The Decade In Review: Memorable Rangers Moments, All Decade Team

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Derek

It’s hard to believe that the decade is coming to a close. It wasn’t that long ago that we were meeting Theo Fleury at a book signing for his unbelievable story of conquering the demons in Playing With Fire. That photo is still saved on my Google. That was in 2009. Yep. Ten years ago.

Here we are with 2019 coming to a close soon. It’ll be Christmas next week and Chanukah comes out late. Then New Year’s Eve with your favorite Bowl games and cool hockey mixed with the World Junior Championship. The year really is ending, which means a new decade starts up in 2020. That’s a Wow moment for me.

I guess the older you get, the harder it is to realize that the more relaxed 80’s and cool 90’s are in the rear view mirror. The age of innocence is gone. I remember a time when I played on my block and in the park. Came home from school and watched Voltron and Transformers back when cartoons were on network television. Now, it’s all junk. Kids can’t be kids.

What does this have to do with things you might ask. Oh. Everything. I’m old school. I know I’m not alone here. I’m sure Hasan has similar memories of a more laid back era where anything seemed possible. Now, it’s all front and center on the internet with childish arguments and on social media. They’ll fight you over anything and hide behind a computer screen. All the stuff I know now stemming back as far as 2000 is that the internet has ruined a lot of things. Simpler times need to come back.

All that fairly stated, it’s time to reflect back on the most successful Rangers decade since those 90’s. Ironically, it’s finishing similar to that era. No. We don’t have to bury our heads in the sand waiting for the next doom and gloom move that’ll fail like the Dark Ages. Thankfully, common sense prevailed this time with a renewed commitment to a rebuild. This team doesn’t have aging stars either. But a true superstar they paid top dollar for who’s playing like a top 10 player.

That’s the good news. The bad is they’ll likely miss the playoffs for a third consecutive year. The longest such stretch since The Dark Ages between ’98 thru ’04. I don’t count 2005 due to the cancellation of that entire season which saved this franchise. Most fans don’t want to hear that. But had things stayed the same, Glen Sather would’ve continued to screw up. The salary cap forced him to change the way he built the team. With an assist from legend Jaromir Jagr and a late 2000 seventh round pick by the name of Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers were saved.

The next decade saw them make the postseason in every year except one. From ’05-06 through ’16-17, they were one of the best teams in the NHL. They made at least the second round four times and reached three Conference Finals including their first Stanley Cup trip in 20 years. They became one of the most successful franchises during that era. The best part came during the first half of the decade spanning ’10-11 until ’14-15. They went from a first round elimination to the Alexander Ovechkin Capitals to three Eastern Conference Finals in three of the next four seasons. One with taskmaster John Tortorella and two with the more laid back Alain Vigneault. Both are still successful coaches in the league.

Thinking back, I don’t know which loss hurt more. The numbing feeling when Adam Henrique scored on a rebound to beat Henrik Lundqvist about a minute into sudden death to send the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals in Game Six of 2012. Or the excruciating Game Seven 2-0 shutout home defeat in 2015 to the Lightning in a perplexing Conference Final that ended the last serious run. To me, I consider 2014 a positive memory for to how valiantly that team fought back from a 3-1 series deficit to stun the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin Penguins in the second round. The heart they showed following the death of Martin St. Louis’s Mom France was unbelievable.

The way they rallied with Lundqvist having perhaps his greatest three games while St. Louis scored the emotional first goal appropriately enough on Mother’s Day in a Game Six win gave me full confidence they’d go into Pittsburgh and finish the job. Fittingly, it was some St. Louis hustle to create some more magic with Brad Richards that wound up being the series clincher in a nerve racking Game Seven they won by the skin of their teeth. The leadership which included Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Ryan McDonagh, Anton Stralman, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and American duo Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider stood up. That was a total T-E-A-M effort. Having former Cup winners Richards and St. Louis sure helped them accomplish the first ever 3-1 comeback in franchise history. So did Lundqvist, who made every clutch save and never allowed the Pens to grab another lead the final three games.

That Vigneault led team would conquer the Canadiens in the Conference Finals. McDonagh destroyed the team that drafted him with a monster series. The Rangers took the first two games up in Montreal and then split the next two to go up 3-1. Even without Carey Price, who was injured during a incidental collision with Kreider in Game One which set off the fireworks from ignorant Canadian media who ignored Alexei Emelin tripping a rushing Kreider right into Price, Montreal didn’t quit. They dug in and pulled out Game Three in overtime and then blew out the Rangers in Game Five at Bell Centre to put the pressure squarely on the Blueshirts. Prior to a hard Boyle forecheck and great pass setting up Moore’s great series winner near the conclusion of the second period, an acrobatic Lundqvist made a ridiculous save to rob Thomas Vanek. If he scores there, who knows.

They protected the 1-0 lead to get Lundqvist the shutout. It was bedlam at The Garden. It’s still the best game I’ve ever attended given the thrilling circumstances of seeing this team clinch the Wales Conference Trophy on home ice. A true wow did that really happen kind of magic moment. It was exhilaration in the stands. The first Stanley Cup appearance since 1994.

If only they had won the whole damn thing. As it turned out, Staples Center became the new house of horrors. Two goal leads blown in the third periods of Games 1 and 2. The uncalled Dwight King goaltender interference didn’t help matters. Neither did Vigneault opting to sit back and protect the lead against a bigger, stronger and more skilled opponent that wore them down in the third before putting the pin in the Ranger Voodoo doll to kill our souls in overtime. When they didn’t show up ready for a must win Game Three, it was over. Sure. They won Game Four and had a great chance at taking Game Five in Hollywood before the painful final script. What if they’d forced Game Six at MSG? I definitely think there’s a Game 7.

Instead, they failed miserably on power play chances in sudden death while Jonathan Quick stoned Kreider on a breakaway I thought he was scoring on. Then the cruel ending by of all people, Alec Martinez who also did in the Blackhawks. Go figure. It’s a sequence I’d like to forget or erase like the image of four Blueshirts standing around as Henrique put a loose puck by Lundqvist two years prior under Tortorella.

Sometimes, sports are cruel. They can break your heart. I’m still forever thankful I got to see this hexed franchise win in ’94 as a high school senior. Just to see the sheer joy it gave our Dad meant everything. I don’t know if they’ll ever get that close again as the 2014 Cup Final or third period of Game Seven in 2015 when it all went wrong. Of course, there was no Zuccarello either due to that crazy McDonagh shot he took off the helmet that nearly ended his career. It’s still astonishing that he made it all the way back. He is an inspiration and will always remain beloved in NYC.

I wish I could just throw away what happened in 2016 and 2017 with the latter proving to be the bitter end of some very good Ranger teams. I still can’t believe they lost in the second round to Ottawa and went out with a whimper at home Game Six. Yes. Sadly, we were there for the final postseason game of a heartbreaking decade. One filled with almosts instead of a fifth Stanley Cup Championship.

The window officially closed after that May night. It’s more astonishing that that Senators team nearly beat the eventual repeat champion Pens. They had to dig deep and work sudden death to win that series. Crazy. Look where they are now. Anthony Duclair is now their top finisher. How’s that for irony? The same player included in a package for Keith Yandle, who was good here in his year and a half but misused by AV. Remember how he underutilized Eric Staal? Wow. Talk about a waste.

You know. I don’t hate Vigneault. He had his way of coaching and was very successful in the Big Apple. So close to consecutive Cup appearances. The forwards simply didn’t get it done in that Game Seven. Blame whoever you want. The defense was the walking wounded with McDonagh, Girardi, Staal, Yandle and Kevin Klein all playing hurt. Had Mac been healthy, that might’ve been enough to win. Oh well.

Instead, here we are with a rebuilding team in Year Two looking like it’ll be three straight seasons without the playoffs under David Quinn. It’s not easy to get back when you’ve subtracted so many players who meant so much during that era. I left out Kevin Hayes, who certainly developed well under Vigneault by becoming a responsible two-way center. He struggled in those runs, but improved leaps and bounds by the time the team moved on from him last February. He now is part of an AV Flyers team that looks destined for at least a wildcard and could make some similar noise to his New York teams.

I didn’t forget the key contributions of Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky or Rick Nash either. They are tied together due to the trade with Columbus where Torts still coaches and is trying to work miracles with while Artemi Panarin stars on Broadway. Former teammates Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel have also moved on from their astonishing first round sweep of the Lightning, who may as well be the symbol of playoff chokers for the decade. Look at the talent Jon Cooper has to work with. They’re not even in playoff position at Christmas break.

The thing about those teams that included Marian Gaborik, Carl Hagelin, Brandon Prust, Ruslan Fedotenko, Michael Del Zotto and quality backup goalies Cam Talbot and Antti Raanta, is they had a lot of pieces. But just never could get over the hump.

There are so many memorable moments. The Game Seven elimination of the Ovechkin Capitals in Washington. A huge Game Six victory at Ottawa to stave off early elimination after finishing with the East’s most points. Del Zotto finishing off the Caps in an equally tough second round highlighted by a last second Richards tying goal and a Staal overtime power play winner. Yes. He actually played PP! Or Richards to Gaborik to win a huge game in sudden death. There were a lot of magic moments vs the Caps. I bet they were glad not to see Lundqvist or 2015 second round heroes Kreider, McDonagh and Stepan in 2018 when they finally won. They still had to go through the Pens.

So, in summing up a decade of Rangers hockey, it was pretty damn good. They missed the playoffs in 2010 due to the stinking shootout in Philly in Game 82. Olli Jokinen… They would make the postseason the next seven years. There were some good runs and big games at 33rd and 8th Avenue. Believe it or not, MSG used to sound pretty lively before the renovation and escalating ticket and concession costs priced many passionate fans out of the building. They created a library by separating the real fans from celebrities. That’s all Dolan cares about now.

So, who deserves inclusion on the All Decade Team? I’m going to go 1-5 forward lines with extras. Eight D. Three goalies. And one coach. No. It won’t be Quinn. No complaints.

RANGERS ALL DECADE TEAM

Line 1: Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello

The biggest performers of that era. All were instrumental throughout the decade including the runs. Step to CK extended it in Game Five against Braden Holtby and the Caps. Then the Step drop pass to Mac for the winner that a hustling Jesper Fast created. Yes. He was part of it too. A great move by AV moving him up. The anxiety driven third in DC where Henrik saved their bacon. Then the great face-off play with Step rebounding home the Danny G shot for the series clincher. Zucc only led the team in scoring a few times.

Line 2: Nash-Brassard-Gaborik

Big Game Brass obviously was huge during that era. What a money player he was. From anchoring Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot on the pivotal third line in ’14 to a starring role in ’15 where no Blueshirt had more points those postseasons (’13 included). Gaborik gets here due to his two 40-goal plus seasons and clutch play vs Caps. They turned him into Brass. Nash may not have had as big an impact, but he was a very good player. If only his stick had a few more goals in it. The injuries didn’t help.

Line 3: Hagelin-Anisimov-Callahan

When you look back at the first part of the decade, it was Ryan Callahan that epitomized those Black & Blueshirt teams. He turned himself into a second line player, who could score on the power play and was a shorthanded threat. Was captain before the infamous Slats trade for St. Louis that included one too many firsts. Artem Anisimov was highly underrated. He was a solid two-way center who could hit 20 goals and play power play and penalty kill. Hagelin was the overachiever who had that great transition speed AV loved. So did Torts. He was terrific five-on-five and on the PK. He beat the Pens in sudden death of Round One in ’15. Played well vs Kings.

Line 4: Hayes-Richards-Miller

All three were good contributors in their time spent on Broadway. Even though he didn’t quite live up to expectations, Richards was a key part of two runs. His clutch tying goal against Washington set up Staal’s winner. His pass for Gaborik was perfect too. Good leader, who was a big factor in the team’s rally vs Pens. Set up MSL for series winner. Both Hayes and JT Miller were good regular season players, who had trouble scoring in the playoffs. Both could be still here if the organization didn’t go in another direction. They’re doing well elsewhere.

Line 5: Dubinsky-Boyle-Moore

Okay. They’re all centers. But these three were key players for those teams. It’s easy to forget Brandon Dubinsky’s impact. He formed a nice bond with Jaromir Jagr early on before working with Callahan and even Anisimov. They were the top line in ’10-11. The Draft Line didn’t last long due to the additions of Richards and Gaborik. Who could forget the shorthanded goal Callahan and Dubinsky combined on before beating the hated Pens in OT? Eventually, Dubi and Arty went for Nash. Boyle was a junkyard dog. Scored over 20 goals under Torts with Brandon Prust and Fedotenko. He always stepped up too. Moore returned after the loss of his wife to cancer. He was a fan favorite. It was poetic that he got the clincher from Boyle to send the Rangers to the SCF.

Extras: RW Martin St. Louis, LW Brandon Prust, RW Jesper Fast, C Mika Zibanejad, LW Daniel Carcillo, RW Derek Dorsett, RW Pavel Buchnevich

It’s hard to include everyone. I had to put Marty St. Louis here when he easily could’ve been higher. He was terrific in that ’14 run scoring the huge OT winner to beat the Habs in Game 4. He struggled in his final year and just didn’t have much left. I am a huge fan of him. Prust was all hustle and grit. How about the Line Brawl that involved him, Prust and Stu Bickel along with Mike Rupp? Carcillo came up big vs his former team, the Flyers in the first round. Dorsett was a gritty fourth liner. Both Fast and Zibanejad are here on merit. Jesper is worth keeping. I love Mika. Can he stay healthy and earn another contract? Buchnevich has had solid production for a third round pick that was part of the Nash deal. However, consistency remains the issue for the talented yet defensively challenged Russian.

D Pair 1: McDonagh-Girardi

You could make the case for Anton Stralman due to how good he was in ’12 and especially ’14. Only good defenseman against LA. I’ll never get why they let him go to the Bolts. Slats replaced him with Dan Boyle, who never quite fit at the end of a superb career. Similar to how Kevin Shattenkirk couldn’t do anything right in his two years. Without Mac and G busting their ass against the top scoring lines while forming a memorable top pair, there’s no three Conference Finals or Stanley Cup trip. While McDonagh gets all the ink for how good overall he was, nobody bled more Blue than the ultimate warrior Girardi. I’m glad he went out on his terms with the Bolts.

D Pair 2: Staal-Stralman

When it finally does end for Marc Staal, he’ll be remembered more fondly by even the harshest critics, who are quick to point out his flaws. The same people who loved the heart he still has. He’s overcome a serious concussion and other injuries due to playing a lot like Girardi. There’s nothing the alternate captain won’t do. He still remains a respected team leader near the end. Stralman is one of Sather’s best moves. When he signed him, Torts didn’t know a lot about the right skating defenseman, who just needed the chance to prove himself. A smooth skater who was good at even strength, he could play power play and PK. Tampa utilized him more on the PP. He’s now in Florida.

D Pair 3: Yandle-Klein

In really assessing the decade success, these two did the most even though they weren’t in the Big Apple too long. Klein is easily forgotten even though he came over from Nashville for Del Zotto and fit in well in the AV system. Who would’ve ever thought that? He was that depth right D they needed. He scored quite a few goals and was steady. Yandle is well documented. With Sather needing another puck moving offensive defenseman, he went all in on Yandle by trading Duclair and more firsts to the Coyotes. Yandle was good in his year plus here producing points. But for some reason, AV preferred him on the third pair and second power play unit. Too bad they didn’t keep him after ’15-16, trading his rights to Florida. He’s been even better there. Will he help the Panthers get back in the playoffs?

Extras: LD Michael Del Zotto, LD Brady Skjei, RD Tony DeAngelo D Steve Eminger

Both Del Zotto and Skjei are similar in that they’re former first round picks that started well early and then dropped off. It’s so easy to omit MDZ from the ’12 run to the Conference Final. But he had his best season and helped close out the Caps. If only the night life didn’t become such a distraction. I’m glad he got it and stayed in the league. Now, he plays more chippy in Anaheim. Skjei had a great first year putting up goals and points while not looking overwhelmed in the playoffs. But AV knew. He protected Skjei from tougher assignments by having him on the third pair. He remains decent offensively but an enigma defensively. Tony DeAngelo is here because there’s not much else on the right-side and he’s developed offensively where he can contribute both at even strength and power play. Too bad he’s likely gone. It could be a big mistake. Steve Eminger makes it over Bickel because he was a better depth D who could adequately fill in. A solid citizen.

Starting Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist

King Henrik as he’s affectionately known certainly has been the backbone of some good Rangers teams that went far. In his Vezina year, he was the main reason they finished first in the East. Money performances in elimination games the first two rounds vs Sens and Caps. Disappointing that he got outplayed by Martin Brodeur. Used to rack up 30 wins or better and the shutouts that remain stuck on 63. Terrific in ’14 going 5-1 in elimination games with his stellar play turning around the Pens series. If only he had been better in overtime vs Kings. Did it again to the Caps to help key the second 3-1 comeback in two consecutive years. The goalie duel between him and Holtby was memorable. It’s unfortunate how it ended at MSG. It’s been downhill since the sour elimination to Craig Anderson and Ottawa.

Backup One: Cam Talbot

Without his brilliant goaltending filling in for a seriously injured Lundqvist due to him taking a dangerous shot off the neck that could’ve ended his life, there’s no President’s Trophy in ’14-15. Talbot was splendid for those two months backstopping the team to first place. He handled everything so well. A excellent interview. It’s too bad he didn’t find similar success elsewhere. He had one big season with Edmonton getting them to the playoffs, but couldn’t duplicate it. Cam will always have a special place in my heart. The backup in Calgary.

Backup Two: Antti Raanta

Acquired from Chicago to replace Talbot, Raanta had a similar good run as the understudy to Hank. When you look at all the success Ranger backups have had, the credit goes to goalie coach Benoit Allaire. He works well with whoever he gets improving them. Even Steve Valiquette would agree. Raanta lasted a couple of years before moving to Arizona. Injuries have put him behind Darcy Kuemper. He could be a starter for someone. Currently the number one with Kuemper week to week.

Extra: Alexandar Georgiev

He’s been here for a little over two years after being signed as a free agent. The Bulgarian bear is cool between the pipes and plays a stand up style similar to Brodeur. He’s had good success since last February putting up better numbers than Henrik. But is the 23-year old the odd man out once Igor Shesterkin is ready? It’s a dicey situation. I like his poise and attitude which doesn’t change following tough games.

Head Coach: Alain Vigneault

As good as his predecessor Tortorella was at setting up the foundation for the team to contend, the more laid back Vigneault was able to take the next step by guiding the Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. They had to go seven to edge the Flyers and then showed sheer determination and focus to rally from 3-1 down to beat the Pens for the first time. Defeated AV’s former team Montreal in six. If only he’d been more aggressive in those third periods in LA, we could be talking about a Stanley Cup. Was outcoached by Cooper in a gut wrenching ECF and the same by Guy Boucher in the ’17 Conference Semis. He still was very successful even though it ended badly. Now trying to do the same with Flyers.

Well, that’ll finally do it. Not a moment too soon with the Rangers returning tonight from holiday break to play Carolina. Any disagreements? Vent away. Happy Holidays! 🎅

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Game #36: Ba Humbug, Hayes toasts Rangers as AV Flyers ruin Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Derek

What happens when you play well for two periods, but don’t finish the job? The Rangers learned the hard way during last night’s exasperating 5-1 loss at the Flyers.

A game they easily could’ve won got away in dizzying fashion. They went from leading a well played game 1-0 on a Jesper Fast shorthanded goal to Travis Sanheim scoring with 1.7 seconds left in the second period to beat an otherwise brilliant Henrik Lundqvist.

Up to that point, he was outdueling young Flyers netminder Carter Hart. Then Sanheim took a shot that deflected both off Mika Zibanejad and Lundqvist’s goal stick to change the momentum. The Rangers were that close to getting out of the second with a 1-0 lead. They were the better team.

Then the third period came. Let’s just say it was one to forget. They had many chances to beat Hart more than once, but couldn’t. Pavel Buchnevich had another one of those games where you wonder what will it take for him to score goals consistently. He had several point blank opportunities throughout and could only look skyward following a Hart glove theft on one such chance.

There also were close calls for Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad (goalpost) and Brady Skjei. But Hart didn’t cooperate. The Zibanejad post came with his team trailing by one with over seven minutes left in the third. Kevin Hayes had put the Flyers up by converting a good Joel Farabee cross ice pass by picking high glove on Lundqvist. An area most shooters target against the veteran goalie.

It was the first game for Hayes against his former team that traded him to Winnipeg before last trade deadline in a deal that netted Brendan Lemieux with a first round pick they flipped back to the Jets with Neal Pionk for Jacob Trouba. Winnipeg wound up selecting defenseman Ville Heinola.

The game was also former coach Alain Vigneault’s first versus the team he guided to a Stanley Cup appearance and Presidents Trophy. So, it was very special for both. Hayes really shined in this one for his new team. After a slow start, the two-way center is finding his game under the coach he developed well under in the Big Apple. He wasn’t only a huge factor in scoring twice on his former teammate to highlight a Flyers four-goal third period. But he also was physical landing a clean hit on Panarin.

Hayes had something to prove. The simple fact is that even though the Flyers doled out a lot of money by paying him over $7 million a year on the cap, he is a good player, who Vigneault knows he can lean on in every situation. That includes five-on-five, power play and penalty kill where he killed valuable time on another dreadful Rangers power play by skating around with the puck shorthanded to cheers from the Flyers crowd.

In a weird game where you couldn’t find one bad penalty call where the teams were in the box a lot, the Rangers penalty kill excelled throughout the first 40 minutes. In fact, two straight Philly power plays totaled zero shots to draw jeers from a crowd that boos Santa. The Rangers had their own issues on the man-advantage. They again took the collar for the game and are 0 for their last 16. Even when they set up something good such as Zibanejad for a one-timer, it’s eaten up by Hart. Then you even had Panarin misfiring from within 20 feet what usually is money. Plus the Buchnevich blanks.

You get the picture. Once again, they blew a 5-on-3 at a key point. When you don’t score on those, it’s usually bad news. Insert former WWE superstar Wade Barrett aka Stu Bennett on NWA Powerrr. There was no good news to report. Only “Bad News.”

So, how did a goalie duel with both Lundqvist and Hart go from the Rangers leading 1-0 to a total implosion in the final half of the third period? Quite simply, they got careless. After Sanheim found enough room to walk out and beat Lundqvist at 19:58 of the second for the first of two, things unraveled. It didn’t happen right away.

That’s the irritating part. This game was there for the taking. Even if you don’t believe this team is making the playoffs like me, a win in regulation would’ve meant two points gained on a team they trail for the wildcard. The Flyers came in seven up on the Blueshirts. Instead of losing, they took the first meeting with a superb third to go nine up at the holiday break. A four point swing.

There were a lot of frustrated Ranger fans on Twitter. I was one of them. Following Hayes going around Skjei like he was a used traffic cone before owning Lundqvist with a great backhand, forehand finish around his right leg pad, I decided I had enough. I went to the gym. Yes. I had no idea the Flyers added a fifth goal until I got home and showered. I thought I was hearing things. Wow. It made me glad I left.

Here is a interesting piece in a Tweet that was noted by Chris Kreider on what went wrong in that period. He’s right on about the breakdowns.

https://twitter.com/DenisGorman/status/1209328418128564225?s=19

It’s interesting to see him say that under AV, who emphasizes an aggressive system based on speed, skating and transition, that he feels when they were coached by him, they had a tighter structure. It sounds like an indictment of David Quinn and his coaching staff. The only holdover from Vigneault’s bench is Lindy Ruff. The former Buffalo and Dallas head coach who gets blamed for everything. Does he get any credit for the improved penalty kill that is tied for first with the Hurricanes with eight shorthanded goals?

When people point fingers at the defense, they’re half right. Yes. The D does have breakdowns from time to time. So do the Flyers. The difference was Hart covered for their mistakes. Despite a strong game, Lundqvist couldn’t sustain it. When his team needed a big save, he let Hayes beat him top shelf on an unscreened shot. It was a good shot, but not impossible to stop. On the game-winner, all three forwards got trapped. Buchnevich was too late and Adam Fox couldn’t prevent the pass from getting across.

The Flyers third goal was a Sanheim follow up with Lundqvist way out of his net due to a point blank stop on a jail break. Then he fell to the ice and couldn’t recover in time for Sanheim’s shot into an open net. This is becoming a problem for Hank. He flops to the ice when things fall apart and takes himself out of position. Despite some quality saves including a great one to deny Morgan Frost on a two-on-one, and a huge stop on Sean Couturier, he has moments where his age shows. Him starting the back-to-back wasn’t an issue. He had plenty left after an easy win over the Ducks.

I’m not faulting the goaltending here. The poor coverage that included way too many gaps and not enough checking, really cost this team any shot of winning last night. It was abominable. This is how this team is. When they start taking high risks as Kreider mentioned, that’s when they get in trouble. He probably can’t wait to be free from this mess. Realistically speaking, he only has two months left as a Ranger. Unless things drastically change, the successful former ’09 first round pick will be gone. It’s sad.

Things can change so quickly. One minute, you’re up. The next, you’re down. That’s what the Blueshirts have become. They had their window and missed it. Glen Sather swung for the fences a couple of times with Martin St. Louis and Keith Yandle. 2015 hurt more in my opinion. To go out the way they did on Garden ice was a disgrace. We saw it in Game Five. I knew they’d go into Tampa and win. Then, the disastrous Game Seven. Shutout again at home. The first ever time in franchise history the Rangers lost a home Game 7. Not a single goal scored in the final six home periods of that bizarre series.

It’s easy to wonder if Mats Zuccarello could’ve been the difference that Spring. But with all the D wounded, I’m not sure they would’ve had enough left to beat the Blackhawks. It would’ve been winnable. And probably a very exciting series. We’ll never know. Chicago won its third Cup of the decade. Even with how brutal they are now, they’re the team of the decade.

So, what else is there to say? Nothing. Lias Andersson is gone. And the organization thinks they can make the playoffs. I don’t see how. The Blue Jackets have suddenly reeled off six in a row. No Panarin. No Matt Duchene. No Sergei Bobrovsky. No Ryan Dzingel. And Oliver Bjorkstrand is out for a month. No problem for John Tortorella. They’ve turned their season around.

Playoffs? They are too soft. There’s too much inconsistency. This is a team that gives up too many high danger chances. I’m not a chart nerd either. I just watch. The system isn’t good enough. That’s on Quinn. He’s the man in charge. They are young. I get it. But you’d like to see improvement defensively and with backchecking and players coming back hard by taking the body. Not puck watching.

Ryan Lindgren is the most physical defenseman they have. He should get a look on the top pair in place of Skjei, who continues to get caught out of position so frequently, it’s like watching Buchnevich fail on another scoring opportunity. Jacob Trouba has to do too much. When he makes a mistake like he did on one of the goals against in the third, it’s really glaring. But he plays hard nosed and is physical as well as solid offensively.

Fox looks to have hit a wall. His offense has disappeared. Maybe the three day break will help. Tony DeAngelo consistently creates offense. That’s why he paces the team in D scoring. He had a nice move off a face-off win to force a Hart stop and then another on a Buchnevich backhand in tight.

Marc Staal isn’t creating much because that’s not his job. He knows his limitations and doesn’t take many dangerous risks. He’s been fine since Libor Hajek went down. Skjei is contributing offensively. He could’ve had two goals on Monday night. However, his struggles defensively hurt. For what he makes, it’s mind numbing. Would he look different in a more structured system under a different coach? Fans love to bash players. But look at the difference Dave Tippett is making in Edmonton. Ditto for Rick Tocchet with Arizona.

More people are beginning to question if Quinn is the right guy. He barely used his fourth line as I predicted in the third. Why would he? The fourth line has been a team flaw since Brian Boyle departed. Once he did, the Rangers never seriously challenged again. Funny how that works. Remember, it was his hard forecheck and pass to Dominic Moore for the series clincher versus the pesky Canadiens in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Final. Madison Square Garden rocked that night. Best game I ever attended.

You have to have four lines you can roll. Especially in a back-to-back situation. Why isn’t Tim Gettinger or Steven Fogarty here? I question the organization thinking. What’s the goal?

Kaapo Kakko again sat out due to being nicked up from that shot block. He did play one game before sitting out the last two. Maybe the time off will do him some good. He hasn’t looked right the entire month. He is only 18.

What happens on Friday when they return to action? I don’t know. I’ll be as locked in on the World Junior Championship as I can be. Team USA has a great chance to challenge for the gold medal. K’Andre Miller and Zac Jones are part of the team’s blueline. I’ll be covering it on Hockey Prospects. It all starts up on Thursday the 26th.

Kudos to Zibanejad for getting some players together to take a cool photo in tribute to Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom. He’s out for the season battling Ewing’s sarcoma. A form of bone cancer. It’s hard to believe. We are all #OskarStrong!

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Game #35: Kreider’s pair spark Rangers in successful Duck Hunt

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Derek

Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider had fun on Sunday at the Ducks expense. AP Photo credit New York Rangers via Getty Images

Early games aren’t fun. Especially if you lose. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case today for the Rangers, who had too much for a flu ridden Ducks team on short rest. The result was a predictable 5-1 home win. Anaheim played the day before and beat the Islanders in a wild and crazy 6-5 shootout win on Long Island. However, they were without their three best forwards on Kids Day at MSG.

A more rested Blueshirts took full advantage of the Ducks, who skated without captain Ryan Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell. They dominated early by outscoring the Ducks 3-1 in a lopsided first period. In a period they controlled by outshooting the wounded Ducks 18-6, they easily could’ve had twice as many goals. But they refused to shoot on the way too predictable power play that’s as cold as ice.

That didn’t matter. Filip Chytil and Brett Howden ended long scoring droughts. They connected 1:31 apart to put the Garden hosts ahead 2-0 before the halfway mark. It was a brilliant rush by Chytil off a Brendan Lemieux lead pass that allowed the slick Czech to get in on Ryan Miller and beat the American veteran netminder with a nifty backhand. That goal was his first in 11 games since tallying against Boston on Nov. 29.

A couple of shifts later, Howden put himself in the right spot to follow up a Tony DeAngelo rebound for his fourth which Artemi Panarin set up. It was Howden’s first point since Dec. 5 and first goal in 16 games. His last one came back on 11/20 versus Washington. Used on the third line due to Kaapo Kakko being out, Howden took advantage of the opportunity by playing on the wing instead of his customary center.

Even though they dominated play, the Rangers let the Ducks cut the lead in half when Sam Steel was allowed to stand in front and redirect a Ondrej Kase shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 9:58. Jacob Trouba blew the assignment. Once again, there would be no shutout for Lundqvist, who was fine on what was a light day. It’s possible Quinn goes back to him tomorrow for the Flyers. Over his career, he has a great record in back-to-backs. This could be an opportunity for him to get back on track.

Some feistiness between Ryan Lindgren and Max Comtois resulted in matching roughs. Right after, Chris Kreider got a takeaway in the neutral zone and turned on the jets to move in on Miller and beat him with his bread and butter move by tucking home a backhand off a beautiful fake at 12:16. His ninth goal was unassisted. Just an outstanding individual effort from a player who’s heating up. Kreider would score his second of the day later to give him eight points (4-4-8) over the last seven games.

Along with Panarin (20 goals) and Mika Zibanejad (12 G), Kreider is the third Blueshirt to hit double digits in goals. With him finally reunited with Zibanejad, he’s hitting his stride. That’s who he should’ve been playing with once David Quinn split up Panarin and Zibanejad. Panarin continues to have solid chemistry with Ryan Strome, who picked up his 23rd assist on a shorthanded goal by Zibanejad in the third.

For a second consecutive game, Pavel Buchnevich played with Panarin and Strome. The cohesive trio looks good so far. I’m glad Quinn kept them together along with Zibanejad, Kreider and Jesper Fast. It’s about time he allows his forward lines to gel. The only suggestion I have is for Buchnevich to be more selfish. He had some excellent scoring chances, but often deferred to Panarin. That’s also the main issue with the powerless play. Too much East/West crap which makes it easier for opposing penalty kills to intercept passes and clear the puck. They’re too predictable.

The second was a bore and snore fest. Neither team excited the younger crowd, which made the building sound like a library. At least there was some nastiness to keep some fans enthused. Over halfway through the contest, Howden got into a wrestling match with former Ranger Michael Del Zotto. He was giving it to Howden pretty good during that shift. So Howden went back at him during a scrum to cause matching roughing minors. I wish the officials would’ve let them go.

A few minutes later, Lemieux got an unsportsmanlike conduct for being Brendan Lemieux. It was ridiculous. Something Joe Micheletti pointed out on the broadcast. Lemieux sucked Ducks tough guy Erik Gudbranson into dropping his glove because he thought they were about to fight. Instead, Lemieux kept his mitts on and skated away. For some reason, the refs gave Lemieux a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct too. It should’ve been another sleep inducing Ranger power play. Gudbranson also got a misconduct. He was mad.

Prior to that chaos, a rushing Zibanejad got the puck over to Kreider in front for a nice deflection goal that gave him his 10th for a 4-1 lead. It was the only goal of the period.

Following a successful penalty kill of a DeAngelo tripping minor, the second concluded with even more craziness. During a heated scrum after the buzzer, a couple of Ducks jawed with Lemieux. That included enforcer Nicholas Deslauriers, who got upset when Lemieux gave him a chop with his stick to earn a roughing minor and a misconduct. He missed the first 12 minutes of the third period.

The Rangers killed off the Lemieux two-minute minor penalty to start the third. This also happened:

That was the Rangers’ NHL leading seventh shorthanded goal. Zibanejad got it from Strome. His shot from an angle snuck through a distracted Miller, who had to deal with a cutting Trouba right in front. It almost looked like he got a piece of it. Some reporters thought so. For now, it’s Zibanejad shorthanded from Strome at 1:16.

Eventually, things boiled over. Deslauriers and Micheal Haley finally went at it for a bit to earn fighting majors. You knew the crazy Deslauriers was going to find a dance partner. I’m surprised Gudbranson didn’t. He wanted to kill Lemieux for being his usual ornery self. Lemieux has to pick his spots. He has a bad reputation due to his last name. Being the son of Claude Lemieux is tough. He’s been screwed over in some games.

In the third, the Rangers got two more power plays. They predictably didn’t do anything on it to wind up 0-for-5. At some point, it has to change. They’re making it very easy on opponents who take liberties with them. Adjustments need to be made.

The next two games should be tough. They’re in Philadelphia to see familiar faces in Kevin Hayes and former coach Alain Vigneault. Then after the holiday break, return home to host the Hurricanes. I know they’ve had their number. But at what point do the Canes finally pay them back? They’re a good team.

In any event, tomorrow night is the first meeting of the season between the Rangers and Flyers. Who makes the schedule? They don’t see the Islanders until next year. Brain surgeons.

It would be a nice Christmas gift if they could go into Philly and turn the cheers into jeers like the tradition of booing 🎅. They could be in a foul mood if the Eagles lose to the Cowboys.

Whatever you celebrate, enjoy it with family and friends. Be safe. Have fun. Happy Chanukah to my Jewish followers. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Battle Of Hudson 3 Stars:

3rd 🌟 Brendan Lemieux, Rangers (assist, 14 PIM, drove Ducks nuts, +1 in 10:01)

2nd 🌟 Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (shorthanded goal for 12th and 🍎, 7 shots, +3 in 20:31)

1st 🌟 Chris Kreider, Rangers (two goals for numbers 9 and 10, 7 shots, +2 in 16:46)

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Rangers organization to blame for Lias Andersson mess

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Derek

Lias Andersson requested a trade. David Quinn and the Rangers organization failed him. AP Photo courtesy Getty Images

In a unsurprising move, Lias Andersson has requested a trade from the Rangers. That news was revealed by TSN insider Darren Dreger earlier this afternoon.

It wasn’t long ago that the Rangers swung a trade sending popular center Derek Stepan and good backup goalie Antti Raanta over to the Coyotes in exchange for Tony DeAngelo and the rights to their seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. The deal was made by GM Jeff Gorton on June 23, 2017.

When it was their turn to pick, the Rangers selected Andersson out of Smogen, Sweden. Thought to be a hard working tenacious center with a strong work ethic, some observers wondered if they took him too high. There are always Monday morning quarterbacks that second guess such key decisions.

When it comes to Gordie Clark, he doesn’t have the best track record in the first round. But in that same round, he later took Filip Chytil at number 21. A young promising center that’s worked out so far. So, that draft isn’t a total fail.

When it comes to drafting and development, the Rangers aren’t the best at being patient. Their handling of Andersson his first pro year didn’t help. Even though he put up good numbers with Frolunda by tallying seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 22 games in the Swedish Hockey League, it was probably a mistake to bring him over to AHL Hartford so quickly.

Part of the thinking probably had to do with Andersson impressing during the 2018 IIHF Under 20 World Junior Championship. He captained Sweden to a silver medal. During that tournament, he scored six goals and had an assist to total seven points.

However, it was his reaction to receiving his silver medal that went viral. Upset that his team lost, he tossed the medal over the glass causing hypocritical TSN analyst Ray Ferraro to criticize him. Had he done that as a Canadian player after losing, it would’ve been universally praised. It showed a young player with a fiery side who hated losing. Isn’t that what you want?

His reaction was viewed more favorably by Rangers fans. Some even envisioned Andersson one day becoming a future captain. Instead, things started to unravel following a brief stint with the Wolf Pack at the conclusion of ’17-18. After doing alright there by going 5-9-14 in 25 games, he was recalled by the Rangers. In seven games, he scored his first NHL goal and assist.

It seemed like he was on the right path following Year One. But things would quickly change in ’18-19. His second pro year started in Hartford. This time, he wasn’t as consistent at age 20. Having gotten into 36 games, Andersson had only six goals with 14 assists for 20 points. While the production was okay on a bad roster, he also was a minus-24 with 25 penalty minutes. Expected to become a reliable two-way center, that should’ve sounded off an alarm that he wasn’t ready.

Instead of keeping him there to further develop, the Rangers organization recalled Andersson after trading Kevin Hayes to Winnipeg. What a big mistake that was. Rather than let him get ideal ice-time with Hartford, they nursed him along for the the rest of the season. Even though he showed some of the competitive spirit he had with Sweden by going back at opponents and even fighting, Andersson struggled to distinguish himself under first-year NHL coach David Quinn.

The end result was only two goals with four assists for a total of six points, 29 PIM and a minus-13 rating over 42 games. Was this really the right move for his development? Of course not. But they kept him up for good once Hayes was moved. It was a poor choice by an organization not always known for having patience like a majority of the fanbase.

In many aspects, they wasted Andersson’s second year. A no no that didn’t benefit anyone. Most of all the former first round pick they took ahead of Casey Mittlestadt (recently demoted by Buffalo), Martin Necas, Nick Suzuki and Robert Thomas. Had they chosen Chytil with the seventh pick and took Andersson 21st, there wouldn’t have been such unrealistic expectations. While Lias has recorded only nine points (3-6-9) in 66 career NHL games, Chytil has scored 20 goals with 17 assists for 37 points over 109 games.

Complicating matters, Andersson had a good training camp and impressed the coaching staff in preseason by outplaying both Chytil, who was sent down, and Quinn favorite Brett Howden. Even after Quinn praised Andersson for his improvement, he found himself on the fourth line behind Howden. From the symbolic moment where he accidentally tripped over a ridiculous camera wire (typical MSG) while being introduced at the season opener versus Winnipeg, it’s been a nightmare for the 21-year old Swede.

While Howden continued to receive more responsibility by Quinn due to familiarity, Andersson would sometimes miss shifts as games would evolve due to the coach not trusting him. There were games even when top pivot Mika Zibanejad was out that Andersson was still barely getting any regular time at all. What was even the point of playing him in 17 games if he was hardly going to crack eight minutes a night?

Quinn definitely played favorites. Not to disrespect what Howden is as a player. As a rookie, the 21-year old center played 66 games and registered six goals and 17 assists for 23 points with 14 PIM and a minus-14 last season. He started off well by showing that he could pick up points early due to his high IQ and hard work. However, he slumped badly in the second half despite continuing to receive decent ice time that included penalty killing shifts.

So far in Year Two, Howden is 3-5-8 with a minus-seven rating in 34 games. Hardly an improvement from his first year. He now is behind Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Chytil, which makes him the team’s fourth center. In the 6-3 loss to Toronto on Friday night, he received less than eight minutes. Basically, the Lias Andersson treatment by the same coach who in some instances, barely gave Andersson six minutes.

It was no way to help a young player develop and likely hurt his confidence. They finally sent Andersson down to Hartford. It didn’t go much better. Following a promising start that even included a pair of goals with a helper in a win a couple of weeks ago, he hasn’t posted a point since and was a minus-six the past three games. The last two were ugly losses at Charlotte earlier this week. In 13 games, he is 4-1-5 with 14 PIM and a minus-nine rating.

Perhaps the recent struggles finally were the last straw. It’s painfully obvious that it’s not working out for Andersson here. By most accounts, he has a good attitude. So, that’s not the problem. The issue is how he was handled last season where he was rushed and then butchered by an inexperienced coach, who still can’t decide what his forward combinations should be with Christmas approaching.

Just ask Kaapo Kakko how he’s doing. A much higher rated prospect who looks lost under Quinn. The 2019 number two pick is 6-8-14 with a minus-13 rating in 32 games. A far cry from what they were hoping for. Most of the production has come via the power play where he’s 2-7-9. Instead of improving, Kakko has taken a step back.

While the 18-year old Finnish right wing should be fine, it has to be a bit concerning how he’s looked. Eventually, it should change. He’s too good a player for this trend to continue.

As for Andersson, it’s disappointing that we’ll never get to see what he could’ve become. Maybe if they’d handled him differently, this wouldn’t have happened. It couldn’t have helped matters that he was rumored in a trade offer for unsigned Edmonton forward Jesse Puljujarvi. Another highly thought of young player, who hasn’t exactly fulfilled expectations. The Oilers rejected the trade proposal and failed to get him signed by the December deadline. He will eventually be moving.

The only thing left to say is I wish Andersson the very best. The sad aspect is with his value so low, the Rangers won’t get much of a return. They have only themselves to blame for this mess.

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Devils decade retrospective part II – games and team of the 2010’s

Posted on December 21, 2019 by hasan4978

My last blog was basically an overview of the decade itself and all the main events on and off the ice by year.  This time I’ll expand the Devils retrospective by looking more closely at the top ten games and naming my all-decade team.  First, the top ten games in chronological order:

2/5/10 – Devils 4, Leafs 3 – An otherwise unremarkable February game against the Leafs at the Rock had a remarkable finish in the first game for Ilya Kovalchuk after the blockbuster trade bringing him to Newark.  Trailing 3-1 with 3:04 left in the third period, the Devils rallied to tie on goals by the immortal Dean McAmmond, then Travis Zajac on a PP with Kovalchuk getting a secondary assist for his first point in the white and red.  Jay Pandolfo scoring the winner with nineteen seconds left in regulation was pure hilarity on the one hand, and on the other gave us some (false) hope that it was the start of something special with Kovalchuk, even as he played a secondary role in this wild finish.

3/12/11 – Devils 3, Islanders 2 (OT) – Hockey wasn’t much fun for most of 2010 after Kovy’s debut, as the 2009-10 season crashed and burned – while the 2010-11 season started in historically bad fashion before Jacques Lemaire came out of retirement and helped make hockey fun again – inspiring the team to a marvelous second half.  Our wild run back to relevance crested with this pre-St. Patty’s day game against the Islanders at the Rock in early March, with Anssi Salmela scoring an OT winner and inspiring this hilarious reaction from former player and current color guy Ken Daneyko.

4/26/12 – Devils 3, Panthers 2 (2OT) – Back in the playoffs after a brief absence in 2011, the Devils made the most of their return trip to playoff hockey, but it wasn’t easy as a back-and-forth series came down to Game 7 where the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then the Panthers tied it at 2 in the third.  After one heart-stopping OT went by without the winner, rookie Adam Henrique struck less than four minutes into the second OT for his first big postseason moment, finally getting the Devils over the first-round hump they hadn’t cleared since 2007.

5/25/12 Devils 3, Rangers 2 (OT) – After the dramatic series win over the Panthers, the Devils crushed one of their biggest rivals in five games (the Flyers), and were on the verge of knocking an even bigger rival out for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Certainly it wouldn’t be easy against the Rangers, and just like Game 7 in Florida, another early 2-0 lead evaporated as the teams battled into OT.  Fortunately this one didn’t last as long with Henrique again doing the honors after just 63 seconds, sending the Devils to the Finals and giving the Rock its best moment since opening in 2007.

1/11/14 – Devils 2, Panthers 1 (OT) – More of a personal favorite than anything else even though the team was still in a playoff hunt for most of the year, this game stands out for two reasons.  One, the hilarious sight of NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal dropping the ceremonial first puck in an Alexei Ponikarovsky jersey he allegedly had to borrow because it was the only one that’d fit him.  Two being the dramatic nature of the ending itself, with the teams looking like they were headed to a shootout before one last faceoff with under four seconds remaining…but Travis Zajac won the draw, then Jaromir Jagr dished the puck to Marek Zidlicky, who had enough time to beat Tim Thomas right before the buzzer – and sent both the home crowd and Thomas into differing states of emotional overload.

4/13/14 – Devils 3, Bruins 2 – With the team starting to get older and further away from the glory days, the next couple of these are going to be melancholy starting with Martin Brodeur’s final game as a Devil.  Forgettable meaningless game or not, there was only one satisfactory ending allowed.  Fittingly the GOAT went out with a win at the Rock to the approval of the cheering home fans though.

4/9/16 – Devils 5, Leafs 1 – Even with my sadness over seeing my favorite player (Patrik Elias) and an all-time team team icon likely to retire, he couldn’t have gone out any better, giving fans a reminder of what they were about to miss with a three-point night including a dramatic final minute goal that brought the house down.

10/7/17 – Devils 4, Avalanche 1 – Although we were two years into the new regime by now, this was arguably the moment where Devil fans had hope again for the present and the future, with young additions contributing all over the lineup against a solid Colorado team.  Although it was #1 overall Nico Hischier who was the headliner coming in – and he played well in his NHL debut – it was the undercard additions of Will Butcher (three assists) and Jesper Bratt (goal and an assist) who each grabbed a starring role on the day, and this win propelled the Devils to a 9-2 start to the season.

4/5/18 – Devils 2, Leafs 1 – After a hot start and inspiring close to the 2017-18 season for the Devils, they stood one win away from clinching a playoff spot in the regular season home finale and penultimate game against the Leafs.  It wouldn’t be easy as the Devils fell behind 1-0 but second-period goals from Pavel Zacha and deadline acquisition Pat Maroon, along with solid goaltending from stretch-run savior Keith Kinkaid proved just enough to win the day, and give the home fans a deserved moment of celebration after five dark years on and off-ice.

4/16/18 – Devils 5, Lightning 2 – Despite falling behind 2-0 in their first-round series with the top seeded Lightning, that couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of a sellout crowd witnessing the Devils’ first home playoff game since Game 5 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.  This proved to be yet another curtain call for Hart winner-to be Taylor Hall.  Hall’s three-point night helped the Devils and their fans have one more night of celebration in the 2018 season, after they dramatically came from behind twice to take the lead late in the third (with Hall’s assist to Stefan Noesen providing the eventual winner), then pulled away with two empty-net goals.

Actually ranking the games themselves would be obviously different, with the Henrique goal against the Rangers #1 by a country mile.  I’d likely put Henrique’s ‘other’ OT goal and the Devils returning to the playoffs in 2018 as #2 and #3.  Everything else, who cares?  It’s a matter of personal preference for the most part.  Honestly it wasn’t all that hard to come up with a list of ten though, which probably says something about how few actual highlights there’ve been in this decade.

For my Devils all-decade team:

F: Hall-Elias-Palmieri

D: Greene-Zidlicky

G: Schneider

Coach: DeBoer

My reasoning on Hall is simple, there’s only one Hart trophy winner in team history and Hall gets the nod mostly on that, along with the team’s 2018 playoff run.  Plus where else was I going to go?  As far as the ’10’s go, Parise was a one-hit wonder too since he missed most of 2010-11 and left after that, and his 2012 wasn’t anywhere near Hall’s 2018.  Kovalchuk played RW for most of his tenure here, but I passed him over for Palmieri partly out of spite plus out of longevity.  Let’s face it, for all the good Kovalchuk did in the latter half of 2010-11 and 2011-12, that was pretty much it for him in terms of career highlights here, while Palmieri’s had four going on five solid seasons now as a RW and has been a franchise bright spot in the dark ages.  Elias at center is almost a technicality but he did play center long enough for me to qualify him and I’ll give him the distinction of being one of the few back-to-back all-decade Devils.  As much as I like Zajac and respect the longevity angle, I just can’t put him as a top-line center of the decade.  Henrique wasn’t consistent enough outside of his two big moments for me to stomach putting him there, although like Palmieri he was a bright spot as the dark ages hit, on and off the ice and deserves honorable mention.

Defense and goaltending, it wasn’t exactly the glory days – there isn’t really a lot to pick from anymore.  Greene is an obvious pick given he played for the entire decade and has been a first-pairing D for most of it – including all the playoff runs – serving with distinction despite trying circumstances.  Zidlicky’s always been a personal favorite and his acquisition was key for the 2012 Spring of fun, plus he had a few more soild years after that.  And let’s face it who else was I going to pick…Salvador?  Fayne?  Tallinder?  Severson?  Yikes.  I really had to grit my teeth picking Schneider in goal – especially given Marty’s spring of 2012 but facts are facts, Cory had the better decade (last couple of years aside), he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time during his peak.  Not to mention his acquisition at the draft in Newark was one of the most memorable moments of the decade in itself.  And let’s face it, even Marty doesn’t have longevity enough to merit being on the all-decade team three straight times.

Coach has to be DeBoer with combined longevity and results.  It basically has to be by default since we’ve really only had two coaches after 2011, unless you give it to Jacques based on one meaningless but fun second half.  That’s all from me, hope these last couple of blogs were as fun for you to read as for me to do.  I’ll probably be back after the New Year although most of the action is going to be off the ice at this point in terms of trades and what happens with the coach.

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Game #34: Quinn, Rangers can’t get no Re-Leaf

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Derek

AP Photo credit Toronto Maple Leafs via Getty Images

There was no relief for David Quinn or the Rangers tonight. They literally got no Re-Leaf. It was a mind numbing yet predictable 6-3 home loss to Toronto before a less than capacity Garden. Boy, am I glad my Dad sold these tickets. I’ll get to why in a second.

Throughout the latter half of the day after I found out Alexandar Georgiev was starting against an opponent he dominated his last two starts the previous season, I couldn’t get the final score out of my head. For some reason, all I saw was, Maple Leafs 6, Rangers 3. That’s exactly how it played out.

If I were the gambling type, I would’ve played those numbers and taken the Leafs and the over. That’s how certain I was they were winning. Maybe it was due to their recent upswing under new coach Sheldon Keefe. Or perhaps because I felt they were due to light up Georgiev, who’s been stellar and earned well deserved praise. Call it just a hunch.

I would’ve preferred to be wrong. There’s something about the ridiculously talented Leafs that screams bad match-up. Sure. They play run and gun where defense is optional. The problem for Quinn’s younger Blueshirts is that too often, they leave their goalies out to dry. It didn’t matter who started. It would’ve played out the same. Sorry to burst the bubble of the Henrik Lundqvist fan club.

I’ve seen this type of wide open game before. Rarely do the Rangers come out on top. And they’ve been victimized by these same Leafs before. Remember Georgie’s first start last year where they led and then the roof caved in in a humiliating third period up North? Exactly.

I also didn’t care for the three day layoff they had following the Crashville Nashville disappointment. I’d have much preferred they play a game on Wednesday or even Thursday to stay sharp. Sometimes, longer rest doesn’t help. Plain and simple, they got into the wrong kinda game versus the wrong opponent.

At no point did they ever lead. Before you could even blink, it was 2-0 Leafs on goals from Pierre Engvall (who) and William Nylander 2:14 apart in a strange first period that was even despite the inauspicious start. Prior to those tallies, the Rangers had a bevy of opportunities to score that they wasted like an early power play 46 seconds in. But they only registered two shots on it and fired some pucks wide into the corner advertisement.

It was as if they were auditioning for a spot. You also had some close calls with Mika Zibanejad wiring a one-timer past Toronto iron man Frederik Andersen off the far goalpost. He couldn’t have been any better set up in the slot. A nifty pass from Artemi Panarin later set up rookie defenseman Ryan Lindgren perfectly. But his high wrist shot clanged off the crossbar. If memory serves, I’m fairly sure the Leafs came down and scored following the near miss. That’s the kind of lethal countering team they are.

The good news is the Blueshirts finally got back in it. Over two minutes later off a good Chris Kreider recovery of a corner dump in, he made a great move around two Leafs to get the puck to Zibanejad. He then made a little touch pass in front for a cutting Brady Skjei, who accidentally fanned on his attempt which worked perfectly to fool Andersen for his fifth at 14:04.

On some more porous defense from the Leafs, Pavel Buchnevich applied some forecheck pressure on Morgan Rielly that forced him to cough up the puck. On a soft reverse that didn’t work to equally inept Tyson Barrie, Buchnevich made a smart play by kicking the puck over to Panarin. He then moved in down low for a two on one and faked shot before sliding it over to a wide open Ryan Strome for an easy putaway that tied the score at 17:51.

The goal for Strome snapped a 15-game scoring drought. It also was Buchnevich’s first point in 10 games since Nov. 29. Buchnevich was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise lost night. He would later add his sixth goal for his first multi-point game since 11/20. He definitely showed that he had chemistry with Panarin and Strome. Hopefully, Quinn doesn’t overreact and split them up. I also liked what I saw from Zibanejad, Kreider, and Jesper Fast. If either of those lines are changed for Sunday’s matinee against Anaheim, I’m going to be annoyed.

I’ll be honest and admit I didn’t catch much of the rest on the TV. But while I was busy in the car, I heard Don LaGreca call the Mitch Marner (garbage 5–on–3 because Toronto) power play goal that originally was credited to John Tavares. As it turned out, Marner had his centering feed go off Skjei. My Twitter feed fumed over him. More on that later.

The good news is the Rangers showed more fight when Buchnevich got to a Marc Staal rebound and fired home his sixth at 5:27 to once again tie the game up at three. Tony DeAngelo helped set it up to earn his 17th assist and 24th point. Both pace all New York blueliners.

Despite the game tilting in favor of the Leafs style, Georgiev made some key saves to keep it tied after two periods. The Leafs outshot the Rangers 13-4. The first was played on more even terms. By that, I mean the shots were more reasonable (12-8 Toronto). Secondly, as the game materialized, the Toronto bias kicked in. I don’t like mentioning the officiating. But after those clowns at the Department Of Player Safety didn’t even have a telephone hearing with Ryan Ellis for his cheap shot on Buchnevich, the refs favored the Leafs in this one.

I didn’t get to see it. But the Brendan Smith slash that led directly to Marner converting on a two-man advantage was tacky. Later, I couldn’t believe they let the Leafs get away with a bench minor. It also looked like there was interference that forced Filip Chytil offside. No call on either. They then gave Adam Fox a roughing minor late in the period for playing physical hockey. All he did was shove down Toronto forward Dmytro Timashov. Both Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti sounded exasperated. Total incompetence.

I’m not blaming the officiating for the loss. Like Strome told John Giannone between periods, they had to take more shots and not get into the track meet they already had through two. He was very emphatic about that. The point wasn’t driven home.

Instead, the Rangers played a sloppy game and got what they deserved. Pete Stemkowski was all over Georgiev for letting Nylander beat him five-hole for a 4-3 Leafs lead at 2:10. One of two goals a candid Georgiev admitted he wished he had back. He also gave credit to the opponent for playing a good game. The way he handles himself following such defeats is a reason to stay optimistic. He doesn’t let it get to him. I expect Georgie to bounce back whenever his next start is. It’s either gonna be Monday or after the holiday break depending on Lundqvist.

https://twitter.com/Kovy274Hart/status/1208228183096647680?s=19

What really screwed up the third was the miscommunication Strome and Panarin had. A turnover by the team MVP allowed the slick Marner a one on one with Georgiev. He beat him upstairs for his second of the game to give Toronto a pair of goals in 47 seconds. A backbreaker that took the wind out of the Ranger sails.

Toronto didn’t exactly sit back either. They continued to shoot the puck and force Georgiev to make saves. They held a 15-10 shots edge and were a comfortable 40-22 overall. It’s not even worth mentioning the attempts. This was a game you burn.

Two points before I call it a night.

Skjei wound up minus-two for the night. That means despite his fifth goal at even strength, he was on for three goals against. That’s too many. No wonder so many I follow ripped him. Ironically, he just got engaged too. Congrats to Brady, who is a good guy. He needs to play much better.

The ghost of Kaapo Kakko played over 16 minutes on the third line with Chytil and Brendan Lemieux. Kakko was not good finishing minus-three with only one shot. He’s clearly struggling since that bout with the flu. He did stay in the game after blocking a shot late in the first. He limped off. Obviously, he was able to continue which is good.

However, his struggles are showing that he’s not ready. I’m not suggesting sending him down. However, don’t be surprised or outraged if he finds himself on the misplaced fourth line to start tomorrow’s match. That would mean the offensively challenged Brett Howden, who works hard but doesn’t have a lot to show for it. And Smith.

I fully expect Greg McKegg to be on the third line tomorrow. Whether it’s continuous remains to be seen. I don’t know what the answer is to Kakko’s woes. He seemed most effective at five-on-five with Howden when he centered the third line with Lemieux. That was when Zibanejad was out. That’s no longer an option.

They’ll have to figure something out while turning in a more defensive oriented game. Otherwise, it’ll continue to be a shooting gallery for Lundqvist as it was for Georgiev.

That’s going to do it for now.

https://twitter.com/Kovy274Hart/status/1208270019471257601?s=19

Battle Of Hudson 3 Stars:

3rd 🌟 Pavel Buchnevich, Rangers (goal and 🍎, 3 shots, +1 in 18:44)

2nd 🌟 Mitch Marner, Leafs (2 goals, 6 shots in 20:16)

1st 🌟 William Nylander, Leafs (2 goals and 🍎, +2 in 17:09 with game-winner)

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Georgiev gets the call against Maple Leafs

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Derek

“Times, they are a changin'”-Bob Dylan

Tonight is Game 34 of 82 for the Rangers. They’ll host the ultra talented Maple Leafs at The Garden. It’s the first of three meetings this season. They’ll also play in Toronto on December 28. The third game is next year.

It feels like forever since the Rangers played on Monday. A frustrating 5-2 loss to the Predators, who at least kicked the crap out of the Islanders the next day. That doesn’t matter. The loss to Nashville was a disappointment because they had a huge edge in play and shots, but didn’t take advantage of their opportunities. Nashville made the most of theirs and added a pair of empty netters.

In that game, Alexandar Georgiev took the defeat despite not really giving up any bad goals. He’d still probably want the first one back due to it going five-hole. Even if the puck deflected off Brady Skjei, it’s one he’s stopped before. The other two were complete breakdowns. Roman Josi used Adam Fox as a screen on a rush and Mattias Ekholm converted a breakaway with a good shot off the far post. It happens.

With a few days off, David Quinn decided to go back to Georgiev for tonight, citing his career numbers against Toronto. He won the last two last season by standing on his head. That the coach would use that recent history speaks to where the goaltending situation is on Broadway.

Normally, Henrik Lundqvist would get the not following some time off. Especially with a two-game losing streak (0-1-1). But he will sit out again which means he’ll likely get the next start on Sunday. The Blueshirts have three games in four days with a back-to-back Sunday and Monday.

The numbers have been mentioned in other publications. I’m not going to repeat them. Georgiev has been more consistent than Lundqvist up to this point. In fact, Larry Brooks cited their statistics side by side in a New York Post column that appeared earlier today. Since Feb. 6, Georgiev is 17-10-5 with a 2.72 GAA and. 920 save percentage. Lundqvist is 9-16-5 with a 3.20 and. 903.

That’s a significant difference. It’s not time to declare Georgie the number one goalie yet. He’s still only 23 and in Year Two. As critical as I’ve been on Lundqvist, he has a proven track record. It’s just that as he climbs the all-time wins list where he still sits fifth ahead of Marc-Andre Fleury, he’s not as consistent. Even in an otherwise brilliant game in Anaheim, he gave up two tough goals that really hurt the team in a 4-3 shootout loss.

So, is the end near for the 37-year old future Hall Of Famer, who’s been the franchise’s best goalie ever? It’s hard to say. I’ve seen plenty of banter about asking him to waive his no trade clause to take a shot at winning a Cup elsewhere. There are a few Western Conference candidates that come to mind. However, he was approached by management about this scenario once and turned it down.

I don’t see the organization buying out the final year of his contract. The $8.5 million cap hit was always going to look bad near the conclusion of his deal. Former architect Glen Sather paid him on merit without considering the long-term future.

Things change. Now, the Broadway Blueshirts are a few years removed from their last serious playoff run. They’ve been rebuilding for a while. It’s netted some positive results with the additions of Kaapo Kakko, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, Jacob Trouba, Brendan Lemieux, Tony DeAngelo and Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin. First round picks Lias Andersson and Vitali Kravtsov are in Hartford.

With a bright future that includes K’Andre Miller, Nils Lundkvist, Joey Keane, Tyler Wall and Morgan Barron in the system, there are sure to be more changes coming. Unfortunately, that could include Chris Kreider who could be traded soon. He can test the market next summer.

General Manager Jeff Gorton and Team President John Davidson will have tough decisions on key restricted free agents DeAngelo, Lemieux and Ryan Strome. It’ll not be easy.

As for tonight, it should be interesting to see if the Rangers can rebound against a dangerous team like the Leafs, who feature Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie and William Nylander. They have the firepower to do damage.

It would be wise if the Rangers don’t get into a run and gun match against the Leafs. A track meet would favor the deeper scoring Leafs. New York has leaned heavily on Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. They can use some help from a supporting cast that still includes Kreider along with ice cold Pavel Buchnevich, who gets his chance to play with Panarin.

Nobody is scoring aside from the Bread Man, Zibanejad and the defense. That must change. Quinn continues to mix up his lines in a desperate attempt to find the right combos. At least from the start, Zibanejad centers Kreider and Jesper Fast. Kakko will start on the third line.

It’s Georgiev versus Frederik Andersen in net.

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Devils decade in review: Mostly dark clouds with a couple of bright patches

Posted on December 18, 2019 by hasan4978

I’ve seen some decade in review things sporadically including podcasts and whatnot, plus the NFL’s 100th anniversary stuff but it didn’t really occur to me to do a decade in review for the Devils until I saw someone bring up a good point on a message board, basically a month into the decade the trade for Ilya Kovalchuk happened and thus the 2010’s were off and running into contreversy and infamy for Devils fans.

Having been sufficiently sparked into writing something different (not to mention being compelled to stay home from tonight’s game due to the lousy weather/team) I’m spending my free time today going back down memory lane.  Disclaimer: I wound up dwelling on the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons a little more than the rest for obvious good and bad reasons, respectively – but the rest I tried to give a more concise overview since the totality of reviewing ten years is freaking long!

It’s not going to be pretty most of the time but hot damn, a lot of stuff did happen in the 2010’s for the Devils.  A lot bad, some good and some macabre.

2009-10 – As the new decade opened, the Devils were where they usually were for the previous fifteen years, in first place looking to contend for a Stanley Cup in coach Jacques Lemaire’s second go-around with the team after the hideous departure of previous coach Brent Sutter to Calgary, in what would turn out to be a foreboding of things to come.  It wasn’t always then-GM Lou Lamoriello’s way to make the splashy trade but he did it at certain times – Doug Gilmour, Alexander Mogilny – and would do it again in 2010 with Kovalchuk.  At the time it was looked on as a rental trade, although rentals certainly cost more then compared to now.  Even so, the price of Johnny Oduya, Nicklas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick didn’t seem all that prohibitive…though looking back, it’s funny that it turned out to be Oduya and not either of the two highly thought of prospects who was the biggest player of consequence going the other way.  While Bergfors flamed out of the league inside of two years and Cormier had a bunch of inconsequental call-ups, Oduya lasted nearly a decade as a solid middle-pairing defenseman on good teams.  As it turned out we only got 27 regular-season games and five playoff games out of the trade itself, as the Devils had a poor second half and flamed out of the playoffs in just five games against the Flyers with Lemaire resigning.

2010-11 – Even as bad as the second half of 2009-2010 seemed at the time, it was nothing compared to the first half of 2010-11.  Shockingly, the Devils re-signed Kovalchuk – usually not something Lou bothered doing with most free agents – much less to the tune of 17 years and $102 million.  Lou himself referred to the commitment ownership (then Jeff Vanderbeek, a fan who would wind up spending beyond his means) wanting to make to this player, tacitly implying it was an organizational decision.  In hindsight, it was the first sign not all was well in Devils land.  Even more shockingly, the contract was ruled illegal due to violating the spirit of the salary cap, with the decision being upheld by arbiter Richard Bloch.  Although team and player agreed to a slightly modified 15 year, $100 million deal the damage was done as the Devils were fined, and penalized a 3rd round pick in 2011 as well as a first round pick where they would have to choose a year to surrender it by 2014.

ESPN: Ilya Kovalchuk doesn’t like penalty

As if the summer which included a coaching change – from Lemaire to long-time assistant and former franchise icon John MacLean – plus the Kovalchuk re-signing saga which took two and a half weeks, and the contract saga which spanned nearly two months wasn’t contreversial enough, the Devils still had to face their cap issues even with a modified Kovy deal.  Having Bryce Salvador go on IR before the season for what turned out to be an inner-ear concussion that would cost the venerable defenseman the entire season was convenient cap-wise but not so convenient on the ice.  New Jersey still had to field woefully short rosters of less than twenty players until Brian Rolston got put on IR for sports hernia surgery.  While the cap problems dissapeared, the real ones weren’t going away as Kovalchuk looked on his way to being a $100 million bust, even getting himself scratched for a game by perennial tardiness and the team cratered, going 9-22-2 under MacLean before he was fired after just thirty-three games right before Christmas.

Lou more or less begged Lemaire to come back and after a rocky first eight games, Lemaire did turn around the ship to an inspiring level although there were casualties, mainly captain and longtime mainstay Jamie Langenbrunner (traded to Dallas just two weeks after Lemaire came back), who’d been at odds with Lemaire for the previous several months and his play had declined towards the end of his career.  At one point Lemaire led the Devils on a 23-3-2 run, and they somehow went from 26 points out of a playoff spot to just 6 before finally fading back out of the race in mid-March.  Still, at least there was hope restored going into next season, even if we had no idea what to expect from Lou’s latest coaching hire in Pete DeBoer – who’d recently been dismissed after three playoff-less seasons in Florida.

2011-12 – The angst heading into this season didn’t come from Kovalchuk but courtesy of the team’s other star winger, Zach Parise.  While Lou did give him the C befitting his stature in the locker room, Parise had missed most of the previous year due to injury and only signed a one-year deal to get to free agency.  His contract status hung over the team like a black cloud throughout the year.  Parise also didn’t play well early due to injury rust and the team struggled to stay at .500 through 25 games (12-12-1) before slowly taking off, going 36-16-5 the rest of the regular season, including a six-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.  Salvador’s inspiring return to play every single game that season – not to mention his surprising playoff heroics – was indiciative of a year where almost everything went right on the ice and acquisitions such as Marek Zidlicky, Alexei Ponikarovsky and a couple of unheralded fourth liners in Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter fortified the team, as did the surprising return of Petr Sykora, the once-beloved Czech winger who was traded off a decade earlier.

Our season of good feeling hit a wall early in the postseason as the Devils fell behind a mediocre Panthers team 3-2, headed to overtime in Game 6 at home with more first-round dissapointment looming on the horizon after three straight playoff defeats in the first round to the Rangers, Hurricanes and Flyers from 2008-2010, every time being eliminated at home.  However, Travis Zajac’s OT goal staved off elimination, then a couple nights later down in Sunrise Adam Henrique’s double OT goal did more than that, it won the series in dramatic fashion and foreshadowed even bigger celebrations ahead.  After disposing of the Flyers in a surprisingly easy five games in the Conference Semis, the Devils would face an even bigger archnemesis in the Conference Finals – the Rangers.

To say the teams’ first meeting in a Conference Finals since 1994 was Armageddon wouldn’t be too much of an overstatement.  Pretty much every time the Devils and Rangers play in the playoffs there’s something memorable about it, from the teams’ first-round series in 1992 when a young Martin Brodeur made his playoff debut in a seven-game loss, to the aformentioned 1994 series which went down as one of the best playoff series of all-time and another painful Devils defeat just short of their first Finals.  1997 saw an older, lesser Rangers team upset the Devils in the Conference Semis in a five-game series and kept alive the myth of being our playoff daddies.  They still had 3-0 in the playoffs to hang over us even through the dark ages for them and our golden years.  Finally in 2006, we got them memorably in a four-game first-round destruction, but they got their revenge just two years later ousting us in five in the dubious Sean Avery series.

If Brodeur was green in 1992 for his playoff debut against the Rangers, he was thought to be a gray shell of himself in 2012, going up against the reigning Vezina winner Henrik Lundqvist at his peak.  Even though the Rangers had home-ice the Devils had pretty much played step for step with them since Thanksgiving, if not slightly better so I figured it was a pick ’em series.  While the Devils were fortunate to get through the second round without too much trouble, the Rangers had to scratch and claw their way through two seven-game wars just to get to the Conference Finals.  It was with this backdrop that the teams met with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line, and the series wouldn’t dissapoint.  After the teams traded wins in the first four games, the Devils took a 3-0 lead in the pivotal Game 5 at the Garden.  As they’d done all year, the Rangers circled the wagons and tied the game, leading to many moments of consternation by yours truly.

However this was a different Devils team, there would be no what if, no regret and no 1994 reprise this year.  After our fourth line had been quite pivotal in our first-round series against the Panthers, they stepped up again with Carter’s late third-period goal proving decisive.  Still, the Devils had to win Game 6 at the Rock, and it was at this very game in 1994 at home where the team tripped up on the doorstep of the Finals.  Almost as if giving the Devils a chance to exorcise all the demons in one fell swoop, it was eighteen years to the day of the memorable Game 6 in 1994 where the Devils would make their own history this time with both young and old contributing – the old of course being Marty who had his final run of greatness that Spring, outdueling Lundqvist the way he couldn’t quite outduel Mike Richter at the top of his game in 1994.  While the young was rookie Henrique, who found the spotlight with his double OT winner in Florida but did more than that in Game 6 against the Rangers, he claimed a forever place in Devils history with a walk-off goal barely a minute into a tense OT.  Henrique’s goal was further immortalized by an iconic call from Doc Emrick who’d recently stepped away from broadcasting Devil games full-time but was on the mike for this memorable moment in team history.

You could argue that series was the best non-Cup win in Devils history.  Maybe our seven-game classic against Ottawa in 2003 is up there, it certainly contributed to a Cup win though.  Certainly older fans would rate MacLean’s goal in Game #82 of the 1987-88 regular season to clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth in that category as well.  Whatever the case, the Devils were in the Finals for the fifth time in the Lou era during a nineteen-year stretch where the franchise had its fits and starts but was generally a model of excellence.  Against a then-upstart Kings team though, the 2011-12 Devils finally met their match.  Would that series have been different if the Devils had managed to win either of the first two games at home (both OT losses)?  Probably.  Despite falling behind 3-0 in the series the Devils gamely fought back to force a Game 6 in LA but cruelly, a major penalty on Bernier ended Game 6 before it could really start as the Kings scored three times and began their own impressive run as a model franchise for the next several years.

2012-13 – All the fun of the Spring of 2012 temporarily shielded the two dark clouds hanging over the franchise – the impending FA of captain Parise, and the almost sure lockout that was going to cut into the next season.  I mean, when you have Gary Bettman on one side and the NHLPA imports Don Fehr over from baseball after their own labor wars, that was just begging to be another drawn out fight.  Ironically much like after the 1994 Conference Finals, a lockout delayed the start of the next season till January again in 2013.  However, the Devils’ fate in the lockout season was sealed a bit before it began when Parise decided to take $98 million and link up with buddy Ryan Suter NBA-style to go home to Minnesota.  Almost as ominously, Kovalchuk was slow to return to the states after the lockout as he was playing in Russia during it and clearly wasn’t all that enthused about coming back.  Given all of the drama around this player since we acquired him, I took that as a serious red flag while others were more willing to forgive and forget once he returned for the short season.

Although the Devils actually got off to an 8-3-3 start in 2013, it was a mirage as injuries to Brodeur and Kovalchuk sank the team back down to mediocrity and out of the postseason for the second time in three years.  Not to mention, another contreversial decision in the 2012 offseason would have reprecussions for years to come.  Remember that first-round pick the Devils had to surrender for the Kovalchuk contract penalty?  There were still two years to pick a first-rounder to give up – but with the Devils’ trip to the Finals and Parise’s status in serious doubt, me, everyone and their grandmother was begging Lou to give up the 2012 first-rounder.  Having pick #29 in a weak draft seemed like an ideal time to get a less than ideal penalty out of the way, but Lou stubbornly deferred the penalty and made it worse by attempting to troll the hockey gods picking Stefan Matteau, son of former 1994 Ranger tormentor Stephane.  Although he made the team straight out of camp, he never really did much as a pro and only played 44 games for the Devils before being dumped two years later, and he hasn’t gotten out of the AHL much since.

2013-14 – If Lou’s 2012 offseason was contreversial, his 2013 offseason was truly head-scratching.  Things started on a high note with the NHL Draft held in Newark during the summer.  Holding the #9 pick after crashing out the previous year, Lou pulled a fast one on everyone in attendance and it led to a memorable ‘I think you’ll want to hear this’ response from Bettman to the fans booing his presence at the podium, as he was about to announce the Devils’ shocking trade for Cory Schneider.

I admit I was in favor of the deal at the time, but again I didn’t know what Lou knew was coming down the pike either (which I’ll get to in a minute).  With Marty now 41 years old after an injury-plagued 2013 season, there had been talk for years of needing a ‘succession plan’ for the great Brodeur in goal.  With fellow 40-something Johan Hedberg being the other NHL option with only chaff at the AHL level, trading for a young highly-regarded goalie such as Schneider seemed like another Lou coup and you had visions of passing the torch from Brodeur to Schneider the way the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers once went from Joe Montana to Steve Young at quarterback.

There were two issues with the trade though, one was that Brodeur still had another year to go on his contract and trading for Marty’s replacement while he was still on the roster was always going to create an uncomfortable dynamic.  Sure enough, instead of the 50-55 starts Cory probably should have gotten, he got just 43 to Marty’s 39.  While Cory’s splits were far better than Marty’s, somehow Brodeur’s winning percentage was far better, bitterly dividing the fanbase and to a certain extent management over who should play, as some bizarre fits and spurts of both guys being the starter or co-#1’s didn’t serve either well and led to Marty’s departure at the end of the season after two decades as a franchise icon.

Perhaps the bigger issue with the trade in hindsight though, is that just a few weeks later Kovalchuk stunned the hockey world by announcing he was walking away from the final twelve years on his contract with New Jersey to return to Russia.  While Kovalchuk’s departure took the fans by surprise, Lou knew from the moment Kovalchuk was vacilating over coming back in the winter that his return to Russia was likely after the 2013 season

NJ.com: Kovalchuk leaves Devils in shock after retiring from the NHL

Given that Lou knew Kovalchuk’s departure was imminent (and indeed it came out Lou knew as soon as the end of the 2013 season Kovy was leaving), why was he then continuing to make win-now moves such as trading for Cory with a team that was no longer win-now after losing Parise and Kovalchuk in back-to-back offseasons?  Especially factoring in the financial troubles of owner Vanderbeek, which came to a head soon after the 2013 draft with the sale of the Devils to co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in August.  Lou spent desperately that offseason, splurging on a long-term deal for Ryane Clowe as well as short-term deals for Damien Brunner, Michael Ryder and the one-man traveling band himself Jaromir Jagr.

Predictably Clowe – who’d already had serious concussion problems – couldn’t stay healthy and was out of the league after two years and just fifty-six games of a five-year contract.  Brunner I was skeptical of given another good organization like Detroit didn’t want him back, and he not so surprisingly didn’t work out either.  Ryder got off to a hot start early in 2013-14 but quickly cratered and things didn’t get better for the rest of his two-year tenure here.  Jagr was the best of Lou’s offseason signings by a country mile, at first I thought his 24-goal, 67-point +16 was the last solid season of his NHL career but looking back, he actually managed to put up a 27-goal, 66 point season in 2015-16, at age 43 in Florida.  He and Marty were both one of a kind in terms of their durability and longevity at their positions and if there was one highlight that season it was getting to see them play together and have fun making light of their status as the oldest players in the league.

Even with Jagr providing some fun, that season was ultimately a frustrating last gasp of the Lou era as the team finished with 88 points, five out of a playoff spot – in no small part due to the ghastly 0-13 shootout record which is forever going to be what I associate that season with.  If they went 5-8 or 6-7 in the shootout maybe they make the playoffs, although it would have been hard to see us doing much in them considering we didn’t have much scoring besides our old man brigade of Jagr and Patrik Elias and still couldn’t figure out who to play in net on a nightly basis.  With the team out of contention in the final days, Brodeur got to play the finale at the Rock and say goodbye since everyone knew this would be it for him as a Devil, although he didn’t want to retire and indeed did wind up coming back for six forgettable games with the Blues before finally hanging them up for good.

2014-15 – With the team just missing the playoffs the previous year, Lou doubled down on his win-now approach by signing Mike Cammalleri in the offseason to improve the team’s scoring, and he did lead the team in goals by a mile with 27.  However, this season represented true rock bottom for the Devils at the end of the Lou era.  DeBoer was fired midway through the season, literally on Christmas Day although it was only announced the day after.  Taking his place was an unwieldy contingent of Adam Oates and Scott Stevens as more or less co-coaches with Lou overseeing them on the bench.  Lou had come down from the GM perch to sit behind the bench before but this was definitely different than his previous sojurns in 2006 and 2007, where he was clearly the man.  Now he was just a wistful soul overseeing others run the sinking ship, wondering how things cratered so far and so fast.

Pretty much the less said about 2014-15, the better.  My season recap linked above (I tried to do it with all the seasons to provide some additional context) is more of a recap than you even need for this sorry campaign.  At least the offseason got off to a decent start as the Devils got to ‘keep’ their first-round pick after all, or rather the NHL partially expunged the infamous penalty for the Kovalchuk contract, giving us pick #30 in the first round as a replacement for the #11 pick we had to surrender for the illegal contract – mainly due to the player leaving and new ownership – although keeping the picks that turned out to be washouts such as Matteau and John Quenneville probably wouldn’t have served us as well as forefiting Matteau and keeping the eleventh pick in 2014 would have.  Lou won the battle but lost the war by not surrendering #29 in 2012.

On the ice, New Jersey finished with 78 points, a season point total which actually flattered them – the goalie Lou acquired to be the successor to Marty could only prevent a sinking ship from completely cratering long before it did.  To his credit, Cory put up sterling numbers in his first season as the unquestioned starting goalie with 68 games played, a 2.26 GAA and .925 save percentage but with an offense that couldn’t score (Henrique led the team with a lousy 43 points), a defense that couldn’t play a transition game and a GM/coach who lost his way, Cory’s presence was pointless as the dark ages began in earnest.

2015-16 – Things came to a head once and for all after the disasterous 2014-15 season when Lou was strongly pushed by ownership to cede his position as GM to Ray Shero, then showing he didn’t exactly want to stick around as a hood ornament upstairs, he resigned as president three months later to take the GM job in Toronto.  Shero made immediate and sweeping changes, hiring John Hynes as head coach and cutting ties with the past by not asking Stevens to return as an assistant or hiring Marty in a front office role.  Along with Lou, Stevens and longtime chief scout David Conte going by the wayside, captain Salvador retired and longtime stalwart Danius Zubrus was released.  To say this was a changing of the guard would be an understatement.  Neccesary on some level after things had bottomed out, but still unsettling for Devils fans who’d known nothing but success for a two-decade run.

Shero and Hynes had a long honeymoon period during their first year and despite stripping down they found some early success with a motley crew of castoffs and reclamation projects…such as winger Lee Stempniak (16 goals and 41 points in 63 games after a PTO camp invite), defenseman John Moore who was deadly in the three-on-three OT, and fan favorite grinder Bobby Farnham – who scored several unlikely goals early and even got his own goal song for crying out loud.  Clearly Shero’s best move of the offseason was his draft-day acquisition of Kyle Palmieri and the Jersey native broke out with a 30-goal, 57-point season.

While nobody really thought the Devils were a serious threat to even contend for a playoff spot, they peaked at 29-21-7 on Valentine’s Day and were up to that point more fun to watch than any of the post-lockout teams.  Though the team eventually fell off, the Devils still finished just above NHL .500 and had a nice sendoff for Elias during the home finale.  Though he was only able to play sparingly in what turned out to be his final NHL season, his three-point performance on April 9 against Lou’s retooling Leafs at the Rock was a pretty good swan song to go out on.  Although he wouldn’t officially announce his retirement for nearly another year, everyone in the building felt this could be it for a beloved icon.

2016-17 – After all the changes the previous year, it truly felt like a new day in Newark, never more so than with Shero’s stunning acquisition of star Taylor Hall for defenseman Adam Larsson right after the draft, one for one as Bob McKenzie famously and succinctly put it.  In some ways 2016-17 crested with that trade though, as the second post-Lou season reality of a long rebuild hit and the surprising success of the previous year was nowhere to be found.  Although the Devils started a respectable 10-6-3, they cratered in the fall and finished 28-40-14 with just 70 points.  This season’s cast of reclamation projects like P.A. Parenteau and Beau Bennett didn’t gel quite as effectively as last year’s, to put it mildly.

Hall had a forgettable first season in the red and white, putting up 53 points in 72 games – and no doubt wondering whether he was cursed or not when his former team (the Oilers) out of nowhere made the playoffs, and even won a round.  Lou’s Leafs certainly did better than the Devils in the second season of their so-called Shanaplan, as they made the postseason themselves.  The only bright spot of the whole year for Devils fans came after the season was over when the Devils stunningly won the lottery from the #5 spot and were able to draft Nico Hischier at #1 overall.  Perhaps better times were ahead after all…

2017-18 – Optomism was abound with the drafting of Nico, who had a strong camp and made the opening night roster, putting up a solid 52-point debut playing every game as a rookie teenager.  Also debuting in October for the new-look Devils was college FA signing Will Butcher, and sixth-round breakout Jesper Bratt.  All the new blood gave the Devils a much-needed jolt of enthusiasm at the start of the season and they responded with a 9-2 start, keeping the good times rolling through Christmas where they crested at 22-9-5, before falling off with a six-game losing streak and dropping ten out of twelve overall.  Although Hall was in the midst of a career season, goaltending threatened to derail the team as Schneider’s injuries were starting to pile up while backup Keith Kinkaid struggled mightily in the first half of the season before putting together a team-saving and career-saving surge in the second half when Cory became unusable.

Still, Shero recognized this season was one where they needed to try to cash in and give the organization some hope with a successful playoff run.  He made a good hockey trade but one that made Devil fans a touch melancholy, dealing 2012 playoff hero and social media darling Henrique for Sami Vatanen to improve the D.  Deadline deals for Michael Grabner (a trade with the Rangers no less, a first in franchise history!) and Pat Maroon had mixed results with Grabner turning out worse than expected while Maroon proved to be a valuable role player down the stretch with 13 points in 17 games after being liberated from Edmonton.  After struggling his first year and being questioned by Shero whether he wanted to remain a Devil, Hall responded with a career season putting up 39 goals and 93 points in 76 games, time and again scoring big goal after big goal.

In many ways, the season came down to a pivotal six-game road trip in early March with the team at 34-26-8 and hanging onto a playoff berth by a thread over the surging Panthers.  Needing to get hot again to stay in front, the Devils responded with an inspiring crunchtime surge, going 4-2 on the trip and 10-2-1 overall (many of them nail-biting wins) to clinch a playoff spot after winning the penultimate game of the season, ironically against the Leafs at the Rock.  Although Tampa Bay made sure our playoff stay was short-lived, the Devils at least put together one last show for the fans in Game 3 of the series.

2018-19 – You would think the Devils would have wanted to carry the momentum of their previous season toward bigger and better things the following year.  Instead it became a year where the organization arguably rested on its laurels from top to bottom.  Still sitting out free agency and letting more cap space sit unused in the fourth year of the Shero regime, the do-nothing offseason set a tone.  In some ways it felt like the beginning of Rocky III where Rocky gets too big for his britches and no longer thinks he has to do the same work he did when he got to the top.

Lou would have turned over in his grave (if he were in fact not still alive and well) over the Devils being in a reality TV series – Behind The Glass on the NHL Network which provided insight to the team’s preseason Hard Knocks-style, only with four half-hour episodes instead of two hour-long episodes.  Instead of boot camp, the Devils traveled the world in a preseason that saw the team play an exhibition game in Switzerland against Nico’s former team, then a regular season game against the Oilers – where they got off to a grand start whipping Edmonton 5-2.

Maybe that was the real problem, the fact the Devils started the season so impressively winning the first four games by a combined score of 17-4 perhaps gave them a false sense of security.  Reality hit, and hit hard soon after.  Cory’s long winless streak to end 2017-18 extended into this season as well, and his career appeared to be over after an early December meltdown against Vegas at the Rock, while Kinkaid turned back into a pumpkin and eventually got unceremoniously dumped at the deadline for a 5th round pick…in 2022.  Hall followed his Hart season up by putting up 37 points in 33 games – before going on the shelf with a knee injury, never to return after December.  There wasn’t much to enjoy about 2018-19 other than goalie Mackenzie Blackwood’s solid 23-game debut and role player Blake Coleman’s 22-goal breakout as the Devils finished with a dissapointing 72-point season.

2019-20 – No full season recap to link yet, but there might as well be one.  Certainly it was an eventful offseason in Newark starting with winning the lottery (again!) and drafting Jack Hughes, then pulling off a seemingly masterful trade for one-time Norris winner P.K. Subban.  Another trade for Nikita Gusev, free agent signing of glue guy Wayne Simmonds and early in-season extension for Hischier meant last offseason’s do nothing was replaced by a ‘let’s ****ing do some stuff!’ offseason.  However, similar to the 2011 offseason, the black clouds surrounding Hall’s lack of an extension and imminent free agency were still looming in the background.

Black clouds quickly turned to storm clouds as the team got off to an 0-4-2 start and things didn’t improve much thereafter.  After rebounding with a solid second half of the season and good World Championships, Cory left the opener due to injury and it was a harbinger of bad times to come for both he and the team, as the Devils blew a 4-0 lead against the Jets and never really recovered.  Cory was released after six terrible games, and is struggling even more in the AHL, his career seemingly over now after an inevitable buyout of the last two years of his contract this offseason.  Also released – or rather fired – was coach Hynes, the final straw coming with back-to-back noncompetitive losses at home against the Rangers and in Buffalo.  Not that things have really improved yet under assistant Alain Nasreddine, who needed six games to get his first win as a head coach.

All that’s left are the selloff trades, with the first – and biggest – domino falling just a couple of days ago with the deal of Hall to Arizona, and Shero’s admission that there wasn’t really much of a negotiation towards a new contract, seeming to confirm online speculation that Shero in fact wasn’t willing to go beyond five years for Hall.  I’m not sure I disagree with that, but it makes the win-now moves this offseason all the more puzzling and most have backfired, particularly Subban who has gone pointless in twenty straight games.

As the decade comes to a close the Devils are at a crossroads, seemingly on their way to another couple of years in the wilderness at least, wasting the ELC years on Hughes’ contract.  Not that he’s played at anywhere near a star level to this point but still if you are going to build the team around Hischier and Hughes, eventually some actual building needs to start taking place and not just teardowns.

While our 2000-2015 drafting under Conte was a big reason for the falloff at the end of Lou’s tenure I’m not sure what to make of new scouting director Paul Castron either.  His results have been underwhelming to this point.  Our prospect pool may be better than it was, whatever that means (not like the AHL team is doing any better than the NHL team now) but eventually these guys are going to have to make an NHL impact for Shero and Castron to be a successful pairing here and get the Devils out of the purgatory they’ve been in for much of the decade.

At the beginning of the decade the Devils were a model franchise with a standard of excellence and a clear identity, but by the end of it they were just another losing team in purgatory who shed their identity and lost their way.  What will the ’20’s bring…more of the same or a turnaround back toward greatness?

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Hunted down by Predators, Ellis elbows Buchnevich in head, Panarin scores in fifth straight to hit 20

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Derek

There are going to be times where you play well enough to win, but lose. And vice versa. It evens out during the season.

The Rangers probably felt like they deserved better than a 5-2 home defeat to the Predators last night at The Garden. They fired 41 shots on Nashville backup Juuse Saros. However, he was the difference in finishing with 39 saves to outplay Alexandar Georgiev.

The Predators were opportunistic. They cashed in on their scoring chances to put three pucks past Georgiev on only 22 shots. All three came off the rush including a back breaking goal from Mattias Ekholm, who came out of the penalty box and beat Georgiev high stick side for a 3-1 lead in the second period. That proved to be the game-winner.

Interestingly, captain Roman Josi scored 5:07 earlier following a controversial minor penalty for elbowing on Ryan Ellis. He elbowed Pavel Buchnevich in the head and only received two minutes. It was a horrible miss by refs Kelly Sutherland and Jean Hebert. Ellis should’ve served a five-minute elbowing major and been ejected for a dangerous blow to the head.

Fortunately, after he was checked out for concussion protocol, Buchnevich returned to the game. If the Department of Player Safety doesn’t fine and suspend Ellis for the dirty hit, something’s wrong. Those are the kind of plays they want to eliminate.

Hockey is a funny game. You can play well and lose, or get outplayed and win due to your goalie. We’ve seen the Rangers win games they had no business winning due to Georgiev stealing them. They had many chances on Monday night to score, but didn’t take advantage. Give credit to Saros, who was the best player on the ice. He stole the game for his team.

The Rangers went 0-for-4 on the power play despite firing 11 shots on goal. Saros stopped them all. The special teams failure came back to cost them. If you want to point to an area they lost, this was it. Nashville was 0-for-2 on the power play. But their penalty kill led by Saros got the job done. They also scored two goals after New York power plays expired. A momentum killer.

Rocco Grimaldi opened the scoring when he made a good move to get off a shot that deflected off Brady Skjei’s skate and by Georgiev. It looked like he still could’ve had it. It went through the five-hole. Obviously, he wasn’t as sharp as he’s been recently.

On the next shift, a Nashville turnover in the neutral zone allowed Mika Zibanejad to come in two on none with Chris Kreider, who beat Saros low for his eighth to tie the score 34 seconds later.

Following Kreider’s goal, the Rangers spent a lot of time in the Nashville zone dictating the play. They were way better except on the scoreboard. Despite a 15-8 edge in shots, they were only tied after one period.

It was at 8:01 of the second where Ellis caught Buchnevich up high in the helmet with an elbow that sent him to the locker room. Following their failure to score on a dubious minor penalty that should’ve been more, the Blueshirts gave up a go-ahead goal to Josi on the rush. On a play started by Kyle Turris, Dan Hamhuis got the puck over to Josi, who skated in and fired a good shot through a screen to beat Georgiev for a 2-1 lead at 10:16.

In a period where there were quite a few penalties including a ridiculous misconduct to Brendan Lemieux, the Rangers failed again on a man-advantage. Ekholm was serving two minutes for cross-checking Kreider. But 12 seconds after it expired, a smart Nick Bonino lob pass got behind to Ekholm, who came out of the box and broke in to score on Georgiev for a 3-1 Predators lead at 15:23. That was a back breaker. It was the best shot Nashville scored on with Ekholm going high, far side inside the post.

I should note that prior to the consecutive tallies from Josi and Ekholm, Panarin thought he had one early in the period. But the officials were right as his quick wrist shot hit the far goalpost and then the puck took a unlucky bounce and stayed out by rolling right on the goal line. Had he scored there as the team thought, that might’ve changed the game.

https://twitter.com/RangersMSGN/status/1206744681616486412?s=20

In the third, Buchnevich took a ill advised minor penalty in the offensive zone for holding. One of those lazy penalties he’s done a few times this year. Even though he returned and played better offensively speaking by getting opportunities on Saros, he again didn’t register a point. That’s nine games in a row without a point. His last came on Nov. 29 at Boston. It’s inexplicable.

With Saros locked in and the Predators sitting back, it took until Zibanejad fed Panarin for a very good shot for number 20 with 2:42 left in regulation for the Rangers to make it interesting. Panarin has a five-game goal streak. He’s halfway to his first 40 goal season. Wouldn’t it be something if he did it? What a player.

But with Georgiev again going to the bench for an extra skater, a poor Buchnevich dump directly behind the net allowed Josi enough time to turn around and fire the puck down ice 200 feet for an empty net goal with 1:49 remaining. It was a bad dump in by Buchnevich because he fired the puck in too quickly. He would’ve been better off going for a soft dump in the corner which would’ve allowed his teammates to get in on the forecheck and have a chance to recover the puck. But he didn’t. And Josi got his second of the game to make it 4-2.

Fittingly, Ellis scored a second empty netter with over five seconds left for the final score. He shouldn’t have even been out there. But that’s the kind of game it was. A total waste. They better show some balls and suspend him. It would be a colossal failure if Ellis got off and played tonight at the Islanders, who you figure will make mince meat of the Preds, who aren’t that good.

That’s gonna do it. There isn’t a whole lot else to say.

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Devils had to trade Hall

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Derek

Taylor Hall was finally traded today by the Devils. AP Photo via Getty Images

It’s finally done. Taylor Hall is officially no longer a New Jersey Devil. The ’17-18 Hart winner, who carried the Devils to its only postseason appearance since 2012, was traded with minor league forward Blake Speers to the Coyotes in exchange for three prospects, a 2020 first round pick and a conditional third.

Here’s a further breakdown via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1206692081059713024?s=19

The three prospects are defenseman Kevin Bahl, center Nate Scnarr and right wing Nick Merkley. Of the trio, Bahl sounds like the key player to the deal for Devils GM Ray Shero. Ironically, the Coyotes kept better D prospect Victor Soderstrom and Bahl’s Ottawa 67’s junior teammate Noel Hoafenmayer. Please refer to Hasan’s excellent piece on the three prospects as they were rated well by Corey Pronman in Arizona’s system.

The Devils will retain half of Hall’s remaining salary ($6 million AAV). So, that enabled them to get a better return for a potential rental with the 28-year old scoring left wing expected to test the market next summer. He turns unrestricted on July 1.

Even though he went through some struggles due to the off ice distraction of not knowing his future, Hall still was leading the Devils in scoring with 25 points (6-19-25). He was a healthy scratch the final two games of the team’s road trip at Colorado and Arizona. Two teams heavily involved in talks for Hall. To their credit, New Jersey played well in both games and posted a 2-1 win over Arizona to earn interim coach Alain Nasreddine’s first win.

Poetically, it turned out to be Hall’s new team. The former Oilers 2010 first overall pick came over to the Devils in a straight up deal for defenseman Adam Larsson on June 29, 2016. A trade many hockey pundits laughed at due to not understanding how Edmonton could deal a player of Hall’s caliber one for one for a defensive D in Larsson.

It’s interesting that the Oilers made the playoffs in ’16-17, even reaching the second round. Larsson fit in while Hall didn’t find his footing right away. However, things changed in Year Two. He was brilliant in posting 39 goals with 54 assists for 93 points in 76 games to carry the Devils to the postseason. So remarkable was he that Hall became the only Devil to win the league MVP. He edged out Nathan MacKinnon. It was well deserved. In a five game first round defeat to the Lightning, he had two goals and four assists.

An injury riddled ’18-19 tarnished his third year in Newark. He still was over a point-per-game with 37 points (11-26-37) in 33 games. With Shero adding first overall pick Jack Hughes along with PK Subban, Wayne Simmonds and Nikita Gusev, the Devils had higher expectations. But they never materialized. Instead, the team severely underperformed which led to coach John Hynes’ dismissal. Nasreddine replaced him.

It wasn’t long before rumors started circulating that the Devils were listening to offers for impending free agent Hall. They knew they weren’t going to keep him. So, it made perfect sense to start seeing what the market was. With Hall sitting out for precautionary reasons, it was obvious to everyone his days were numbered.

He finishes his Devils career with 76 goals, 132 assists and 198 points over 211 games.

For New Jersey, they’re probably not done selling. As Hasan has alluded to in previous posts, both Simmonds and Sami Vatanen could be available before the trade deadline in late February. Each can hit the market next summer. Both should have value to contenders. Even captain Andy Greene could be a candidate to get moved for the same reason.

For the Devils, it now becomes about evaluating what they have. Michael McLeod tallied two assists in their win over the weekend in The Desert. Jesper Boqvist scored a goal. With Hughes the centerpiece plus Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri, they have to figure out who belongs as part of their rebuild.

Expect even more changes over the long haul.

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