1. Dan: Thought it was written 10-5-1 with Avery in this season in Rangers pre-game notes in Toronto before the win there and tonight. I could be wrong, tho. I can recheck game-by-game tomorrow. Whatever. Something's going on when he's out there, the players---and our eyes---don't lie.
2. I think four out of six points in Western Canada would be admirable. Calgary's very underrated, Vancouver has Luongo and Edmonton's certainly beatable, but that's the third in four nights. Some bounces, refs calls, as usual, could be the difference.
3. The fourth line has improved since Hollweg was a one-day scratch. Orr is a deterrent and there to step in when needed---not everytime---and the players and coaches feel a certain comfort level with him dressed. Betts is a very good defensive center. They have some intangibles.
You can question the ice time they get in certain situations, but you can't burn out three lines in the first half of the season, especially when Straka and Avery already have been sidelined.
Should Greg Moore get some time? Maybe. And might if Hollweg or Betts are injured. But if it's points, I'd rather see more from the third line; (Dubi's a player, but Cally and Prucha are struggling so far but would Hossa be any better? Let's give those three another coupla weeks).
Face it, the fourth line isn't built for scoring in this particular blueprint. It's a purpose line with controlled minutes for forechecking and physical play--- to soften/pressure an opponents' No. 1 or 2 line. And it's simply not the same as the former HMO line, for which some fans still pine.
Until tomorrah...
Comments (28)
Hey Steve do you think that either Pruchea or Callahan could be used as a trading chip to boost the third lines scoring, that would take more pressure of the first two lines, don't you think. And what about tweaking the defense up a little say goodbye to malik.
Callahan is 23 and Prucha 25. They have ability give them time...PRucha has over 60 NHL goals!!!!
Malik would not get you much and he is better then Dtrudwick.. If they could get a more mobile D man with a expiring contract I would do it...
Playing Avery (or Hollweg ) with Prucha & Dubinsky, putting Dawes with Shanahan & Drury, & Callihan with Orr & Betts , would probably create more offense without hurting the defense.Hossa has worn out his welcome with the NYR by not playing with any enthusiasm .Rotating Dawes, Callihan, Prucha , Dubinsky, Hollweg , Orr, Strudwick, & maybe sleepy Hossa, would keep the NYR fresh, and the players sharp fighting to stay in the lineup.
Your right zip. It's written that way, I'm just lazy.
er...
You're right Zip. Super lazy.
10-5-1 when he's in.
8-10-3 when he's out.
It's still adds up to the same thing though. This group wins when he's in. You can see more confidence with the puck, more chemistry, better passing, better/more shooting, and it feels to me they have more hunger. It was evident with Prucha's 1st in 19 and Drury's tying goal last night that he was key but the plays weren't amazing. Any other player on the ice probably could have made the pass to 25 or caused havoc in the paint. I think it's that he draws attention. Guys are aware of who's on the ice, and he bothers them. It puts guys out of position and opens up the ice for that pass to get to Prucha on the far side. It opens up the slot so Drury can jump on that loose puck. Last nights game, I say if he were out, they would have rolled over and died after the Plekanec goal.
What happened to Anisimov? The Wolfpack site says he's not active, but has played 31 games.
sorry, not the pack site, theahl.com. Heres a link
http://stats.theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=skaters&subType=6&season_id=12&&leagueId=4&lastActive=&singleSeason=
He's still out from the World Jrs? Thought those things were over.
The World Junior Championship's don't end until January 5th.
Got it. Will get to have a look at these guys on the 23rd. Can't wait to see if these guys play as well as we all think they do. They come up here that Wednesday to play the Rats. Rats are doing really good this season as are the pack. Should be a good game. Watched the Rats play Philly Saturday night. That one was good. Rats beat up on em too. Hope they don't do that against the pack.
Can Dawes be sent up and down all season without dealing with waivers?
How does that system work? I must be honest, I'm not sure how the waiver system works in hockey.
Can Moore and Ansimov similarly be sent up and down worry-free? Dubinsky? Renney's comments hint that Callahan, Hossa, and Prucha would have to clear waivers. Is this because they have more-than-minimum contracts?
thanks,
mike
The waiver system has to do with years in the NHL already.
" Any player who has played three seasons since signing his first NHL contract or has played 180 NHL games must clear waivers before he is assigned to a minor league affiliate.
Once a player is placed on waivers, teams have 48 hours to put in a claim on that player. If more than one team places a claim, the team with the lower number of points in the previous season is awarded the player. If no team places a claim, the player can be sent to a minor league affiliate.
When a player clears waivers and is sent down then is called up again, he would not have to clear waivers to be sent down again unless he's played 10 games or been "up" for 30 days"
Therefore, Prucha and Hossa have to clear waivers, nobody else you mentioned does.
Steve, I'd like to see Dawes with Dubi and Prucha. Cally, to me, is not fully recovered from his knee injury and a trip to Hartford might just be the thing for him to get back into the condition he was and playing like he was before the injury.
He (Cally) is the closest thing to another Avery (minus the gum flapping) we have on the team. He attacks the net with an extra flair when he's completely healthy.
Speaking of attacking the net, it was Avery bothering the goalie and getting in his face that freed up the puck that Drury put in.
Like Drury, Avery does a lot of good things that go unnoticed by a lot of fans. Especially Avery, who's gum flapping is noticed by everybody.
Callahan is not scoring, why not give him some time in Hartford on the top line to find his game and get his confidence back?
how many 8th round draft picks have scored more than 50 goals with less than 12 minutes TOI since... oh, I don't know... say 2000.
It might seem like a lot of homework, but it really isn't.
yeah but how many have done it in their first 3 years?
Happy New Year's Eve to all, be safe.
agreed bklynblue,
Hope the Rangers start off the new year with a bang!
my point exactly
Callahan one day, Prucha the next. Last week it was the HBO line, and Jagr not scoring. Are you ever going to be happy?
Worst fan of 2007
Lenny!
It's 2008 now!!!
Most aliases ever - Anonymous!!!!
Never know which personality of yours I am responding to so why bother!!
have to agree BB has a bad attitude draped in positive spin. Way too much animosity in disagreeing on opinions. The I'm a better NYR fan than you syndrome and I can repeat the pr & kiss up story is getting pretty boring. Except when the group leaders decide it's ok to criticize, then the truth about who & what they like & dislike seeps thru. The group pysch peer pressure club needs to grow up. ...Lenny you should be honored;-)
one other thing, what's with moderating comments there? Are their sponsors threatening them? Typical double standard free speech mode. Guess they're trying to impress the NYR. Sounds like a lot of young fans , except for the controversial ones that they all like to gang up on.
You nailed that pretty good bklynblue.
That said, here's some observations for the beginning of 2008.
Jagr is moving pretty fast now playing with Gomez. The north-south speed game frees Jagr up for more shots than the Nylander east-west waterbug style. Actually think Jagr would have trouble playing with Nylander at this point.
Barring injury, I'm expecting big things from this line. Gomez is the catalyst that makes this line go. JJ appears to have bought into it and with Straka also skating well, that line is moving. Actually, with any good skating LW (not Hossa), the line would still be very effective. Could see Dawes, Prucha, Avery, Callahan fitting that role along with Straka.
We don't need another center. Dubi is promising, a good skater, not afraid to go to the net. He got good experience playing with JJ for awhile. He'll be a good effective 3rd line center. Still needs to learn how to stay on his feet more, put the puck in the net, bulk up a bit, don't look for fights, just hit and move on. Can't afford him in the penalty box or laid out on the ice with another concussion. Leave the fighting to Orr.
Gomez and Drury are going to show why the Rangers got them and Jagr and Shanny will both benefit because of that.
Anyone see any realistic trades at the moment that would benefit the Rangers? I don't at this point. Don't see anybody wanting Malik, Mara or Hossa. Rozi is borderline, good shot but gives up the puck and guys get by him too often in the defensive zone. Dan Girardi has almost the same offensive ability as Rosival and will only get better so he can take over that role if Rozi gets traded. Wouldn't trade anyone else at this point unless we can get a Pheneuf or Klesla back and that's not going to happen.
Valiquette so far as proven to be a capable backup and as long as both him and HL stay healthy, our goaltending should be fine the rest of the way.
lenny they need a tough SOB D man, and Renney needs to mix up & rotate the 3rd & 4th lines during games to improve O w/o hurting D, & getting Orr & Hollweg separated to help protect & get even for the cheap shots Prucha has been taking. Mara & Malik play like 2 babies physically. Renney has to at least get Mara going or put Strudwick in more for both of those non-hitters.
It is hard to understand, since Avery`s arrival, we have seen two distinct Ranger teams. The Avery less team, where as the league takes the rangers very lightly and actually plays even more physical against the Rangers, while the team itself does nothing to stop it. Then you have the Avery Rangers, where the whole teams all of a sudden plays a harder, physical, tougher to beat team. Is Avery a Phycholigist or what? Sather made the mistake of not signing Avery to a long term contract. He now has the leverage. As for improving the defense, not sure if the team will add anyone here.. I think the decision has been made to ride the season out and start adding our defenseman of the future, look out for Sanginetti to be on the team next year, Malik is more of a liability more then ever now. His mistakes are becomming more and more obvious. If Hollwig and Orr were not so effective with Betts I would easily have Prucha play on the fouth line, this would open space for him and plus adding an offensive touch.
Zipay what goes,you have deleted two of my posts?Others have mentioned other sites and people so why are you sensoring me?