Schnieder’s dud mars better team game against Canucks

Posted on October 25, 2013 by hasan4978

Roberto Luongo and Cory Schnieder last year in different ‘uniforms’

 

Perhaps the only good news from last night’s 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver is I don’t have to sit here and bash the team en masse.  Except perhaps for their pathetic shootouts (now 0-12 on the season in shootout attempts), but I’ll get to that later.  Last night however, the team played arguably its best defensive game of the season, only allowing seventeen shots in regulation and twenty-one overall.  Offensively, it wasn’t great again but two goals on thirty shots is about par for the course with this group, especially against an actual upper-echelon NHL goalie like Roberto Luongo.  If we can’t score against scrub backups, why should I expect us to roast Bobby Lou/Strombone/Thing 1?  Still, this game should have been a 2-0 or at worst 2-1 win.

Once again, a losing team finds a way to lose another game though.  Last night, the clear goat was Cory Schnieder (a.k.a. Thing 2), who was clearly at fault on both goals and put on a puckhandling display that would have made Johan Hedberg cringe.  It wasn’t just his first goal against – a freebee to Ryan Kesler at 6:07 when Schnieder tried to pass the puck to an unsuspecting Andy Greene and flubbed it right onto the stick of Henrik Sedin, who found a wide open Kesler on the left side of the goal for a tap-in.  It seemed as if that mistake hung over Schnieder all night, as he passed up several other easy chances to play the puck (and nearly flubbed a couple others) including falling down on a loose puck in the crease to get a faceoff with literally nobody around him, something I’ve never seen before.  As current creasemate Martin Brodeur will tell you, the ability to shrug off mistakes is what makes the difference between a goalie who can have good streaks, and a consistently elite player.

Kesler’s goal wasn’t even Schnieder’s worst mistake of the night though, as Daniel Sedin‘s blast from the boards after a dump-in from twin brother Henrik somehow found room under Schnieder’s pad at 12:37 of the second period – again tying the game for Vancouver.  Schnieder even admitted he was ready for the play since it was something the Sedins did but still failed to get his pad down in time and Cory took the blame for both goals and the loss after the game.  As it turned out, that was the last goal of the actual hockey game even though the Devils pounded seventeen shots at Luongo in the third period, and the Canucks dominated the 4-on-4 OT but couldn’t score there.

What was particularly galling about Schnieder’s game last night is it marred what was clearly our best defensive performance of the season.  I don’t want to say not having captain Bryce Salvador (death in the family) was a net positive – especially since Salvador’s had a bounceback season – but it isn’t a coincidence the defense was more efficient and moving the puck better last night with youngsters Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson in the lineup in place of Salvador and Pete’s Pet (Peter Harrold).  Gelinas in particular was an eye-opener in his second NHL game last night with no less an authority than Jaromir Jagr calling him ‘the best player on the ice’ last night.  Jagr was pretty good himself too, but last night’s highlight was Gelinas’s first NHL goal on the power play at 9:41 of the first, firing a slapper through traffic and past Luongo.  Making perhaps his only contribution last night aside from getting the primary assist on Gelinas’s laser, Travis Zajac went to get Gelinas the puck for a keepsake.

Overall, Gelinas played 16:27, getting credited with three SOG and three hits while d-partner Larsson got nineteen plus minutes and was an E, so coach Pete DeBoer couldn’t harp on Larsson’s plus-minus the way he did before the game when he got ‘defensive’ over a question of how Larsson was being managed this season, bringing up how he wanted Larsson to make the simple play and not be a -6 in five games.  And yet he said nothing about Harrold’s -6 when he talked about benching him, instead claiming it was because he was a small guy that was beaten up with the workload.  Despite Pete’s lineup idiosyncrascies, every d-pairing worked last night, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Salvador returns either on Saturday or early next week.

If Gelinas was the surprise star last night, it was Jagr’s line with Andrei Loiktionov and Patrik Elias that was the best line on the ice.  All three forwards combined for a goal with some beautiful passing with Loiktionov finding a wide-open Elias at the right side of the net for a one-timer goal.  Somehow Elias was named first star last night, but it was really his older Czech linemate that was the best forward – something DeBoer even alluded to after the game when he called Jagr consistently the best forward on the team.  That line showed instant chemistry with possession and creativity, and should have had a second goal late in the second period when Loiktionov had a wide-open net but rushed a backhander high.  Although the Devils controlled play for much of the night against a Canucks team on a sixth-game of a seven game road trip and down to only nine healthy forwards last night, the Jagr-led line was really the only one creating chances for the most part, other than a couple of lasers by Michael Ryder that Luongo was up to the task on.

Of course once Schnieder gave up two leads and the game went into overtime, the result was pretty much predictable.  At least DeBoer tried a couple of new things in the shootout, deferring to get the last shot and giving Adam Henrique an attempt.  Though he had another miserable game, to his credit Henrique did actually fool Luongo on his attempt, something I can’t say about most of the Devils’ other twelve shots on goal during the skills competition this year.  Unfortunately Henrique somehow put a puck wide with an open net to shoot at.  Although Schnieder stopped D. Sedin and Alex Edler in the shootout, the immortal Mike Santorelli abusing him on the first attempt was enough to beat the Devils’ popgun offense which again went 0-for-3 and is 0-for the season in twelve shootout attempts.  I would have given Marek Zidlicky an attempt…he’s actually scored several shootout goals and has a better percentage than some guys who’ve gotten attempts this year but apparently of the two coaches last night only John Tortorella knows you can run defensemen out in the shootout.  Then again with how pitiful we are at the shootout, DeBoer’d probably have more success picking the lineup out of a hat.

And what would a home Devils recap be without yet more talk about the goal song and the atmosphere at the arena?  Last night’s ‘fan choice’ was Righteous Smoke by Monster Truck, which was a total dud, just like the 13k crowd last night.  I wasn’t even sure if they decided to change the goal song at the last minute because I kept hearing ‘Oh oh oh oh’ like the more popular SNA choice.  Unfortunately it seems as if the owners didn’t take too kindly to the crowd chanting you suck on Saturday night and laid down the law picking a song I doubt five fans voted for, and warning the Diablos section in 122 that if they chanted ‘you suck’ (among other things) they’d be ejected and have their season tickets revoked.  Granted, if you’re getting $100 season tickets you’re pretty much beholden to the team’s wishes but still, you can tell they were puppets of the team when they tried a ‘We are…JERSEY!’ chant in the third period, and started ‘Let’s Go Devils!’ chants when the inevitable ‘Rangers Suck!’ whistles finally started in the third period.

Bad feelings were evident all over the arena, with one guy a few rows in front of me going to the trouble to tape on the back of his jersey (three seperate pieces of tape):

#Harris Sucks, #Blitzer Sucks, #I don’t usually say suck

I’ve come down on the fans’ behavior a few different times but the fact the owners are being as childish and defiant as the fans is not going to make anyone happy in the end.  Unfortunately last night the boos returned after this dreadful goal song choice, and it seems as if the owners are determined to find a generic song choice that the fans can’t chant ‘you suck’ to.  Pretty much the only thing keeping me in good spirits in spite of the atmosphere was getting to spend the game talking with my former seatmate and his girlfriend in 120 since the three seats between us were unoccupied.  That and the fact I was just glad to be there after going almost a full three weeks in between games since I let my friend and his wife buy the Saturday game off me (he’s not a huge hockey fan himself, but he’s trying to get her into it).  Maybe I should beg them to buy more tickets off me if the team’s going to play that well when I don’t go.  Then again, it was against the Rangers who have their own problems right now.  As one guy on HF Boards cleverly put it, we were scoring against some guy dressed up in a Lundqvist jersey on his way to a Halloween party.

Right now most of the NHL is laughing at both our teams though.

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No Crying Just Yet

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Derek
Poor Cam: In what's becoming a theme, a Ranger goalie can't save this team. Cam Talbot still was solid making 25 saves in his NHL debut. AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson

Poor Cam: In what’s becoming a theme, a Ranger goalie can’t save this team. Cam Talbot still was solid making 25 saves in his NHL debut.
AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson

The Rangers accomplished something tonight. They managed to lose to the Flyers 2-1. I could gripe over how bad that is. But why bother? This is an embarrassingly dull team right now. I don’t know when that changes. They scored once on a lucky shot by Brad Richards. He caught Steve Mason napping late in the first. That was it.

In his NHL debut, Cam Talbot was solid finishing with 25 saves. Of the two goals he allowed, one could be considered soft with Matt Read beating him five-hole while shorthanded. That it came a man short shows just how brutal they were. Particularly Derick Brassard. For everything he did right last Spring, the former Jacket has been anything but so far. Even with four assists, he’s hardly been noticeable. Instead, blatant giveaways have led to goals against. The latest glaring example coming when his mishaps at the point allowed Read to skate in two on one and give the Flyers the lead.

The only positive offensively was the play of the top line, who responded following Derek Dorsett’s fight with Zac Rinaldo. With over a minute left in the first period, a good cycle from the trio of Richards, Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan led to their only goal. A nice keep by John Moore at the point along with a Kreider chip allowed Richards to keep the play going. With nowhere to go, he wisely fired the puck from a sharp angle surprising Mason, who wasn’t on his angle. A smart play from a much more confident player who’s been the lone bright spot. Richards’ team-leading fifth came at 18:56 sending them to the locker room even.

There really isn’t much else to say. Forget the 12 shots they fired on Mason in the second. Were any really threats as much as two bombs the Flyers sent that beat Talbot to the glove side but rang off the goalpost? You already know the answer. Brian Boyle took two dumb penalties including an unsportsmanlike for arguing over a missed call. Brandon Mashinter had a spirited scrap with Wayne Simmonds that led to more animosity befitting of the rivalry. Dorsett mixed it up with Braydon Coburn. Somehow, he wound up with the only misconduct. Ironic considering what happened the next period.

Before the second concluded, the most controversial play of the game took place. While finishing a check, Benoit Pouliot shoved Max Talbot from behind. His momentum carried him into the boards. It was a dangerous hit because he was vulnerable. At least Pouliot tried to hold up as Talbot crashed. No matter, He received a boarding major and game misconduct. I had no problem with the call because he could’ve been seriously hurt. Luckily for Pouliot, Talbot returned for the third. He’ll still be getting a call from the league. I think he might avoid further discipline. There was no malicious intent. If only he was earning his paycheck. Through eight games, he still is stuck on zero points. Great signing Slats!

The only aspect for the Rangers that was good was the penalty kill. They went four for four including a successful kill of Pouliot’s major. Unfortunately, they got no momentum. When you’re bad, you’re bad. Instead of testing Mason, a sloppy turnover led to Coburn getting the game-winner at 3:33. After someone went for a big hit in the neutral zone and missed, disaster struck. Marc Staal gave away the puck which might’ve caromed off Richards to Coburn, whose one-timer beat Talbot stick side. Read and Niklas Grossmann added helpers.

The damage was done. In past seasons, a one-goal deficit wasn’t enough to beat them. Not this team who is without Carl Hagelin and injured stars Rick Nash and Ryan Callahan. There is zero offensive creativity. Especially with Stepan continuing to struggle and Brassard dressed as a Halloween ghost. Alain Vigneault felt it was better to scratch Mats Zuccarello and play team pet Taylor Pyatt. I’m not questioning Pyatt’s effort. It’s always there. He tries hard. But it’s time for AV and Slats to face facts. He’s a stiff! What was he doing out in the last minute? Between him, the coach and the senseless play of Mike Del Zotto, it’s enough to put a paper bag over your head. Apparently some fans are suggesting it for Monday’s home opener.

https://twitter.com/KreiOfTheTiger/status/393554197552959488

The Rangers did get a power play. They only had two. Two stinking power plays and one shorthanded goal given up. On the second at least, J.T. Miller thought he scored the tying goal. Not only did he fool us but the New York Rangers who texted it as a power play goal immediately. What a joke. But the more you watched replays, the kicking motion was evident. On the bench, Miller sat there motionless. And so there went the only chance they had against the hapless Flyers. Path—etic!

HARD HITS

-I only have one. The mindless over promotion of the newly renovated Garden has taken its toll. The way MSG makes it sound, you’d think they were curing cancer. It’s an absolute joke! I can’t anymore with Dolan. How many times do we have to hear Sam Rosen say they spent $2 billion on the “New MSG.” It’s maddening. That’s all they care about. Not improving the on ice product which flat out sucks since Slats traded for Nash and then listened to the egocentric goalie on Tort. Yes. I said it! This is as much Hank’s fault that the team has zero identity. When they lose, I don’t even get upset anymore. I expect it. The losing culture is back. They can take their precious Garden and _______. You get the picture.

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Scott cheapshot latest Sabre disgrace

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Derek

We’ve seen this act before. It’s a tired one already in Western New York. It’s one thing to lose as often as the Sabres have. But quite another for the team to disgrace itself. On what was billed Rivalry Night on NBC Sports Network, Buffalo turned a 5-2 home loss to bitter nemesis Boston into a much uglier scene.

For a young rebuilding club that’s won just once in 11 games including last night, the story should be about kids such as Nikita Zadorov. The 18-year old Russian ’13 Sabre first round pick scored his first career NHL goal cutting the deficit to 3-2 late in the second period. That was a good moment for a kid who’s part of the team’s future.

After Bruin defenseman Torey Krug scored to restore a two-goal lead 4:17 into the third, Buffalo bench boss Ron Rolston thought it was a good idea to send out John Scott. The 31-year old veteran enforcer is on his fourth roster in seven years. He spent the first two with the Wild before moving to Chicago for two, then the Rangers and has spent the last two in Buffalo. Listed at 6-8, 270, Scott’s a behemoth who can intimidate opponents with his fists. In a meaningless exhibition against the Leafs, Rolston sent him out to chase around Phil Kessel following a fight in which Jamie Devane broke Corey Tropp’s jaw. The end result was Scott emulating Tom while Kessel was Jerry. It morphed into a circus with players pairing off while Kessel kept hacking away at Scott.

It was like one of those scenes from Slap Shot. Except it’s not the 1970’s or 80’s anymore. Hockey doesn’t want such ugliness in the game. Apparently, Rolston forgot what his job description was. He was more concerned with having Scott out for a shift following Krug’s goal that put his team down 4-2. What he got was a disgraceful display from a player who has no place in the game. After Loui Eriksson released the puck, Scott came flying in with the kind of dirty hit that the NHL has zero tolerance for. Judge for yourself.

As we see on the replay, Scott delivers a late hit from the blindside charging into a defenseless Eriksson. For his actions, he received a charging match penalty. The response was quick from Boston with defenseman Adam McQuaid dropping the gloves. Of course, he was assessed an instigator because why would he want to defend a fallen teammate.

”He’s out there for two reasons and that’s either to fight or hurt,” a livid Claude Julien of Scott. ”So he did his job tonight.”

What exactly is his job? To deliberately injure players. Why he was even out there made no sense. The Sabres needed a response. They trailed by two in a game that wasn’t over. Instead, Krug converted his second during the five-minute major putting it away. You have to wonder what is going on. Patrick Kaleta also earns a paycheck from the Sabres. He still hasn’t learned his lesson serving the sixth game of a 10-game suspension for another mindless incident for delivering an illegal check to the head. The victim was Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson, who fortunately wasn’t hurt. But Kaleta’s record which included three suspensions made it an easy call for League VP Brendan Shanahan.

One has to ask where the level of respect is. The league has been quite busy making examples out of many culprits. When is enough ENOUGH? It’s reaching a breaking point. How many second and third chances can you give these guys before they kill someone? Because it’s headed that route. Matt Cooke has been used as an example of someone who repaired his image. You’d like to see more players adhere to the rules and take responsibility. The question with Scott is why is he even playing. He’s a goon. Kaleta on the other hand can take a regular shift and inject energy. However, time is running out.

The Sabres should be focused more on playing the game of hockey the right way. That way the younger players learn. I understand the need for them to get tougher. Ryan Miller was run over by Milan Lucic and no Sabre defended him. Team toughness is important as long as it doesn’t go overboard. There was no point to Scott’s madness. He deserves a huge ban. We’re not talking 10 games. Either 20 or 40. The time has come for Shanahan to make an example out of someone. Do the right thing.

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Changing of the net in Jersey

Posted on October 23, 2013 by hasan4978

Image

When the Devils acquired Cory Schnieder in a blockbuster draft trade with Vancouver four months ago, people figured he would supplant a 41-year old Martin Brodeur as the team’s starting goalie at some point.  I’m not sure anyone figured the transition would be this quick though.  Schnieder will start his third straight game tomorrow night at home against his former team, although most people figured when the schedule came out that Schnieder would get both Canuck grudge matches anyway.

Even more telling though is what Brodeur himself had to say after practice today.  In a somewhat reflective mood Brodeur admitted, ‘I think he’s (Cory) in the net now to stay…I don’t see that’s going to be changed any time soon’.  While I didn’t see this kind of admission coming in October from a proud athlete like Marty, one look at the numbers so far indicate this kind of day was going to happen sooner or later:

  1. Schnieder 2.21 GAA, .917 save pct. in five starts
  2. Brodeur 3.40 GAA, .865 save pct. in four starts

Sometimes it can get pretty ugly for legends on the way out.  Derek can give chapter and verse on the inordinate influence Mark Messier had in his final, wasted years in New York, or how ugly Patrick Ewing‘s forced exit from the Knicks was.  Fans of another generation can recall Willie Mays falling down in centerfield during his final days with the Mets, or Joe Namath leaving the Jets and playing a handful of forgettable games as a Ram to close his career.  Injuries are sometimes inevitable with older bodies too, such as what’s going on with Yankee icon Derek Jeter right now – or Scott Stevens suffering a concussion in his final season and never playing again.  Occasionally HOF’ers are lucky/perceptive enough to leave on the right note. Yankee fans witnessed one such graceful exit recently with Mariano Rivera (I’d say the same about Andy Pettite too except he is just a notch below the other athletes mentioned in this paragraph).

In hindsight, would it have been better had Brodeur walked away following the ’11-12 playoff run?  I guess, but you can hardly blame the guy for thinking he had more hockey left in him following a strong second half of the season and a playoff run that woke up the echoes from seasons past (14 wins, 2.12 GAA, .917 save percentage).  Perhaps he would have won the Conn Smythe he could have had in 2003 and an improbable fourth Stanley Cup if Mark Fayne could hit an open net late in Game 1, or Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t hit a crossbar late in Game 2.  Even with the team coming up short, Brodeur could take pride in his performance at age 40, an age where most goaltenders have already called it a career, and no goaltender’s ever put up the minutes/games played that Marty has.  Brodeur has 1,224 NHL games under his belt – and counting – a full 195 games clear of Patrick Roy.  Brodeur has 669 career wins, a full 118 ahead of Roy now.  I remember how big a deal it was when Brodeur hit #552 in 2009 to break Roy’s record…yours truly took the above picture that special night.  And oh yes, Brodeur also leads all NHL goaltenders in career goals scored with three.

Maybe it would have been better for Marty to leave the 2012 playoff run as a spectacular finish to a brilliant career, but personally I’ll be sad when Marty stops playing.  I’ve known nothing else as a fan literally other than seeing Marty in net.  And personally from his end, Marty’s a competitor.  Ironically, winning itself probably rejuvanated him as much as anything, after a playoff-less 2010-11 season and several early playoff exits before that.  When he re-signed with the Devils, the immediate future still looked bright.  Unfortunately two days later, star winger and ex-captain Zach Parise left the Devils out in the cold by going to Minnesota.  After a playoff-less season where Brodeur’s save percentage went down and he missed a month with an elbow injury (though he did put up a 2.22 GAA in his 29 starts last year), came more bad news in the offseason with Kovalchuk’s shock departure and the gritty David Clarkson – who had a bit of a little brother type relationship with Marty – leaving for money at home in Toronto as well.

With his numbers so far and the team only having one win in its first nine games, things could have gotten ugly if Marty decided to make an issue of his playing time.  That’s the one thing I knew wouldn’t happen though.  After all, Marty was benched on a gold-medal winning Canada team in favor of Roberto Luongo and said all the right things then.  Even three years ago when he struggled and was replaced by Johan Hedberg for about a month he was all about what’s best for the team.  Yes, you do have to have an ego to be as good as Marty is…but Marty seldom if ever lets that ego get in the way of the greater good and he proved that again today.

“I think we’ve got to try to win some games somehow”, Brodeur said.  “This is what (head coach Pete DeBoer) feels is the best opportunity for him to be successful is having (Schneider) in the net and that’s fine. If we win, everybody’s happy. Even though I don’t play, it’s more enjoyable to be around….days like today are not fun.”

Make no mistake about it though…the fire still burns and Marty still wants to do what he can to contribute:

“I haven’t changed. I want to play every game. It’s not fun to sit,” he said. “The body feels good. That’s about it. It’s hard when you’re used to being the guy that’s counted on to play and all the sudden you’re not asked to. It definitely makes it a little hard, but it’s part of the process of getting older. It’s like we talked about the last three years. I haven’t played as many games either. It’s kind of somewhat a transition. But definitely it’s not fun. “You don’t play hockey, especially at the age I am, to just sit on the bench and hang out and have to do what I did today (be the only goalie in practice). It was fun today. I had a blast, but ask me that in two months and I don’t know if I’ll say the same thing.”

This isn’t going to be a situation where Schnieder will automatically play 70 games just yet though…with another twenty back-to-backs remaining, plus a road game at Montreal where he’ll surely play if healthy, Brodeur will still get his opportunities to go out in a final blaze of glory.  I hope he does.

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Talbot gets start at Philly, Zuccarello possible scratch

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Derek
The Rangers turn to Cam Talbot tomorrow against the Flyers. newsday.com

The Rangers turn to Cam Talbot tomorrow against the Flyers.
newsday.com

With Henrik Lundqvist missing a third straight practice with an undisclosed injury, the Rangers will turn to Cam Talbot tomorrow in Philly. The 26-year old rookie couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I have been waiting a long time for this, working towards this, so I’ll be ready if I get the call,” Talbot told Jim Cerny in a story that appeared on Blueshirts United. “I am extremely excited. It’s every kid’s dream that grows up playing hockey to one day get the chance to play in the NHL. I just can’t wait ’til that time comes. I’ll have to approach it like any other game. It’ll be tough to control those emotions, but I’ll have to do my best to settle myself down and just focus on the game.”

“I basically told (Talbot) he’s in, to enjoy it,” said Alain Vigneault. “He’s obviously been waiting for this opportunity a long time and he’s played real well so far this year at our training camp and in Hartford, so he’s ready for this opportunity.”

If Talbot can duplicate what we saw in preseason against an even more struggling Flyers, goaltending shouldn’t be an issue. What the team has to do is play better in front of him. There have been too many instances where they’ve hung Lundqvist out to dry. So often, he’s bailed them out. But an awful start has the hockey world scratching their heads. Some wondered if it was the goalie pads while others thought the added pressure of a new contract was weighing on his mind. As it turns out, Vigneault revealed that he has a minor injury.

“If this had been a playoff game (Lundqvist) would probably be playing,” explained the head coach. “It’s something that is day to day, that we can nip it in the bud by taking one more day or two. It’s something we should be able to turn the page on and you won’t hear about it any more.”

According to Daily News Rangers beat writer Pat Leonard, Vigneault said Lundqvist’s ailment is “something he’s had for, I want to say, maybe 10 days. But it wasn’t anything significant. He played real well in Washington, and it acted up a little bit after the Jersey game.”   The coach said on Sunday, the day after the 4-0 loss to the Devils, Lundqvist “just felt it more and consulted our doctors. They took a look at him and he had some irritation, so we figured we might as well nip this in the bud right now.”

Whatever it is, maybe it helps explain a poor start that’s seen him post a 3.45 GAA and .890 save percentage. Vigneault also noted that something had been bothering Lundqvist for 10 days. What was all that talk about the Devils not being four goals better? He took a lot of criticism from the new coach and Brad Richards. Without Hank, this is a lottery team. Hopefully, he’ll come back stronger and playing the kind of goalie Garden Faithful have come to expect. The home opener is Monday Oct. 28 against the Canadiens.

Vigneault is hoping the team will raise their level with Talbot making his NHL debut. “If for whatever reason we need to use Talbot I think our guys will try real hard for him,” explained Vigneault. “It would be his first regular season NHL game so I would expect our group to rally around that and play real hard in front of him.”

That means being harder on the puck with defensemen making better reads. In a read and react system that emphasizes more man to man defensively, they must be quicker. Something Mike Del Zotto hinted at. He’ll return to the lineup tomorrow in place of Justin Falk. In five games, he has no points and is a minus-six. They need him to step it up offensively. Dan Girardi has probably struggled worse than anyone. He’s been caught out of position several times leading to goals against and an ugly minus-seven rating. Sadly, Marc Staal’s minus-eight ranks worse. The top four that also includes Ryan McDonagh needs to get it together. Especially with the offense missing Ryan Callahan, Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin, who at least is getting closer to the Oct. 29 target date at the Islanders. They can certainly use his jam.

As for lines, Chris Kreider skated with Derek Stepan and Richards. Derick Brassard was with Benoit Pouliot and J.T. Miller. Brian Boyle practiced with Taylor Pyatt and Jesper Fast. Mats Zuccarello was an alternate working with Pyatt and Fast making him a candidate to be scratched. He hasn’t done anything so far and has only seven shots in seven games. It looks like Pyatt stays in. The fourth line is Dominic Moore with Derek Dorsett and Brandon Mashinter.

Regardless of who plays, it’s time for this team to step up. That means more inspired play from Stepan and more aggression from Brassard. Both are key components of the offense who haven’t done enough. I’m curious to see what Kreider gives them on the top line. Richards said he pressed in preseason. Kreider just needs to relax and play. Hopefully, it’ll translate.

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Yes, we are now at Defcon 1 in New Jersey

Posted on October 23, 2013 by hasan4978

What would a Devil season be without me posting the Wargames Defcon 1 clip at least once? I was holding off on it as long as I could…but after the Devils’ 4-1 meltdown in Columbus tonight it’s time to batten down the hatches and launch the nukes.  This isn’t pretty and there’s no way of masking this anymore, no matter what depressing stat you want to use.  Tonight, I’ll cite our wonderful road record which now stands at 2-13-8 in our last twenty three road games.  Two road wins in twenty-three games is Ron Low Devils-type bad.  And if you think our record this season (1-5-3) is bad, just take a look at our schedule until Thanksgiving.  You’ll really be depressed if you’re a Devils fan:

Canucks, at Boston, Tampa, Flyers, at Wild, at Flyers, at Toronto, Nashville, at Rangers, Kings, Penguins, at Anaheim/LA/San Jose during Thanksgiving weekend.

Exactly how many wins is this Devil team going to get among that group of teams?  Right now the only ones you could even argue they have a slightly better than 50-50 chance in are (ironically) the Ranger/Flyer games, since both those teams are somehow below us in the standings.  It’s scary to ponder just how many steps backward this team has taken without Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk though.  Certainly coach Pete DeBoer‘s taken a major hit without assistants Larry Robinson and Adam Oates.

I’m not even really going to recap tonight much, being I paid only passing attention to it for the most part.  I didn’t even get to hear any of the first period, but by the time I turned the radio on driving home during the second period the Devils had started out guns ablazing, dominating play and even getting a power play goal when Michael Ryder roofed one from the slot.  Silly me, after the illusory win over a bad Rangers team the other night, I actually allowed myself to believe that maybe this Devils team had turned a corner and was coming out of its malaise.  Then BANG – the latter half of the game provided a reality check since it was a utter disaster of epic proportions.  Columbus started to get more pressure after a couple of Devil penalties turned the tide, and Brandon Dubinsky gained position on Mark Fayne and scored off a rebound to tie the game on one of those power plays.  Then Cam Atkinson floated a backhander through (or around) traffic and past Cory Schneider after a failed clear by Mattias Tedenby.

Our comedy of errors continued in the third period when Peter Harrold threw a blind pass from behind his blueline directly into the slot that Andrei Loiktionov wasn’t expecting and could only deflect away – right onto the stick of James Wisniewski, who beat Schnieder with a wrister from the point again through traffic.  Typically, Pete absolved one of his pets (Harrold) of blame after the game, instead choosing to point out the pass was on target and essentially threw the blame on Loiktionov.  Funny I somehow think if the shoe’d been on the other foot with Loiktionov throwing the pass out to Harrold, it would still be Loiktonov getting the blame.  That proved to be the game and the Devils sustained little in the way of pressure, although DeBoer didn’t help by putting out the fourth line for seemingly half the third period.  Eventually you have to play your more offensive players when you’re behind, no?  Not if you’re stuck in 2012, only without Oates/Larry providing brainpower behind the bench and Kovalchuk/Parise providing scoring up front.

I’ve been chomping at the bit the last few days to go to the game Thursday, since I’ve only been to Opening Night since I let a couple of friends buy my Devil-Ranger tickets. However, now that familiar feeling of dread is coming back, a similar feeling that I had during the MacLean dark ages.  A feeling of dread that isn’t helped by the attempted sanitization of the arena by the new owners and CEO, who reportedly weren’t happy with the fans defying their wishes and chanting you suck with one of the goal song ‘finalists’ Saturday night.  To the point where they’re threatening the fan section (the Diablos) with explusion if they participate in the chants.  To be fair, the Diablos get $100 season tickets, so in a way they’re kind of beholden to management’s wishes but still – even if you succesfully control a 150-200 fan area you’re not exactly going to control the arena.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…new management could not have possibly picked a worse time to pick a fight with a fanbase that was already testy over the events of the last eighteen months.

At least Patrik Elias will be back Thursday, odds are in favor of Tedenby – with Loiktonov probably taking a seat for Jacob Josefson as we continue to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Bryce Salvador aggravated a hip issue so maybe Adam Larsson can get back in the lineup by default, but with this head coach it wouldn’t shock me if they called up some AHL vet scrub and had him play instead.  God knows it’ll take Pete getting fired to get Harrold out of the lineup, no matter how badly he plays.  Maybe Martin Brodeur will be back in net Thursday, and maybe Schnieder will make his third consecutive start…does it even matter anymore?  It’s seriously at the point where Lou Lamoriello is going to have to consider a coaching change even if there’s few viable alternatives out there, unless the GM has another ‘buddy pass’ to play with Jacques Lemaire to drag him out of retirement yet again.  Things literally could not get worse, at least on the ice.

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Islanders News and Notes

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Derek

On Saturday, Islanders forward Michael Grabner caught Hurricanes forward Nathan Gerbe with an illegal check to the head. The hit occurred during the first period. Gerbe had the puck and was looking for a better shooting angle when Grabner caught him. Even though no penalty was called, the principle point of contact was the head. An area the league has a zero tolerance policy for.

Monday, the league suspended Grabner for two games without pay. He’ll forfeit $30,679.24. The Islanders’ next two games are tonight against the Canucks and Friday at the Penguins. He’ll miss both. The 26-year old Austrian is off to a good start tallying two goals and six assists. His eight points are tied with Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo for second trailing only team leader John Tavares (10).

With defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky placed on injured reserve due to a concussion suffered in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Canes, the club recalled rookie center Brock Nelson, who was on loan to Bridgeport. The Islanders are 3-3-2 with eight points. Despite being up and down, they rank third in the Metropolitan Division. That’s partially due to awful starts from the Devils, Rangers and Flyers. The trio are a combined 4-16-3. Only the Pens are off to a great start winning seven of their first nine. The Avalanche cooled them off behind Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The Islanders haven’t been happy with their play. After dropping two road games at Chicago and Nashville, they’ve won only once in the last three all at Nassau Coliseum. That included a shootout loss to the Sabres. They conclude a four-game home stand against Vancouver.

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Thank you Marty: Biron announces retirement

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Derek
In Better Times: Marty Biron receives congrats from Henrik Lundqvist. He announced his retirement today.

In Better Times: Marty Biron receives congrats from Henrik Lundqvist. He announced his retirement today.

Today, Marty Biron finally came to a tough decision. The affable former Ranger backup goalie announced his retirement. In a tweet earlier today, he made it official.

Martin Biron Verified account

‏@martybiron43

After thinking about it it with my family, I’ve decided to retire as a player and move on to a new chapter. Thank you all for your support.

This doesn’t come as a surprise. I think once Alain Vigneault told him he was on waivers, he knew deep down it was the end. At 36, Biron had a great career. In 16 seasons with the Sabres, Flyers, Islanders and Rangers, he won 230 games posting a 2.61 GAA and .910 save percentage with 28 shutouts in 508 games. His best season came with the Flyers in ’07-08 when he followed up a 30-win season by backstopping the Flyers to the Conference Final. They lost to the Pens. During the run, Biron went 9-8 with a 2.97 GAA, .904 save percentage and one shutout. He also made the Conference Final with the Rangers in 2012 as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup.

After spending a year on the other side of one of hockey’s best rivalries with the Islanders, Biron signed with the Rangers in 2010. In four seasons on Broadway, he provided a dependable backup goalie who Lundqvist could lean on. Not only was he the consummate professional but so well liked that he often gave advice to Ranger shooters before a shootout. I can remember Mats Zuccarello alluding to this once following a great move he pulled off following a win. Biron was the secret weapon.

He won eight games and posted a 2.13 GAA with a .923 save percentage his first season as a Blueshirt (’10-11). Biron followed that up by winning 12 games in ’11-12 while posting a 2.46 GAA, .904 save percentage and two shutouts over 21 games. An invaluable part of a team that won its first Atlantic Division since ’95-96 finishing with the East’s best record. They advanced to the Conference Final before falling in six games to the Devils. In six games last year, he won two games with a 2.32 GAA and .917 save percentage. Unfortunately, after only two appearances, it came to an end. He allowed five goals to the Blues in his only start- a 5-3 loss in St. Louis on Saturday, Oct. 11.

Sometimes, these things happen to good guys. It’s sports. I’ll miss Biron’s personality. He was a guy who kept things loose and answered questions with a smile on his face. An honest sort who should have a bright future in broadcasting. I can’t wait for the day he’s interviewing players. In one final tweet half an hour ago, he said:

“I wanna thank players, coaches, reporters, friends and mostly all the fans for their great support by emails, text and tweets today. MERCI!!”

Thank you Marty Biron. And good luck in the next chapter in your life.

Posted in Battle News, NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Kreider and Mashinter recalled along with Talbot

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Derek

2480c-chriskreider

The Rangers have recalled forwards Chris Kreider and Brandon Mashinter from Hartford. Also coming back up is goalie Cam Talbot. Going back down are Darroll Powe and Jason Missiaen.

In six games with the Wolf Pack, Kreider has two goals and two assists with 16 penalty minutes. Both his goals have come on the power play. After failing to establish himself during preseason, the 22-year old ’09 first round pick went down to Hartford and played better. Now, he gets another opportunity to prove he’s an NHLer. At 6-3, 230 he possesses the size, strength and speed. It’s just a matter of being consistent at the highest level. In 23 games with the Rangers last year, he struggled putting up two goals and assist. Despite sitting out a few games and going back down, he got into eight postseason games scoring this nifty overtime winner against Boston. The Rangers are hoping to see more of that with a struggling offense that’s scored just 11 goals in their first seven games.

By recalling Mashinter, they add toughness to what’s a soft roster minus Ryan Callahan. Mashinter has five assists for Hartford along with seven penalty minutes. His penchant for bad penalties makes him a risk. However, this team clearly needs more energy. Mashinter can provide that finishing checks and sticking up for teammates. He must stay disciplined or his stay will be brief. After how they were pushed around yesterday and over the first seven resulting in a 2-5-0 record, I like this move. With some players clearly not pulling their weight, the organization can’t stand pat.

After getting into games this weekend, Talbot is back. He’ll backup Henrik Lundqvist. In Saturday’s 3-2 win over Providence, Talbot made 39 saves improving to 4-0-1 with a 2.49 GAA and a .924 save percentage. It looks like he’s ready. With Marty Biron deciding to retire, Talbot will backup Lundqvist. Alain Vigneault has repeatedly said that he needs a second string goalie who can make 15-20 starts. We’ll see if Cam can live up to expectations. Otherwise, the Rangers could be in the market for a goalie. Do I hear Ilya Bryzgalov? Let’s hope the universe stays away from MSG.

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Finally, a happy recap in New Jersey

Posted on October 20, 2013 by hasan4978

It’s been six months since the Devils got a win that mattered – April 20 last season, to be exact when they beat the Panthers 6-2 in the penultimate weekend of the season keeping their faint playoff hopes alive for another twenty-four hours before losing to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden the next afternoon and being eliminated.  The Devils’ first meaingful game against the Rangers this season was a different story, one of the few truly stress-free wins this team’s had in a while.  Well, almost stress-free, since captain Bryce Salvador and fourth-line dynamo Steve Bernier both left the game due to injury. Salvador’s in particular looked scary at the time when he was caught by the Rangers’ Benoit Pouliot near the boards and crashed in helmet first.  However, he apparently escaped the dreaded head injury and returned, as did Bernier.

Missing from last night’s game were Patrik Elias, Damien Brunner and Ryane Clowe – all of whom are supposedly suffering mild ailments, with Clowe eligible to come off short-term IR before Tuesday’s game in Columbus.  Last night is where the team’s forward depth really came into play, as Rostislav Olesz, Andrei Loiktionov and Mattias Tedenby all came in and had solid games, with Loiktionov scoring the game’s first goal off a rebound of an Anton Volchenkov shot at 7:22.  Just over five minutes later, Olesz got the primary assist on Adam Henrique‘s goal, where he surprisingly used pure power to fire one through Henrik Lundqvist and get the ever-popular dual ‘Henrique!’ and ‘Hen-rik!’ chants going.  All told, four different Devils scored goals and nine different players registered points, including Czech-mates Jaromir Jagr and Marek Zidlicky, who each got a pair of assists.  Surprisingly, this game was no contest by the middle of the second period as Michael Ryder bombed home a power play goal from the blueline – a rarity in recent years, even with Ilya Kovalchuk back there – and then Danius Zubrus would finish off the scoring at 14:32, balooning the Devils’ lead and eventual final tally to 4-0.

Defensively it was the Devils’ most solid game of the season – which perhaps spells good news for Mark Fayne, and bad news for the scratched Adam Larsson. Ironically one of the fans’ favorite targets in Volchenkov had a strong game himself – hitting guys, blocking shots and even getting his third assist of the season. Once every few weeks the A-train reminds us why many Devil fans thought it was a good idea to give him a six-year, big money contract in the 2010 offseason.  Salvador getting hurt looked like it would be a critical blow after a strong start to the season following an off season in the lockout-shortened 2012, but in coach Pete DeBoer‘s words (whole press conference above) when asked if he was surprised at the captain’s return, ‘Not surprised knowing him…he’s a warrior’.  Perhaps the only time where the Devils’ shutout was seriously threatened last night was during the last few minutes of the second period and the Ranger power play that opened the third period after Fayne’s delay of game penalty. Showing how critical he felt being able to put away a game was, DeBoer used his timeout late in the second period up four goals, after an icing.

Despite the fact Cory Schnieder‘s been clearly better than Martin Brodeur in their split of games thus far and Schnieder should be starting Tuesday, last night was in the goaltender’s own words, ‘a team shutout’.  Derek’s assessment that Schnieder was rarely tested was pretty accurate.  After a series of games between the end of last year and the beginning of this year where we won the shot counter game but not the actual goal tally, it was a relief however.  There were no defensive or goaltending breakdowns last night for the first time in a long while and Devil fans were chanting ‘Cory! Cory!’ last night with the same fervor they’ve always chanted ‘Marty! Marty!’. DeBoer accurately pointed out how the fans appreciate good goaltending around here, since they’ve gotten used to it over the last twenty years.

If there were any contreversies over last night, they occured off the ice.  One involved the Devils’ ‘sellout’ total of 16,592 last night, which was far below historical capacity of 17,625. I guess new ownership has a different way of counting seats, but now over a thousand seats dissapeared?  Not like there was a gagillion dollar renovation here like in another building close by.  And our attendance for the Isles home opener was 16,624 (a tick higher than last night) and that wasn’t called a sellout.  The other mini-contreversy was the goal song, which turned out to be Seven Nation Army – the first in a series of three different songs that’ll be tried out and voted on.  If last night was any indication though, the Devils really ought to just give up the ghost and bring back Rock and Roll Part 2.  They all but admit they got rid of the song because of the ‘you suck’ chant…so what do the fans do? Shrewdly add a ‘you suck’ to the oh oh oh oh chant of SNA.  I guess this is what it’s going to be now, we add you suck to every song.  I have to admit that’s a lot better of a protest than just booing every goal song and kind of hilarious to be honest, although it also proves the fans raged against losing RR2 for one reason and one reason only, which is not the ‘history’ of the song or the memories attached to it.

Off-ice contreversies and the fact it was ‘only’ one win aside, it was nice to actually see a dominant game against our rivals and get a smidge of hope back for this season.  At least the Devils’ winning goaltender had the right perspective afterward though:

Schneider: “It’s just one. We can’t sit here and say, ‘Well, we figured it out.’ We’ve got to keep at it and play like that all the time.”

Posted in Battle Of Hudson, Devils, NY Rangers | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment