Backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette could very well start against the Flyers tomorrow night in the first game of the back-to-back road series. Henrik Lundqvist would then play Friday against New Jersey in Newark and in Montreal on Sunday afternoon. Lundqvist has allowed just three goals in four defeats of the Devils this season and four goals in two wins against the Canadiens.
After practice today at the Spectrum, coach Tom Renney said he was "contemplating" using Valiquette (2-3-1, with a 2.73 GAA) rather than play Lundqvist two consecutive nights.
"Over the long haul, you're playing four in six and back-to-back and three in four," said Renney. "I think Henrik's looking much more in control of his game, so there's really no reluctance to do that other than how much we're going to have to ride his back beyond this weekend. He's going to be absolutely essential to our run and I don't want to burn him out. I want him to be in a position to play as much of those as he possibly can. We're going to have to play Steve. There's no question about that. (Henrik) was good against Montreal and New Jersey and I like the day off in between."
****
President and GM Glen Sather sat in the fifth row behind the bench, watching the skate, paging through stats and taking phone calls. Sather, who also was in Carolina, and I briefly exchanged greetings, but according to a team spokesman, Sather would not be available to discuss the state of the ninth-place team. "When there's news, he'll talk," he said. "Nothing's imminent."
****
The players dressed at Wachovia Center and wore sandals or sneakers, bussed over and laced up their skates at the Spectrum...Renney used some colorful language during attack drills. "Everybody understand the ------ concept? Drive the net. You want to win hockey games? ------ wake up!"....At one point, Shanahan took linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Nigel Dawes to the dry-erase board attached up on the glass to discuss positioning...Near the end of practice, bare-headed Jagr fired puck after puck off the old sideboards from about seven or eight feet away. At one point, a puck whizzed back high at him, forcing him to rapidly duck. He stopped and skated away. When I asked him in the ancient locker room, with a row of clothes hooks and wooden benches, what he was doing and if he could teach me that shot, he said with a grin: "I was trying to get injured." Then he took a cell phone call from pal Petr Nedved and the two chatted in Czech.
****
Marc Staal (flu) and Marcel Hossa (back spasms) were absent. Renney said he anticipated that Staal, who has a slight cut under his left eye from an errant puck, would play tomorrow. Hossa, on the other hand, cannot skate and could be placed on injured reserve, Renney said. Asked about a possible callup of Ryan Callahan or another player from the Wolf Pack, he said. "We're thinking about it. We have a spot (even without IR for Hossa). We're not sure yet about today." But the same line combinations that were created three games ago were used and Renney said he'd like to " give them every opportunity to develop a level of success with some consistency."
****
Former Ranger defenseman Dave Maloney sat on the bench and reminisced about the building, now the home of the AHL Phantoms, which he first visited as a rookie playing for coach John Ferguson. "Hasn't changed one bit. The crowd was right on top of you....It was intimidating coming down that ramp (from the parking lot) past security, dark, barbed wire...In 1977, one of our guys got belted in the corner over there and Fergy went down the bench, poking five guys to go out there (for revenge). I remember seeing him come over and jab me...there I was, 19....I remember a two-game series here in January '79 where JD (John Davidson) must have faced 100 shots. He was black and blue all over...Some games here, they'd (the Flyers) spend 10 minutes chasing Doogie (Ron Duguay) around, take a couple penalties, we'd score a couple power play goals and that was it."
Comments (16)
oh boy, next thing we know, Nedved's coming back...
The truth ...
http://rangerjoe7.wordpress.com/
Anon,
That call wasn't about a trade for Petr Nedved. If Zip understood Czech, he would be telling us that he was calling Petr to come pick him up so they could go visit Rick Tocchet...
Wake up man, the Super Bowl is this weekend.
Hey Sather, your team is the laughing stock of the league. Here in New York thats news. Try opening your big mouth for something other than a cigar. What a TOOL! Now that the season is in the toilet Renney starts cursing at the players? Too late A hole.
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to get lambasted for that last comment but I just don't see him deserving 8.3 million for 74 points (which is what he's on pace for). There are some guys getting paid a hell of a lot less and doing a hell of a lot more. Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot, he works hard, wants to win, is teaching Marc Staal how to shoot and gave Petr Prucha a place to stay. I'd say that's good for 8.3 million. What the heck, maybe they should pick up the option if he teaches the team how to make polevka and knedliky.
Thanks Zip, I really appreciate hearing details such as the tenor of the Rangers practice. There is no other information source out there to hear if Renney gets pissed off and swears during practice. It's good to know. I like inside information.
did i read the post wrong or did it say bare-headed jagr. that will be too funny if jags shaved his head lol unless it just means he wasnt wearing a helmet.
Loved the Maloney stories. That's good stuff.
Malik was scratched for the Rangers' last game before the All-Star break after reportedly refusing to shake head coach Tom Renney's hand after a 4-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers.
"My gesture or statement when I didn't shake Tom's hand was nothing personal about anybody on this team, the coaches, the organization, my teammates or anything like I want to disrespect anybody," Malik told Newsday. "It was just my personal statement or kind of gesture about my situation here and how I've been treated here."
wow, Malik is now my hero. Renney must have a hissy fit any time someone doesn't shake his hand or doesn't laugh at his lame jokes. Finally someone stood up and put that thesaurus loving freak at his place.
This is an absurd comment from Renney:
We're going to have to play Steve
Is Lundqvist injured? Did the retard escape? Do you think Brent Sutter says, "We're going to have to play Kevin." Spare me, please.
Valiquette shakes Renney's hand every time and even laughs at most of his jokes, so of course he has to play him. Valiquette is a good man, he is over 30 after all unlike all those young hooligans like Prucha, Montoya, Baranka, etc.
There are tons of reports coming in, call after call with major insiders handing over who will be in the driver’s seat by the deadline.
The Kings are in a serious hunt for a franchise goaltender that they could sign to a long term deal. Emery could be that goalie.
The Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Canes, Atlanta, Sharks, Canucks, Chicago and Edmonton are in the market for a puck moving defensemen that has the ability to QB the PP.
Any team out of the playoff race will most likely be sellers at the trade deadline. Except the Rangers who are determand to drive the team into the ground by keeping the UFA’s until the end of the season. Strangely enough, teams are offering Sather and Dolan major deals, and very reliable source has told me, that are being declined. It’s heard around the bend that the Rangers are looking to trade away their young crop of prospects for more UFA’s with high salary’s to ensure that NY will not be able to make the playoffs for the next 3-4 years. Including Sanguinetti, Cherpanov, Anisimov and Montoya to be traded off for Rob Blake and #99’s 1st jersey worn after that famous trade in the 80’s.
Sather himself, who would not go on record, has told me behind my closet door that Dubinsky and Prucha will most like bring the largest UFA onto Broadway and that is Mr Hossa.
It’s rumored that the sight of seeing the two brothers on the same line being centered by Betts is something the Garden Faithful won’t be able to live without, a source, Sather off record, has told me.
And with more Rangers and Hockeybuzz rumors later in the day…
I need to kill some cats and read the hockey fortunes in the scattered blood.
Dan at 23:22 wasn't me.
Maybe we could get Larry Brooks to coach this team?
The fact that Philly is the team to beat right now says a lot about how the Rangers need to play a full game with high pressure tonight. Not only for the first 20 minutes but for all 60 minutes of a game where their less than reliable back-up goaltender is giving the King a rest for a tough schedule ahead. Goes without saying, huh? We’ll see. That’s what we’ll be saying until the end of the season. We’ll see. Anything is possible right? Kind of the way Giants fans were looking at their season a month and a half ago.
But how do the fans feel about there season filled with under-accomplished superstars struggling into every game for a winning streak that has yet to take control of the standings like the brief surge in November.
Remember November? Every paper in the country was talking about Henrik as a possible MVP, and the scoring troubles seemed to be solved for the most part. In November fans we looking at a season of 1 or 2 goal wins and a superior defensive team with no one anyone had heard of for the most part. We were the new Devils in the Atlantic.
At some point in the beginning of Dec, after Vali won in Toronto, something failed. Someone in the locker room, back office or front office, dismantled the growing confidence of this formidable team. Formidable at least on paper anyway.
Jagr’s slow start continued, Drury has yet to be given consistent line-mates, and our defense of no names has been showing hair line fractures since. Renny has always played his favorite players, and has little respect for those who do not show complete allegiance to his regiment of coaching. Example, Petr Prucha’s consistent shaving of ice time for the last 2 seasons. The unproven promotions of one Marcel Hossa to appease the Captain Jagr without notice of production for far longer than he’s given the new 7 million dollar pivot brought in last July.
The list could go on and on, because I am one of the disgruntled. But no matter what I write and who I complain to, the simple fact of the matter remains clear. Renny, Sather and Dolan haven’t given up on the season. Somehow they believe that in the next 11 games before the deadline we’ll still be in contention for the playoffs. I do not. I don’t think most of the regulars here on Blue Notes do either.
Which leaves me to the very real possibility that we will not be getting anything in return from these overpaid UFA come Feb 26th. Jagr, Straka, Shanahan, Malik, Roszival, Mara, Strudwick and Avery.
Some of those name must be able to bring a return to benefit the next season when Sather begins to build this team around Gomez and Drury. But the longer they wait to get something done before the deadline, the more likely that a team (the few who can afford it) will pick their missing piece from some other none playoff contender.
This season is already a failure to these 3 men. They were going after the cup. Is there a soul on earth that believes these New York Rangers stand a chance in hell at even a conference finals appearance?
Hang in there Rangers Fans. Within the next few season we might see Cherepanov and Sanguinetti in red, white and blue as the leagues new young superstars. Having them play along side Dubinsky and Staal and Hank and Gomez and Drury... We might also not get any of those things, only to see Nagy, Vyborney and Rob Blake stealing more money out of Dolan’s pocket (our’s really) and smiling on their way to retirement.
It’s time to start empting the tub of the dirty cold bath water. Sather your promise hasn’t been met… yet!
Zip missed this one.
The NJ DEVILS foreign scout flies to Baghdad to watch a young Iraqi play hockey in the new American sponsored league and is suitably impressed and arranges for him to come over to the US . The DEVILS sign him to a one year contract and the kid joins the team for the preseason.Two weeks later the DEVILS are down 4-0 to the Rangers with only 10 minutes left. The coach gives the young Iraqi the nod and he goes in. The kid is a sensation - scores 5 goals in 10 minutes and wins the game! When the player comes off the ice he phones his mom to tell her about his first day of NHL hockey.
"Hello mom, guess what?" he says. "I played for 10 minutes today, we were 4-0 down, but I scored 5 goals and we won. Everybody loves me, the fans, the media, they all love me ."
"Wonderful," says his mom, "Let me tell you about my day. Your father got shot in the street and robbed, your sister and I were ambushed, raped and beaten and your brother has joined a gang of looters, and all while you were having such great time, playing a game."
The young Iraqi is very upset. "What can I say mom, but I'm so sorry."
"Sorry? You're Sorry?" says his mom. "It's your fault we moved to Newark in the first place."