Battle Of Hudson

Theo Fleury: A tale in courage and strength

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Derek

Theo Fleury: A tale in courage and strength

In the Fall 2009, we met the great Theo Fleury at the old Borders bookstore at Madison Square Garden for a book signing of his memorable book, Playing With Fire. A true story about Fleury's struggles with substance abuse stemming from a sad personal experience in Junior Hockey that affected his mental health causing anxiety and depression.

Fleury remains a courageous tale in overcoming his demons to rebuild his life when it almost ended. Someone I consider a strong person who could certainly be a Hall of Famer for his NHL career spent mostly with Calgary before a brief stint in Colorado, then New York and Chicago, he is a great example of perseverance.

The book remains one of my personal favorites. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn't read it.

Derek

Posted in Battle News | Tagged 2009, anxiety and depression, Avalanche, Blackhawks, book, Borders, courage and strength, Flames, Hockey, mental health, MSG, perseverance, Playing With Fire, Rangers, substance abuse, Theo Fleury | Leave a comment

Islanders put Penguins on the brink, Connor’s goal in triple overtime eliminates Oilers, goalies shine including a memorable playoff debut for Cats’ Spencer Knight

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Derek

These playoffs have been electric. It is only the first round yet there are so many cool storylines. From the magnificent playoff debut of 20-year old Spencer Knight to backstop the Cats to a 4-1 win in Game Five to stave off elimination against the defending champion Lightning. To the brilliance of Ilya Sorokin in turning away the Penguins in a stirring Islanders’ 3-2 win in sudden death on Josh Bailey’s goal in double overtime. To the astonishing concentration of Cam Talbot in turning away the relentless Golden Knights in ridiculous fashion to keep the Wild alive in an unlikely 4-2 win.

It’s all there in this somewhat unpredictable first round. You also have Kyle Connor scoring off the rush to finally end the longest game of these playoffs in triple overtime, eliminating the McDavid/Draisaitl Oilers in a stirring Jets’ sweep. One that Draisaitl in particular will be thinking about for a while given all the pointblank chances he had in sudden death to extend the series. Edmonton lost three games in overtime including the third period collapse in Game Three which really finished them. It’s back to the drawing board for the Oilers with the dynamic duo of Draisaitl and McDavid to ponder what went so wrong. Not even some clutch stops from veteran Mike Smith could prevent another bitter disappointment for the game’s rating best players. At least McDavid will have the hardware, but what’s the point if you don’t have postseason success. The Oilers will look drastically different the next time they play. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be gone along with mismatched offensive defenseman Tyson Barrie. Will James Neal join them via buyout or some trade to Seattle involving draft picks? Leave that to Ken Holland.

Then there are the Islanders, who somehow pulled out a come from behind win to put the Pens on the brink for the second time in three years. A game they owe Sorokin a steak dinner with the best wine and dessert. Sensational is what the calm Russian was. Jordan Eberle evened the score in the third period. When he did, you just knew. It was that sickening feeling. Cue up Whitesnake, “Here We Go Again”, channeling David Coverdale. Hard to believe Tawny Kitaen recently passed. A horrible Tristan Jarry misplay allowed Bailey the early Father’s Day Gift. A gimme that he accepted to set up a chance at the second round. Game Six is tomorrow night at Nassau Coliseum. Win and the Isles advance. Lose and it could be the final game ever played at the barn off the Meadowbrook. We’ll see if Crosby and Malkin have something to say about it. What was that Pen thinking with that awful back pass that was nowhere close to Malkin at the Isles’ blue line? That set up the Jarry gaffe.

Maybe under the radar was Jack Campbell turning aside 15 Habs’ shots in a busy third to backstop the Maple Leafs to a well earned 2-1 road win over arch rival Montreal at Bell Centre. He’s quietly gotten it done for Toronto while captain John Tavares recovers from the concussion he suffered on the accidental Corey Perry knee in just a scary collision. The encouraging news is he is home and not as bad as previously thought. Perry was contrite over it. He still was asked to fight by Nick Foligno in Game One. They got it over with. For anyone who doesn’t understand why, go watch another sport. For the time being, the Leafs have responded well with two consecutive wins. The goal scorers last night were William Nylander and Morgan Rielly. The Canadiens got one from Nick Suzuki, who evened it before the Rielly winner during the three goal second. Cole Caufield made his Habs’ playoff debut. He had three shots on goal and also a good opportunity with under six seconds left in regulation. But his shot was blocked harmlessly away. Game Four is a quick turnaround tonight. We’ll see if Carey Price and Les Habitants can draw even.

How about Spencer Knight making 36 straight saves after allowing a goal in the first minute of the Panthers’ 4-1 home win to force Game Six at Tampa. The WJC gold medal American hero was unbelievable. He made 21 of 22 stops in a busy first. Ross Colton scored on the first shot. That was it. Poised beyond his youth. He denied Nikita Kucherov with a lightning quick pad across that invoked memories of his stupendous performance in stoning Canada in January. The Cats clawed their way back with Aleksander Barkov setting up Mason Marchment, who’s become something of a folk hero. Patric Hornqvist also scored on the power play. Jonathan Huberdeau tallied two assists giving him 10 points in the series. What a player. Florida is still alive due to Knight. Do they have nine lives?

What of Talbot and his 38 saves in a lopsided game that defied logic. He faced a Vegas onslaught in the second period. The Knights outshot the Wild 22-1. But someone forgot to tell Talbot. He was a miracle worker for Minnesota, who thanks to goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Zach Parise, are headed home with a chance to force Game Seven. They only had 13 shots, but put three past Marc-Andre Fleury. Madness. Mark Stone scored for a third straight game for Vegas. You know he wants to close it out. It gives us something to watch.

If Monday provided hockey fans with a bit of everything including a rare raucous atmosphere in Florida where over 11,000 loud fans cheered on their Panthers, what to expect Tuesday from the Hurricanes who now have the pressure on them to hold serve in a huge Game Five following two Predators’ double overtime wins. They can thank Matt Duchene, Luke Kunin and Juuse Saros. Can Carolina ramp it up with some home cooking? They’ll need to.

You will have the Leafs and Habs doing battle again in a back-to-back. There hasn’t been a lot of edge to this series. At some point, it has to pick up. Maybe Game Four is where it intensifies. Look at the chaos Pat Maroon caused by going after Noel Acciari with over 10 seconds left? Was that necessary. No. It made the Bolts look bad. Will there be carryover? These interstate rivals don’t like one another. The hate is real. It should make for a compelling Game Six.

With the schedule not as hectic, there won’t be as much channel flipping. That actually is good. What isn’t is Edmonton becoming the third team to bow out and second to be swept. The Blues were too banged around to match the Avalanche firepower. I was dead wrong on that one and underestimated the coaching of Paul Maurice along with key secondary players such as Andrew Copp, Mason Appleton and Adam Lowry. That grind and grit gave the Jets the edge. Josh Morrissey was superb too as well as dead exhausted in that third overtime. He’s an underrated defenseman who deserves more credit. How about former Blueshirt Neal Pionk forcing McDavid into a turnover that led directly to Connor beating Smith upstairs. It caught Edmonton in a change. Those small details are essential in these pressure packed games. McDavid messed up. His team was eliminated.

It’s still strange to see former Rangers like Ryan McDonagh playing for the Lightning while Anthony Duclair skates for the Panthers. He sure has been well traveled. What’s that? His sixth team. I’ll give it a shot without checking. Rangers. Coyotes. Blackhawks. Blue Jackets. Senators. Panthers. I’ll know later on if I got the order correct.

Anton Stralman and Keith Yandle also play for Florida. Joel Quenneville has used both in and out of the lineup. Yandle might see his Iron Man streak come to an end next season. It looks like Florida will dump his contract. He’s still a good offensive D, but struggles in his end. Stralman is still around. A credit to his work ethic. I kind of miss seeing Brian Boyle play. I hope the Rangers consider hiring him as a face-off coach. They need help. Wouldn’t that be a good hire? That’s for Chris Drury to decide along with who is the next coach. The off-season will be interesting. Sandpaper is needed. You notice what most of these teams have. They work very hard. Tenacity is something that’s needed.

And you got Talbot trying to carry the Wild back against heavy favorite Vegas. He’s played for both Edmonton and Calgary. Now Minnesota where he’s the guy with Kaapo Kahkonen waiting in the wings. Mats Zuccarello also is playing there with Kaprizov. The ex-Rangers. You could probably put a team together consisting of former players taking part. Even Nick Holden is playing for the Golden Knights. He even picked up two helpers in a win. Go figure. Jesper Fast and Brady Skjei trying to help the Hurricanes advance. Both key parts of that team. Carl Hagelin is hitting the links.

Rangers Trivia: Who was the compensation for the Rangers signing Adam Graves?

It’s like taking a time machine Back To The Future. You arrive in 1991 and things are so different. The Rangers were before Neil Smith pulled the trigger on Mark Messier while also acquiring Jeff Beukeboom. Suddenly, you had three former Oilers including heart and soul Graves an integral part of the Blueshirts. The rest is history.

Trivia Answer: Troy Mallette

Posted in Column, NHL Playoffs, NYRangers | Tagged 2021 Playoffs, Adam Graves, Aleksander Barkov, Anthony Duclair, Anton Stralman, Brady Skjei, Cam Talbot, Canadiens, Connor McDavid, Golden Knights, Ilya Sorokin, Islanders, Jack Campbell, Jeff Beukeboom, Jesper Fast, Jets, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, Josh Morrissey, Keith Yandle, Kirill Kaprizov, Kyle Connor, Leon Draisaitl, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mark Messier, Mark Stone, Mason Marchment, Mats Zuccarello, Mike Smith, Morgan Rielly, Neal Pionk, Nick Holden, Nick Suzuki, Nikita Kucherov, Oilers, Panthers, Patric Hornqvist, Penguins, Rangers, Spencer Knight, Tristan Jarry, Wild, William Nylander, Zach Parise | 1 Comment

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game Five for Islanders/Penguins, Bruins finish off Capitals, Oilers’ meltdown in The Peg, Plus Rick Middleton ranks as worst Rangers’ trade ever

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Derek

It was a week ago that there was a lot of excitement for fans of 16 NHL teams. Now, we’re down to 14 with two more teams facing elimination tonight.

The Avalanche are already waiting for the Golden Knights, who host the Wild for Game Five later. If they win, it’ll be four in a row after losing Game One. Mark Stone’s big goal in Game Three and celebration pumped up Vegas, who have took over even without Max Pacioretty. With Marc-Andre Fleury playing brilliantly in net, there hasn’t been much Kirill Kaprizov can do. Cam Talbot hasn’t had a bad series either. His team has been severely outplayed by a serious Stanley Cup contender intent on providing an appetizing second round match up that’s highly anticipated. We’ll see if they end it.

There’s a pretty big Game Five between the Islanders and Penguins. The series is all even at two apiece with the pivotal game at Pittsburgh. The question is after unravelling in a lopsided Game Four loss before a raucous atmosphere at Nassau Coliseum, can the Pens answer the bell tonight? Sidney Crosby has no points in three straight and Jake Guentzel has been very quiet. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang showed frustration against the gritty Barry Trotz coached Islanders, who have done this before to these Pens. It can’t only be Jeff Carter and Brandon Tanev providing the offense for Pittsburgh. For the Isles, rookie Ilya Sorokin is now the man in net. Having won both starts while Semyon Varlamov has struggled, he’s been cool like Fonz. Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier are leading the way while Mat Barzal sets up teammates and rookie Oliver Wahlstrom is proving he belongs. Is it again advantage Long Island or can the Penguins answer back?

The other team now patiently waiting for the second round to begin are the much improved Bruins. A week ago, they were beaten in overtime by the Caps and nearly fell behind two games to none. However, a huge tying goal from Taylor Hall changed things. Brad Marchand provided his usual overtime heroics followed by a game tying power play goal in Game Three before Craig Smith took full advantage of Justin Schultz’ laziness after Ilya Samsonov dropped the puck for him behind the net. It was all too stunning. Washington never recovered. Boston dominated Game Four and led by David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask, ousted the beat up Caps yesterday to advance in five. Honestly, it looked like several Washington players were not themselves including Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and the ghost of John Carlson. Despite a lot of nastiness in the first three games, even Tom Wilson, Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd couldn’t save the defeated Capitals from a third straight first round exit. Ovechkin is a free agent. I think he’s loyal and will stay. But expect changes in DC including Evgeny Kuznetsov likely shopped for his carelessness.

As far as the Oilers go, the less said, the better. How do you lead a must win Game Three 4-1 with under nine minutes left and then totally meltdown in a shocking 5-4 overtime loss at Winnipeg? Take nothing away from the Jets, who never gave up. Helped by an awful interference penalty on Josh Archibald, they quickly scored on a power play. But then got goals 16 seconds apart to tie it up. They did it without the great support of their fans. That should’ve been advantage Edmonton. Instead, they imploded. This was the Miracle On Manchester. It was the same Kings stunning the Red Wings. Insanity. You’d figure with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl coming to life, it would be enough. Not so fast. And in sudden death, a crucial face-off loss led directly to a bullet from Nik Ehlers stunning Mike Smith for the fourth unanswered goal to give the Jets a 3-0 stranglehold. They also can wrap it up later due to the ridiculous NHL schedule that has both North Division series playing back to backs. That includes an intriguing Game Three between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens, who will finally dress Cole Caufield.

There’s a lot to dissect in the first round. While Boston has moved on, the Pens are in a life and death struggle with the Isles. You have the Hurricanes knowing they must hold serve tomorrow in Game Five against the resilient Predators,who beat them twice in Nashville thanks to double overtime heroics. Do they miss Jaccob Slavin? Injuries are always part of the best Playoffs. That one should be intriguing to follow.

That’s what makes the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy to win in sports. It takes so much sacrifice and commitment to get to 16 wins. Better known as 16W if you rooted for the Devils in the glory days when they played at The Meadowlands. There are so many more stories and subplots coming. That includes Nazem Kadri seeing his playoff shadow. Will he ever learn? It could cost Colorado if that second round happens against Vegas.

There’s nothing going on in Rangers Town. Unless you’re following a weakened Worlds that features Colin Blackwell and Kevin Rooney on Team USA along with Zac Jones. Exactly. Take a look at the Canadian roster that’s 0-2. It’s pointless. Usually, I have a mild interest in the tournament. Not this time.

And finally, has there ever been a worse trade made by the Rangers than the one that sent future power forward Rick Middleton to the Bruins for a washed up Ken Hodge? Who do you think wanted that one? Maybe Phil Esposito, who for as great a player as he was, was a total disaster as Coach and GM after retirement. Sure. He gets credit for leading the underdog ’79 Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup Final before they lost to the Canadiens’ dynasty. Even Carol Vadnais was instrumental during that run built around John Davidson, Ron Greschner, Dave and Don Maloney, Anders Hedberg, Don Murdoch, Ron Duguay and Walt Tkaczuk. Why did they trade Mike McEwen in a package for Barry Beck? I know Beck was All-Star caliber. Ultimately, injuries finished his career. “Shoot The Puck, Barry!”

Regarding Middleton, he totaled 46 goals and 90 points his first two seasons on Broadway. Hodge didn’t even reach that total in his two years before hanging up the skates. Middleton with the Bruins scored 40 or more goals five consecutive years including a career high 51 (19 PPG) in ’81-82 for Boston. He topped the 100 point mark twice including a career best 105 in ’83-84. Middleton spent 12 years in Beantown producing at over a point-per-game clip. Over 881 games as a Boston Bruin, he finished with 402 goals, 496 assists and 898 points. He also was a plus-220.

For his 14-year NHL career, Middleton wound up with 448 goals, 540 assists and 988 points in 1,005 games. Why isn’t he in the Hockey Hall Of Fame? Those numbers are certainly good enough. Is it due to him not reaching 500 goals and 1,000 points? That didn’t stop them from inducting popular Bruins power forward Cam Neely. Middleton had a postseason where he put up 11 goals and 33 points in ’83. He went 45-55-100 in 114 playoff games. They lost to the great Islanders Dynasty. In his final season back in ’87-88, Boston reached the Stanley Cup Final before falling to another dynasty in the Oilers. He shared the captaincy with Ray Bourque. In 19 games, Middleton had five goals with five assists. Boston played 23 during that run. They were swept. Game Four was the infamous Blackout at Boston Garden. They stopped play and instead replayed the game at Northlands Coliseum where Edmonton completed the unconventional sweep.

I’m old enough to remember Neely. He came over from Vancouver in another great trade and evolved into a dominant power forward who hit 50 goals three different times. That included the memorable 50 in 49 during ’93-94 before injuries derailed his 13-year career. Neely finished with 395 goals and 299 assists for a total of 694 points in only 726 games. He went 344-246-590 with 921 penalty minutes and a plus-137 in 525 games as a Bruin. Was he better than Middleton? I know what my father’s answer would be. He liked Neely as did my brother and I. It stands to reason that if Neely is in, so should Middleton.

I had wanted to do something about Rick Middleton for a while. That’s a regrettable trade in Rangers’ history. They’ve had many. Name one worse.

Posted in Column, NHL Playoffs, NYRangers | Tagged 1979, 2021 Playoffs, Alex Ovechkin, Anders Hedberg, Anthony Beauvillier, Avalanche, bad trades, Barry Trotz, Brad Marchand, Brock Nelson, Bruins, Cam Neely, Cam Talbot, Canadiens Dynasty, Capitals, Carol Vadnais, Connor McDavid, Dave and Don Maloney, David Pastrnak, Don Murdoch, Evgeni Malkin, Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Ilya Samsonov, Ilya Sorokin, Islanders, Islanders Dynasty, Jaccob Slavin, Jake Guentzel, Jets, John Davidson, Josh Archibald, Josh Bailey, Justin Schultz, Ken Hodge, Kirill Kaprizov, Kris Letang, Leon Draisaitl, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mark Stone, Mat Barzal, Nazem Kadri, Nicklas Backstrom, Nik Ehlers, Oilers, Oilers Dynasty, Oliver Wahlstrom, Patrice Bergeron, Penguins, Phil Esposito, Predators, Rangers, Rick Middleton, Ron Greschner, Sidney Crosby, Stanley-Cup, T.J. Oshie, Taylor Hall, Tuukka Rask, Wild | Leave a comment

John Davidson returns to Blue Jackets, Playoff observations on Bruins/Caps, MacKinnon and latest Kadri cheap shot

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Derek

Everyone knows how good a person John Davidson is. That didn’t change after he and former Rangers’ GM Jeff Gorton were fired by Garden CEO James Dolan. As expected, Davidson kept it classy in thanking the Rangers for the opportunity to return and be Team President for two seasons. Even though it ended badly, he gets it.

It goes without any surprise that Davidson landed on his feet by accepting the same role he had previously in Columbus. After two years away when he decided to return to the Blueshirts in an identical front office role, JD predictably wound up back with the Blue Jackets. The story broke last night by the Columbus Dispatch. It was confirmed today in an announcement.

John Davidson on choosing to return to Columbus rather than explore other opportunities: "It was an easy decision. … I will say that the phone did ring, and it rang quite a bit actually. My choice and my wife and my family's choice is right here in Columbus." #CBJ
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) May 20, 2021

Emphasizing that he enjoyed his time spent in Columbus, Davidson said that it’s a nice city to live in. Obviously, he wants to draw attention away from the narrative that players don’t want to play there. As evidenced with the recent departures of Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene and Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Blue Jackets still fielded a competitive team in a very good Central Division. However, injuries and a schedule that included facing top three Carolina, Florida and Tampa didn’t bode well. With the prospect of former coach John Tortorella leaving following an active trade deadline, it was obvious that change was needed. Rehiring Davidson is a good move to help rebuild the franchise.

There's no classier person than JD! Prove the critics wrong. https://t.co/cB1JGTaGNw
— Derek (@NewYorkPuck) May 20, 2021

Good luck to the classy Davidson. It’ll be interesting to see what he does this off-season. When asked about former Rangers coach David Quinn, he indicated that Quinn is a good man and should be considered for the Columbus coaching vacancy. We’ll see what they decide. As long as JD is there, it’ll continue to be Blueshirts Ohio. Much like the Lightning are Rangers South.

There were four games on a busy Wednesday night of the 2021 NHL Playoffs. The best one was Game Three between the evenly matched Bruins and Caps. In another nail-biting game that was decided in overtime again, Boston came back to defeat Washington 3-2 in double overtime. Trailing 2-1 following a David Pastrnak turnover that led directly to Nic Dowd tipping in a Garnet Hathaway shot, the Bruins rallied thanks to a clutch Brad Marchand power play goal in which he connected on a baseball bat swing to cash in. Despite only three shots in the third period, Boston forced sudden death. In it, they dominated the Caps for long stretches. Only Ilya Samsonov prevented the game from ending. Unfortunately, his drop pass behind the net for Justin Schultz backfired. With Schultz unable to retrieve it, Craig Smith intercepted the puck and beat a stunned Samsonov on a wraparound.

Afterwards, captain Alex Ovechkin was incensed. He screamed at both players. Figure it was in Russian. I don’t blame Ovechkin for being upset. His team had a great chance to regain home ice. Instead, a botched play between Samsonov and Schultz proved costly. The miscommunication allowed Smith to get a gimme. Something that shouldn’t happen in such a well played game. It really has been a great series so far due to the physicality, tenacity and the fact all three games have required overtime. Taylor Hall has been good for Boston scoring a pair of key goals. He’s fit in well with David Krejci and Smith. As for the Caps, they got Evgeny Kuznetsov back. However, we’re without Lars Eller. Their bottom six have played well with Hathaway and Dowd leading the way. They haven’t gotten enough out of Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin. Game Four is tomorrow.

In the second game of their first round series, the Avalanche doubled up the Blues 6-3 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead back to St. Louis. Nathan MacKinnon put on another show. After notching three points in Game One, he went for a hat trick and four points to give him seven in two games. Just astonishing stuff from the Colorado all world center. He’s been up for the Hart Trophy the last couple of seasons. One of the game’s premier players, he centers the dynamic top line that features Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. They’ve been clicking on all cylinders. If they’re on, look out.

In a disappointing development, Nazem Kadri had another foolish cheap shot that will result in a suspension. The gritty second center plays physical. However, his past has seen him push the boundaries. He got two costly suspensions for the Maple Leafs in crushing first round losses to the rival Bruins. His latest bad hit saw him again come from the blindside and earn a match and game misconduct for an Illegal Check To The Head. A no no. The Blues made it interesting cutting a 3-0 deficit to one before the Avalanche erased any doubt with two empty netters including MacKinnon getting the hat trick. As for Kadri, it’s brutal. How many times can he keep doing the same thing over and over again? Given his track record, this could result in a significant suspension of around seven to eight games. If it is, he might not be available for the second round. At what point will he learn? He’s too good a player.

The only surprise last night was the Jets defeating the Oilers 5-2 behind the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck. They shutdown Connor McDavid, who had only two shots and was in for two goals against. Leon Draisaitl was no better. Winnipeg skated without Nik Ehlers and Dubois. They lead Edmonton 1-0. Game Two is Friday. Tonight is Game One between classic Original Six rivals Montreal and Toronto. The first playoff match-up between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs since 1979. It is highly anticipated. Can Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher provide the underdog Habs a spark against the heavily favored Leafs? When will Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Cole Caufield and Alexei Romanov play? Or is coach Dominique Ducharme the latest Montreal coach in over his head? Habs versus Leafs is as good as it gets.

Posted in Battle News, NHL Playoffs | Tagged 2021 Playoffs, Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Romanov, Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Blues, Brad Marchand, Brendan Gallagher, Bruins, Canadiens, Caps, Carey Price, Cole Caufield, Columbus, Connor Hellebuyck, Connor McDavid, Craig Smith, David Quinn, Dominique Ducharme, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Garnet Hathaway, Ilya Samsonov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jets, John Davidson, Justin Schultz, Lars Eller, Leon Draisaitl, Maple Leafs, Montreal, Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri, Nic Dowd, Nicklas Backstrom, Oilers, Rangers, Taylor Hall, Team President, Toronto | Leave a comment

All even through two games, Pens hold off Isles

Posted on May 19, 2021 by Derek

AP Photo courtesy NHL Public Relations via Getty Images

So far, three first round series are all even through two games. They include the Bruins/Capitals, Islanders/Penguins and Wild/Golden Knights. These could go long. Especially based on how hard fought they’ve been.

In a pivotal Game Two that saw the Caps very close to taking a 2-0 series lead on the strength of Garnet Hathaway’s second goal, the Bruins got a jolt from Taylor Hall. The deadline addition had a big shift to set up a shot and then steer in the rebound past veteran Craig Anderson to force overtime. His late heroics allowed Brad Marchand to set a new Bruins record for quickest overtime goal when he finished off a Matt Grzelcyk pass 39 second into sudden death to send the best-of-seven series back to Boston all tied. That clutch OT winner was a second faster than Bruins legend Bobby Orr’s memorable Stanley Cup winner. Game Three is Wednesday night.

Taylor Hall ties it up during a scrum in front of the Caps' net.

3-3 game. pic.twitter.com/5XnLo4BrOb
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 18, 2021

Brad Marchand wins it in overtime.

What a feed from Matt Grzelcyk. pic.twitter.com/iKWwCWl8hr
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 18, 2021

MARCHAND OT WINNER
https://t.co/HCDzq2VxRF
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 18, 2021

On Monday night, there were three games played. The first one saw the Pens play with more urgency in edging the Isles 2-1 to even the first round rematch from 2019. They’re hoping for a better result than that disappointing sweep. The pesky Pens rode two first period goals from Bryan Rust and Jeff Carter on a rusty Semyon Varlamov to pull out a one-goal win on home ice. Rust surprised Varlamov with a floater that he flat out missed with his glove. Carter was able to put away a feed in front after both Kasperi Kapanen and Jared McCann took some punishment behind the net. The Islanders made it interesting on a filthy backhand top shelf from Josh Bailey in the second. However, Tristan Jarry played much better. He made 37 saves on 38 shots to earn the victory. Even a late closing the hand on the puck minor from Rust didn’t cost them. The hard work of the third line featuring Brandon Tanev was evident in stifling the Isles. After a split, one of the NHL’s best home teams will bank on Nassau Coliseum when the series shifts to Long Island for the next two games.

That's 40 career playoff goals for @JeffCarter_77!

Spoiler: this one is definitely our favorite… pic.twitter.com/yD2Qedidu6
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 19, 2021

The second game between interstate rivals was much calmer. Unlike the fireworks and wild finish where Brayden Point broke Florida hearts, the Lightning were more methodical in a 3-1 win to take Game Two. They got the game’s first two goals including Steven Stamkos banking one in off Anton Stralman past a helpless Chris Driedger on a two-on-one. The second goal of the first was put home by Ondrej Palat following a strong Point power move around MacKenzie Weegar in which his shot banked off the crossbar right to Palat, who followed it up. Even though Mason Marchment got one back in the second, Tampa played tighter defense in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 32 saves on 33 shots. That included a few key ones when it was needed. Driedger performed well for the Cats in making 26 of 28 stops. However, it wasn’t enough with top Panthers Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau held in check. Florida missed Sam Bennett, who served a questionable one game suspension. Why wasn’t Ryan McDonagh suspended? Department of Injustice. Yanni Gourde sealed it with an empty netter. Now, the Bolts are in the driver’s seat with the next two at home. Does Florida have an answer?

Point hits the crossbar on what would have been a beauty, but the rebound Palat buried will do just fine.
https://t.co/t2N2uIMcQz
— The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast (@rayanddregs) May 19, 2021

In the night cap, it took the Golden Knights five periods and part of an overtime to finally get to Cam Talbot. Following a Matt Dumba goal through a good screen from Marcus Foligno that Marc-Andre Fleury couldn’t pick up, Vegas answered quickly. Jonathan Marchessault beat Talbot with a perfect wrist shot high glove off the goalpost only 18 seconds later from Reilly Smith and William Karlsson at 12:25 of the second period to swing the momentum. Less than five minutes later, Alex Tuch benefited from an Alex Pietrangelo dump in that took a funny bounce right to Mattias Janmark, who found Tuch in front for the put away with 2:41 left in the second. That gave the Knights their first lead of the series. Fleury continued his magnificent goaltending. He finished with 34 saves on 35 shots including denying 17 Wild offerings in a busy first. Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots in the low scoring and surprisingly tight checking series. He was particularly good against the Minnesota second line of Foligno, Joel Eriksson-Ek and Jordan Greenway. Kirill Kaprizov had a quiet game, taking a tripping minor with 90 seconds left in regulation. Instead of sitting on the puck, Vegas finished off the Wild 3-1 on another Tuch goal on the power play from Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone. Even without key power forward Max Pacioretty, they are tied with the Wild going back to St. Paul.

Alex Tuch gives Vegas their first lead of the series!

Listen to that crowd. 🥳 #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/EEldIirOPE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 19, 2021

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1394877493602144258?s=19

As for the other series, the Avalanche sent a strong message to the Blues in a convincing 4-1 home win on Sunday. Nathan MacKinnon beasted and feasted by outplaying Ryan O’Reilly with a super three point performance. He scored twice and set up another goal as Colorado scored three unanswered to take a 1-0 lead on St. Louis. Captain Gabriel Landeskog threw down early with Brayden Schenn winning decisively. It definitely seemed like the message was sent. Cale Makar scored on the power play and hustled back to break up a Blues’ chance. It was all systems go for the Avalanche, who got a great redirection from Landeskog for a big goal from MacKinnon. If they play that way, they’ll advance. We’ll see if the physical Blues have a response later tonight.

Mess with the Finn, you get the Swede

https://t.co/NAmhmMjBye
— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) May 18, 2021

MacKinnon to Landeskog -> GOAL.@Avalanche go up 3-1. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/etRH8VZqDc
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) May 18, 2021

The Hurricanes took care of the Predators in Game One by pulling away in the third for a 5-2 win before very loud fans. It was packed. Even with the crowd masked up, they made a lot of noise in support of their team. Jordan Staal scored twice including a big goal that made it 4-2. Nino Niederreiter also tallied as Carolina took a 1-0 series lead behind rookie goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 22 saves on 24 shots to earn his first postseason win. It’ll be interesting to see how he does. Petr Mrazek is the backup.

JORDAN STAAL. HOW!?!?

FROM THAT ANGLE!? #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/dcgQbMkhRk
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) May 18, 2021

Jordan Staal slips his second of the game 5 hole along the ice https://t.co/hEDHCKeF2I
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 18, 2021

The North Division First Round starts on Thursday following the conclusion of Game 56 for Calgary and Vancouver. The Maple Leafs host the rival Canadiens for Game One. It looks like Montreal should have both Brendan Gallagher and Carey Price back. Both played in tune-ups for the AHL affiliate. Somewhat astonishingly, it looks like rookie Cole Caufield will not be in the lineup along with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defenseman Alexander Romanov. It makes no sense. What on earth are they doing? Habs fans are incensed. Eric Staal will also play despite being ineffective. Yikes.

Friendly reminder that the favorite to win the cup, the Colorado Avalanche, are playing 20 year old Alex Newhook in the lineup

But the Habs have scratched Cole Caufield and Jesperi Kotkaniemi for "experience"

Every other team in the league is laughing at us
— AJ (@GenoManager) May 18, 2021

yep. You're basically saying that you won't want to win.
— Anne, PhD (@AnneLaur) May 18, 2021

Posted in NHL Playoffs | Tagged 2021 Playoffs, Aleksander Barkov, Alex Nedeljkovic, Alex Pietrangelo, Alex Tuch, Alexander Romanov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Avalanche, Blues, Brad Marchand, Brandon Tanev, Brayden Point, Brayden Schenn, Brendan Gallagher, Bruins, Bryan Rust, Cale Makar, Cam Talbot, Canadiens, Capitals, Carey Price, Cole Caufield, Craig Anderson, Eric Staal, first round, Gabriel Landeskog, Game Two, Garnet Hathaway, Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Islanders, Jared McCann, Jeff Carter, Joel Eriksson-Ek, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jonathan Marchessault, Jordan Greenway, Jordan Staal, Josh Bailey, Kasperi Kapanen, Kirill Kaprizov, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Marc-Andre Fleury, Marcus Foligno, Mason Marchment, Matt Dumba, Max Pacioretty, Nathan MacKinnon, Nino Niederreiter, Ondrej Palat, Panthers, Penguins, Predators, Reilly Smith, Ryan McDonagh, Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Bennett, Semyon Varlamov, Steven Stamkos, Taylor Hall, Tristan Jarry, Wild, William Karlsson, Yanni Gourde | Leave a comment

NHL Playoffs: Three overtimes and an unbelievable finish provide fans with excitement, Panthers and Lightning put on a show

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Derek

There’s nothing like Playoff Hockey. How much so? Even celebrities from other sports take notice.

Playoff hockey just hits different
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) May 16, 2021

Aside from being nice on the eyes, apparently former LGPA pro golfer Paige Spiranac knows her hockey. Of course, she was referencing an unbelievable Game One between the Lightning and Panthers. It had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. It felt like five games packed into one between the bitter interstate rivals.

If that’s how the first Battle Of Florida is going to be played, we’re in for a treat. Not just orange slices either. Brayden Point scored the game-winner with 1:14 left in regulation on a breakaway to propel the defending champion Lightning to a come from behind 5-4 win before 9,000 screaming fans.

The clutch playoff performer who could easily have shared the Conn Smythe with captain Victor Hedman a year ago, was instrumental in the one-goal win. It was also Point converting on the power play from Nikita Kucherov to tie the score at four. Off came Sam Bennett, whose two undisciplined minor penalties cost his team dearly. Tampa Bay went 3-for-4 on the man-advantage. The five man top unit of a healthy Kucherov (2 PPG’s/assist), Steven Stamkos (2 assists), Point (2 goals), Hedman (3 assists) and Alex Killorn did most of the damage against the feisty Panthers, who probably deserved better.

As Bennett learned the hard way, he and his team must maintain their discipline to win this first round series. This game was so much more than special teams. There were three different periods that felt like they were played in different worlds. You had the chaotic first where after Bennett had a power play goal disallowed for pushing Andrei Vasilevskiy in the crease, Florida gave up a Blake Coleman shorthanded goal. He beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a backhand under the arm to give the Bolts the first goal.

However, the Cats didn’t let that turn of events sidetrack them. Instead, they showed so much energy and electricity that it resulted in a contentious first period that was very physical. Between the heavy hitting, scrums, penalties and intense dislike between these rivals, you sure had the makings for a classic showdown. Even more, here came Florida captain Aleksander Barkov responding with his own power play goal on a rocket one-timer off a good feed from sidekick Jonathan Huberdeau to tie it less than two minutes later. His goal took advantage of a dangerous hit from behind by Ryan McDonagh on Anthony Duclair that could’ve been a boarding major. Had he been seriously hurt, it would’ve been. Instead, Duclair stayed in the game. Hockey player!

There was more action post whistle that led to some entertaining four-on-four hockey. Something we don’t get enough of. How about the wrestling match Barkov got into with Tampa defensemen Jan Ruuta. As legendary hockey voice Doc Emrick would say, “What chaos.”

It sure was. There were a few coincidental minors in the game. Somewhat interestingly, that four-on-four didn’t favor the ultra skilled Lightning. With Barkov off, it was the Panthers who had the better of the play. They really tested Vasilevskiy, who did a good job keeping his team in it. Ironically, Barkov came back from serving the roughing penalty and skated into open space before threading the needle to ex-Bolt Carter Verhaeghe for a bullet past Vasilevskiy at 16:31. That gave the Cats a 2-1 lead. One they deserved. They really outplayed the Bolts, who for a while we’re stuck on eight shots. They were on their heels. Thank Vasilevskiy for bailing them out.

After so many battles during and after whistles, the second saw the more experienced Lightning take control. Looking more settled in and not getting into the track meet the very fast Panthers wanted, they were aided by a lazy Bennett holding minor on Coleman. It didn’t take long for Kucherov to dust off the cobwebs. After blowing a breakaway earlier, he didn’t miss a Hedman pass over into his office, slamming home a one-timer by Bobrovsky to knot the score. The former Hart winner who missed the entire regular season, was just getting warmed up.

With Tampa doing a better job of keeping the Panthers in front of them, that allowed Vasilevskiy to see the shots and stop them. He didn’t have to work as hard. Florida only got one power play compared to three for the Bolts. Some of it was frustration due to some of the liberties Tampa Bay took with Florida’s players. Overall, while the refs led by veteran Dan O’Rourke had firm control, they definitely could’ve made a few more calls on the defending champs. They had the benefit with a couple of key misses during a frenetic third.

On another power play, the Lightning took full advantage of another Florida blown coverage to take the lead. With time winding down on Markus Nutivaara’s trip of Anthony Cirelli, the ineffective Panthers’ penalty kill unit did a poor job by allowing Stamkos and Hedman to find the seam across for another wicked Kucherov finish upstairs on Bobrovsky. His second of the period at 14:51 made it 3-2 Bolts.

The Kuch is loose!

Nikita Kucherov finds the back of the net for his second power-play goal of the night! #GoBolts #FLAvsTBL pic.twitter.com/mIVZAd0Cn0
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) May 17, 2021

Undeterred, the Cats nearly clawed back to tie it. But Vasilevskiy made a key save. On the flip side, Bobrovsky made a lot of quality stops including a pair of denials on Stamkos from his spot on the power play. He didn’t have a bad game. However, it was an overplay on Point’s tying marker that came back to bite him. Overall, he stopped 35 of 40 shots with 30 of 31 coming at even strength. Some of his best work came in the crazy third including a clutch save on Cirelli following a turnover.

There continued to be a lot of animosity and ferocity between the two teams who had a line brawl in a recent regular season meeting that had over 100 penalty minutes. For the Lightning, Coleman was involved in quite a bit of it. In the first, he slashed Frank Vatrano, who got called for embellishment to the displeasure of the pro Panthers crowd. Late in the second, he got into a tussle with fourth liner Ryan Lomberg, who wouldn’t back down. Each were sent off for matching roughs. It certainly fired up the fans. To be honest, this is the series I was most excited about. I knew it would be intense. I hope it goes seven games.

After not having their best period due to penalty trouble, the Cats came out flying in the third period. On just a great shift started by Owen Tippett, Bennett was able to find Huberdeau behind the Tampa D. Despite getting hooked from behind, he was able to surprise Vasilevskiy with a trick shot five-hole that tied the game at 1:27. If that was his intention, it was brilliant. Huberdeau was splendid throughout.

On another terrific shift, Huberdeau continued to take over. Off a Bennett pass, he somehow managed to drive the net and do a spin-a-rama. Instead of shooting, he made a brilliant turnaround pass for an easy Tippett tap in for his first postseason goal at 4:04. The degree of difficulty on that play was mesmerizing. Huberdeau has always been overlooked due to where he plays. Barkov gets most of the ink. I don’t think anyone can call Huberdeau underrated anymore. He had a goal and two assists.

Jonathan Huberdeau is simply unbelievable. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JuawVYd1HW
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 17, 2021

Over a minute later, another dust-up happened when Cirelli got into it with Mason Marchment. The son of former NHL defenseman Bryan Marchment, gave as good as he got from Cirelli. Both got coincidental roughing minors. That meant more four-on-four play. As good as the first three games of the playoffs were with them each needing overtime to decide, this was by far the best. That’s how competitive it was. Nobody refused to finish a check. Both teams combined for 90 hits led by the Panthers, 54-36. Radko Gudas led everyone with 11. He’s the kind of physical defenseman that you want on your side in such battles. The game was so hard fought that shots slightly favored Tampa 40-39 and face-offs were 38-35, Lightning. Total attempts were dead even at 64 apiece.

For over half a period, the Panthers played winning hockey. They avoided bad penalties and played the Lightning at even strength. They got to their defense and escalated the physicality like the first. However, an unnecessary second minor penalty from Bennett changed the game. Perhaps seeking retribution for an uncalled interference on Barkov where he got leveled, Bennett charged Coleman from behind into the boards. It was an obvious one. As effective a player as the throwback player is with his old school Lanny McDonald mustache, it was the kind of mistake you can’t make in such a game.

Handed another power play, it didn’t take long for the lethal Lightning unit to strike. Forty-one seconds in, Kucherov took a Hedman feed and faked shot to draw an overplaying Bobrovsky. He over committed so badly that once Kucherov passed over for an open Point in the slot, the shot was a gimme into an open net to tie the score with exactly seven minutes left. On all three Tampa power play goals, the Panthers did a poor job of getting in lanes. They didn’t take them away. It was way too easy for the Bolts.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1394114023248089093?s=19

With the game again tied, neither side sat back. Instead, they each went for it. There were a couple of Florida hiccups in their end that only a sharp Bobrovsky was able to cover up. He made a lot of good saves. So did Vasilevskiy, who stayed calm under pressure in crunch time.

This one could end.
— Derek (@NewYorkPuck) May 17, 2021

A missed high stick on Alex Wennberg would prove pivotal late in regulation. The attacking center appeared to get knocked down by an errant Tampa stick. No call. Moments later, McDonagh somehow found Point behind the Florida D for a breakaway. The clutch performer took his time before going to a backhand deke five-hole on Bobrovsky to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead with 74 seconds remaining. It was the kind of superb goal he scored during last year’s Cup run. That’s the kind of impact player Point is.

Inject it into my veins https://t.co/FaS3l2Pjg9
— Kim Paulsen (@kimwrona7) May 17, 2021

With Bobrovsky off for an extra attacker, the Cats did get off a last second shot. However it missed the mark and a wide rebound came after the buzzer. That gave the Lightning a 1-0 series lead. It ended a great game that had everything. Scoring. Hitting. Goaltending. Momentum swings. Emotions. What a battle it was. I can’t wait for Game Two.

While the previous three postseason games all required sudden death, none were as insane as Tampa/Florida. On Saturday, a T.J. Oshie shot was redirected by Nic Dowd through Tuukka Rask to give the Capitals a 1-0 series lead on the Bruins. A game where veteran Craig Anderson was needed to replace injured starter Vitek Vanecek. He wasn’t perfect allowing several rebounds, but Anderson did a good job to get the Caps the win over a good Bruins team, who didn’t get much out of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Game Two is coming up.

On Sunday afternoon, Kyle Palmieri played the OT hero when after using his strength to bowl over Mike Matheson, he found a Jean-Gabriel Pageau pass and elevated it by a shaky Tristan Jarry high, short side for the winner in an Islanders’ 4-3 overtime win over the Penguins. Palmieri matched his output post trade deadline with a pair on Jarry. Pageau did what he does picking up three points (1-2-3). Oliver Wahlstrom had a helper and Brock Nelson scored. Every goal went high glove. Sidney Crosby scored as did Kasperi Kapanen to answer a Nelson third period goal 31 seconds later that forced extras. Ilya Sorokin picked up the win in place of injured starter Semyon Varlamov.

In a superlative performance, Cam Talbot made 42 saves to outduel a brilliant Marc-Andre Fleury who made 29 stops on 30 shots, giving the Wild a 1-0 win in overtime over the Golden Knights. Joel Eriksson-Ek won it on a broken play. The puck went off Marcus Foligno right to Eriksson-Ek, whose quick shot went blocker side to beat Fleury a few minutes into sudden death. Even though Talbot made 13 more saves, Fleury made several remarkable glove saves that were highlight reel. The future Hall Of Famer isn’t the reason his team lost. We’ll see how Vegas responds to some adversity.

There will be three more playoff games on Monday evening. You’ll have Game Two between Boston and Washington. Plus the start of the Predators and Hurricanes getting underway. The late game features the Blues at the Avalanche. It’s unfortunate that there’s no fourth game. Due to the ridiculousness of the NHL schedule forcing the Canucks and Flames to make up the rest of their games, they’re still playing.

That means no North Division playoffs until later this week for Canadiens versus Maple Leafs and Jets against Oilers. It makes no sense. How many fans tuned into Calgary’s 6-5 overtime win over the Canucks in last night’s night cap? You have to be pretty diehard. My Carolina/Blackhawks Twitter friend told me Elias Lindholm got the winner. Technically, you had four games go to overtime this weekend. All five were decided by a goal. Hopefully, that trend continues.

A final thought. Seeing how in all these games the face-offs, hitting and shots were very important, I sure hope Rangers brass are paying close attention. Especially to the physicality and intense battles during and after whistles. That it factor is what’s lacking. Whoever they hire must address the unwillingness of the top stars to play that tenacious style. Hint: 10 and 93.

Posted in NHL Playoffs | Tagged 2021 Playoffs, Aleksander Barkov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Anthony Cirelli, Anthony Duclair, Blake Coleman, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, Brock Nelson, Bruins, Cam Talbot, Capitals, Carter Verhaeghe, Craig Anderson, David Pastrnak, Game One, goaltending, Golden Knights, hitting, Ilya Sorokin, Islanders, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Joel Eriksson-Ek, Jonathan Huberdeau, Kasperi Kapanen, Kyle Palmieri, Lightning, Marc-Andre Fleury, Marcus Foligno, Nic Dowd, Nikita Kucherov, Oliver Wahlstrom, one-goal games, overtime, Owen Tippett, Panthers, Patrice Bergeron, Penguins, physicality, playoff hockey, Radko Gudas, Ryan McDonagh, Sam Bennett, scoring, Semyon Varlamov, Sergei Bobrovsky, shooting, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, sudden death, T.J. Oshie, Tristan Jarry, Tuukka Rask, Victor Hedman, Vitek Vanecek, Wild | Leave a comment

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:

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.
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.
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.
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?
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.

Posted in Devils, NHL | Tagged Adam Henrique, Alexander Semak, Brent Sutter, Brian Gionta, Bryce Salvador, Cory Schneider, David Clarkson, Fernando Pisani, Jeff Friesen, John Druce, Jordan Binnington, Keith Kinkaid, Kevin Weekes, Larry Robinson, Martin Brodeur, Petr Sykora, Robbie Ftorek, Ryan Carter, Scott Clemmensen, Scott Gomez, Steve Bernier, Steven Gionta, Taylor Hall | 1 Comment

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.

Posted in Column, NHL Playoffs, NYRangers | Tagged Adam Fox, Alain Vigneault, Alexis Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin, Bob Hartley, Brad Richards, Brandon Prust, Brian Boyle, Brian Leetch, Bruce Boudreau, Chris Drury, Chris Kreider, Claude Julien, Connor McDavid, Dan Girardi, David Quinn, Filip Chytil, Gerard Gallant, Glen Sather, Henrik Lundqvist, James Dolan, Jeff Gorton, John Davidson, John Tortorella, Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller, Larry Brooks, Leon Draisaitl, Marc Staal, Marian Gaborik, Mark Messier, Mika Zibanejad, Mike Babcock, Mike Grier, NHL Playoffs, Patrick Roy, Picks, Rangers, Rick Tocchet, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Strome, Sidney Crosby, Vitaly Kravtsov, Zac Jones | Leave a comment

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.

BREAKING: Rangers have dismissed David Quinn, Post has learned. Assistants other than Benoit Allaire also let go by Drury. Search will begin immediately.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) May 12, 2021

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.

Posted in Battle News, NYRangers | Tagged Bruce Boudreau, Chris Drury, Claude Julien, David Quinn, fired, Gerard Gallant, Hartford, James Dolan, Jeff Gorton, John Davidson, John Tortorella, Kris Knoblauch, Mike Babcock, Rangers, Rick Tocchet | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in Column, NYRangers | Tagged Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin, Blueshirts, Brett Howden, Bruins, Chris Drury, Column, David Quinn, Filip Chytil, Igor Shestyorkin, Jeff Gorton, John Davidson, Julien Gauthier, Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller, Kids, Libor Hajek, Mika Zibanejad, Morgan Barron, Nils Lundkvist, Pavel Buchnevich, Rangers, Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Strome, Tarmo Reunanen, Vitaly Kravtsov, Zac Jones | 2 Comments

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The Post Quinn Era begins, Gallant the frontrunner, Leetch right to leave, Lindgren gets fair deal, Playoff Picks

Rangers fire David Quinn

Kids prove that the Blueshirts have bright future

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