Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Minnesota Wild

After missing last year's lone tilt at the Power Station (Xcel Energy Center) with an injury, Marian Gaborik should hopefully make his Minnesota return in late November. And he won't be alone as Wild folk hero Derek Boogaard will hopefully not have played himself out of the lineup by then. Hopefully.

Familiar Foes: The two Finns, Mikko Koivu and the other Nik Backstrom, still lead the Wild. They will be helping for a little help this season as the team looks to bounce back into the playoffs. That assistance should come from Martin Havlat, who should be over his new-contract hangover, and a healthy Brent Burns. Nick Schultz continues to be one of the NHLs best defensive defensemen and he is joined by Greg Zanon, one of the best shot-blockers. Feisty winger Cal Clutterbuck was one of just two players (Dustin Brown) to have more hits than Ryan Callahan last season. And it is easy to overlook Andrew Brunette but the player who was too slow for the NHL 15 years ago in Washington has had himself quite the career and should easily pass 1,000 games this season (he enters at 950, with 660 points).

N00bz: Guillaume Latendresse headed to Minnesota in one of the most even trades I've ever seen (from Montreal for Benoit Pouliot) and immediately took to his new surroundings. If he can keep it going he will be quite dangerous. Scumbag mercenary Matt Cullen decided to take the Wilds' money this season, perhaps he will actually show up and play for them. The Wild also took on former Devils and Hawks Cup-winner John Madden as well as San Jose's Brad Staubitz, who will take on the Boogeyman's old fight load. Jarod Palmer and Casey Wellman both helped beat up the baby Rangers in Traverse City and both should make this season's roster.

Last Year: Friday, October 30th, a 3-2 Wild win.

This Year: Saturday, November 20th in Minnesota and Thursday, March 3rd at MSG.

What They Mean To Blue: The first game will be another gut check for the Rangers - will they step up for their teammates to make sure their 'homecoming' is a successful one. The second will be another stretch-run necessity.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Los Angeles Kings

As another unfortunate spin of the NHL scheduling wheel, Alex Frolov will face his former team just once this coming season and it will be in New York. While the L.A. fans won't be able to give him any kind of reception, at least that means that we will get to see one of the most exciting young teams in the league. Los Angeles seemed to feel they were just a superstar scorer away from Stanley and went hard after Kovalchuk. That sales pitch failed and it lost them Frolov in the process. Their loss is (hopefully) our gain. But even without the one-way Russian, the Kings are still pointed towards the top with a fantastic core of young players and a few wiley vets.

Familiar Foes: Ahn-Jayyyyyyy! Anze Kopitar keeps getting better and better, bringing the skill while Dustin Brown wears the C and brings the grit. Ryan Smyth will look to have a healthy campaign and Wayne Simmonds still hasn't found the ceiling of his capabilities. Sloppy Seconds Jarrett Stoll and former Flyers Justin Williams and Michal Handzus also wear the purple, black and silver. St. Anthony's finest hockey player Rob Scuderi came to the Kings last year and helped solidify a defensive core long on talent but short on experience. Team USA's Jack Johnson and Matt Greene are both quite capable and then the Kings have that Drew Doughty kid, who's name will soon be synonymous with Norris.

N00bz: As if Doughty needed any more support, Los Angeles added Willie Mitchell (a Scotty Hockey favourite) this summer. Blue chippers Tom Hickey and Colten Teubert should both push for the final spot on the defense while hopefully another young stud, Andrei Loktionov can push for a position up front. As if Jon Quick wasn't good enough racking up 39 wins in 72 games last season, he will have tough competition from Jon Bernier this fall. Aside from the aforementioned Big Willie signing, the Kings were only able to grab consolation prize Alexei Ponikarovsky in the fight for left wing talent.

Last Year: Wednesday, October 14th 4-2 Ranger win and Tuesday, February 2nd 2-1 Kings win.

This Year: Thursday, February 17th @ MSG.

What They Mean To Blue: A look at what the Rangers may have been like had they foregone the Drury/Gomez free agent route as Jagr's NY career began to come to a close. And a good late-winter test at the start of the inevitable push for the playoffs.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Florida Panthers

I have always pulled for the Panthers a little bit since they took the Beezer from us (via Vancouver) and thus have a tinge of sadness for how badly they stink. But only a tinge; these guys get to live and play in Florida when it isn't stiflingly humid and hurricane season. Plus, playing down in the Sunbelt means playing with no pressure as the rest of the NHL doesn't care about them. The Rangers often use their F-L-A road trips as holiday vacations and this year is no exception as they will be there on Thanksgiving and New Years. Hopefully they are able to celebrate and still skate away with two points over a team that has been building/rebuilding since their inception.

Familiar Foes: Tomas Vokoun alone makes the Panthers a competitive team. Bryan McCabe now wears their C while Cory Stillman and former Ranger Radek Dvorak are still quietly collecting NHL paychecks in the sun. Nathan Horton is gone but the Ranger-killer Stephen Weiss is still in Sunrise and David Booth should be mostly recovered from his horrible head aches from last season. This may finally be the year that long-time Panther prospects Michal Repik, Shawn Matthias (seen getting the 'business' from Rozy) and Michael Frolik show they are busts. May.

N00bz: Dave Tallon took over the team and immediately started bringing in a mix of players to build a new foundation for the franchise. He had to give up blueline stalwart Keith Ballard but got back the tough Steve Bernier and super-skilled Michael Grabner. Dennis Wideman came in the Horton trade to replace Ballard, and Florida added another Bruin in big Byron Bitz. Apparently Florida wasn't happy with former Ranger-property Steve MacIntyre as their tough guy so they signed Andrew Peters to help the feisty Mike Duco out with the police actions. Speaking of former Rangers, Chris "at least he tries" Higgins was also brought in; hopefully Smithtown can get his game back down there - I always pull for the local kids (as long as they aren't Islanders). The most underrated move made by Tallon may be the signing of Mike Weaver. Weaver is a steady defenseman who should help solidify the blueline while providing a good example to youngsters Keaton Ellerby, Dmitry Kulikov and Erik Gudbranson.

Last Year: Saturday, Nov. 21st3-2 Panthers win; Wednesday, November 25th 2-1 Ranger shootout win; Wednesday, December 23rd 4-1 Ranger win; and Saturday, April 3rd 4-1 Ranger win.

This Year: Friday, November 26th in Florida; Sunday, January 2nd in Florida; Tuesday, January 25th @ MSG; Tuesday, March 22nd @ MSG.

What They Mean To Blue: The Rangers have historically struggled with younger, hungrier teams but even with all of the changes made, there shouldn't be much struggle this season - all of those new pieces need time to grow together. The Blueshirts got six out of eight points from them last season and anything less would be a disappointment this time around.

Where O' Where Can Wade Go?

Since it is almost a foregone conclusion that the latest defensive target of derision Wade Redden will be sent somewhere this fall, where should it be? He jumped right from juniors to the NHL and, unlike many NHLers (you know, the ones who cared about keeping their skill set intact), Wade didn't play during the lockout so there is no familiar destination to send him to. You would have figure that he will have a say in where he goes so just where can the Rangers ship him? Let's look at the options:

1 - Hartford: Should something go horribly wrong, the Blueshirts could bring him back to Broadway from the AHL team in no time at all. But, geography aside, do you want Redden's bitterness infecting the Pack? Torts talked about some bad eggs in the locker room last season and, let's face it, everyone is inferring that he meant Redden. And on the other side, what could possibly make Wade decide to positively influence the youth of the franchise who has spurned him so?

2- Russia: The KHL is always looking for NHL talent and, let's face it, it would be fun to send Redden to Siberia. But I can't imagine Jagr being willing to play alongside him so it would have to be another team. Redden, at one time, had the skill set that has made Kevin Dallman the best defenseman in Russia so some team would be willing to gamble on him ... especially with the Rangers footing some of the bill. Darius Kasparaitis was sent to SKA St. Petersburg, a team that now features Wade's old Ottawa teammate Alexei Yashin. Unfortunately for Redden, they are already stacked on defense with former NHLers Sergei Zubov, Andrei Zyzuin, Denis Grebeshkov and Vitaly Vishnevski. There are more teams but when you look into Russian hockey, you see talk about the K being a physically and mentally tough league for foreigners so there goes that destination for our six million dollar softie.

3 - Sweden: Surely Daniel Alfredsson could get Wade a gig in the Elitserien - he's people who know people. Alfredsson played in Frolunda but since we like Henrik Lundqvist's final squad, we wouldn't want to send Wade there. Redden was added to the Rangers at the same time as Markus Naslund, who is still in action in Modo, but since we are liking MZA we should keep that pipeline of talent open. Former Senator Andreas Dackell is the captain in Brynas so that may be a fit. If Redden was cut after the final preseason game, he would have already missed five of their league games. But, you know, I read somewhere that the Swedes are trying to cut down on imports in an effort to boost their homegrown talent so perhaps we will have to keep looking.

4 - Germany: Wade's wiki points out that he is friends with Lee Goren, who happens to play for the Straubing Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The import-friendly DEL has been a solid home for washed up NHLers for years, from Mike Bullard to Dave McLlwain to Jeff Friesen. But now it seems to primarily take North American journeymen who are sick of the minor league grind. Believe it or not, Wade may actually (shockingly) be too skilled for their league. There is awesomeness to be had - the Hannover Scorpions are the home to Olympic hero Tore Vikingstad - but frankly there is no fit for Redden in Deutschland.

5 - Switzerland: This is my guess. If Switzerland would be willing to accept the Nazis' gold and other secrets, surely the country can take Wade Redden off the Rangers' hands. The level of play, the limited number of games and the laid back atmosphere is perfect for the overpaid former NHL star who couldn't take the pressure - something Wade's old running mate Alexander Daigle found out and loves.

So now that we narrowed it down to the Swiss National League A, let's figure out what team he could go to. Daigle played for three different teams last season Davos, Fribourg-Gotteron and Langnau. He was Davos property but they had loaned him to Langnau. As near as I can tell, the former NHL No. 1 pick is not listed on any of the three teams' rosters for this fall; maybe he is waiting for Wade to be assigned to a team by the Rangers and then will join him (haha).

It is rumoured, by the way, that Fribourg-Gotteron is the team taking Cristobal Huet off of Chicago's hands although he is not on their official roster. But that roster has eight defenseman already on it, so they are probably out.

Former NHL journeyman Marty Murray played alongside Redden back in their Brandon (WHL) days and spent 07-08 in Lugano, a team that might be a good fit for our fair blueliner. Lugano has several former NHLers in Hnat Domenichelli, Petteri Nummelin, Dave Aebischer and Ben Clymer. But Lugano has no ties with the Rangers. SC Bern, as we saw two years ago at the Victoria Cup, does. Unfortunately though, their depth chart lists nine defenders and it might be tough for Wade to beat out Philippe Furrer, Travis Roche or Joel Kwiatkowski out for a top spot. Seeing as Bern took the top spot in the table last spring, perhaps one of the teams right behind them would be willing to take on Redden's baggage if they think he can put them over the top.

EV Zug just picked up Glen Metropolit and feature Jussi Markkanen in net; Markkanen certainly is familiar with playing behind incompetent Blueshirt blueliners so perhaps Redden can fit there. Genève has Brian Pothier, another Senator running-mate of Reddens, but head coach Chris McSorley was a minor league tough guy and can't imagine he would want Wade. SCB's biggest rival is Davos and that side can certainly use him. They don't have much in the way of names - the von Arx brothers, the other Petr Sykora and Peter Sejna being the ones that jump out. Seeing as Davos hosted Joe Thornton and Rick Nash during the lockout, perhaps the ski city is the perfect fit.

So that is my selection, HC Davos. But, ya know what? Anywhere other than here is fine with me. Let's just end this sad chapter of Ranger history and pretend that it didn't happen. Sure it would stop a direct line of jeer-worthy jokes on the Ranger blueline (Pilon, Poti, Malik, Redden) but I for one would be quite willing to start a season without hating someone on my own team.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Edmonton Oilers

The other franchise that Glen Sather screwed up will play their annual game against the Rangers in November, their first visit to New York since November of 2008 - a shootout loss. In that recap I wrote, "Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden are the biggest waste of money since the pet rock. Neither one has been remotely competent in the Rangers zone." Oh how little things change ...

Familiar Foes: Tom Renney is now officially the head coach and he will lead a young team into the Garden. No matter how hard they tried to trade them, Sheldon Souray and Andrew Cogliano are still Oilers. They are just two of the few veterans on the Edmonton roster nowadays. Shawn Horcoff keeps playing out his contract, Sam Gagner was inexplicably extended and Ales Hemsky is coming off injury. Dustin Penner was one of the few bright lights of last season, showing incredible hands of a player with his size. Huggy bear Zack Stortini is the defender of the franchise while our old friend Jason Strudwick is the extra voice in the locker room. Nik Khabibulin is still on their roster but good ole Twitchy is as good as gone after he gets out of jail.

N00bz: Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk have taken over the crease but neither one has really shown the capability to pull away and be a NHL starter - Deslauriers did it last season but most Oiler fans don't see him as the starter to lead the team into the future. That future is bright as the Oilers should start to reap the benefits of failure. Taylor Hall, Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle are all set to step into the lineup and they are studs. Other youngsters worth watching will be Theo Peckham, Linus Omark, Liam Reddox and Ryan O'Marra. Not surprisingly, Edmonton was quiet in the free agent market. They added Martin Gerber for some goaltending insurance and made a stellar signing in Kurtis Foster.

Last Year: Thursday, November 5th, 4-2 Ranger win.

This Year: Sunday, November 14th at MSG.

What They Mean To Blue: One of just two or three 'easy' games in a busy November. It is a 12:30pm Sunday afternoon game that will surely see the Garden full of kids - on the ice in the Oilers themselves and off it in those children dragged by dad as part of a fun day in the big city. Plus, in Hall, the Rangers can see what they missed out on by making that futile late season surge at the playoffs.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Detroit Red Wings

Ah, one of our fine Original Six foes. Detroit has set the bar of success in the NHL over the last 15 years - one the Rangers are so far below they can hardly see it. The Red Wings have an owner who cares, a GM who is a genius and a head coach who puts them in a position to win. Can you imagine? No, I can't either.

Familiar Foes: One of the oldest teams in the NHL, the Wings have a lot of guys who have been around for a while: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Franzen, Holmstrom, Kronwall, Draper, Maltby, Rafalski, Stuart, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Osgood ... just look at all that talent, it really is unfair. Although, it should be said that Ozzy has lost his starting job to Jimmy Howard - the bridesmaid of the Detroit goaltenders who finally became the bride last season.

N00bz: Ken Holland decided to tweak his roster by adding a few veteran pieces instead of plugging in more of their capable kids. But those veteran pieces are nothing to frown on: future Hall of Famer Mike Modano and Olympian Ruslan Salei were signed and greedy former Wing Jiri Hudler was allowed to come back from his Russian vacation. Those additions and the extensions of some of the other long-time Detroit landmarks means that blue chip prospects Joakim Andersson, Tomas Tatar, Jakub Kindl, Brendan Smith, Daniel Larsson and Thomas McCollum will all have to wait their turn ... it really is an embarrassment of riches in the rusting city on the Detroit River.

Last Year: Sunday, December 6th, 3-1 Ranger loss.

This Year: Sunday, Sept 26th in Detroit & Wednesday, Sept 29th @ MSG in the preseason; Monday, February 7th in Detroit.

What They Mean To Blue: The Rangers play the middle two of their six preseason games against the Wings to it should be make or break for the borderline Blueshirts - ya figure the first two games will see everyone get a shot and the last two will be Tortorella throwing darts at a board to find line combinations/chemistry. The one regular season matchup will be a Monday night Versus game, which makes it pretty much meaningless and hard to watch but far more listenable than the usual MSG faire as it will be without Micheletti. (Yep, still grindin' that ax.)

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Dallas Stars

Fans of Sean Avery's other employer are really looking forward to the lone matchup between the teams as it marks his first game back in the Big D since they unceremoniously dumped him. Or if you look at it from another point of view, the first game back since he 'ruined' the stellar reputation of their sunbelt, skate-in-the-crease franchise by trying to make one of their matchups actually exciting by taunting a member of the opposition with the inflammatory slander of "sloppy seconds".

Familiar Foes: How familiar can they be when we hardly face them? Brendan Morrow still wears the captain's C for the Stars, who are now without Mike Modano. Weird, ain't it? Modano was there forever, and somehow did not see it fit to properly retire in black, green and gold. As Mr. Willa Ford has headed to Detroit, he has left the team's offense in the hands of Brad Richards - he of the trade rumours to New York - as well as Swedish sniper Loui Eriksson and Mike Ribeiro. Jamie Benn and James Neal are youngsters who have worked out for them, Fabian 'Barnstormer' Brunnstrom has been a bust. They still have the second best agitator in the league in Steve Ott and the Big D defense is anchored by the caged wonder of Stephane Robidas and Latvian rock Karlis Skrastins. The rest of their blueline is homegrown: Matt Niskanen, Nick Grossman, Mark Fistric and Trevor Daley.

N00bz: No more Marty Turco to man the net, the Stars brought in Kari Lehtonen of all people to take his place late last season. They signed Andrew Raycroft (the Boston bust) to back him up and Adam Burish to help Ott out with the harassment, while leaving the fighting to Krys Barch - a goon we haven't really seen in NY.

Last Year: Wednesday, January 6th, 5-2 Ranger win.

This Year: Friday, January 7th in Dallas.

What They Mean To Blue: While Marc Crawford may lead a significantly different team than the one Sean left, they are still certain to come after Avery at some point. We get to see if the Rangers have his back better than the Stars ever did.

Laugh Of The Day

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus is one of those teams that you often forget is in the NHL. They were a recent expansion team, they are in the other conference, they've only made the playoffs once and most of their roster is made up of second-hand grinders. That being said, those are the teams that the Rangers often lose to because they get completely outworked.

Familiar Foes: Fedor Tyutin. It still hurts to see Toots come in to the Garden, even moreso now when you think that the Rangers have nothing to show for it. Dan Fritche is long gone and Nik Zherdev will skate for the Flyers. Sure we got rid of Christian Backman but he bounced for Sweden last year so he woulda been gone too. But Tyutin continues to plug away as a sturdy defenseman, the kind the Rangers need so desperately. Aside from him, the forgotten superstar Rick Nash somehow has been content being a big fish in no pond with no help. Kristian Huselius and RJ Umberger (oh yeah, remember him?) still show up once in a blue moon and youngsters Jakub Voracek, Derick Brassard and Kris Russell are still developing into decent NHLers. This will be the big year for goaltender Steve Mason, as he slumped so badly in his sophomore season.

N00bz: Ethan Moreau was added this summer, joining Sammy Pahlsson, Chris Clark and Rusty Klesla in the veteran experience/can't-believe-they-are-still-playing-in-the-NHL category. The massive (6'5, 230) Tom Sesito should secure a spot on the team this fall, as should the awesomely named Grant Clitsome. Clitsome, a 25-year-old defender, collected three points over his first four games last spring before going cold over his last seven.

Last Year: Monday, November 23rd, a 7-4 Ranger win.

This Year: Saturday, December 11th in Columbus. The teams will also meet in Traverse City on September 11th but that doesn't count.

What They Mean To Blue: The Rangers slumped at the same time in early December last year, going 0-2-2 against Buffalo, Chicago, Atlanta and the Isles - the Isle game being a horrific, lackluster 2-1 loss at the Garden. When the season comes down to one point, you look back and realize just how big these little games are.

Peepin' Foes Preview Edition: Colorado Avalanche

The Aves are another of those Western Conference teams the Rangers don't often face, and that is reason to be happy. Colorado is young, hungry and hard skating. They lost in six games to San Jose back in the spring in one of the more wild series of the playoffs. Their speed and skill was nicely bolstered by the stellar netminding of Craig "Ice Girls" Anderson.

Familiar Foes: Anderson for one, Adam Foote and Milan Hejduk for two and three. While they make up the veteran backbone, Paul Stastny is star at the heart. When healthy Stastny has shown that the apple didn't fall far from the tree as he has a lot of his dad's abilities as well as his drive and determination. Old familiars Scott Hannon, Kyle Quincey and John-Michael Liles add experience to the blueline as well. Peter Mueller came to Colorado at the deadline for Wojtek Wolski in what seems like one of the most even trades in NHL history as both players starred in their new locales.

N00bz: The Avalanche spent the summer hibernating. Well, not really; they just decided to stay the course and not waste money on mercenaries. They are giving their kids chances and that faith was rewarded last season by Chris Stewart, Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly and Brandon Yip. This year's batch could include Ryan Stoa, Luke Walker (who was in Ranger camp last fall) and Kevin Shattenkirk.

Last Year: Sunday, January 31st, 3-1 win.

This Year: Monday, October 18th at MSG and Friday, November 19th in Colorado.

What They Mean To Blue: Not much more than four early season points. The first match-up is just the Rangers' fourth game of the year and the second is part of the first Rangers road trip off the east coast, in late November.