowadays.

*As I tweeted, many of the fan-asked questions were dumb beyond redemption; the players must have walked away thinking that we are all idiots. Many people actually didn't ask questions, choosing instead to rant or talk about themselves.

*One poor woman, who may have had some kind of mental disability, went on and on about gifts she sent to the guys. It was heart-felt but rambling and she was cat-called by another member of the audience.

*Hank said that he goes through 120 sticks a year, and that he may not throw his sticks into the crowd anymore during the three stars as it ignites fights in the crowd (and some brass said that he shouldn't). The fact that he had the three-game point streak was brought up and Hank said he called several friends to taunt them.

*Scott Lasky was the MC and he was horrid. The guy is corporate vanilla awfulness. He tried to claim an life-long fandom of the team, saying that he was a Ranger fan who used to get beat up during the years that the "boys on the bus of Bossy, Potvin Trottier" were going on. Sorry pal, the Boys on the Bus were the Oilers, not the Islanders.

*For as good as Al was, he didn't do his homework ahead of time and said that Prust was a Western Canada guy when, in fact, the Ranger hails from London, Ontario. Whoops.

*People asked if the team was going to play in the next Winter Classic and, of course, the guys didn't know but would like to. They also have no problem with starting next season overseas as Callahan said that the last time it was a good experience and it brought the boys together.

*And everyone hates Sidney Crosby.

All told it was a nice evening but, of course, you left wanting more. There were no autographs, no photos and only a lucky few received prizes. But, considering the large amount of diehard Ranger fans, those 1,000 or so in attendance were the lucky few to even get to go so we should be thankful.

The NYR Facts Of Life: #24 Ryan Callahan

For each player who suited up in a Blueshirt this season we will take the good, we will take the bad and take them both and see what we have. What we have here is many folks' favourite Ranger, #24 Ryan Callahan.

#24's #s: 77 games, 19 goals (9 ppg), 18 assists (11 ppa), -12, 48 PIM.

Take the good: Callahan earned his second straight Steven McDonald Extra Effort and for good cause - no matter the situation, no matter the date, no matter the opponent he skated his ass off. Cally had 285 hits - third in the NHL behind Cal Clutterbuck and Dustin Brown - along with 81 blocked shots while playing in all situations. He had just two fights this season but one he was standing up for himself and the other he was standing up for teammates.

Take the bad: As the season began, we actually expected Callahan to be a better scorer than last season, not worse. He had three less goals (and three less points) in four fewer games while going one span of 18 games with just one goal and another with one over 14. Cally seemed just as snakebitten as Chris Higgins and yet he was allowed off the hook, perhaps because Higgins had the game on his stick a few times where Cally did not. Callahan had six games where he didn't manage a single shot, four of which came after the Olympic break. His knee injury was not his fault but his absence in the last game of the season definitely qualifies as 'bad'.

Take them both and then we have: A 25 year old who has hopefully not plateaued in terms of his on-ice development. You'd like to hope that the game he had in January against the Habs where he had two goals, two assists and seven shots showed that he is capable of better and bigger things but that may have just been a good night. At the same time, Callahan took on part of the leadership mantle with an A and that had to have had an impact on his play - and likely with these Rangers and the season that they had, it was a negative impact at that. What he learned from it and what he does next year (a contract season) should really let us know what we have.

Hmmm ...

Press release from the Rangers:

Rangers alternate captain Ryan Callahan, last year's winner of the team's Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, is in the running for another honor this season -- the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award...

What does it say when Cally gets the call for consideration for a leadership award while the actual New York Rangers team captain, Chris Drury, does not?

The Rings & The Rangers

Going back to NHL hockey after this outstanding Olympics will be a difficult task to be certain but it is one we must do - after all, who can wait another four years for more pucks?

Before we look forward to the last 20 games of the regular season, let's look back at the five Rangers who suited up in Vancouver. Three of the five brought back medals, not too shabby but not great considering two were for being first loser and one was for second loser.

Ryan Callahan
USA: 6 games, no goals, 1 assist, 2 PIM, 56:02 total ice time
Cally started the Olympics getting a regular shift but was bumped from the rotation by none other than Chris Drury. To his credit, the demotion didn't knock him down and he was able to contribute when called upon - primarily on penalty kills alongside Dru. Cally made several huge shot blocks in the first win over Canada and was always good for a body check. He had a great chance to score against Switzerland but pulled his best Chris Higgins and blew it; he never really got another good opportunity. Cally's lone point came on Dru's goal against Norway - his low shot was easily stopped by Dru banged in the rebound. Hopefully Cally will come back hungry to show he does indeed have a scoring touch and isn't a mostly useless extra part like he was in Vancouver.

Chris Drury
USA: 6 games, 2 goals, no assists, no PIM, 68:07 total ice time
Drury's other goal was the United States' go-ahead marker in the first match against the Canadians. With the other American forwards battling in front, Dru swooped in unmolested to tap home the puck and put the U.S. up 3-2. It was classic Drury - coming through in the clutch when the opposition was concentrating on the more dangerous players on the ice. But even with the two tallies, Dru's best work came with Cally on the kills. As was written in this space before, when you ignore the contract and the captaincy Dru makes a great third or fourth line center. Too bad the money and the honour are both so grand that they cannot be ignored. Much like the disgrace of losing to Sidney Crosby.

Marian Gaborik
Slovakia: 7 games, 4 goals, 1 assist, 6 PIM, 119:58 total ice time
Gabby's biggest moment of the Olympics was the one that he wasn't there for - with the Slovaks trying to complete a rally and force overtime against the Canadians in the semifinals, he was in the locker room with an unspecified injury. TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted that it could be groin related but when Slovakia played two nights later, there was Gabby looking pretty good as he scored the first Slovak goal. So we have no idea just what is up with him or what kind of shape he will be in when returns to the Rangers. We do know that he got a measure of revenge against Hank for the goaltender's errant skate a few weeks back with a goal in Slovakia's elimination of the Swedes.

Olli Jokinen
Finland: 6 games, 3 goals, 1 assist, 2 PIM, 77:17 total ice time
Olli is ending his international career and returning to New York with a bronze medal around his neck. He opened the Olympics with a easy power play goal in Finland's first game (against Belarus) before going goalless over the next four games. To break the drought Ollie shaved off his mustache - and looked even creepier if that is possible - and it worked: his fortunes changed for the best with a pair of goals on Jaro Halak as the Finns beat the Slovaks to capture the bronze. It must be said that both goals were sexy - a nice snipe through traffic and a burst through the defense before sliding it five-hole on Halak. Seeing as he scored the game-winner against Pittsburgh just before the Olympic break, we know he can score some timely goals while wearing a Blueshirt as well as the Suomi ... we just have to hope he can keep it up, something he had trouble doing in Calgary when it came down to it.

Henrik Lundqvist
Sweden: 3 games, 179:05 minutes, four goals allowed on 51 shots, .927 save %, 1.34 g.a.a., 2 shutouts
Don't let the two shutouts fool you, Hank did not play particularly well in Vancouver and the Swedes were bounced in the quarterfinals. Hank barely broke a sweat against the Germans in Sweden's 2-0 win where the two biggest saves were made by the iron behind him. He took the Belarus game off but came back to shutout the listless Finns, who were a different team than the one that beat Slovakia. They only put 20 shots on Hank and hardly tested him. In the quarterfinal the Slovaks pressed the attack far more than the Finns had and touched him for four goals. Two were with the man advantage and two came as a result of Nick Lidstrom doing his best impression of Michal Rozsival. Yes, that Nick Lidstrom. I'm just as shocked and hurt to say that as I am sure Hank was to witness it. But in the end, the Rangers will get back Hank in better physical shape than he was after '06 but with an unknown mental state. Was he overconfident or just plain satisfied in '06 after winning gold? Will this defeat make him hungrier this time around or will it defeat him? Seeing as Torts will ride him the rest of the way, we have to hope for the hunger ...

My New Fav Photo?

Maybe not tops, but definitely up there:

Sather's Monday Machinations

The Korpedo has been fired to Phoenix in return for Enver Lisin. I really am not sure that Glen Sather knows that there are 30 teams in the NHL, as he only seems to deal with three or four. But whatever, at least he is doing something that doesn't involve screwing over us fans. As for the other party, Dan Maloney retrieved another of his draft picks from a New York system that wasn't fit for them.

Lauri Korpikoski was given every opportunity to grow when Tortorella was hired and he never stepped up his game. Korp was tried on the second line, the third, the fourth, in the middle, on the wing ... he certainly is capable of playing at the NHL level but he simply didn't make the most of his chances. So now he's gone.

In his place is Lisin, an uber-fast youngster who has serious scoring upside. He is a soft skill player who is good around the net but isn't big on going through traffic. Lisin is a solid replacement for Freddie Sjostrom, with less physicality and a better scoring touch. Like Sjo, he will probably start on the fourth line and try to work up from there. Then again, if Zherdev comes back and Byers shows up to camp in shape then Lisin may be bound for Hartford but I'm not so sure Z will return - that soap opera is still playing out. One thing is for sure, I wouldn't want to face the Rangers in a shootout with Gabby, Kotalik and Lisin ...

Sather also handed out some contracts earlier today. As completely expected, Ryan Callahan re-signed with the Rangers. The team didn't include the terms in their press release but Newsday's Zipay says it is a two-year deal worth $4.6 million.

If so, that could very well be a steal. Cally was a huge part of the team last season and stepped up his play even further when Torts came to town. His balls-out hustle certainly fits with the coach's style so he should do even better with a full season in the system. Plus, with him around for two more years perhaps I can finally get him to sign my Victoria Cup puck. Haha.

And finally (I think, it is getting late), goaltender Chad Johnson was signed by Sather as well. As I said when we traded for him on draft day, he still has a way to go before becoming a NHL goaltender but is good for organizational depth.

I mentioned to my buddy Pete earlier that it didn't seem like Sather was done and today certainly showed that he is certainly not on summer vacation. So what's next? Dubi dealt, Dubi re-signed, Z re-signed, Z signed and traded, Rangers walking away from Z or something totally out of left field?

Tread Carefully Mr. Sather ...

As is being widely reported, restricted free agents Ryan Callahan and Nik Zherdev are taking the Rangers to salary arbitration. Steve Zipay does a fantastic job spelling it out and explaining what that means.

Arbitration is a tricky thing and the Rangers aren't the least bit afraid to go in with all guns blazing - who can forget hearing that they called Sean Avery "a detriment to the team" when he brought them to arbitration two summers ago?

Sean Avery, however, was a very different player than Cally and Z are now. Vicious barbs could cause serious damage to both.

Callahan surely has a youthful cockiness after a strong regular season and his team's vocal refusal to include him in any trades for scoring help or cap relief. But at the same time, Cally contributed just two goals in the series against the Caps - a fact he or his rep would need to refute with his team-leading 24 hits but considering how badly the Rangers needed goals, their number would weigh considerably more. Whatever dirt the team decides to dish will need to be tempered with what they see as his upside: does he have leadership potential? superstar potential? can he score 35 goals? Zip believes that the team won't let the negotiations go to arbitration with Cally and that would certainly seem like the way to go as the kid could be a cornerstone of the franchise down the line.

The conversation with Z will also have to be done with an eye towards the future. Likely, it is a future without Zherdev as soon as Grachev is NHL-ready. Seeing as Andrew Gross and company raved what Jess has been saying all along - that Grachev is scary-good and close to making the show - the Rangers can unleash their arsenal at Z. Call him lazy, call him uncoachable, call him out on his playoff disappearance. To do that, however, they have to pray that Tortorella can put the shattered pieces of the Ukrainian's psyche back together enough to get one last productive campaign out of him before kicking him to the KHL.

Like seemingly everything else this summer, this is sure to hold a few surprises so stay tuned!