Favorite Devil one-hit wonders

Posted on May 15, 2021 by hasan4978

As the NHL playoffs start tonight below the Canadian border, one of the things I miss about seeing the Devils participate in them is the possibility of an unexpected big game, big series or big playoffs from unlikely sources. One of the charms of the postseason is that anyone can be a hero – whether stars, role players, stay-at-home defensemen or previously unheralded goalies. I still remember who John Druce is for example, because of a random big postseason for the Capitals. Fernando Pisani coming out of nowhere to go on a playoff scoring binge got the #8 seed Oilers to within a game of a Cup in 2006. More recently, Jordan Binnington’s breakout 2019 led the Blues to their first title, although because he’s had a solid career since he doesn’t really qualify as a one-hit wonder anymore, even if his run that year from an AHL backup to starter for a Cup winner is still among the most surprising in history.

Sometimes you can even have entire seasons come out of nowhere unlike anything before or since in a player’s career, although that’s even rarer than a playoff run. I have seen a few of those type of seasons as a Devil fan however, as well as some unexpected playoff surges. Disclaimer being that my frame of reference for the Devils at large more or less begins with 1993, so for the purposes of this blog I’m not going to cite anything from the 80’s or Alexander Semak’s big 1992-93 season, which would certainly be in the top five if I was including that. It deserves mentioning in this space though, considering Semak had 37 goals and 79 points that year, and never before or since got above 20 goals and 34 points in a season. I’m also not including something like Taylor Hall’s Hart Trophy season, even though it was obviously a one-off in his Devils career he had other big seasons before, so it wasn’t totally out of nowhere. It’s kinda tough to rank this list (especially given that I’m comparing seasons to playoff series), so I’ll start out going in chronological order and then try to rank a top five of Devils one-hit wonders at the end.

-Larry Robinson’s 2000-2001 season(s) – a bit of an outlier for a variety of reasons. For one he’s the only non-player I’m citing. For another, I’m combining the 2000 playoffs with the 2001 regular season so this is technically bending the rules, but considering Larry did take over just before the postseason in 2000 and led the team to their best regular season in history following that unexpected Cup run I wanted to combine them as one season. Although Larry’s various tenures as head coaches preceded my time on this blog, anyone that knows me knows I’ve always been a huge fan of him personally. You hardly ever see players as great as he was (and as hard-nosed) be as modest and unassuming as the man known as Big Bird.

As big a fan as I was of his though, his coaching record wasn’t particularly outstanding aside from 2000-2001. He made the playoffs once in four seasons in LA, getting swept out of the first round that year and was an afterthought when he came back to the Devils for a second tenure as an assistant…until coach Robbie Ftorek got fired late in the regular season and Larry took over a rocky ship going into the postseason. He got the ship back on course, leading the Devils through four 100-point teams and three tough series in the playoffs on the way to his one and only Cup as a head coach. That positive momentum carried into next season where the Devils led the conference with 111 points and the league with 295 goals scored. After a postseason that started bumpy before coming up just short of a second straight Cup, that’s when things really hit the skids for Larry as a head coach – fired just 51 games into the next season, then his second tenure also ended prematurely in 2005 when he resigned due to health reasons after 32 rocky games.

-Jeff Friesen’s 2003 playoffs – really this should be the last two rounds of the 2003 playoffs. Friesen had what I’d term a decent NHL career, lasted over a decade and had several 20+ goal and 50+ point seasons while topping 30 and 60 once, respectively. He was an okay second-line type of player but hardly someone you would normally remember twenty years later (outside of being part of a trade for fan favorite Petr Sykora), especially considering he had just 8 goals and 19 points in 55 playoff games outside of New Jersey. And in the first two rounds of the playoffs in 2003, he was still just another guy with two goals and an assist in ten games.

Then the last two rounds of the playoffs happened. Goals in Game 2 and 4 against Ottawa foreshadowed his memorable winner late in Game 7 (above). He kept up his scoring binge in the Finals with three goals in the first two games against Anaheim, and another pair in the decisive Game 7 – all 3-0 wins. Friesen was the toast of New Jersey for a short period of time but a meh 2003-04 followed by a scoreless postseason foreshadowed a quick end to his career post-lockout. Maybe he was just one of those guys that once he won the Cup, subsequently lost his motivation to play. I’m just glad he found top form long enough to help us get our most recent Cup.

-Brian Gionta’s 2005-2006 season – part of me wanted to include Scott Gomez as well, given he hit 33 goals (and never even got to 20 in another season) in what was a bit of a fluky offensive season league-wide. Gionta’s season deserved more notice though. And make no mistake, although he did have a long, solid career overall he never came close to hitting the 48-goal, 89-point heights he reached in 2006. I don’t think he even led the team in goalscoring or points again, overall he never got to 30 goals and only hit 60 points once after 2006 – barely at that.

But for one shining season he was the go-to guy when you needed a big goal, whether it was an OT winner, shootout winner or crunchtime goals. When the Devils needed to come from behind in the division race late in the season, Gionta provided the spark with nine goals in the team’s eleven straight wins down the stretch, including two in the team’s big comeback from three goals down in Montreal on the last day of the regular season, stealing the division title from the Rangers and Flyers at the last possible moment. He kept up his scoring binge against the Rangers in the first round, as his two goals and four assists helped the Devils pull off a memorable sweep of their bitter rivals and provided a nice punctuation to a feel-good 2006.

-Scott Clemmensen’s 2008-09 season – given that franchise legend Martin Brodeur played for two decades with unreal durability it’s hard for any goalie to make this list, but the season of Brodeur’s first major injury as a Devil saw an unlikely savior. With Brodeur missing nearly four months, it seemed as if the Devils’ long playoff streak (in the postseason every year since 1995-96) would come to an end. Clemmensen wasn’t even supposed to be the next man up so to speak, since the team had veteran goalie Kevin Weekes on the roster. However Weekes never really gained the full confidence of coach Brent Sutter, so when Clemmensen got his chance, the AHL goalie with only 28 unimpressive games at the NHL level before 2008-09 got hot early and rolled with it on his way to 25 of the Devils’ 51 wins that year. Clemmensen helped keep the team afloat till Brodeur’s return and gave the team a much-needed spark towards their unlikeliest division title ever.

-David Clarkson’s 2011-12 season – it’s actually hard to pick just one from 2011-12, as there were a multitude of surprises that year. I could go with the CBGB lines of Ryan Carter, Steve Bernier and Steven Gionta who had some big goals during our playoff run but really their overall numbers were less impressive than the folk hero status they earned during that postseason would have you think. I could go with Bryce Salvador’s playoff binge, as the stay-at-home defenseman with exactly zero goals (and nine points) in an 82-game season suddenly put up four goals and fourteen points in a 24-game postseason, but as inspiring as it was there just wasn’t any big, defining moment to punctuate it other than his goal in Game 5 against the Kings of a game we won but a series we lost. I can’t really qualify Adam Henrique as a one-hit wonder since he actually had a 30-goal season in the NHL, although he clearly never got as much attention for that as he did for his two series-winning goals in his rookie season.

I kinda think Clarkson was the biggest outlier anyway, as a no-talent grinder who somehow put up a 30-goal season around trips to the penalty box (138 PIM), and dubious wild wraparounds attempts on goal that Devil fans used to snicker and call Clarkarounds. Needless to say, he never even came close to 30 again (his previous career high was 17), though a fast start in 2013 helped cement his reputation as a ‘gritty goalscorer’ and earned him an insane contract from the Maple Leafs. More power to him, especially considering injury ended his career too early.

-Keith Kinkaid’s 2017-18 season – really this should just be 2018 because Kinkaid’s 2017 part of the season was miserable and his career hung in the balance in late December after a string of bad performances. However, when starting goalie Cory Schneider got hurt and subsequently lost his game, Kinkaid’s nine-week hot streak at the end of the season was fortuitously timed. Hall may have led the team to the playoffs, but they wouldn’t have gotten there without Kinkaid saving their bacon time and again down the stretch, with 18 of his team-leading 26 wins culminating in a 10-2-1 surge where he started every game and won a bunch of them with no margin for error (seven of them were either one-goal or SO wins). Before 2018 he was just a nice little story, an undrafted FA who had a nondescript few years as a backup on some bad Devils teams and after 2018 he reverted back into a pumpkin but for two crucial months, Kinkaid gave them their most important minutes between the pipes since Brodeur’s swan song in the 2012 playoffs.

I’ll leave out Larry from my top five, which had iffy qualification anyway and just rank the five players:

  1. Friesen (’03 playoffs) – probably a bit of winner’s bias here, since his is the only one that contributed to a Cup but so be it.
  2. Gionta (’05-06) – my favorite non-Cup surprise run, Gionta was just a likeable, hardworking guy whose season-long star turn provided a feel-good story to a season that started out real sour in the first couple months, juiced puck or not.
  3. Kinkaid (’17-18) – gave him the nod over Clemmensen just for the sheer importance of the stretch-run games he played. Didn’t put him over Gionta since his run didn’t last as long.
  4. Clemmensen (’08-09) – arguably an even bigger out-of-nowhere story than Kinkaid but while Kinkaid got to see his run through to the playoffs, Clemmensen got rooked of his chance. Maybe our dubious playoff series with the Canes was karmic payback for returning him to the AHL after he saved our season?
  5. Clarkson (’11-12) – I can’t put it any higher, especially given the sheer amount of surprises during that season which overshadowed Clarkson at different points.
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The Post Quinn Era begins, Gallant the frontrunner, Leetch right to leave, Lindgren gets fair deal, Playoff Picks

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Derek
The David Quinn Era officially came to an end on Wednesday. In three seasons, he finished 96-87-25 behind the New York Rangers bench. Photos by Derek Felix

It’s already been a long two days since new Team President and GM Chris Drury decided to move on from since departed coach David Quinn. After three years on the job as part of the rebuilding process, Quinn was dismissed by Drury and Glen Sather James Dolan. He didn’t do too badly, finishing with a record of 96-87-25.

If there was a reason for Quinn going a week following the shocking firings of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton, take no further look than the Islanders’ debacle. With a chance to close the gap for the playoffs, the Rangers were outscored 7-0 in consecutive games. So uncompetitive were they that it had to get the attention of Dolan, who’s been in the background with the hockey operations. The fact the team lost three straight games to its top rival by a combined score of 13-1 couldn’t have sat well with management. Without Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren, they were no match for the grittier and more physical Islanders.

Combined with the no show in the Qualifying Round of the expanded playoffs against Carolina last summer, it had to sting. They simply aren’t ready yet. All the one-goal losses under Quinn during the 56-game schedule where they didn’t grab crucial points came back to haunt them. It isn’t a matter of the Rangers not being competitive in a rebranded East Division. For the most part, they were. But when push came to shove, they fell short in too many key games against the top four who made the postseason. The unwillingness to alter their style didn’t mesh with Quinn, who often complained following losses. Hint: He’s right.

When Ryan Strome second guessed one of Quinn’s main points about the lack of shots in a postgame, that was a telling sign that something was wrong. You also had NY Post beat writer Larry Brooks often bring up how the first power play unit overstayed their shifts. Something that was rarely addressed by the coaching staff. As good as the mostly five-man unit of Adam Fox, Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Strome and Mika Zibanejad are, there were frustrating moments where they fired blanks and turned over pucks due to a stubborn reluctance to shoot on the power play. Sometimes, you have to adjust to what the penalty killers are doing.

While Alexis Lafreniere improved over the final portion of his rookie campaign, he along with Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil often didn’t get enough ice time on the power play. That was due to that top unit pulling the crap they did. It was detrimental to the team concept. If they do hire top candidate Gerard Gallant, whose interview went well prior to going to coach Canada in the World Championships, the proven veterans won’t be able to get away with such nonsense. Gallant is no nonsense and won’t tolerate it. He’s been successful in the NHL coaching both the Panthers and Golden Knights to the playoffs. Most notably, bringing together the expansion Vegas club to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. He has the right temperament for the job. We’ll see if Drury hires him.

Of course, there are other coaching candidates available to be interviewed if Drury so chooses. The Rangers got permission from Vegas to interview Gallant due to him still being under contract despite getting the axe last season. Peter DeBoer replaced him. As far as other choices, there’s Rick Tocchet. He did a solid job in a small market squeezing what he could out of the Coyotes. A former Stanley Cup winner who also is hard nosed, Tocchet would be a good coach to interview. He certainly should get hired somewhere. If not the Big Apple, maybe Columbus or Buffalo.

John Tortorella is no stranger to the big city. A former Rangers’ coach who relieved Tom Renney during ’08-09, the fiery veteran who guided the ’03-04 Lightning to its first Cup did a good job. In four and a half years, his defense first approach helped turn the team into the Black and Blueshirts. An identity that fit the mold of warriors Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. They certainly sacrificed a lot along with Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. More of a straight edge style that benefited Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust, a team that eventually included Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Ryan McDonagh turned the Rangers into a first place outfit during ’11-12. They out-grinded the Senators and Capitals in the first two rounds of the playoffs before coming up short in gut wrenching fashion against the Devils. It was during that era that Henrik Lundqvist had his best seasons, winning a Vezina and finishing runner-up. The thing about Tortorella is his style can wear thin on players. He wants to keep coaching. I don’t see it being here where you have a lot of kids mixed in with a nucleus that could need changes.

There are other candidates who I don’t believe are the best fits. Claude Julien is a successful coach who’s won a Cup in Boston. He’s been around the block even running the Montreal bench twice. They fired him earlier this season. Bruce Boudreau is also available. After some success with Washington, he’s moved around. Most recently, Boudreau coached the Wild. However, he lost his job during ’19-20. With the addition of Kirill Kaprizov, they’ve improved and will challenge the Golden Knights in the first round. Boudreau is a good listen on NHL Network. He’s a good guy who could wind up back behind a bench. Bob Hartley’s name has been mentioned due to his past relationship with Drury where they won a Cup together. I don’t see it. I view him as more of a long shot. Ditto for Mike Babcock who has a lot of mending to do if he’s ever to return to an NHL bench. That isn’t the direction I’d go.

You also have seen Patrick Roy mentioned. 😳 Why? Because he knows Lafreniere from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. After his initial success returning to the Avalanche to the playoffs, they missed the playoffs in consecutive years. He returned to the Quebec Remparts as GM and Coach. Why would he leave such a good situation where he feels comfortable? For those who have suggested Mark Messier, they might want to line up with a certain leader and jump off a bridge. Messier has zero experience and his politicking for Quinn’s job before he was dismissed was astonishing. No wonder the Michael Kay Show is now losing the ratings war to Carton and Roberts. If Dolan had really wanted Messier, he would’ve hired him over Alain Vigneault. Good thing he didn’t.

With all the madness that’s taken place the past week, Brian Leetch decided to leave the organization. The Rangers’ all-time great had been a hockey operations adviser since 2017. He assisted with prospects in development with the Wolf Pack while helping out in hockey-related decisions. It’s fairly obvious why he resigned his post. Even though Drury asked him to stay on, there’s no love lost between Leetch and Sather, who for whatever reason still has Dolan’s ear. It’s utterly ridiculous. After what Sather did to Leetch 17 years ago by trading him on his birthday without telling him, I don’t blame him. Leetch was special. He wasn’t even asked about a trade. Combine that with his close ties to Davidson and Quinn, there’s no wondering why he departed. Interestingly, the Rangers have hired former NHL player Mike Grier to replace him in the same role. Brad Richards also is still with the organization. So, they’re fine. Good luck to the classy Leetch in future endeavors.

In the only player-related news, Drury announced that the Rangers reached agreement on a new contract with Ryan Lindgren. After his entry level contract expired, the defensive defenseman was set to become a restricted free agent. However, he re-signed for three years at an average cap hit of $3 million. This is good value for the 23-year old Lindgren. Originally acquired as part of the Rick Nash trade with Boston, he’s become a staple on the blue line. Frequently paired up with Adam Fox, the physical Lindgren posted a goal and 15 assists for 16 points with a plus-20 rating, 35 penalty minutes, 98 hits and 50 blocked shots in 51 games. He’ll continue to play a key role at five-on-five and on the penalty kill while keeping opponents honest. Something he and Jacob Trouba do. Both were missed down the stretch following season-ending injuries. Chris Kreider acknowledged that he had back spasms which prevented him from taking part in the final six games. He said it was extremely hard to not play. It hurt. Maybe that explains why he went over a month without an even strength goal.

One final thought on Quinn going. Despite everything including some questionable in game decisions and lineup moves, he did a good job. He developed most of the young players well. Kaapo Kakko is a more complete player and his patience with Lafreniere paid off. He praised the coach for helping him out in his first year. It wasn’t ideal due to the COVID-19 situation and no training camp. Plus Lafreniere was mostly used in a secondary role until the end. His confidence grew as did his scoring with him finishing with 12 goals. He wasn’t afraid to use Vitaly Kravtsov where ever due to his poise. Zac Jones and K’Andre Miller were handled well. The future is bright. Now, it becomes about the new mandate of making the playoffs. That’s exactly what the goal should be. Quinn is a nice guy who hopefully will catch on as an assistant on a staff. Or he could go back to college. Good luck to him.

With the NHL Playoffs set to begin this weekend, here are my first round picks and beyond.

East

(1) Penguins over (4) Islanders in 6

(3) Bruins over (2) Capitals in 6

Penguins over Bruins

Central

(1) Hurricanes over (4) Predators in 6

(3) Lightning over (2) Panthers in 7

Hurricanes over Lightning

West

(4) Blues over (1) Avalanche in 7

(2) Golden Knights over (3) Wild in 6

Golden Knights over Blues

North

(1) Maple Leafs over (4) Canadiens in 5

(2) Oilers over (3) Jets in 5

Maple Leafs over Oilers

Final Four

Hurricanes over Penguins

Golden Knights over Maple Leafs

Stanley Cup Final

Hurricanes over Golden Knights

Conn Smythe

Sebastian Aho

If they win, Rod Brind’Amour would become a former player to captain a team and then coach the same team to Stanley Cups. He captained the ’05-06 Hurricanes to their only championship. How many other former captains have accomplished that?

One thing is certain. It won’t be easy. The Central is by far the hardest division. The Predators took care of Carolina twice in the final week. That could be interesting. I’m looking forward to the Battle Of Florida pitting the Panthers against the defending champion Lightning. The Bolts get Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos back. Victor Hedman is banged up. I think that goes seven. I took Tampa’s experience and Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. Whoever comes out of that division will earn it. Imagine if Covid and injuries hadn’t sidetracked Dallas. Yikes.

I believe the Caps are too banged around against the much improved Bruins. They’re a different team since adding Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly. How healthy are Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson? T.J. Oshie is also nicked up but expected to be ready for Game 1. Evgeny Kuznetsov is out due to COVID. For how long? The Caps certainly have enough grit. But I think Boston is four lines deep and Tuukka Rask should give them an edge in net over Vitek Vanecek/Ilya Samsonov. Don’t forget Zdeno Chara facing his former team he led to a Cup. Might we see some battles between him and Brad Marchand?

I don’t get the point of Calgary and Vancouver playing meaningless games while the postseason begins. It’s idiotic. Why does Edmonton have to play their 56th and final game against the Canucks? It is pointless. I wouldn’t dress Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. But I bet Dave Tippett will. How many more points does McDavid need? It’s all about the first round match-up against Winnipeg, who concluded their schedule with a win over Toronto. Unless Connor Hellebuyck stands on his head, I don’t feel the Jets have enough to slow down McDavid or Draisaitl. Tyson Barrie has been on a roll. Darnell Nurse is good too.. Edmonton should challenge Toronto for a spot in the Final Four. I simply don’t feel Montreal has enough to beat the Leafs. Especially with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner hot. I think Jack Campbell will get it done. Is Carey Price even an option for the Habs? At least they have Jake Allen. I’m most interested to see Cole Caufield. This is the first playoff battle between Montreal and Toronto since 1979. Cue Smashing Pumpkins.

The Islanders didn’t finish well. Their grinding style usually works in the playoffs. But the Pens don’t only rely on skill anymore. They can also win board and puck battles. That’s why Mike Sullivan should be up for the Jack Adams and Sidney Crosby should finish runner-up to McDavid for the Hart. Crosby had a terrific year helping carry the Pens after Evgeni Malkin went down. He and Jake Guentzel make a great tandem. Bryan Rust shoots from everywhere. Kris Letang had another good year. The one edge the Isles have is in net with Semyon Varlamov, who’ll get the nod over Ilya Sorokin. Tristan Jarry doesn’t have the playoff experience. Their best chance is to get to him quickly on Sunday at high noon. BTW why is it so early? Thank God no more NBC after this season.

Why did I take the Blues over the Avalanche? Because I like how they’re playing. They won big games over Colorado to wrap up the fourth seed and are the kind of team that can cause problems for the Avalanche at even strength. St. Louis is healthy with Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn rounding into form along with Mike Hoffman. To win, they must stay out of the box. The Colorado power play is lethal thanks to Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. It hinges on Philipp Grubauer opposed by Jordan Binnington. Binnington will have to steal a game. I think it’s an intriguing series. If the Blues and Golden Knights advance, you’d have the cool storyline of Alex Pietrangelo versus his former team he captained to the Stanley Cup two years ago.

The reseeding of the Final Four could provide a unique Stanley Cup. Will a Canadian team finally end the curse? We’ll see what happens. Enjoy the games.

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Rangers fire David Quinn

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Derek

Two days following exit interviews, the New York Rangers have decided to go in a different direction. Following the abrupt exit of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton last week, new Team President and GM Chris Drury had a tough decision to make on coach David Quinn. In breaking news from NY Post reporter Larry Brooks, Quinn was dismissed along with all assistants except for goalie coach Benoit Allaire.

This move was expected by those close to the team. However, now with it official, the Rangers’ off-season just got a lot more interesting. The search for a new coach begins immediately. Given that there are several more experienced candidates available for teams looking to fill coaching vacancies, it’ll be interesting to see which direction they go.

Candidates include former Stanley Cup winners Claude Julien and John Tortorella with the latter someone the organization knows well. He coached them for over four years after replacing Tom Renney in ’08-09. They made the playoffs every year except ’09-10 when they were beaten out by the Flyers on the last day of the season. His best job came in ’11-12 when he guided a young team to the Eastern Conference’s best record. They advanced to the team’s first Conference Final since ’96-97, but came up short against the Devils. After a tumultuous shortened ’12-13, he was dismissed in favor of Alain Vigneault. Would the Rangers go Back To The Future literally by bringing Tortorella back? Who knows.

There are other good candidates available who have been successful. Bruce Boudreau, Gerard Gallant and Rick Tocchet are recent coaches with good track records. Gallant guided the expansion Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first year. He was replaced by Peter DeBoer last year. Boudreau last coached the Wild before getting fired. Tocchet isn’t returning to the Coyotes despite doing a good job with a young roster that doesn’t boast the most talent. He might be the most intriguing name due to how much he squeezed out of that team.

I don’t buy Mike Babcock as a true coaching candidate. Especially after how his stint with the Maple Leafs ended. That seems like a long shot. You also had former players speak out against him for how he treated them. Once considered one of the best NHL bench bosses due to his success with the Ducks and then with the Red Wings where he won a Cup, he never guided the Leafs past the first round. Something an even more mature and deeper team is looking to change this postseason after winning the North Division.

So, what will it be? Are there other candidates who could be interviewed? I doubt they’d hire Kris Knoblauch. He did well with the Wolf Pack after Drury brought the former junior coach of Connor McDavid in. Only 42, Knoblauch was behind the Rangers’ bench for over a week due to Quinn having COVID-19. The team responded well to him. However, he’s young and isn’t experienced. Maybe they could groom him for the job in the future.

It’s really hard to say what the organization could be thinking. It isn’t like Quinn did a bad job in his three years. Maybe they just felt he wasn’t the right coach to get the team to that big next step. With the playoffs a must for next season, the time for patience has run out under Garden CEO James Dolan. He feels with the talent they now have along with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, it’s time for the Blueshirts to get back to the postseason. They’ve missed it the last four years.

Whatever the case, we’ll see where that takes them. A new era is about to begin on Broadway. The question is what other changes are coming this summer. It’s gonna be interesting.

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Kids prove that the Blueshirts have bright future

Posted on May 9, 2021 by Derek

The final score read Rangers 5, Bruins 4 in the 56th and final game of the ’21 season. At least it ended on a better note. They snapped the merciful five-game losing streak that derailed any playoffs along with the jobs of good hockey people in Jeff Gorton and John Davidson. Chris Drury is now in charge of the direction of a promising franchise.

The final bookkeeping noted that Mika Zibanejad scored his 23rd and 24th goals to finish with 50 points. A better conclusion for the top center than the disappearing acts against the Islanders and Capitals. If only that talented player had performed in those key games. He was far from alone.

Before Tom Wilson ended his season, even the dynamic Artemi Panarin couldn’t do anything in the last three games versus the Islanders. He didn’t even register a single shot. It just goes to show how far the Rangers still have to go. It won’t be a 56-game schedule next time. More than likely, a full 82.

Back from serving a one-game suspension from the ridiculously inconsistent NHL Player Safety, Pavel Buchnevich assisted on a trio of goals. That included Zibanejad’s game-winner which was needed due to Patrice Bergeron making things interesting in Boston. Buchnevich finishes the year with a career high 48 points (20-28-48) in 54 games. That was a good way to end the season. In mid-summer, we’ll know if he stays for a significant raise.

Most noteworthy in Saturday’s rare one-goal victory was the play of the kids. Three of the team’s five goals were scored by rookies. That included the first goal coming from defenseman K’Andre Miller off a face-off win by Filip Chytil. It also featured Alexis Lafreniere turning a good Anthony Bitetto pass into a beautiful goal by schooling Tuukka Rask with a backhand top shelf for his 12th goal. The top pick showed a lot of promise. He finished with 21 points while playing all 56 games.

Another young player who got on the score sheet was 21-year old Vitaly Kravtsov. On a good play started by 20-year old defenseman Zac Jones, Ryan Strome was able to find Kravtsov open for a quick one-timer that beat Rask for a two-goal lead in the third period. It was his second goal. Although he wound up with four points over 20 games, the Russian forward showed a lot of poise in his first taste of the NHL. A fluid skater who has a good idea defensively, the former ’18 first round pick should improve next season.

In truth, it’s the kids who proved that the Blueshirts have a bright future. Jones went from winning a national championship at UMass to adjusting well to the NHL. In 10 games, the smooth skating left shooting defenseman posted four assists. He looks to have some good upside offensively. Indeed, Jones will be a fixture on the power play not unlike offensive D leader Adam Fox. Although he went cold down the stretch, Fox proved he belongs in the conversation among the top defensemen. He may still pace all blue liners in points with 47 (5-42-47).

Fox’s partner Ryan Lindgren was missed after injuring himself on a hit involving Cal Clutterbuck. A physical player whose penchant for getting cut by errant sticks or pucks, he’s become the new warrior of the Blueshirts. Not much different from Dan Girardi, Lindgren is a gamer who’ll do anything to help the team win. That the defensive defenseman wound up with a goal and 15 assists with a plus-20 rating in 51 contests is a good indication of the kind of high character player he is. The 23-year old has been a steal since coming over from Boston in the Rick Nash trade. One of Gorton’s best. It also netted Strome, who he stole from Edmonton for Ryan Spooner. With two assists, Strome finished with 49 points (14-35-49) in all 56.

Although he struggled mightily without Jacob Trouba, Miller finished on a brighter note by notching his fifth goal from newcomer Justin Richards and Chytil. More of a two-way defenseman who could take time to develop, the 21-year old former Wisconsin Badger went 5-7-12 with a plus-nine rating in 53 games. Coach David Quinn heaped praise on him the other day following a predictable shutout loss after the fireworks against the Caps. He emphasized that it isn’t easy to play 20 minutes a night as a first-year player. Especially adjusting to a much busier schedule. That’s true. We’ll learn more about Miller this Fall. A long way off from now.

Igor Shestyorkin was supposed to have the day off. Third string goalie Keith Kinkaid did a good job stopping 28 of 30 Bruins’ shots. However, an injury forced him to exit with over 11 minutes remaining. Pressed into action, the 25-year old starter allowed two goals on nine shots in 11:10. Neither of which he was responsible for. Even though his first full year didn’t end the way he’d like, Shestyorkin proved capable of taking the mantle once held by Henrik Lundqvist. He finished 16-14-3 with a 2.62 GAA, .916 save percentage and two shutouts in 35 games. A good athletic netminder who likes to challenge shooters, Shestyorkin will need to do a better job staying on his angles. That way he doesn’t let in the occasional bad goal. Better balance along with staying healthy are the keys.

Featuring other young players including Libor Hajek, Tarmo Reunanen, Brett Howden, Julien Gauthier, Morgan Barron, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil, the Rangers are faced with some decisions this off-season. With the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft on the horizon, some faces could be on the move.

Drury will be busy getting Nils Lundkvist signed with a likely buyout of banished offensive defenseman Tony DeAngelo. He spoke to MSG about the future of the team before yesterday’s game. There’ll be a lot more revealed after exit interviews. That includes the coach, who said he sure could use a vacation. It was a strange and unpredictable year. The question is will Quinn be retained for Year Four. We’ll soon have our answer.

Whatever lies ahead, it’s the bright future of Lafreniere, Kravtsov, Kakko, Chytil, Shestyorkin, Fox, Lindgren, Miller and Jones that fans can continue to get excited about. Until next time.

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Devils 2021 season recap and look ahead : The Young Guns take over

Posted on May 8, 2021 by hasan4978

Much like everything else in this last year plus, the 2021 Devils season had wildly emotional ups and downs, with lots of unexpected obstacles to overcome. I’m going to make a comparison to where we are as a country on the COVID response – we’re not exactly where we want to be yet but you can see some signs of progress at least. That’s also an accurate cliff notes summary on the Devils right now. If you want to look at the glass as half-empty, we’re not going to be in the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons, and in a brutal division there’s no sign that drought will end next season either – though at least we won’t be playing only division teams. With two meaningless games left in our 56-game marathon sprint of a season, the Devils currently have 45 points in 54 games, which is basically a 70-point pace over an 82-game season. That’s clearly nowhere near good enough to be a playoff contender, which would be the first step back toward relevance for this franchise.

If you want to look at the glass as half-full, you could say our 6-3-2 start before COVID derailed us and jammed up our schedule and our 5-1 surge in the last week plus portend better things ahead, while our disastrous middle part of the season was all due to the schedule/COVID/key injuries like captain Nico Hischier missing much of the year. Not to mention this season’s division-only schedule isn’t an entirely accurate barometer for where we are among all thirty-one teams in the NHL – soon to be 32. Plus you have to give our kiddie corps the nod for how they’ve responded to what could have been a back-breaking ten-game losing streak, albeit one where it was mostly two teams (the Rangers and Penguins) kicking our faces in the dirt.

Once we managed to end the losing streak and beat the Flyers a couple of times, I could see this type of a finish coming with who was left on our schedule – another couple of games with a walking dead Philly, as well as four straight games with Boston and the Isles, who were all but in the playoffs already. Still, beating any team in the NHL – even ones with questionable motivation – is a bit of a step up from where we were during an 8-24-5 stretch that culminated with the aforementioned ten-game drought. From that standpoint, I couldn’t have asked for more from the team in the last six games. You can only beat who’s in front of you when you play them, and given that our roster is basically chock filled with kids you hope are part of the solution going forward, meaningless results can have meaning.

So what camp am I currently in you ask? Judging by my posts for most of this year you could fairly assume I’m in the glass half-empty camp. More accurately, I’m probably somewhere in between at the moment. I want to believe, I really do – and I acknowledge there are reasons to believe. But I’ve also been hit over the head with other meaningless junktime surges from my sports teams meaning nothing when the next season came about. Last season’s Devil surge under interim coach Alain Nasreddine didn’t exactly translate over to this season. The Mets surging down the stretch to get 86 wins two years ago had no impact after they never even got close to a playoff berth in 2020, when more than half the league made it. Even more dubiously, my football Jets’ 6-2 half in 2019 was rendered a total mirage in the wreckage of an 0-13 start in 2020. So yeah, as promising as this late season surge looks I’m not gonna fully buy in until it carries over till next year.

Still, there are things about this stretch and this team that can’t help but make you smile. And there are obvious areas that GM Tom Fitzgerald (assuming he’s still the man after this year) clearly needs to target. I’ll look at both throughout my overview:

Goalies – In many ways, Mackenzie Blackwood is a prism for the team at large. Looked dominant and ready to take the next step early before the pause (he was the first COVID victim on the team to boot, at least in-season), and the team’s late surge has gotten his GAA back below 3 and his save percentage back above .900, but in between he was very spotty. How much of it do we attribute to him having to recover from COVID while still playing a full schedule, and a compressed full schedule at that? I’d love to say all of it, but for the fact Blackwood hasn’t exactly been consistent for a full NHL season yet before 2020 either. Nor has he actually played a full NHL season yet, considering he’s only topped out at 43, 47 and 36 – assuming he plays the final two games of this season – games in his three pro seasons. And his 43 the first season includes 20 AHL games and 23 NHL games. Hopefully next year we’ll see more consistency, and more games from our undisputed #1.

One thing that isn’t debatable is that Corey Crawford’s unexpected retirement in camp damaged the team even more than could have been expected, given Blackwood’s COVID diagnosis early on and the team’s entire schedule being more compressed. Although Scott Wedgewood had a couple of nice moments, once again backup goalie proved to be an issue for the Devils. Wedge and fellow goalie Aaron Dell just were not good enough on the whole (combined 4-12-3 record in 19 starts), with even more unsightly splits. I won’t waste much analysis on them, except clearly neither one should be the #2 goalie next year. Without any solutions on hand, it’ll clearly have to be a vet signing from the outside, and one who won’t retire before the season.

Defense – This is still the area where the most questions remain on the Devils, even with a promising rookie season from Ty Smith (23 points in 48 games, ATOI 20:07) providing some hope. Surprisingly most of this late-season surge has happened without Smith, or PK Subban in the lineup with the former’s season being cut short by injury, the latter by COVID. Even an improved version of Subban from last year’s ghost wasn’t exactly good enough to justify his icetime or contract (19 points and a -16 in 44 games, ATOI 22:22). Not that they really have anyone else to play the minutes Subban and Smith do, aside from Damon Severson who’s prone to fits of inconsistency on both ends of the ice himself, but he’s managed to play every game this season and lead the team in icetime (ATOI: 22:26).

Assuming those three are still on the team next year (Subban is an UFA after next season, Severson after 2022-23), who fills the other three spots? Has Will Butcher done enough to earn back a lineup spot after beginning the season in the doghouse? He does have 10 points in 21 games and is averaging nearly 19 minutes a night, playing almost every night post-deadline but with just one year left on his contract and a still-tenuous standing on the team with a limited skillset, it’s not likely he’s a long-term solution. It’s quite possible he becomes expansion draft bait for the new Seattle Kraken. Unfortunately, deadline acquisition Jonas Siegenthaler’s post-deadline audition got cut short by COVID, though he is returning to the lineup for the final pair of games at least. He didn’t seem too impressive when he played, though he hadn’t really played much all season before arriving so it was always going to be tough for him.

Maybe Kevin Bahl’s surprisingly good five-game audition is enough to put him in the running for a lineup spot next season. He’d certainly add a necessary bit of size to our smallish lineup, and as a LD his development is doubly paramount. With or without Bahl, it’s still likely the team will need at least one or two veteran adds, particularly if Ryan Murray (fourteen points with an ATOI of 18:31 in 46 games, and a team-leading +5) leaves as a FA. It doesn’t seem like we have any other kids close to ready to step in, and obviously guys like Connor Carrick and Matt Tennyson are just placeholders.

Centers – Clearly our big two are set for the next several years down the middle, with Jack Hughes showing tangible and intangible improvement at both ends of the ice in his second NHL season. Maybe 11 goals and 31 points in 54 games still isn’t what you want on the whole from a #1OA, but he does have 15 of those points in the last 19 games. After a long dry spell in the middle of the season (funny how this seems to be a theme), he’s really picked up his play down the stretch being one of the leaders of the kiddie corps. After a season to forget laid up by a broken leg, COVID and a major facial injury off a deflected shot, finally captain Nico is able to get in a string of games down the stretch. Too bad 20-21 games this year and whatever he winds up playing in the World Championships will be all he gets to stay in game shape before going back to an 82-game schedule next season. You know he’ll be in the top six again next year, but hopefully better health will equal more production in his fifth NHL season.

With Nico and Hughes as a given, and Mike McLeod showing some surprising oomph as a fourth-liner this year (nine goals and 14 points in 50 games), the Devils could still use a third-liner in between them. It doesn’t seem like Jesper Boqvist is the answer there although it’s early in his wing-center shift. I don’t think a reunion with Travis Zajac is in the cards but it wouldn’t be the most outlandish thing in the world either, especially since things haven’t gone great for him on the Island so far after he got on a scoring roll pre-deadline in Newark. It’s more likely they’ll bring in someone younger though.

Wingers – Our wing has gone from a question mark to a bright spot pretty quickly down the stretch for a variety of reasons. For starters, finally with the return of Nico the Devils have been able to put Pavel Zacha where he’s shown he belongs this season – as a winger. You could have gotten a lot of money betting on Zacha as the leading point-getter before the season since it’s been one of the most unpredictable things in an unpredictable season. In particular down the stretch, Zacha’s picked it up with 9 goals and 6 assists in his last 14 games, many of them since the return of Nico finally pushed Zacha back outside where he’s clearly thrived more this year. It’s obviously too soon to be fully in the believer camp for the mercurial Czech but I’d like to see if a full season breakout can happen on the wing. After a slow post-holdout start to the season, Jesper Bratt has also picked it up down the stretch with 29 points in 44 games and has at least cemented a spot in the middle six next year. You could say the same for Miles Wood, who has 17 goals in 53 games, albeit most of his production has come on the so-called ‘fourth line’ with McLeod and fellow banger Nathan Bastian. Someone like Janne Kuokkanen (seven goals, seventeen assists in 48 games) I’d consider a complementary player more than a core piece but you could do worse than having him in your top nine.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1390721842571321346?s=20

If we’ve had one guy currently on the roster prove he’s worthy of riding shotgun alongside Hughes and potentially develop into a top-line winger, it’d be breakout performer Yegor Sharangovich. Until the scoring binges by Zacha and Sharangovich over the last month, the Devils still looked like they had too many playmakers and not enough scorers. Perhaps Sharangovich (along with current prospects Nolan Foote and Alexander Holtz, both one-time first-rounders) can fix that over the next couple years. Unlike Foote and Holtz, Sharangovich didn’t have that sort of pedigree being a 5th round selection just two years ago. He surprisingly made the team with a big camp, and proved his increased KHL scoring was no fluke with an early surge including a memorable game-winning OT goal against the Bruins. Like most of the team, Sharangovich’s production sagged in the middle of the season but the staff stuck with him and he responded with a breakout stretch run – nine goals and eight assists in his last nineteen games. He still has a shot at leading the team in goalscoring though he’s currently one behind Wood and tied with Zacha. Heady stuff for a 22-year old who’s been playing in all situations this year.

Even with more answers on the wing than it appeared a month ago, the Devils still could use depth and a little more scoring punch there next year as well. Especially with offseason acquisition Andreas Johnsson busting (ten points in 48 games and not much of an all-around game), and longtime stalwart Kyle Palmieri sent packing at the trade deadline in the midst of an off year. Not to mention Foote and Holtz seem to be more potential 2022-23 solutions than 2021-22 at the moment, and they’re going to have to make long-term contract decisions on guys like Zacha and Wood by then anyway.

Coaching – First let’s start with the bad…Nasreddine and fellow assistant Mark Recchi did not have effective special teams at all this year. Our PK seems like it’ll remain dead last though it at least creeped above 70% (whoopee), and our PP hasn’t been much better clocking in at 28th out of 31 teams with a week to go in the season. Perhaps the nature of this schedule and season didn’t engender an ability to coach much, but I wouldn’t complain if one or both staff members changed either.

As far as Lindy Ruff, this was only the third losing season in his two-decade career, though it wasn’t exactly unexpected given the team’s inexperience and the division’s toughness. To me, the head coach had three goals this season – develop the younger players, get max effort out of the team, and improve this team defensively 5-on-5. I’d say he scored on at least two out of three with an incomplete on the latter. It’s true our shots per game decreased marginally from last season but our goals allowed didn’t, in part due to the horrid special teams. I don’t have the numbers to prove it but it felt like the defense was at least a little better this year until the post-deadline trades of Dmitry Kulikov and Sami Vatanen as well as the late-season absences of Subban and Smith.

Still it did feel like the younger players progressed this year, even guys like Zacha who’d stagnated under the previous staff, and they handled Smith well in his rookie season – giving him the icetime he deserved but not too much to overwhelm him. Guys like Hughes, Sharangovich, Zacha and Bratt were able to learn and rebound from long dry spells. Although it seemed for a time the effort was lacking during the ten-game losing streak (in part discouraged by the goaltending around it), the team never completely went in the tank and was able to turn the season around down the stretch, injecting some much-needed fun into the latter part of this season for everyone – fans and players alike.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1389773234904653826?s=20

Intangibles – One of the most important things out of this season is that Fitz and Lindy clearly put their stock in the young guns and quickly oversaw the leadership transformation from the Palm-Zajac group to the Nico-Hughes wave of the future. There were few vets aside from Subban to help while the team was going through it’s ten game death spiral, but the kids showed maturity getting out of it in time to make something of these last few weeks in the season. I realize game #53 of #54 is on as I’m finishing this blog, but I doubt anything materially happens in the last two games to affect anything going forward aside from our lotto position, which I couldn’t give a rat’s you-know-what about.

While I did touch on the pre and post-COVID records of this season, I didn’t yet go into the whole division-only part of this season’s schedule, which further complicates what to make of this team going forward. Before our win over the Isles Thursday, our season had basically been predictable against almost every team – which quite frankly made it more unwatchable. Wiped out against the Rangers, Islanders, Caps and Penguins, struggled against the lousy Sabres and wiped out the Bruins(!) and Flyers, though most of the Flyer games came late after they had one foot out the door themselves. To wit here are our season records against those groups:

Bruins and Flyers: 9-3-3

Sabres: 4-3-1

Islanders, Rangers, Capitals and Penguins: 6-22-3

So basically we were noncompetitive against three of the four playoff teams along with our biggest rival, and struggled against the one team we were clearly better than while having good matchups against the other two division teams. Most people would assume our division’s one of the tougher ones overall given these teams’ recent track records, but you can’t really assume anything when you’re only playing in pods. If you’re an NCAA basketball fan, you know how the Big Ten got praised all season for its competitiveness and called one of the best leagues in recent history, only to see almost all of those teams eat it when they finally started playing outside teams in the NCAA tournament.

Will we be better next season just by virtue of playing more teams and having a presumably less compact schedule? It’s not as if adding Carolina and Columbus while subtracting Boston and Buffalo will really be a net positive in the toughness of the division games themselves, assuming the divisions do revert back to pre-pandemic groupings next year apart from adding Seattle out West. You do have to figure yes, we should be better just based off the more varied and spaced out schedule. I’m not sure how much the lack of fans in the building this season affected things overall, whatever we lost at home not having fans we seemed to gain on the road with a better than expected road record.

I’m just going to assume for the moment that our current management team shouldn’t be in any danger, although with Fitz’s rumored one-year term as GM and ownership’s wandering eye toward the suspended ex-Yotes GM John Chayka last offseason you can’t really rule anything out. I’m also assuming that Fitz isn’t looking for a new coach even though it wasn’t entirely his choice to hire Ruff, given they were hired concurrently. Honestly it’d probably be a mistake to look for a replacement for either at this point, Fitz deserves the opportunity to complete his rebuild and Ruff did the most he could under a less than ideal situation.

Although I’ve checked out of this season emotionally for a while it’ll still be a bit of a shock when the season comes to an end for real on Monday, and our next big dates will be in July with the draft lottery and expansion draft. I’m not expecting lightning to strike a third time in five years with the former, and the latter isn’t really even worth analyzing barring some big moves, or a surprising choice for exposure. At the moment it looks like guys such as Butcher or bangers Bastian and McLeod will be Seattle’s best choices from our unprotected list, not a big deal either way.

In the meantime, best of luck and health to all the playoff teams even if the current format makes the first couple of rounds difficult to watch since I don’t really care for any of the division teams that are in it. Even Washington I’m not too keen on rooting for at the moment after the latest hideous Tom Wilson incident and the fallout from it, granted there’s nobody in the East I’m intensely rooting against either without the Rangers or Flyers involved in the tournament.

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Classy Davidson bids farewell to Rangers

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Derek
John Davidson courtesy MSG via Getty Images

There isn’t a more revered former Ranger than John Davidson. From carrying the ’78-79 Rangers to an unbelievable upset of the Islanders to a Stanley Cup Final, to his remarkable work in the broadcast booth alongside close friend Sam Rosen, the man affectionately known as JD by fans has been a part of the organization for five decades.

Even after he bid farewell following the ’05-06 season to pursue a job in hockey operations first with the Blues and then with the Blue Jackets, his heart never left NYC. It’s hard to believe that he only lasted two seasons as Rangers’ Team President. It was just yesterday that Davidson returned after leaving Columbus to take over for Glen Sather in the front office. His enthusiasm and professionalism for the job of continuing to rebuild the team alongside Jeff Gorton never wavered.

Don’t lose sight of Davidson’s ties to the Blue Jackets where Artemi Panarin starred. Maybe he would’ve still signed with the Rangers anyway. However, it’s believable that having JD around helped the Rangers recruit Panarin, who signed on the dotted line for seven years at an average cap hit of $11.64 million. That’s been a home run so far with Panarin totalling 153 points (49-104-153) in 111 games. The best free agent signing in franchise history.

Even though it ended bitterly for Davidson and Gorton, they sure did a lot right. The team has a bright future. Something Davidson noted in a classy statement he released on Friday.

There is no classier person than John Davidson. Even after getting fired suddenly with three games left, the very popular fan favorite went out the right way by thanking the Rangers and the fans.

Whatever he decides to do, here’s hoping he gets one more chance at running an NHL team. This is a very bright and articulate man who can add so much knowledge in helping build a team. The job he did with St. Louis paved the way for their first ever Stanley Cup. He did well in Columbus too despite limited resources and players leaving.

Wishing Davidson the best of luck. Thank you JD!

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Exhibition not worth continuing to watch, Dolan speaks and Buchnevich gets suspended a game, a guest appearance on my friend’s podcast

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Derek

After two periods of passionless hockey, I’ve opted out. The forty minutes are enough. With the Rangers on their way to a fifth consecutive loss in uncompetitive fashion at Boston trailing 3-0, what’s the point?

Even diehard fans like myself have a breaking point. This is it. Seeing the relentless Bruins have their way by driving the net of poor Igor Shesterkin is mind numbing. It’s exasperating and doesn’t deserve our attention. If you’re a fan of this team, you have to feel ashamed at what you’re seeing. That’s if you haven’t tuned out.

Too many lost battles. Turnovers. No net front presence. Life is so easy for Bruins’ rookie Jeremy Swayman. He’s faced a grand total of seven shots in two periods. That included a 19-3 edge in shots from Boston during a listless second period. Mindless hockey. Granted. You have a few new faces thrown to the wolves including Jonny Brodzinski and Tim Gettinger. It’s not easy on the eyes like an IG model.

It’s really hard to gauge anything in these final two games. You have mindless Mika hardly noticeable during most shifts. He recently was with Colin Blackwell and Vitali Kravtsov, who came the closest to scoring until a great hustle play by Charlie McAvoy prevented an open net goal. Kravtsov has been visible along with the fourth line. So have Zac Jones and Adam Fox, who’s being forced to play too many minutes. Exactly why his production has dropped off. He should still be up for the Norris.

Without Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren, there’s no physical presence in the lineup. With apologies to the hardworking Players Player Brendan Smith, who deserves to return, it’s not enough. Libor Hajek has also continued to show improvement. I’d like to see him back. Shesterkin has not had much of a chance on the Bruins’ three goals. Two one-timers from Patrice Bergeron and McAvoy. Plus a clean breakaway by Jake DeBrusk.

It’s been another rough night for K’Andre Miller. He turned over the puck twice and has been caught on for two goals against. That included a misplay that David Krejci intercepted and wisely used the side boards to make a lead pass for a DeBrusk goal that made it 3-0. It’s not 4-0. How pathetic. Speaking of which, the shots were 28-7 entering the third.

Pavel Buchnevich was suspended a game for his cross check on Anthony Mantha that resulted in a major and game misconduct last night. I have no issue with it except for the ridiculous hypocrisy of NHL Player Safety. So, they won’t punish Tom Wilson, who’s a repeat offender. But will ban Buchnevich for one game when he had no reputation. Unbelievable. He had every right to slash Wilson for the garbage he pulled on Monday. Did he go overboard with Mantha? Sure. I find George Parros as despicable as MSG CEO James Dolan.

Speaking of Dolan, he gave Larry Brooks an exclusive interview in the NY Post. His quotes were very accurate. Even if Glen Sather was in his ear, Dolan labeled the disconnect that this roster had. It wasn’t constructed well. They sure have plenty of skating and skill, but lack enough will. It can’t only be the same few character guys (Kreider, Lindgren, Smith, Trouba). I’ll also mention Ryan Strome, Kevin Rooney and Brett Howden as guys who deserve credit for how hard they play. Ditto for Phil Di Giuseppe stepping in and fighting in that line brawl.

Given the influx of talent the young nucleus boasts thanks to lottery picks Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, there’s plenty of reasons to be excited. When you include Kravtsov, Fox, Filip Chytil (even though I’m on the fence), Miller and Jones, what’s not to like? Don’t forget Shesterkin, Barron with Nils Lundkvist close to becoming a Ranger. That youth needs team toughness. They can’t get pushed around. That includes star Artemi Panarin, who has the rest of the season off.

I’m not suggesting bringing in a goon like Ryan Reaves. That isn’t what’s needed. You need hard grinders like Blake Coleman or Casey Cizikas to compete in this league. Accountable players who can provide the nuts and bolts. Imagine Brandon Tanev on this roster. Instead, he’s a Pen. Teams need that kind of combination of grit and skill. With new Team President and GM Chris Drury introduced at a press conference this morning, he sounds prepared to do what’s necessary to improve the roster. If the playoffs are the goal next year, then it should be an intriguing off-season. Drury was noncommittal to David Quinn. A Boston guy like himself. We’ll see what happens.

As for Drury, here’s some of what he told reporters thanks to Mollie Walker.

What Drury said is on point. They’ve accomplished what they set out to do in The Rebuild. Now, it’s time to put together a more complete roster that’s ready to compete over an 82-game schedule. One that won’t under achieve. The postseason is a must. They’ve built it back up. Credit goes out to Gorton and Davidson for key moves that improved the team for the future. The trades for Zibanejad, Strome, Lindgren. The trade to select Miller and acquire Trouba, who’s been severely missed despite all the gripes about his salary. Landing Fox from Carolina for a pair of second round picks. Having Lafreniere and Kakko fall into their lap. Of course, signing Panarin. How instrumental was JD? It’s hard to believe he’s gone. Sam Rosen must be heartbroken for his friend.

Walker hosts Up In The Blue Seats Rangers podcast with Ron Duguay. They had former enforcer and native Staten Islander Nick Fotiu on as a guest. You can listen on Spotify or Apple. I will afterwards.

The accolades for Walker and Brooks are true. They do a great job covering the team. This has not been a normal situation. From the COVID restrictions to the sudden dismissals of Gorton and Davidson, Walker admitted she was working on no sleep earlier today. That’s the kind of dedication these reporters have. Walker getting to interview Stan Fischler was a treat last week. Like me, she also interned for The Maven. A legend who long ago should’ve been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. What a shame. He’s a great man who now lives in Israel with his grandchildren. He still has the enthusiasm for the sport. The Fischler Report still is published along with his Java. I have nothing but love and admiration for Stan. It was thanks to him that I worked production truck for the Devils and then wound up at ESPN. Great times. Especially those production meetings with Stan telling the corny joke.

A brief summary of what Dolan told Brooks as to why now. He indicated that he’d been mulling it over for about 20 to 25 games. He noticed the same thing many of us did about this team. They were disjointed and lacked a key ingredient good teams must have to reach the playoffs. The truth is neither Gorton or Davidson addressed it after the Hurricanes’ humiliation. They were badly exposed. Bringing in Rooney was a solid addition. But more was needed and that must be addressed this summer. No excuses.

Dolan also admitted that those huge Islanders games were big. How could they not have been a factor in the decision to let go of two good hockey guys? They lost 6-1, 3-0 and 4-0. That is inexcusable. You cannot do that against your number one rival, who doesn’t have the talent they do. But is way harder to play against. They took away Zibanejad, Panarin, Strome, Buchnevich without breaking a sweat. Even Fox struggled. Semyon Varlamov pitched four shutouts. That’s absurd.

What all boils down to is this team isn’t there yet. They’ve now been shutout in three of their last five games. They lost 4-0. They weren’t shutout once last season. They’ve gone backwards. That can’t be overlooked. As easy as it is to criticize Dolan and his advisor Sather, which is nuts, they’re not wrong. Even former Stanley Cup hero Mark Messier got in on the act by critiquing the way the roster was constructed. He referenced needing to win in the back alleys. That’s what it takes to be successful in this brutal sport.

It isn’t like the old days when you had enforcers everywhere fighting all the time. It isn’t the era of Howe or Messier with the elbows up. Nor is it the era of the Broad Street Bullies or the 80’s and 90’s. There’s a lot more legislation despite the NHL incompetence. As far as fining the Rangers $250,000, whatever. You can’t go after a league employee the way Dolan did with Parros and expect to get off light. He doesn’t mind paying the penalty. It needed to be said. Even if there might’ve been a disagreement with Gorton and Davidson on putting out the statement. That’s not why they’re gone.

Nights like last Thursday and Saturday are why. Monday’s embarrassment is why. Sather liked the response by the team last night. A line brawl. Six fights in total. 100 penalty minutes combined in a wild first period. So did Drury. The truth is hockey guys love that part of the game. It’s not something we see often anymore. But there’s a time and a place for it. I thought the refs did an outstanding job keeping control of that game. They handed out misconducts and didn’t allow it to get out of hand. Kudos. The best officiated game all season was one with a crazy amount of penalties.

There is nothing left to add. If you want more on my view of the Rangers, please don’t hesitate to listen to me as a guest on friend Madison Miller’s Podcast. Plenty was covered including our speculation on Quinn and the off-season. Check it out below or find it on Spotify and Apple.

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Line Brawl highlights Fight Night at Garden as gutty Blueshirts respond to Wilson and Caps, Oshie hat trick deals a fourth consecutive loss

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Derek
A full penalty box for the Rangers typified a spirited first period in getting some retribution on Caps’ forward Tom Wilson. There were six fights and 100 combined penalty minutes in the first. A 4-2 loss on home ice. AP Photo via Getty Images

The talk all day centered around what would happen following the ridiculous antics of Tom Wilson in an ugly loss on Monday. On just a wild and wacky Wednesday that saw both John Davidson and Jeff Gorton lose their jobs in stunning fashion, the Blueshirts showed a lot of guts against the tougher Caps.

Highlighted by a line brawl one second in that eerily reminded many of the classic line brawl the Rangers engaged in against the Devils in March 2012, they stood up to Wilson and the Caps. Players you wouldn’t expect to fight did. From the opening face-off, it was pandemonium at the World’s Most Vaccinated on 33rd and 8th Avenue. Kevin Rooney took on Nic Dowd at center ice. Colin Blackwell battled Carl Hagelin. The biggest surprise was Phil Di Giuseppe giving Caps tough guy Garnet Hathaway a good bout. The crowd loved it.

Of course, the fisticuffs weren’t done. In a crazy first period highlighted by six fights which crowded each team’s penalty box with 12 players combined, it was Brendan Smith who obliged a willing Wilson. He knew it was coming. A tough comer, he was held accountable for his actions on Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin, who is sitting out the last three games due to an injury. Smith isn’t in Wilson’s league. However, he hung in there and took his lumps. It was something the Players Player expected.

Even with Wilson off for fighting, it wasn’t done. This was old time hockey. As much redundant complaining as Pierre McGuire made alongside Kenny Albert due to the ridiculous NBC Sports Crapwork Network narrative about how the clueless George Parros didn’t suspend Wilson, this was always happening. It didn’t matter if the polarizing Caps’ power forward dressed. There had to be a strong response.

Even Anthony Bitetto got into the act when he went with Michael Raffl. It continued with Ryan Strome showing his true character by going with Lars Eller. He gave up a couple of inches, but did well by getting the take-down. Fight number six demonstrated that Strome backed up his words on the lack of supplementary discipline. He is a gamer. We’ve seen him stand up for teammates. A good quality.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1390085127854829568?s=19

In total, the six fighting majors combined with an instigator on Smith along with a misconduct largely contributed to 100 combined penalty minutes in the memorable first period. Both Rooney and Wilson also earned misconducts due to Pavel Buchnevich taking a whack at an incensed Wilson. Buchnevich was physically involved. In a career year, he was more interested in jousting with several Caps. It didn’t end either with him responding to a few Anthony Mantha taps by deliberately cross-checking him in the face to earn a five-minute major and game misconduct. It was part of an ugly night that also saw Buchnevich take consecutive stick fouls (slashing/hi-sticking) late in the first. He totaled 19 penalty minutes to earn an early exit.

Somewhat curiously, Wilson didn’t return for the second due to what the Caps termed an upper body injury. Was it really or did Washington coach Peter Laviolette feel his team would’ve been better off without the Wilson distraction? He heard plenty of jeers from a fired up crowd of 1,800 who sounded like a lot more. While it’s true he landed against Smith, he did take a slash from a fiery Buchnevich in the upper body. Maybe they decided to sit him out as a precaution. Especially with Alex Ovechkin unable to play after only taking one shift Monday before leaving. A playoff team, their health is more important than a meaningless game at MSG. One that had plenty of significance for the Rangers, who played their final home game. They lost their last three.

In truth, the Rangers didn’t play good enough. As far as the hockey portion, a lousy second period where they only had three shots on goal, allowed T.J. Oshie to score two power play goals. Oshie returned after missing Monday’s game due to the passing of his Dad. On an emotional night of rough stuff, Oshie led the Caps to a 4-2 victory by recording his fourth career hat trick. That included an empty net goal with 1:40 left in regulation. It was followed with an emotional moment with Nick Backstrom giving him a hug on the bench. He’s one of those honest hockey players that isn’t detestable like Wilson and some other Caps. Getting the hat trick was special for his Dad.

Oshie’s pair of power play goals came due to Buchnevich penalties. The first was 12 seconds into the second period. On it, Brendan Dillon made a good outlet pass for Oshie, who broke in and used Conor Sheary as a decoy before fooling Alex Georgiev with a shot through the wickets for a 1-0 lead. His second tally came after the Buchnevich idiocy where he used his stick on Mantha like a weapon. This time, Oshie outmaneuvered Adam Fox to steer in a Dmitry Orlov rebound for his 20th at 8:26.

With absolutely nothing happening from the Rangers’ side, a face-off win from Nic Dowd back to Orlov resulted in a John Carlson point shot that Dowd was able to deflect past Georgiev for a 3-0 lead at 14:48. This was a simple play that started with Dowd beating Strome clean. It is another example of how inept the Blueshirts are on defensive draws. Dowd just got to the spot to tip in a Carlson shot for his 11th.

The shots in the dismal second favored the Caps, 14 to 3. Sadly, I knew that was the total because the shot total in the first was 11. It barely moved. The play wasn’t inspired. Even if they showed the exact fire necessary to retaliate for Monday’s shenanigans, the foolishness of Buchnevich seemed to take whatever momentum out of them. The Caps were better at attacking and took advantage of bad penalties while outshooting the Rangers 14-3. Three Damn Shots. It reminded me of that classic scene from Major League where Bob Uecker goes off about the Indians lack of hits.

On a night where plenty of Blueshirts showed up, one key player was a ghost literally speaking. Mika Zibanejad did his usual disappearing act against a good opponent. I can’t remember one good shift. He was Missing Mika. A phrase I can’t take credit for. I’ll give it to Sean McCaffrey of bluecollarblueshirts.com. He has some good nicknames. As much as I like Zibanejad, there are too many shifts where you don’t notice him. This isn’t about the production. It’s about consistency. New Team President and GM Chris Drury has a very tough decision to make regarding Zibanejad either this summer or next year. He will face similar decisions on Buchnevich and Strome.

As bad as the second was, at least they didn’t get shutout by Vitek Vanecek. A good play started from Zac Jones up to Filip Chytil allowed the center to find a wide open Alexis Lafreniere for an easy finish into an open side for his 11th at 1:15. It was some excellent passing from both Jones and Chytil to find Lafreniere, who continues to improve. There’s brighter days ahead for the 19-year old teenager.

Despite Vitaly Kravtsov doing some good things offensively along with Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers never came any closer. At least they played a respectable third against a shorthanded Caps, who were down one skater entering due to more Evgeny Kuznetsov nonsense. I wouldn’t be shocked if they trade him during the summer. He doesn’t seem to be as emotionally invested.

There was still some edge. You had Hathaway try to get at K’Andre Miller. Miller was fortunate not to suffer a severe injury. His leg collided with Mantha which sent him down awkwardly. It looked serious. But he was able to return, only missing one shift. He will need to improve his skating and defensive awareness. He’s definitely missed dependable partner Jacob Trouba.

You also had Oshie tapping rookie Morgan Barron after a good defensive play. Nothing came of it. Barron had a good game. Playing in the fourth line role, he scored his first NHL goal after Oshie netted the empty netter for his hat trick. On the scoring play, Libor Hajek passed for Jones, who made a great feed in the slot for a Barron wrist shot that beat Vanecek with 1:16 remaining. Jones scooped up the puck for Barron. A pretty cool moment seeing two young players celebrate a milestone. For Jones, the assist gave him first multi-point game of his career. He had two helpers and continues to get better.

As time wound down with some fans chanting, “JD, JD, JD”, for the very popular former Ranger, broadcaster and Team President, it was the final time the Rangers skated off the Garden ice until next season. One that should hopefully prove to be more normal with the anticipated October 12th start date. So, it’ll be a shorter off-season. But a longer postseason followed by the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft, NHL Draft and free agency in late July/early August.

It’s hard to believe there’s only two games left on the 56-game schedule. Games 55 and 56 will come versus the Bruins. That’ll include the final game on Saturday afternoon at 3 PM. Thursday night will be the penultimate game. Both will be in Boston. It would be nice to not finish the year on a six-game losing streak. During the current four-game losing skid, the Rangers have been outscored by a combined 17-5. All against playoff teams. If they do go out in a whimper, it’s hard to see Drury retaining David Quinn. Even given their relationship, how can anyone justify keeping him?

That’s a story for another day. It won’t be long before we soon know. What we do is that it’s still important for the kids to keep gaining valuable experience they can take with them into the summer. That way they can better prepare for what’s ahead.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd 🌟 Brendan Smith, NYR (fought Wilson, 17 PIM in 13:42 for the Players Player)

2nd 🌟 Zac Jones, NYR (1st career multi-point game with 2 🍎, +2 in 18:40)

1st 🌟 T.J. Oshie, Caps (4th career hat trick, 19th, 20th, 21st goals, 7 SOG, 8 for 10 on face-offs in 22:06)

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Dolan fires Gorton and Davidson in shocker

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Derek

On the day before the game everyone’s been talking about, both GM Jeff Gorton and Team President John Davidson were fired by MSG CEO James Dolan. It’s a move that’s sent shockwaves through the hockey world.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1390020835499552774?s=19

While both hockey insiders Darren Dreger and Elliotte Friedman speculated that the timing of the firing might have to do with the PR statement the team released yesterday in response to George Parros not suspending Tom Wilson, it sounds like it’s unrelated. In a quick blog Friedman put up, his sources hinted that Dolan had been growing impatient with the rebuild. They have missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The Letter went out in February 2018.

Wow! Holy bleeping bleep! If it is indeed the case that the owner who has stayed away from the decision making of the hockey team felt they should be a playoff team, he might have a point. It was right there for the Rangers last week. Beat the rival Islanders twice and they could’ve been a point back. Instead, they were humiliated. Being outscored 7-0 on the heels of a 6-1 Isles’ blowout a week prior couldn’t have sat well. Those three games cost them any shot at making the postseason.

Here’s the bigger question. With Chris Drury tabbed to take over in dual roles as Team President and General Manager, what’s next? There is still a game to play in a couple of hours. The one many were covering. Will the Rangers answer the bell? They’re without Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren for the remainder of the season. Chris Kreider remains out. As everyone knows, Wilson injured star Artemi Panarin to finish his year. If Mason Geertsen isn’t playing, who’s going to go after Wilson? Brendan Smith? There isn’t much toughness on a current roster that’s young.

Here’s the other thing. If Dolan can suddenly dismiss Gorton and the well respected Davidson, who both did a good job rebuilding the roster, what does that mean for coach David Quinn? Is he gone once the last game is played versus Boston? While he has overseen a young roster and done an admirable job, the top players haven’t always seen eye to eye with him stylistically. He has been overly critical for weeks over the East/West style that hasn’t worked against the Islanders. His in game decisions have left some question marks. So too was keeping Julien Gauthier out of the lineup for 14 straight. Will Quinn survive? Is a different voice needed to get this team to the next level?

I’ve always maintained that for as good a guy as Quinn is, eventually it would be a no nonsense coach who guides the team back to the postseason. Maybe Dolan is thinking the same thing. Scary. Nobody trusts him. Not after how bad the Rangers once were. That’s history. Perhaps he sees the great job Tom Thibodeau has done with the Knicks and believes a more experienced coach could get similar results with the Rangers. The talent is there. It’s the other intangibles that aren’t.

If Quinn isn’t retained after the season ends in Boston, who would Drury hire? Two names come to mind. John Tortorella and Gerard Gallant. They are tougher on players and there are consequences when even veterans make mistakes. As much as I like Tortorella, I don’t think he’s the right fit. They’ve been there and done that. On the other hand, I believe Gallant is a very good coach who got raw deals in Florida and Vegas. Of course, this is all speculation. We don’t really know what will happen.

It is very shocking that this happened. On the day of the Rangers’ final home game centered around Caps’ thuggish power forward Tom Wilson, both Gorton and Davidson are sent packing in embarrassing fashion. 😳 If they weren’t already being discussed enough, now the Rangers are front and center.

Dolan has turned up the heat. Who knows what’s in store. Things just got a lot more interesting.

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NHL Player Safety drops the ball on Wilson chaos, Rangers statement isn’t enough

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Derek
The Rangers are missing a key element that must be corrected by management this off-season. Will they dress Mason Geertsen in the rematch versus the psychotic Tom Wilson and the Caps?

As usual, leave it to NHL Player Safety to drop the ball completely. In one of the most perplexing decisions that lacks any common sense, they fined Tom Wilson $5,000 for the chaos he created during the second period of Monday’s game. So, the known head hunter who had an evil grin after what he did to Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin, gets off easy. Of course he did. It doesn’t matter who’s in charge of “Player Safety.” Business as usual.

It is astonishing that they gave Wilson the maximum fine and completely ignored what he did to Panarin. A player who’s one of the league’s biggest stars got his hair pulled and was rag dolled while being slammed dangerously to the ice by an out of control lunatic. Imagine if Wilson pulled this nonsense with a good old Canadian boy like Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby. There would be serious repercussions.

The Rangers responded to the ridiculous ruling by George Parros by calling him out in a very pointed statement. It was released on their official Twitter account. Here’s what was said below.

I have no problem with the statement they put out. It’s about time someone calls out the joke that is NHL Player Safety. Here’s the thing. Does anyone think it will change? I don’t believe so. How many times can a repeat offender such as Wilson run roughshod before he seriously hurts someone or even worse? The league doesn’t give a damn about protecting its players. That’s the true shame of it all. Yet another black eye for hockey. No wonder it isn’t covered as much as the other major sports. However, when cheap shots like the ones Wilson delivered on Buchnevich and Panarin happen, the NHL is front and center for the wrong reasons.

Whatever you feel towards Wilson, who surely deserved a lengthy suspension for his latest assault on the ice, this is also about the brutal nature of the sport. It’s why it’s still important for the players to police themselves. Even with the instigator and officials abusing the misconduct penalty which sure wasn’t sufficient enough on Monday night, it’s up to the NHL teams to have enough sandpaper on their roster to address such thuggery. There’s no place in the game for what Wilson did. It’s unacceptable that no Ranger went after him. That is an indictment on the one dimensional roster they have. That must change before next season.

It’s my contention that this wouldn’t have happened if Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and Chris Kreider were dressed for Game 53 of 56. Wilson knew he could run around and not face the consequences. With his team trailing by a goal on a penalty kill, he decided to take matters into his own hands. On the scrum where Buchnevich poked away at Vitek Vanecek in search of a rebound, that’s commonplace in hockey. There usually is a strong response from players defending their goalie. What isn’t is an unhinged Wilson taking down Buchnevich and punching the defenseless player. Then turning Panarin into a doll after he showed more guts than brains by jumping on Wilson. The end result was a despicable tug of Panarin’s hair and an unwarranted cheap shot that could’ve severely injured him.

Wilson is a loose cannon who clearly has anger management issues. Even after serving a seven-game ban for his ferocious hit on Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo that concussed him, the 27-year old who admitted that he has to tone it down, remains a ticking time bomb. Having been fined multiple times and suspended five times including serving 14 games of an original 20-game ban for his dangerous head shot on Oskar Sundqvist during the preseason, it’s impossible to defend his actions. While he is an effective power forward who is a key part of the Capitals, Wilson must be made accountable for his actions. If the Department of NHL Player Safety won’t do it, then it’s up to the Rangers to respond. They can recall tough defenseman Mason Geertsen for Wednesday night’s eight and final meeting against the Caps. David Quinn didn’t tip his hand following practice.

Judging off the current roster without Kreider, Lindgren, Trouba and now Panarin, the team has an empty spot to fill for the rematch. It would make perfect sense to dress Geertsen and have him settle the score with Wilson. Outside of Brendan Smith, they lack the kind of sandpaper needed to handle a Wilson or Matt Martin, whose elbow on Mika Zibanejad early on in a recent game, prompted no response. Why would there be? This is how the current roster is constructed. Team President John Davidson should be paying attention. This can’t continue in Year Four of the Rebuild. The ’21-22 season must be all about qualifying for the playoffs. That also means being able to adjust their style to deal with the grind and grit of the Islanders, who took the final three meetings by a combined 13-1 score. It also means being harder to play against. That includes seeing the Washington grinders like Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway, Daniel Sprong have their way in the 6-3 loss at home.

Hiding behind a statement which accurately ripped into the NHL for their incompetence isn’t enough. The Rangers must become tougher. That doesn’t mean signing a goon like Ryan Reaves. You can find versatile hardworking and honest players who are capable of forechecking, finishing checks and standing up for fallen teammates. Think the Isles’ Identity Line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck. Cizikas is an unrestricted free agent this summer. So too is key Lightning two-way forward Blake Coleman. These are the kind of high character players the Rangers must look into.

With a very young roster that’ll continue to feature Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Vitaly Kravtsov, Filip Chytil (if he isn’t moved), Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones, Igor Shesterkin and likely Nils Lundkvist, the organization must find the right balance to protect their young core. If that means sacrificing a player like Chytil or seeing if there’s a taker for Mika Zibanejad or Ryan Strome, they must explore those options. This is a close-knit team that gets along well and really is likable. It still needs no-nonsense guys who can handle themselves. Tony DeAngelo was one of those guys. So too was Brendan Lemieux. It’s just a point on where the Blueshirts are.

Would I love to see Geertsen get a crack at Wilson. Absolutely. Ditto for Smith even if that’s probably not going to end well. With three games left before the off-season, the Rangers have nothing to lose. Making a statement is crucial for the future of the team. For too long, they’ve been pushed around. It dates back to the days of the Alain Vigneault Era. Where turn the other cheek was too accepted. At least they had a Daniel Carcillo, Derek Dorsett or Tanner Glass. Even Dylan McIlrath took up for Ryan McDonagh in a rousing scrap at center ice with well respected Wayne Simmonds, who injured the former captain.

The game has evolved. Nobody is denying that. You can still find versatile players who can contribute offensively, hit and drop the gloves when the situation calls for it. Hopefully, the Rangers will learn from Monday’s ugliness. They better.

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