Interesting Note ...

NHL.com put up a preview article for the Victoria Cup, the match between the New York Rangers and Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Switzerland on October 1st. The full text is here but the best news is this:

In order to foster the best competition, Szemberg said a provision was added to the contract stating how many rookies or minor-league players the Rangers would be allowed to play. That alleviates any concern that New York would treat the exhibition as a showcase for some of their up-and-comers while resting some of their regulars.

"This is specified so a team can't come with their America Hockey League lineup," Szemberg said. "When discussing this, the Rangers and the NHLPA people said, 'We are not bringing over a minor-league team.' We realize that if the Rangers want to test a promising rookie, why shouldn't they? But, they not test 11 promising rookies."

*Whew*

I had pulled out my new Hartford Wolfpack jersey to bring with me to Switzerland but I can rest assured that I will indeed be watching at least some of the big boys. And you can expect my usual post-game insight/ramblings here from Bern as I will be there for both the exhibition against SC Bern and the Victoria Cup. As I mentioned before, I had to pass on Prague because the Rangers couldn't guarantee tickets without me buying a $3 or 4k package ... Booooooo.

Quick Thought Of The Night

The Rangers should hold a viewing party at the Garden for the season opener in Prague. According to the Garden's website, both the Theater and Garden proper are booked for the season opener but MSG is free on Sunday ... they could make an occasion of it like they used to do for the draft - rod hockey games down on the floor, photo opportunities with the banners, team alumni and tours of the locker room ...

Just a thought ...

Btw - what happened to the Rangers summer BBQ/meet-and-greet at the training center for season ticket holders? I missed it last year because I was sick and just realized that they didn't hold one this year, right?

NHL Four-cast: Phoenix Coyotes

1 - Why is this team worth watching? There are so many reasons ... I heart Dan Carcillo. Dave Strader and Darren Pang are probably the best announcing pair in the NHL. Gretzky freaks out with the best of them. Shane Doan holds the flag as the last Winnipeg Jet with the franchise. He is joined by a ton of young talent and play a fun up-tempo game. And let's face it, even when they are bad, you never know what wonderful things can happen.

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? Definitely better. Phoenix shipped two mediocre defensemen to Florida for Olli Jokinen, who will easily put up a point per game alongside Doan. He will be a better scorer than Radim Vrbata, who jumped ship to Tampa, and probably the best playmaker the team has had since Alexei Zhamnov or even Dale Hawerchuk. And while it may have hurt to deal away Keith Ballard, the Coyotes turned around and picked up a more-than-adequate replacement in Kurt Sauer. Brian McGrattan will be their first heavyweight since Georges Laraque left and he should help keep Carcillo in the lineup.

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? Ilya Bryzgalov had a 2.42 g.a.a. and a .921 save percentage with Phoenix last year. Look at that, he is incredible and incredibly underrated in most drafts. Carcillo was a stud last season grabbing points and PIM and even with McGrattan he should do well again. Jokinen and Doan are both quality and Peter Mueller should only improve upon his 54 point rookie campaign. All of the hype around Kyle Turris is well deserved; he is definitely a early candidate for the Calder, especially with Doan and Jokinen around to show him the ropes.

4 - Do they have the funniest promotion in the NHL? Perhaps ... On November 29th, the night they play the San Jose Sharks, the Coyotes will give out winter gloves. Winter gloves. In Arizona. Yes, the desert temperatures can dip to the low 40s, but they are giving out winter gloves. In Arizona.

Congrats Trevor!

The Vancouver Canucks announced that they will retire Trevor Linden's No. 16 this season. As I mentioned in the past, I have always been a fan of his and this honour is well deserved. It also comes on a night where the Canucks play the Edmonton Oilers, a rival.

That just makes me angry; I am still dismayed over the Rangers' choice of nights to put Adam Graves in the rafters of the Garden. I was looking at the schedule and the random February 3rd date against the awful Atlanta Thrashers ensures that Graves' former teammates Craig MacTavish, Kevin Lowe and Wayne Gretzky won't be around to partake in the festivities (Edmonton plays Chicago and Phoenix plays Nashville) and, even worse, John Davidson won't be available to MC them (St. Louis plays Columbus). It isn't a knock against Sam Rosen, but John Davidson proved to be the better orator of the two and he was around for all of Graves' great NY years.

Had the Blueshirts done the right thing and scheduled it on November 10th against Edmonton, then all four of those guys could have been around to honour the consumate Ranger.

What a shame.

NHL Four-cast: Philadelphia Flyers

1 - Why is this team worth watching? They may not be the Broad Street Bullies anymore but you still never know when someone is going to get absolutely hammered.

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? Worse. The Flyers let R.J. Umberger go despite a breakthrough postseason, just to keep the mediocre Jeff Carter. Vinny Prospal headed back from whence he came, returning to Tampa after putting up 27 points in 35 games with Philadelphia. Captain Jason Smith is in Ottawa, leaving a veteran leadership vacuum in the Philadelphia dressing room. They did bring in Glen Metropolit, a personal favourite since his time with the Jawz, but for all of his class, he isn't a cult of personality that can power this team. That will probably be left to Mike Richards and while he has the nasty skills, he has yet to pick up the mantle of team leader (perhaps give the C to Jim Dowd until Richards is ready?). They did add Ossi Vaananen and Steve Eminger to the blueline, but seriously, who cares? Now Arron Asham on the other hand ... he just seems to be making the rounds to antagonize the Rangers - first the Isles, then the Devils, now the Flyers - and he is a tough, hard working guy.

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? Richards is a given, as is Danny Briere, who should bounce back from his god-awful -22 season. Carter and blue collar Mike Knuble should be good for 50 points each while Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall should get 45 each and grab you a good number of PIM as well. Kimmo Timonen is unspectacular but steady from the blueline while Braydon Coburn is turning into a solid fantasy citizen - 17 of his 36 points were on the power play, he was +17 and had 74 PIM. Marty Biron is the clear-cut starter and should easily repeat his 30 win performance with decent numbers, even with Vaananen and Eminger getting regular shifts in front of him. The wild cards on this team are Steve Downie and Simon Gagne - you just can't guess what you will get from them this year. Gagne can be a beast but is coming back from a serious injury to his head, while Downie seemingly doesn't have anything in his head.

4 - Who plans memorial services weeks in advance? Apparently the family of a friend of Eric Lindros. He used that excuse to get out of participating in a pre-game ceremony before the final Flyers game at the Spectrum. At least he didn't say he couldn't remember where the Spectrum was or his parents wouldn't let him go.

Tough Luck Getting Tickets ...

Individual tickets will go on-sale on Saturday, September 20 at 12:00 noon. Tickets will be available for purchase at newyorkrangers.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 212-307-7171 and Ticketmaster outlets. Your purchase will be limited to four (4) tickets per game. Please be aware, inventory for 2008-09 individual games is extremely limited.

I think that basically means no chance for the general public to get Ranger tickets as brokers will eat them up in seconds. There is always StubHub or Ebay but I would suggest looking at season ticket holders who can't make it but want to sell to other Ranger fans. The two best places, if you are willing to make a leap of faith, are on the Rangers' Bulletin Board and HFBoards.

Happy hunting ...

ATTN: NYC Stalkers

I got this press warning:

Martin Brodeur, Vincent Lecavalier and Henrik Lundqvist will be in attendance for the NYC premiere of the HBO hit series, "Entourage," at the Ziegfeld Theatre tonight.

No word if the hefty Devils goaltender will try to steal Henrik's wallet. He already stole the Vezina from him ...

NHL Four-cast: Ottawa Senators

1 - Why is this team worth watching? They have the best line in hockey. Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza are simply scintillating (sorry Tampa, they are better than the reunited Vinny, Vinny and Marty). But you had better tune in early: Ottawa flew out of the gates last season with some of the best hockey played since Montreal in the '70s but the sheer amount of ice time took its tole on their superstars and all three of them experienced injury woes to some degree later on. One would think that management would work to fix that but ...

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? ... but management didn't. This team has no secondary scoring and they did nothing to get any. Cory Stillman and Martin Lapointe weren't successful so they were let go and weren't replaced. They let Wade Redden, Mike Commodore and now Andrej Meszaros go and subbed them with Jason Smith, Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard - unless Picard matures into a Norris candidate, that is a tremendous downgrade. Ottawa also worsened by allowing pariah Ray Emery go. The media may have made him an outcast but he was incredibly talented and a helliva lot better than Alex Auld, who couldn't get playing time on his last three teams, even though they all gave him opportunity and frankly all sucked (Florida, Boston and Phoenix). The only decent deals they made were to trade tough guy Brian McGrattan away and add pain-in-the-ass Jarkko Ruutu to a team that already includes the aggressive Chris Neil. They won't be fun to face but shut down the one line and you can chalk up a win.

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza are all first rounders. Antoine Vermette should be good late in the draft as he will nab 60 points. Mike Fisher will get 50 but be careful as he somehow got nailed for a -10 plus/minus despite getting good ice time, especially when Spezza went down for a half dozen games. I'm a fan of Nick Foligno but, like his dad, he isn't going to put up great numbers. Martin Gerber is Ottawa's No. 1 and with Auld behind him, you can expect him to get the majority of starts which means at least 30 wins but beware shaky numbers.

4 - What the hell? The Senators are a pretty good team, they put on a good show and have a nice arena so why do they have to sweeten their ticket packages with tickets to the sold-out 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship?? Or hmmm, is it the other way around? To get to the good stuff, you have to submit to the Sens ... ? Man, that's sad.

Congrats Mike!

Former Ranger Mike Gartner will have his number retired. Not by the Rangers, don't worry, but by the team he broke into the NHL with and spent nearly 10 seasons - the Washington Capitals. Gartner was a classy, fantastically skilled player and one of the best skaters in the history of the NHL. He also was great for the league in his post-playing career before leaving amid the Ted Saskin controversy.

All told he played 351 games for the Rangers, racking up 312 points before being unceremoniously dumped for Messier's boyfriend Glenn Anderson under the pretense that Gartner's playoff inexperience would hurt the Rangers. As you can guess, I disagree - the Gartner was a clear-cut Hall of Famer while Anderson likely would not have made it in if not for a weak year of candidates. But what's done is done; at least Gartner is being honoured by one of his former teams. He deserves it.

NHL Four-cast: New York Rangers

1 - Why is this team worth watching? Did you enjoy high school science class? You know all of those chemistry experiments where you get to see if the light bulb goes on or stuff bubbles and blows up? That's the 2008-09 New York Rangers. There are a slew of new faces and with them will be a new philosophy on the ice. What's worth watching is seeing how the formula works out. Will the alchemy work and create Stanley's silver or will it just fizzle out? But if seeing red goo ooze out of a paper mache volcano isn't enough for you, then tune in for Nik Zherdev, who can be incredible when he wants to be.

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? It is so, so very difficult to say. My initial instinct is worse but the building blocks are there to make something great - it will just take them all coming together lego-style to create a winner. The foundation is still the same, but at this point, who can really say what is built on top of it?

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? As I said, the foundation is still the same. Henrik Lundqvist has been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy three years running and there is little reason to think it won't happen again this year. It's true he list the only crease-clearer on the team in Tyutin, but Tom Renney's defensive philosophy remains. That being said, one hopes that the reigns will be loosened for the mercurial Zherdev, who can flourish alongside Scott Gomez if he works hard. Even if Zherdev bags it, Gomez should be good for the same 70 points he got while sleepwalking through last season. Little Leaguer Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky and Michal Rozsival should all benefit from a new, more aggressive power play bereft of Jaromir Jagr's puck-hogging, time-wasting possession. As for the big signings - Markus Naslund and Wade Redden - I would say wait and see since they both appear on the down-swing of their careers but may be rejuvenated in a new setting. Then again, they may just be happy to collect their over-inflated paychecks ... but at least Naslund is saying all the right things.

4 - If they are my favourite team, why am I so down on them? What can I say? I'm a pessimist by nature. If you look at the recent Stanley Cup winners you can see that all of them were built from within. Instead of fostering that development, Glen Sather reverted back to the open wallet policy and that scares me. But no matter how much I disagree, they are the still Rangers and I love them. Awwww.