Video Of Day: Tomas Hertl’s 4 Goals bury Rangers

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Derek

Even with the Rangers suffering last night’s 9-2 humiliation at the hands of the Sharks, we honor rookie prime performer Tomas Hertl in the return of Video Of Day. The 19-year old Czech became the first teenager to score four goals in a game since Jimmy Carson, who did it for the Kings on March 20, 1988. His four goal performance matched Owen Nolan’s franchise mark set on Dec. 19, 1995. In fact, Hertl’s six markers are the most for a new Shark in their first three games.

Making it extra special is that he accomplished the remarkable feat in front of his Mom and girlfriend, who got an early Halloween treat at HP Pavilion. They had plenty of reason to cheer and hug after Hertl’s hat trick followed by goal number 4. It was the fourth one that was most memorable with the 2012 first round pick (17th overall) beating Ranger backup Marty Biron with a trick shot between his legs. A magnificent explanation point. It’s amazing that he even tried that during play, speaking to how overmatched the Rangers defense was. In particular, the top pair of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, who were victimized on three of the four. Twice, they allowed Hertl to sneak behind them. On the third, McDonagh was caught in a two on one down low. On Hertl’s fourth, he went around Michael Del Zotto.

It’s not often you get to see a game like that. Especially from a team who’s six defensemen remain intact from last Spring. Twice, the Rangers have allowed four or more goals. In last Thursday’s season opener, they lost 4-1 to the Coyotes. The same team who got bombed by the Islanders 6-1 at Nassau Coliseum Tuesday night. Most alarming is that a stingy D that’s been a staple in front of Henrik Lundqvist has looked out of sorts. Two players have recorded hat tricks (Radim Vrbata 3, Tomas Hertl 4). With Alain Vigneault preaching a more aggressive attack, our defensemen and forwards have frequently gotten caught. It was also an issue in preseason when the club won once. There’s going to be an adjustment period. Give them some time. Let’s see how they respond tomorrow against another quality opponent at Anaheim.

While Vigneault doesn’t bring the same edge as John Tortorella, he didn’t hide his feelings. If they didn’t fly out, he would’ve held a team practice. Instead, he’s given them the day off to recover. It’s already been a stressful road trip due to the final phase of the MSG renovation. A preseason that already included a Northwestern trip to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Las Vegas was followed by a return home to prepare for the season. Now, they’re out in the Pacific again for one more night before visiting St. Louis this weekend. Then they finally return to the Eastern time zone and visit the Caps, Devils, Flyers and Red Wings prior to the home opener against the Canadiens on Oct. 28. It’s a tough start to 2013-14. If they can tread water and come out with three or four wins, that would be acceptable.

Complicating matters is Rick Nash’s apparent head injury suffered in the first period on a controversial Brad Stuart hit. The rugged San Jose defenseman has a telephone hearing today with the league who will decide if there’s any discipline. He was assessed a two-minute elbowing minor. Having the chance to look at it again on YouTube, I don’t think he’ll get suspended. He led with the shoulder and caught Nash in a vulnerable position. He was receiving a pass and turned. Of course, history shows that League VP Brendan Shanahan has taken into account the injury status of injured players. We’ll have to wait and see.

In the mean time, Nash likely is out for Thursday. Who knows when he’ll return? He missed four games last year due to a concussion on this Milan Lucic hit. Lucic wasn’t suspended with the hit more from the side. Maybe rookie Jesper Fast gets back in tomorrow. His speed and jam couldn’t hurt. Vigneault has gone exclusively with vets. Arron Asham has played two straight and Derek Dorsett isn’t coming out after scoring his first.

Posted in NY Rangers, Video Of Day | Leave a comment

Rangers Get Hertled

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Derek
Hertl's Night: Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl celebrates a hat trick. His four goals were part of a Sharks 9-2 rout over the Rangers. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Hertl’s Night: Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl celebrates a hat trick. His four goals were part of a Sharks 9-2 rout over the Rangers.
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

If the Rangers were looking to ride momentum, they were hit by a Shark attack. In particular, Tomas Hertl. The 19-year old Czech had a night to remember scoring four goals in San Jose’s 9-2 blowout of the listless Blueshirts. It was a memorable performance by the former 2012 first round pick who lit it up at the Shark Tank. His four goals were the most by a teenager since Jimmy Carson did it as a King in 1988.

Playing in only his third career game, Hertl matched a Sharks franchise record tying Owen Nolan with his four goal outburst. That gives him six so far. Not a bad way to start for the rookie.

From a Ranger perspective, it was a night to forget. They didn’t have it following a solid 3-1 win over the Kings. It started out promising thanks to Brad Richards’ power play goal. After Brad Stuart was in the sin bin for an elbow on Rick Nash that injured him, San Jose was called for a bench minor handing the Rangers a two-man advantage. Richards finished off his third in two nights. A welcome sign. It also came on a 5 on 3. If only they could’ve frozen the game right there. 😛

Unfortunately, the Ranger power play returned to who they are giving up a shorthanded goal to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Dan Boyle followed suit when his point shot beat Henrik Lundqvist thru a screen. They could’ve been down more but the Rangers snuck out of the first period trailing by one.

With the Sharks coming at them in swarms, they self destructed allowing three goals in 1:23. Consecutive tallies from Matt Nieto and Hertl chased Lundqvist. It got no better for Marty Biron with Logan Couture taking full advantage of a weird carom to make it 5-1. Before the second was done, Hertl notched his second from Joe Thornton. The Sharks outscored the Rangers 4-0 and outshot them 23-8.

Of all people, Derek Dorsett beat Antti Niemi on a mini break finishing it off with a nice backhand deke. It was his first as a Ranger. However, the celebration was short lived. Upset with Stuart for his cheap shot on Nash, Brian Boyle went after him and got an extra for unsportsmanlike conduct. It didn’t take long for Hertl to complete the hat trick getting to a loose puck in front slamming it past Biron. He was left all alone by Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi. They were brutal as was the entire D.

Hertl wasn’t done. He took a Jason Demers feed at center and blew past Mike Del Zotto for a highlight reel goal that’ll make the highlight reel. In a word, remarkable. Hertl shot between his legs beating Biron for his fourth. Awe inspiring stuff from a really skilled young player. I’m still shaking my head. How he was allowed to pull that off is stupefying. Chalk it up to a brutal game from our team. Justin Braun concluded the scoring with another power play goal. He too was left unguarded by our top penalty killers. What were they doing out so late? It was 8-2. Never mind.

”The Sharks were on top of their game,” Alain Vigneault said. ”It’s tough to understand, at this point, how we can play so well last night and play this way tonight. My favorite response from Vigneault was when some foolish reporter asked what he thought of Hertl’s game. In his best Tort impression, he coldly said, “He had a good game,” and stared into space.

A defiant Ryan Callahan told John Giannone there were no excuses. “We got embarrassed tonight. We have to realize that and respond. The effort has to be there and get better.”

There’s really nothing else to say. That’s why he’s the captain. The entire team stunk. It’s nice to see Richards scoring. Nash didn’t sound too optimistic.

”It just didn’t feel right,” Nash said also indicating that he had a headache. ”I could feel it. Any time you get a head shot you’re concerned. It’s not a good feeling.”

Assuming he doesn’t suit up Thursday at Anaheim, does Jesper Fast get back in? The Rangers will heed on the side of caution with Nash. It doesn’t sound good.

Posted in NY Rangers | 2 Comments

Nash leaves game with injury

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Derek

Nash leaves game

When it goes bad, it goes bad. The Rangers are getting humiliated by the Sharks. They trail 6-1 in the second period. Relax. It’s only Game 3 of 82. They are playing a higher powered offense a night after grinding their way past the Kings.

Of much bigger concern is the status of Rick Nash. Early in the game, he was on the receiving end of a dangerous Brad Stuart elbow to the head. The Shark defenseman received two minutes for the cheap shot. Nash took eight more shifts during the first period but hasn’t returned since. The team confirmed that he’s done for the night.

It’s one thing taking it on the chin. Quite another for the team to lose its top finisher to another potential head injury. During Nash’s first season, he missed four games due to a concussion. It’s definitely worrisome. If it’s another one, that would be two in eight months. They won’t know the full extent of the injury until tomorrow. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Posted in Battle News, NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Conflicting emotions of sports

Posted on October 8, 2013 by hasan4978

It’s generally rare when two of my teams (Mets, Jets, Devils) play at the same time, but last night that was my dilemma as a fan with the Jets on Monday Night Football at 8:30, while the Devils were playing in Edmonton at 9:30.  Because the Jet game started an hour earlier I pretty much stuck with that all the way through as the football version of the Jets played well pulled off a Monday Night upset of the Falcons.  I was having a good night at that point, and the game ended around 11:30.  My plan after that was to off to bed after I listened to Rex Ryan‘s press conference over on SNY and just catch the Devil highlights today.  Especially with the Devils having an apparently safe 3-0 lead against the Oilers. Unfortunately before Rex was finished it got to 3-2 and I sighed and changed the channel. I would have been better off sticking to my original plan of going to sleep as the Devils suffered a complete and total meltdown in the third period, conceding four goals against an Oiler team that was getting booed off its ice after the second period.

Yes, the Devils came back and actually tied the game in the final minute with a nifty Patrik Elias bank shot off an Oiler defenseman in front, salvaging a point despite an eventual shootout loss – but as the infamous local ex-NBA star Derrick Coleman once said…’whoopdie dam* doo’.  To lose that game against a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs since Chris Pronger gave the organization the middle finger after 2006 (and sure didn’t look like a playoff team in its first 2 2/3 games this year) was completely inexcusable.  Not to mention potentially very costly.   Yes it’s only Game 3, but with the Schnieder-Luongo sideshow in Vancouver tonight followed by road games in Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa before coming home to face the Rangers in two weeks the Devils really can’t afford to throw away points.  So far the Devils haven’t done very much to prove the ‘experts’ wrong with their low predictions for the team’s final record this year.

If I actually watched the game I might try to focus on the positives a little – all of our new forwards scoring including Jaromir Jagr‘s first as a Devil in the first period, along with Damien Brunner getting his third (and the team’s first PP goal) and Michael Ryder his second of the year, all in the game’s first twenty-five minutes.  In fact until Elias’s late tally, the Devils’ only goals this season have been from forwards who weren’t on the roster last year.  Which means still no goals from Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique, among others.  Of course, the only part of the game I saw was the end of the meltdown and yet another pathetic shootout.  Amazingly, the Devils have only won something like four of their last thirty-five OT games in OT, with most getting decided in the shootout. Even facing career backup Jason LaBarbera, we were clearly overmatched in the skills competition where that’s the one aspect of the game the Oilers’ skilled forwards can fully show off their talent without having to worry about actual defenses.

Then again it’s not like our defense has provided so much as a speed bump toward the opposition over these first three games either with ten goals allowed and numerous other two-on-ones and quality chances as well.  No lead is ever safe with a Pete DeBoer-coached team, as we showed even in the ’11-12 playoffs, blowing three-goal leads twice (and amazingly winning both games).  After last night’s latest debacle the coach called it a ‘learning experience’.  So what does he do today?  Scratch Adam Larsson, who literally had nothing to do with any of the goals against the team last night.  Yes, he had a tough game against the Isles…but how about punshing Anton Volchenkov for a brutal first three games with ill-timed pinches and getting caught on the boards on the third goal last night?  Four games in six days and yet all our thirty+ defensemen and 35+ forwards are playing every game.  Only Larsson and Mark Fayne (finally in the lineup today, of course at Larsson’s expense) get scratched.  As silent as Fayne’s been about his shoddy treatment, Larsson was clearly unhappy over today’s lineup decision and I can’t blame him.  It’s obvious the coach loves his vets, his scrappy overachievers – Peter Harrold and Stephen Gionta – and is almost completely allergic to younger players.

It’s with lineup contreversy and a winless start hanging over the team’s head that the Devils go into Vancouver tonight to face the circus (Cory Schnieder facing off against former creasemate Roberto Luongo).  Of course goaltending won’t matter much if the Devils aren’t able to clean up the defensive part of the game. I’d really hate to see anything happen to DeBoer, despite my frustrations with him…but we’ve seen how fickle the NHL can be with the early firing of a former Stanley Cup-winning coach just yesterday. GM Lou Lamoriello may like DeBoer, but he’s also not going to sit idly by while a team he spent a lot of resources on in the offseason (money and a first-round pick in the Schnieder trade) flounders to a third playoff-less season in four years while having to cough up their first-rounder this year thanks to a merc that’s no longer here.  Perhaps it’s good I’ll be out tonight until about 10-10:30 so I’ll miss at least the start of the game, and probably won’t do another late night after the Devils cost me an hour plus of sleep last night thanks to their fiasco.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Victory for Vigneault

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Derek
Rick Nash celebrates Brad Richards' goal with Derek Stepan. AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

Rick Nash celebrates Brad Richards’ goal with Derek Stepan.
AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

Ryan Callahan returned and so did the Rangers. After three days off, they returned for Game 2 of 82 at Staples Center. Led by their emotional captain, the Rangers gave new coach Alain Vigneault a victory by crowning the Kings 3-1.

On the game’s opening shift, Callahan delivered a big hit on LA defenseman Robyn Regehr. Playing throughout with Brian Boyle and Taylor Pyatt, Captain Cally provided a lift. His teammates followed suit with the kind of yeoman effort Garden Faithful have grown accustomed to. They went toe to toe with one of the league’s toughest teams and prevailed.

The Rangers won because their best players showed up. The top line of Brad Richards, Derek Stepan and Rick Nash dominated. Not coincidentally, they scored the team’s first two goals at even strength. Richards scored twice. Nash had two assists and Stepan helped set up Richards’ first. The trio had a great night combining for five points, nine shots and a plus-four. It was the kind of inspired effort Vigneault wants to see daily. Most encouraging was the play of Nash, who led the Rangers with six shots. He was hard on the puck and easily could’ve popped a couple. Nice to see him give max effort.

Richards just looks much better. He is faster and playing more confidently. He’s skating and creating. Oh. And Vigneault had him play center and take some draws. He responded by going 6 and 2. Stepan went 6 for 11. If I was skeptical of having two of our top three centers on the same line, I’m not anymore. The trio worked well together. Who knows? Maybe AV knew.

In their home opener, the Kings came out aggressive. Playing their physical style, they generated some good chances early forcing Henrik Lundqvist to be at his best. He was up to the challenge. Especially against top shooter Jeff Carter (6 SOG). The ex-Flyer along with Mike Richards were LA’s best two players. They were dangerous throughout. Remarkably, the Rangers were able to keep Anze Kopitar quiet. Credit Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi. The shutdown tandem blocked five of the Rangers’ 16 shots. Unlike the season opening loss, they saw more shifts than Marc Staal or Mike Del Zotto probably because Vigneault runs a different bench. Anton Stralman had a shade under 16 minutes while John Moore played 11:49. Like Tort, AV leaned heavily on his top four. The best asset he has.

Richards’ first came thanks to some Stepan hustle. A back check forced a turnover leading to a two on one with a sliding Jonathan Quick denying Nash. However, Richards pounced on the rebound to put the Rangers in front 1-0. He increased the lead to two thanks to some luck. In on an odd man break, Richards centering pass deflected off a King skate past Quick for goal number 2.

But before they could breathe, Joe Micheletti jinxed it. Noting how well the Rangers were playing defensively, Girardi turned the puck over to Mike Richards who set up Jake Muzzin for his first. Like clockwork. No wonder everyone hates Micheletti. Next time, shut up.

The game remained 2-1 entering the third. What happened next is probably one of the most bizarre plays in hockey. With Benoit Pouliot off for tripping, Boyle won a defensive draw to McDonagh. McDonagh cleared the puck down the ice. With Quick out to play the puck off a carom, he inadvertently allowed the puck to trickle off his pads right into the net. Stunned amazement from Sam Rosen and everyone else. An emotional Quick buried his head against the net. The odd McDonagh shorthanded goal quieted the arena. It really was weird eerily reminding of Martin Brodeur against Anaheim in ’03. To Quick’s credit, he responded to playful cheers by waving to the crowd after making a save. I loved it.

On this night, Lundqvist was better making 28 saves including 14 in a busy third. Hank was razor sharp. Aside from the two oddities, Quick was good too. But that goal he gave up is going to make the blooper reels. It happens. Even to a former Conn Smythe winner who’s a top five goalie.

HARD HITS

–Mats Zuccarello had himself a game. He might not have hit the score sheet. But it wasn’t from lack of effort. Zucc always hustles. He’s relentless. He forechecks vigorously and hustles back. He’s a much more complete player. He played with Derick Brassard and Pouliot, who was thwarted.

-In his season debut, Arron Asham was strong winning a scrap over Kyle Clifford. The rugged forward looked hungry when he was out for 14 shifts (9:41). He played on the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Derek Dorsett, who saw some PK time.

-I really liked Boyle’s game. He was strong on the puck forechecking effectively. He delivered five hits and registered four shots while going 8 and 7 on faceoffs. Boyle used his size well.

-Overall, the Rangers were 32 for 57 on faceoffs. Moore went 8 and 5 with only Brassard (4 for 10) losing more.

-Kings out-hit the Rangers 40-28. Dwight King had six with Matt Greene adding five.

-Rangers were 0 for 3 on the power play. It really was scary with them not generating much while forcing Lundqvist to stop the Kings shorthanded. He got lucky with a shot from Trevor Lewis hitting the post. The penalty kill got the job done killing both LA power plays with ease.

-Rookie Jesper Fast was a healthy scratch. My guess is he’ll go back down to Hartford by the weekend. No sense wasting him.

Posted in NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Flyers fire Laviolette

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Derek

In probably the most expected move, the Flyers fired Peter Laviolette after three games. They dropped their third consecutive game to the Hurricanes yesterday by a score of 2-1.

Following a dismal preseason in which they won only one game, the Flyers are 0-3-0 having been outscored 9-3. Rumors had been swirling that Laviolette would be the first coaching casualty. Sadly, that became reality today. A well respected coach who once guided the franchise to the Stanley Cup Final, he hardly got a sniff with a new roster that included Vinny Lecavalier, Mark Streit and Ray Emery.

“Right from the first day of training camp I was worried about how the team looked,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. “We have a long way to go this season, but it’s about how we played and it was unacceptable. It was a gut feeling that I had to make a change.”

Holmgren is the genius who put this roster together. Many observers felt the Flyers would bounce back after missing the playoffs citing team character. There is talent in Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jake Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier. But a questionable blueline has been the main culprit thus far. Steve Mason and Emery can only do so much.

Assistant Craig Berube takes over the struggling club. “We’re just not playing well enough right now to win the in the National Hockey League,” Holmgren added. “Whether it’s fresh ideas or a new voice, that’s up to Craig. That’s his job. I didn’t like the direction the team was heading and felt we needed a change.”

With it being so early in the season, there’s plenty of time for the Flyers to turn it around. Their top four offensive players (Giroux, Hartnell, Voracek, Simmonds) don’t have a point. Lecavalier has a goal. He replaced Daniel Briere. The D is anchored by aging vet Kimmo Timonen. They need better play from Luke Schenn, whose giveaway resulted in Radek Dvorak’s game-winner Sunday.

I don’t think it’s fair to Laviolette, who by all accounts is a good coach. He even got a vote of confidence from team owner Ed Snider.

“As far as Peter is concerned, last year was an anomaly,” Snider told reporters on Sept. 13. “He’s been a very good coach for us, he’s been a good coach in this League, and we’re just thrilled to have him.”

In five seasons, he finishes 145-98-29. A former Cup winning coach who guided the Hurricanes to Lord Stanley in ’05-06, Laviolette didn’t deserve this. If the Flyers were so hell bent on making a change, they should’ve dismissed him before the year. It’s the earliest any coach has been axed since Bill Gadsby was fired by Detroit in ’69-70.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

South River Fantasy Hockey: Welcome Back!

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Derek
South River Champ: Twice, Derek Felix has won the prestigious South River Trophy.

South River Champ: Twice, Derek Felix has won the prestigious South River Trophy.

When you’re not only drafting and keeping track of everyone’s pick, it can get a bit hectic. For myself, I also had to help Buffalo resident Brian Sanborn draft because he was at work. Imagine updating each pick and then giving your best friend the rundown for each round. Talk about mass confusion. I managed to select a decent roster. Though some of my late picks were more out of necessity.

The South River Fantasy League has been a Jersey tradition. Introduced to a great bunch of guys by Brian when we still attended St. John’s in the late 90’s, it’s nice to see some familiar faces. I really have enjoyed the camaraderie. Seeing old friends reminds me of what’s great. Fantasy leagues are fun and competitive. As usual, I got plenty of ribbing from the boys. We got some originals left in Brian, Harry, Matt and myself. With defending champ Marc unveiling his ghost partner Calvin, it’s no wonder he won it in his rookie year. We didn’t have a league last year. So, it’s been a while. Patrick, Jim and AJ have become staples always doing a solid job. They snaked me quite a bit. And what to make of the triumphant returns of Tim, Jeff and Coppa? It’s sure to be a wild ride.

Matt hosted the draft at his house in Keyport. Kudos to Mrs. Mokarry for putting out food. We had chips along with grilled dogs and burgers plus beer. What would a hockey draft be without a cold one? I can’t say enough about the excellent job they did.

With it being a brand new year, we decided to go for a new league. So, it was a fresh draft. Meaning 25 rounds. That’s right! By a close vote of 6-4, we elected to go with a keeper format. Each roster will decide on five keepers after the season. By league rules, you can retain a player for three years. Same as before. In the glory days, we didn’t do keepers. That’s become a trend not just in hockey but all sports. I’m in a basketball league run off Sportsline. If there is one change, we opted to move to Yahoo. It’s a bit easier to determine who qualifies for two positions. For example, two of Brian’s picks can play wing and D. That would be Brent Burns and Dustin Byfuglien. Most players who qualify are listed as centers and wings. I boast a couple in Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. If only Jim/AJ didn’t snake me on my boy Jamie Benn.

Like most leagues, you get to designate your starters. Since its inception, South River breaks down this way:

4 Centers

8 Wings

6 Defensemen

2 Goalies

Note that it doesn’t matter if they’re left or right wings. As long as they play the wing, that’s what counts. We also get five bench players. Self explanatory. Normally, I go with 3 goalies. As of right now, I only have 2. Expect that to change soon as I went with one too many forwards. I have versatile guys. Let’s clarify the Siberia Express roster. Since high school when I took Russian, I’ve had a fascination with Siberia. It became a running joke when I got into leagues. I usually choose between that and Centercessssed. 😉

SIBERIA EXPRESS

C Nicklas Backstrom

C Matt Duchene

C Patrick Marleau

C Nathan MacKinnon

W Alex Ovechkin

W Logan Couture

W Marian Hossa

W Marian Gaborik

W Ryan Callahan

W Troy Brouwer

W Radim Vrbata

W T.J. Oshie

D Mike Green

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson

D Alex Edler

D Slava Voynov

D Francois Beauchemin

D Jacob Trouba

G Antti Niemi

G Jimmy Howard

BENCH

C Derick Brassard

W Beau Bennett

W Brendan Gallagher

W Matt Martin

D Jonas Brodin
One of the factors when drafting is the categories. What I like about our league is we put an emphasis on offense, goaltending and defense. It used to be just the first two until Patrick suggested including some of the grittier categories such as hits and blocked shots. It definitely presents more of a challenge. One area I came away disappointed in was the lack of physicality. I got some guys in Callahan, Brouwer, Oshie and Martin who should help the first two. Don’t forget penalty minutes. I will need to improve that facet. A Matt specialty along with Marc. Most blocked shots come from your D. Dan Girardi is probably the best. I was able to take Brodin. A solid second-year blueliner on the Wild who thus far, has added offense. That could be a boost. Beauchemin and Edler should also help. Depending on my offense, I could be adding another defenseman.

Key offensive categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, power play points (replaces PPG), shots on goal, shorthanded goals and game-winners. About what you’d expect. Goalie categories are just your basics. Wins, GAA, save percentage and shutouts. Goalies who pick up assists or score goals a la Martin Brodeur count towards your offense. An added bonus if you have a great stickhandling netminder.

Our league has always gone rotisserie. Many leagues have head to head. As is the South River tradition, we go with the highest totals. On those busy Saturdays, make your lineups count. You can’t play everyone. That’s where match ups come in and how hot or cold a player is. You really have to stay on top of it to compete. The top 3 in our league finish in the money. This year, we’ve increased the fee from 85 dollars to an even 100. If you’re in the hunt, roster moves and trades factor in. With it being a keeper league, draft picks can be traded after December. It all depends if you’re buying or selling.

One of the other aspects I love is league get togethers. We always have a couple scheduled along with some other surprises that keep it interesting. In the day of laptops and IPhones, it’s even easier. You’re in constant communication with your rivals. And the best part is it’s all in fun. Sure. There’s money at stake. But you can still have a good time and build your roster. A new draft makes it tougher. This one took longer than usual. But now comes the cool part. Each team gets 20 free agent moves. As someone who once vowed not to make a move the entire year in my second season, a word to the wise. Use them gingerly. Boy did my big mouth get me in trouble. 😆

There definitely are some classic stories. Who knows? Maybe Brian or I will share. Since I’m keeping this more interactive, it should make it an even better experience.

Before I wrap it up, I want to make one final observation. For years, hockey legends Marty Brodeur and Jaromir Jagr have been fantasy staples. With the exception of Number 68 playing for Omsk Avangard in Russia, the two future Hall Of Famers have always been an integral part of our league. Twenty five rounds went by and neither was drafted. It leaves me feeling a little sad because of how much both have meant. Even if I root for a rival, I can admire Marty. He helped me win my first title in ’99-00. That team also boasted Pavel Bure. I never had Jagr in his prime. But I’ve never stopped being a fan even rooting for him on the enemy. Does that make me a bad fan? I love the guy. I have to believe both will find their way on rosters. If it is the end, it’s been awesome.

Here’s to another Fantasy Year. We’ve survived two lockouts and are still going strong.

Posted in Battle News | Leave a comment

Fantasy Hockey Draft: Siberia Express

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Derek

It’s finally here. Fantasy hockey draft takes place at Matt’s in Keyport. I’m going to track my picks. The breakdown is as follows:

4 Centers

4 Wings

6 Defensemen

2 Goalies

5 Bench

SIBERIA EXPRESS

1.W Alex Ovechkin

2.G Antti Niemi

3.G Jimmy Howard

4.C Nick Backstrom

5.D Mike Green

6.W/C Logan Couture

7.C Matt Duchene

8.W Marian Gaborik

9.W Marian Hossa

10.W Ryan Callahan

11.D Oliver Ekman-Larsson

12.D Alex Edler

13.D Slava Voynov

14.C/W Patrick Marleau

15.C Nathan MacKinnon

16.W Troy Brouwer

17.W/C T.J. Oshie

18.D Francois Beauchemin

19.W Radim Vrbata

20.D Jacob Trouba

21.W Matt Martin

22.W Brendan Gallagher

23.D Jonas Brodin

24.W Beau Bennett

25.C Derick Brassard

C Nick Backstrom

C Matt Duchene

C Nathan MacKinnon

C Patrick Marleau

W Alex Ovechkin

W Logan Couture

W Marian Gaborik

W Marian Hossa

W Ryan Callahan

W Radim Vrbata

W Matt Martin

W Beau Bennett

D Mike Green

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson

D Alex Edler

D Slava Voynov

D Francois Beauchemin

D Jacob Trouba

G Antti Niemi

G Jimmy Howard

Round 1

1.Stamkos

2.Crosby

3.Ovechkin

4.Malkin

5.Tavares

6.Lundqvist

7.P. Kane

8.Toews

9.Datsyuk

Round 2

9.Giroux

8.Karlsson

7.Rask

6.Quick

5.Anderson

4.Crawford

3.Niemi

2.Rinne

1.Perry

Round 3

1.Kopitar

2.Kessel

3.Howard

4.D. Sedin

5.H. Sedin

6.P.K. Subban

7.Dustin Byfuglien

8.Jake Voracek

9.Marc-Andre Fleury

Round 4

9.Roberto Luongo

8.Zdeno Chara

7.Eric Staal

6.Kris Letang

5.Shea Weber

4.Sergei Bobrovsky

3.Nicklas Backstrom

2.Henrik Zetterberg

1.Ryan Suter

Round 5

1.Jonathan Bernier

2.Tyler Seguin

3.Mike Green

4.James Neal

5.Chris Kunitz

6.Rick Nash

7.Dion Phaneuf

8.Marty St. Louis

9.Drew Doughty

Round 6

9.Joe Thornton

8.Mike Smith

7.Taylor Hall

6.Ryan Getzlaf

5.Zach Parise

4.Niklas Kronwall

3.Logan Couture

2.Duncan Keith

1.Carey Price

Round 7

1.Evander Kane

2.Jaroslav Halak

3.Matt Duchene

4.Milan Lucic

5.Alex Semin

6.Scott Hartnell

7.Keith Yandle

8.Jordan Eberle

9.Jordan Staal

Round 8

9.Marc Staal

8.Braden Holtby

7.Brent Burns

6.Bobby Ryan

5.Alex Pietrangelo

4.Jamie Benn

3.Marian Gaborik

2.Andrei Markov

1.David Backes

Round 9

1.Dustin Brown

2.Patrick Sharp

3.Marian Hossa

4.Travis Hamonic

5.Jason Spezza

6.Brad Marchand

7.Matt Moulson

8.Andrew Ladd

9.Jeff Carter

Round 10

9.Daniel Alfredsson

8.Max Pacioretty

7.P.A. Parenteau

6.Patrice Bergeron

5.Kimmo Timonen

4.Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

3.Ryan Callahan

2.Kevin Shattenkirk

1.Thomas Vanek

Round 11

1.Mark Streit

2.Ryan Kesler

3.Oliver Ekman-Larsson

4.Loui Eriksson

5.Derek Stepan

6.Lubomir Visnovsky

7.Cam Ward

8.Nazem Kadri

9.Vinny Lecavalier

Round 12

9.David Krejci

8.Wayne Simmonds

7.Ryan O’Reilly

6.Steve Ott

5.Jarome Iginla

4.Dan Boyle

3.Alex Edler

2.Mike Ribeiro

1.Johan Franzen

Round 13

1.Ryan McDonagh

2.Gabe Landeskog

3.Slava Voynov

4.Niklas Backstrom

5.Justin Schultz

6.John Carlson

7.Mike Richards

8.Cody Franson

9.Ryan Miller

Round 14

9.Jack Johnson

8.Justin Williams

7.Jonathan Huberdeau

6.Joe Pavelski

5.Cory Schneider

4.Patric Hornqvist

3.Patrick Marleau

2.Pascal Dupuis

1.Dan Girardi

Round 15

1.Dany Heatley

2.David Perron

3.Nathan MacKinnon

4.Ryane Clowe

5.Alex Burrows

6.Brent Seabrook

7.Jakob Silfverberg

8.Brandon Prust

9.Jay Bouwmeester

Round 16

9.Kevin Bieksa

8.Jeff Skinner

7.Luke Schenn

6.Evgeni Nabokov

5.Steve Downie

4.Nail Yakupov

3.Troy Brouwer

2.James Wisniewski

1.Tim Thomas

Round 17

1.James van Riemsdyk

2.Semyon Varlamov

3.T.J. Oshie

4.Christian Ehrhoff

5.Tobias Enstrom

6.Jason Pominville

7.Patrik Elias

8.Matt Carle

9.Justin Abdelkader

Round 18

9.Brandon Dubinsky

8.Torrey Krug

7.Kyle Okposo

6.Mike Del Zotto

5.David Clarkson

4.Jason Garrison

3.Francois Beauchemin

2.Brandon Saad

1.Brian Campbell

Round 19

1.Mikhail Grabovski

2.Alex Goligoski

3.Radim Vrbata

4.Brayden Schenn

5.Joffrey Lupul

6.Mark Giordano

7.Tyson Barrie

8.Tyler Ennis

9.Matt Greene

Round 20

9.Shawn Thornton

8.John Moore

7.Alex Galchenyuk

6.Michael Grabner

5.Fedor Tyutin

4.Kyle Palmieri

3.Jacob Trouba

2.Jiri Tlusty

1.Stephen Weiss

Round 21

1.Josh Gorges

2.Paul Martin

3.Matt Martin

4.Brendan Dillon

5.Kari Lehtonen

6.Ondrej Pavelec

7.Jonas Hiller

8.Shane Doan

9.Victor Hedman

Round 22

9.Jussi Jokinen

8.Damien Brunner

7.Cody Hodgson

6.Blake Wheeler

5.Chris Stewart

4.Tyler Myers

3.Brendan Gallagher

2.Teemu Selanne

1.Bryan Bickell

Round 23

1.Sergei Gonchar

2.Nick Leddy

3.Jonas Brodin

4.Derek Dorsett

5.Chris Neil

6.Seth Jones

7.Matt Read

8.Matt Niskanen

9.Zach Bogosian

Round 24

9.Brad Richards

8.Brian Gionta

7.Dennis Seidenberg

6.Patrik Berglund

5.Marek Zidlicky

4.Vladimir Tarashenko

3.Beau Bennett

2.Martin Erat

1.Michael Ryder

Round 25

1.Jonathan Drouin

2.Benoit Pouliot

3.Derick Brassard

4.Tomas Plekanec

5.Kyle Turris

6.Zac Rinaldo

7.Adam Larsson

8.Devin Dubnyuk

9.Olli Jokinen

Posted in Battle News | 4 Comments

With Callahan back, Miller demotion disappointing

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Derek

The news of Ryan Callahan’s impending return Monday against the Kings isn’t earth shattering. Unless you were living in a cave, the Ranger captain was going to be back for the second game of the season. He’s the emotional leader who lays it all on the line. They certainly can use more edge following a 4-1 loss to the Coyotes.

With Carl Hagelin (LTIR) out for at least the next nine games, the organization didn’t have to clear room. That didn’t matter. After only one game, J.T. Miller was sent down to Hartford. It’s a curious move. After Marc Staal, it was the 20-year old forward was the team’s second best player during preseason. In the season opener, he took 16 shifts registering a shot and taking a minor penalty in 11:58. While it’s true he wasn’t noticeable, why did Alain Vigneault emphasize giving kids a look during camp? What’s the point if Miller was only getting one game.

I understand the concept of wanting him to get more ice-time. The Wolf Pack begin their season tonight against Norfolk and Albany tomorrow. That’s back to backs for Miller to play in and continue to develop. There’s nothing wrong with it. I just don’t understand why Vigneault lied. He made it sound like the Rangers younger players would have a chance to play. Instead, it’s more of the same from an organization that seems content going with vets. Jesper Fast also had a good camp earning a spot. How was he rewarded? By taking 13 shifts (10:13) on the fourth line. Meanwhile, Vigneault favorite Taylor Pyatt got 21 shifts (15:14) including over two minutes of penalty kill. I can’t recall John Tortorella using him that much on the PK. Derek Stepan didn’t get one shift shorthanded. Maybe it was because it was his first game.

To be blunt, Pyatt didn’t deserve to play over Arron Asham. Asham is hardly a fan favorite but was noticeable during exhibition meshing well with Miller on an energy line. Even if I didn’t like the signing last year, he should get another opportunity. Don’t forget he left a good impression last Spring scoring twice to match his entire regular season output. Even if Vigneault likes Pyatt due to coaching him before in Vancouver, it’s mind boggling. Because Glen Sather gave him two years and is paying him $1.55 million, he stays. How much net presence is Pyatt going to give them?

By fielding essentially the same roster as last year, the Rangers don’t have much team speed. If Vigneault is going to continue the Brad Richards left wing experiment, that leaves Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore as their bottom two centers. The team’s best strength is down the middle. However, it could be much better if Richards shifts back to center allowing Vigneault to have a top three of Stepan, Derick Brassard and Richards. It’s never bad to have Boyle shift to the left side on a checking line with Moore. Each can win face- offs.

The biggest difference is the Rangers boast more organizational depth. With Marek Hrivik, Chris Kreider, Danny Kristo, Oscar Lindberg and Miller all in Hartford, it gives them more options if some vets struggle. Besides, they possess more speed and skill which Vigneault has preached. For now, it’s a bit stale until Hagelin returns. Callahan’s addition will provide a lift. Nobody plays with more passion. As long as he isn’t being rushed back, he should benefit from a more attacking style. Don’t forget he is the team’s best power play weapon. With a more creative look, Captain Cally should be a lock for double digit power play goals.

Regardless, a long road trip continues. It’s all about survival.

Posted in NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Weird and wacky home opener leaves Devils winless

Posted on October 5, 2013 by hasan4978

Image

After sleeping off last night’s roller-coaster shootout loss to the rival Islanders there’s plenty I want to get to this morning…about the winless Devils, petty fans/management and other random home opener thoughts.  As I usually do in these blogs though I’ll go in chronological order so I’ll start with when I arrived in Newark around 5:30.  Despite Thursday’s game with the Penguins, my fandom kicked in and I was excited anew for the home opener.  Although yesterday was bizarre summer weather that you wouldn’t expect at the opening of a hockey season – I was wearing shorts for crying out loud!  I don’t usually get there so early for a 7 PM start but I had an unscheduled day off yesterday anyway so figured I might as well enjoy the atmosphere a little longer.  Especially since I had things to do like trying to find my free brick inscription in Championship Plaza, get my season ticket holder lanyard and eat dinner with my food/beverage card.  As well as seeing how many people I know that I could find in and around the arena…and I did meet up with a couple of people I knew outside but couldn’t find my brick – with a couple thousand bricks and at least a hundred people around looking for their own I figured it’d be a fruitless task anyway so I shelved it.

I went inside just after 6 to get my ticket lanyard which I’ll probably never use anyway (though as I pointed out to someone later it’s useful if you’re going into  your section with food, so you don’t have to grab the ticket out of your pocket), then went towards section 10 to see my two sth buddies down there during warmups.  One of them told me she didn’t get anything from the Devils that she was supposed to – either her food/beverage card or her RSVP to the season ticket holder barbeque/meet and greet at the Prudential Center last week.  I was lucky enough to go but I had to e-mail and ask for the RSVP link.  Then I didn’t get my ticket that I was supposed to print out so I had to ask for one at the arena and hope they had me on the list.  I suppose it’s inevitable with ownership changes and the restructuring of the sales department (having eight ticket reps now instead of three) some things are going to fall through the cracks.  Kristi didn’t get her lanyard either, I told her just to do it during an intermission because the line was too long now but she did try the line after warmups – don’t know whether she and her brother eventually got theirs though.  Funny that the first song in warmups was ‘The Boys Are Back’ from Dropkick Murphys, which happens to be one of the songs in NHL14 but also fits as an opening song.  Apparently Danius Zubrus (who moonlights as the team dj) is a better judge of picking songs than the team itself…more on that soon.

After warmups I went upstairs, I was going to text my former sth buddy in 120 and ask where he was at the game since we used to sit in the same row the previous two seasons but he said he was giving up his tickets last year because he hated the people around 120.  I figured he would be at the opener but literally just before I was going to contact Rudy I saw him on one of the food lines.  Much to my surprise he renewed for the same seats (I figured he’d switch them during the seat relocation event if nothing else) and told me it was mostly about the Winter Classic and getting those tickets.  So guess the cliche is true about having events like the Winter Classic – or the All-Star Game for Met fans this past year – being a goose for season tickets.  Oh well, glad he and his girlfriend are back and the moron who sat behind me last year was missing last night.  So that was one positive.

The ‘We Are…JERSEY!’ motto of this year was all right though I can see myself getting bored of that very quickly.  Can’t say I’m surprised though, New Jersey’s only pro sports team, or at least the only one unafraid to use NJ in marketing is going to play to the home crowd, which is fine by me.  And they did it in more ways than one…but sometimes it backfired badly.  Which leads to the night’s biggest contreversy of all – the Devils’ new goal song.  If you’re a Devils fan or even any local fan that’s been to the Prudential Center or the CAA before that, you know Rock and Roll Part II has generally been the goal song, other than a year or so where the Devils took it away, ostensibly because songwriter Gary Glitter was still getting royatlies in prison.  Protests – and an adjustment to how royalties were paid out – eventually led to the song coming back, but not everyone likes the ‘You Suck’ part of it at the end, starting with many in Devils management and some fans on message boards (none of whom apparently go to games since everyone at games partakes in the song).  Not for any good reason imo, people on message boards complain it’s low-class but let’s face it, I’ve heard far more vile things on a nightly basis than ‘Team X sucks’ anyway.  The other explantion I hear for why some fans don’t like it is ‘well everyone does it when we’re down three goals in the third period’.  So don’t do it yourself…why should other fans’ goofiness bother you?  In my mind so long as someone isn’t doing something like starting fights/getting violent or screaming nonsense in your ear all night long you should be able to deal with it.

Rock and Roll Part 2 was still used as the goal song in the preseason, so unless you read message boards or happened to catch beat guy Tom Gulutti‘s aside in the comments section of one of his blogs you would have had no idea the song was changing this year. So when Damien Brunner scored the team’s first goal of the season at 2:59 of the first period I was bemused but not surprised when I heard Bon Jovi‘s ‘This Is Our House’ playing.  After the initial shock came almost instantenous boos.  Boos that were only exacerbated because quite honestly, the song sucks as a goal song.  Just like the Devils did when they used some Jersey band’s (the Bouncing Souls) crappy knockoff of Ole a few years ago, they again tried to go with the whole ‘pick a Jersey artist’s song for the sake of having a Jersey guy do the goal song’ without any real common sense attached to it.  Not to mention since we ARE Jersey fans we aren’t going to like anyone telling us what we can and can’t chant over songs.  Make no mistake about it, R&R Part 2 was removed because of the ‘You Suck’ aspect of it, no other reason.  Still, there’s no excuse for sneak bombing the fans like that – especially a fanbase that had to deal with a lockout, a horrendous 2/3 of a short season and the best player leaving the country in the offseason.  If there was ever a wrong fight, wrong time it’s the one Devils management’s picking with the fans.

There’s no excuse for the fans’ reaction last night though – with the boos only getting louder after the goal song started on the subsequent two goals we scored last night, especially after the team tried in vein to turn up the music on the goals to drown out the boos.  What the fans did last night was akin to a five-year old throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get ice cream.  I could understand the boos after the first one, I understand the concept of making your voice heard but you know what – leave the team and the game on the ice out of your silly, selfish protests.  That game last night became more about the fans’ selfishness in the stands (and the team’s pigheadedness in trying to sneak through a change like this and thinking nothing was going to happen) than the team on the ice. With a two-week break until our next home game it’ll be interesting to see how the team reacts to the boos last night and the inevitable protests on Twitter, Facebook and via e-mail and the phone that they’ve already heard and are still to come.

As far as the game itself, while it was better than Thursday from the aspect we actually scored goals – the defensive breakdowns were alarmingly prevalent even more than against the Penguins.  It seemed as if every second shift Michael Grabner was getting behind our defense, most of the time Adam Larsson who looked like he didn’t belong in the NHL last night and was benched late in the game for the most part.  Some ill-timed pinches by Anton Volchenkov (though one of his pinches did actually lead to goal #3, a deflection in front by Brunner for his second of the night) led to Peter Harrold again playing the Lone Ranger a couple of times back on two-on-ones for the second straight game.  Marek Zidlicky had his second consecutive bad game offensively and defensively, although at least he shot with an open net last night, it didn’t go anywhere close to in. And yes the offense did score although the offense was mostly Brunner – who had a nifty deflection on his initial goal – and fortunate bounces on the other two goals, with a rebound from a weak Bryce Salvador shot landing on the stick of an open Michael Ryder in the second period, and Volchenkov’s knuckleball in the third period deflecting off an Islander right to Brunner in front.  For the second straight game, goaltending was less than perfect with Martin Brodeur giving up a shortside bad-angle shot to Grabner in the second period though granted he beat Larsson to the outside that time too, though that wasn’t as bad for Larsson as when Grabner hit the turbo switch on NHL14 and just flat blew by him up the middle in the first period for his first goal.  Amazingly the Isles scored three times with the John Tavares-Matt Moulson line doing nothing.  As the game went to OT I was actually dreading what a PR disaster boos after a Devil OT goal would create, but that never happened so we went to a dreaded shootout.

Dreaded because let’s face it, the shootout aces we once had – Zach Parise, Brian Gionta, Viktor Kozlov and even Ilya Kovalchuk for one season are now all gone.  I never would have guessed Ryane Clowe had over 40 career attempts in the shootout before coming here, or that he was one of our (three) shooters that was so much as above 30% career, with Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac being the others.  Our shootout attempts were painful to watch for the most part though, we made Evgeni Nabokov‘s job look easy in the skills competition.  Brunner-Clowe-Elias-Zajac-Ryder and Jaromir Jagr all got stopped with little problem.  Fortunately Brodeur started to warm up during the third period and was locked in for his part of the shootout, stopping Frans Nielsen, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Tavares to get into extra ‘innings’.  As Brodeur also stopped Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo I found myself saying out loud ‘where the (heck) is Grabner?!’.  I’m not even an Isles fan but I was shocked they didn’t put him out, but looking at the stats this morning apparently Grabner’s never even taken a shootout attempt.  They also left Matt Moulson – career 6/13 going into last night until way late in the rotation but when he finally got his chance he scored the game-winner.

My only consolation after was I actually found my sth brick after the game, looking around for another few minutes while I was with my friends that I saw earlier outside (one couple in 103, another who usually sit in the lower bowl) in Championship Plaza before we walked to our cars.  However I wound up on the wrong end of the highway for a few minutes getting lost and my old GPS wouldn’t work at first so I had to turn it off and on before it finally kicked in.  Between the OT, the long walk out afterward (going out the wrong gate and with the crowd waiting to get the post-game puck giveaway) and my mistake on the highway I didn’t get home till after 11, which is unheard of for a 7 PM game for me.  At least I have Saturday-Monday off as well, though Monday night will be more sports agida for me between the Jets’ expected beatdown in Atlanta and the Devils’ almost life and death game against the Oilers.  Make no mistake, these games are crucial. With Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa on the docket before we come home again for the Rangers on the 19th the schedule doesn’t get any easier until maybe early/mid November.  If the team can at least go 2-2-1 on the trip and win the Ranger game then at least they can tread water for a while until the new forwards can get acclimated to the system and the old ones start scoring, but if not it could get ugly circa ’10-11 early.

Posted in Devils, NY Islanders | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment