Setting Up For Saturday

The Rangers had a light practice today and will have another day on the ice before Saturday's matinee Game 2, thank you NBC.

As much as that extra time will be nice to get Chris Drury back into the game, it also allows Washington to look at what they did wrong and find ways to fix it. They are still going to run and gun, take pot shots at Sean and throw puck after puck at Hank. But for as dopey as Bruce Boudreau may seem, he really is a helluva coach.

So I would wager a guess now that Ovie took all of those shots (28 total attempts or something like that) and showed that tendency to Hank and the Blueshirts, Bruce will persuade him get his linemates more involved next game - if only a little bit. Nick Backstrom kept lurking around the net and a slap-pass or intentional miss might set up a slam dunk for him. Although, talking Ovie into intentionally missing the net might be a hard sell.

It might be in their best interest as you have to imagine Bruce is unhappy with his team's power play. It was held to two goals on seven chances. It doesn't sound so bad but they were able to exhaust the Ranger penalty killers on several occasions and couldn't take advantage.

For all of their speed, the Washington transition game wasn't all that impressive and they had trouble maintaining pressure. Once they broke into the zone, they weren't able to sustain any pressure. Hank stopped every shot that he saw so the Ranger defense will likely have to deal with more traffic this time around. Two of the three goals against came with Washington bodies planted in the slot and with Rozy and Redden not being known for their physicality, the Caps may key in on them.

They will also need to stop bring obsessed with a certain number 16. Avery's work (and his 'accidental' bump) pretty much negated the Mike Green factor. Anytime Avery was on the ice with Green, he was in the defenseman's face and the overrated Norris candidate was knocked off his game. If he can avoid falling for Sean, then the Rangers will have to watch out for him as he can quickly take advantage of any turnover anywhere on the ice and turn it into an offensive opportunity.

The Rangers scored four goals in the game but were still limited to 10 total shots in the first and third periods. Boudreau has to be happy with that but defensive gaffes allowed the Rangers to get through so he may stress better awareness from his blueliners and perhaps even more defensive responsibility from the forwards. I doubt it, as the Caps rarely played like that all season - preferring to run and gun instead - but you never know. Perhaps Poti will play and firm things up in the Washington zone.

Hahahahahahaha.

One can only hope, one can only hope ...

Another Mistake

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Corey Potter has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

John Tortorella missed a fantastic opportunity to send a message to his team. With Rozy returning, Tortorella should have kept Corey Potter in the lineup and benched Wade Redden. A move that bold in a run for the playoffs would have sent a message that half-assed, incompetent play will not be accepted - from rookies or from veterans. Rozy would have stepped right into Redden's roll of doing nothing during the power play and playing a soft defensive game while Potter would be rewarded for his solid play so far. The kid has not been half the defensive liability that Redden was and he scored a goal in just his fifth game. Redden has three goals in 77 games despite being an "offensive defenseman."

This is just another disappointment in a season full of them that could very well result in an early summer. For shame Torts, I thought you were better than this.

A New Era Begins ...

... But will it be a good one?

Early entries to the poll find you guys split on John Tortorella's impact, at least where this season is concerned. Back before the season I said that the Rangers need "a cult of personality to lead them." Granted I was talking about the captain rather than the coach but either way there is a man in that room willing to step up and act like a leader.

Now can he lead them somewhere good? I'm not so sure but I am willing to wait and see. The team that got him a Cup was a really good team - they had leaders in Old Man Andreychuk and Timmy Taylor, superstar scorers in Vinny 04 and Mini-Marty, power play puck movers in Boyle and Kubina, a true game-breaking goaltender in Twitchy-bulin and a solid cast of background characters (Stillman, Sarich, etc.). That is a whole lotta talent right there and all the coach had to do is point it in the right direction. The Rangers need significantly more than that.

Tortorella made many hockey people believers but still could do nothing to stop his team from slipping through his fingers. Sure the GM took away his top weapons, but he made young players miserable and the Blueshirts need to develop theirs since they are in contract hell thanks to Sather.

Who knows, he may turn over a new leaf here. No one can say right now. The simple fact is that Tortorella's every move will be watched but he will get a free pass for the rest of the season - a pass named Renney. Sorry, but that pass doesn't work here. The way I see it, Torts has three games - Wednesday in Toronto, Thursday against the Panthers and Saturday against the Aves - until he can be called on the carpet. The next game after the Aves is March 5th on the Island. That is four full game-free, travel-free days to work, including trade deadline day. Outside of some miracle deal by Sather that will change three or more players, on March 5th Tortorella will know what he has and what he can do with it before he takes on the Isles. That night, the team can't 'just' show up. They can't fight the good fight and maybe win in a shootout. They have to win outright, and preferably win big against the worst team in the NHL.

Until then, we can just sit back and see how the players play. They are auditioning for their jobs so let's hope that they play well but without a system - offensive or defensive - it is all on them, not on the coach.

It should be interesting.

Scotty's Solutions Pt. 1

“I take full responsibility for where this team is right now. That’s incumbent with the position. My job is to correct this, get us wining, get us feeing better about ourselves. I look to be a solution. It’s as simple as that.” -- Tom Renney, 2/15/09

It is getting quite tiresome seeing the many failings of this team so how about we try to step into Renney's role and find some ways to win? For part 1, let's address the biggest issue, the power play.

The man advantage has only proven to give an advantage to opposing teams this season so it is time to shake it up. There is no way to impart a new philosophy than adding new people so here are the two units I recommend:

Unit 1

Prucha-Drury-Korpikoski

Zherdev-Staal

Unit 2

Sjostrom-Dubinsky-Orr

Naslund-Mara

The biggest change from the current philosophy is that both units use a talent forward at the point. Let's face it, they are no more defensive liabilities than Rozy or Redden currently are and they actually add a scoring threat. Not to mention that it is much easier to quarterback a power play from up high then it is on the halfboards (unless you are a monster like Jagr was).

Unit 1 Details: Earlier in the season Zherdev proved that he knows how to backcheck when he wants to and let's face it, he is the slickest stickhandler on the team. Having him up high would draw the penalty killers up high, leaving more room for the forwards to swarm around the paint and cause chaos. Drury has shown a willingness to pay the price in front and Prucha has never shied away from crashing the crease. We have yet to see what the Korpedo can do, but I would love to find out. Aside from being the unit's defensive conscience, Staal would be the safety valve if Z can't get the puck down low, especially with that heavy shot he has - he just would need to use it more often.

Unit 2 Details: I've been pushing for Orr on a power play unit since Christmastime. Let the big man loose and see what he can do - he is definitely an improvement on Voros. Dubi is Dubi; he is still learning what his size is capable of and he has pretty good hands. Sjostrom is relentless, fast and can help defensive coverage if Naslund was to slide in from the point. Naslund has lost a step but he still is a saavy player and has shown that he is money in the high slot. It might be easier for him to get there cycling from the point then from down low. And Mara has been the steadiest presence on the blueline in all three zones so if his stupid fight with Asham hasn't cost him his season, he should keep a spot on the power play.

Key Omissions: Gomez, Callahan, Rozy and Redden. Gomez carries the puck across the neutral zone like no other but his little curl and dump garbage is a joke. He doesn't have the size, strength or shot of Jagr so his attempts to QB the power play from down low have been a complete failure. Cally is spectacular off of the rush ... once settled into the zone, notsomuch. Besides, keeping him on the bench would keep him energized to keep the opposition unsettled once they reach even strength. There is a good defenseman trapped inside Rozy. The Czech has shown flashes of it every now and again and he just needs to get the confidence back to be a top D all of the time. As for Redden, well, he doesn't belong in the NHL anymore, much less sitting on the point turning the puck over on a power play unit.

So what do you guys think?