Welcome back kid. Hope you’re ready. Actually I just hope you get the chance to prove if you are. (Photo: Melissa Andus)
Before last nights game, Tortorella spoke at length about Chris Kreider saying the Rangers didn’t want to jerk him around and needed to make sure he was ready before bringing him back. Less than 24 hours later he was on his way to NYC.
I’m not completely against bringing him up. Personally, I think he needs more time but the staffs in New York and Connecticut see more than I do so I’m going to trust them. The question is where in the lineup will he play?
With training camp scheduled to begin in a couple of weeks, Rangers players have slowly been making their way back to NYC. Yesterday the boys got together for their first team event of the 2012-2013 season – Coach Tortorella’s Dog Walk.
As rumored, almost the entire team attended with some bringing their own dogs. Have to say the best picture of the day was Brian Boyle with his little chihuahua! The only ones missing were Marian Gaborik (injured, guessing rehab is in Europe) and Martin Biron and Mike Rupp (who had previous engagements). Although it hasn’t been confirmed, I’m pretty sure Michael Sauer wasn’t there either (more on him later).
Looks like your uniform colors are staying the same… (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)
It’s a couple hours after the news broke and I’ve had some time to digest what happened. I’m still skeptical but rather than cry about it, I will change my point of view to cautiously optimistic. Basically I’m hoping it works for everyone involved.
I’m going to write a long piece in the next day or two about the guys we lost, but for now I plan to focus on what we got – Rick Nash.
And I am sick to my stomach. Everyone who has followed me knows my take on this but what’s done is done. Nash is a Ranger and I will support him. Curious how long the Rangers fan base will. (If season starts on time, I say he feels their ire by the All-Star break at latest.)
As for the cost so far? The full trade is Nash, a minor league defenseman yet to be named and 3rd round pick for Dubinsky, Anisimov, Erixon and a 1st round pick. Let’s call a spade a spade. I love Dubinsky and Anisimov but Sather fleeced Howson. All three of those players have great potential and haven’t been able to reach it. I do think Dubinsky is the one we are going to regret giving up but it’s hard to see Artie go as well.
And for those not thinking about the future – Callahan just lost his “pack line” teammates and Boyle has now lost Prust and Anisimov. If for any reason we don’t re-sign Del Zotto, we might as well trade Boyle because he will be useless next year.
I’ll have much more on this later but for now, good luck Dubi, Artie and Erixon and welcome to New York Rick Nash.
It took four nominations but Henrik Lundqvist finally took home the Vezina trophy for best goaltender. Congrats to THE King!
I know people will say others deserved it but I disagree. This is a regular season award. Jonathan Quick was the best goalie of the playoffs, hands down. But I don’t believe he was the best goalie of the entire regular season. Sure he had some great points but where was he at the beginning of the year when the Kings fired their coach in hopes of saving their season? And don’t give me that “he got no support” argument. Henrik hasn’t had support for years yet no one has said he deserved the award until this year. Anyway, enough venting. In my mind, the right guy won. (Call it bias if you want but this is the first year I thought he deserved it.)
The best part about Henrik winning? For the first time in seven seasons, I saw the man nervous in front of a camera. How did I know? HE CURSED! Our perfect goaltender who never says anything wrong, let out a big ole F bomb right in the middle of his speech. Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof:
I still can’t believe it. Of course the boys weren’t going to let him get away with it. Martin Biron tweeted right away:
As for the other awards, some Rangers notes now that the full totals have been released:
* Lundqvist came in third place in the Hart Trophy voting. Not surprised as goalies are rarely nominated for this in the first place.
* John Tortorella came in second for the Adams trophy. Am actually surprised he beat MacLean but not surprised he lost. Hitchcock deserved it.
* Ryan Callahan came in fourth place in Selke trophy voting…above regulars such as Jordan Staal, Ryan Kesler and Jonathan Toews. Guarantee his plus/minus killed him or he may have actually been in the top three. Not going to lie, proud of my captain for coming in fourth.
* Dan Girardi came in sixth in Norris trophy voting. Excuse me while I freak out for a second…SIXTH PLACE? OUT OF EVERYONE? ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING DANNY. CONGRATS! …Okay, I’m done now.
* Also for the Norris, Ryan McDonagh came in 11th and Michael Del Zotto came in 12th. Think people will be talking about the Rangers defense for a long time. Totally biased opinion but yes our defense is amazing.
* Carl Hagelin was in fifth place for the Calder. Sounds about right to me.
* Glen Sather was fourth in voting for GM of the Year. Wait, what?
And on that note, we can put the 2011-2012 season to rest. Congrats to all the other winners!
When the Rangers season ended a little over a week ago, I was mildly intrigued as to what the Rangers plans were for this offseason. Obviously we need more goal scoring but would the cost be worth it. And would they trade some of our kids/prospects to get that help or just hit the free market?
After news about Marian Gaborik’s injury surfaced, I became more concerned. Our leading goal scorer (and let’s be honest, the only true goal scorer on our roster) might miss the first two months of the season. Would that force Sather to make a move he might not have originally made? Are kids who we thought were untouchable now on the table because they have to get goal scoring? Then I read this mornings’ rumor and relaxed. And why is that? Because it was an absolute joke. I realized that reading this stuff and worrying about what the Rangers would do over the next few weeks is a bad idea. Sather and co. know what they are doing.
So what was that rumor? Apparently Glen Sather is talking to Nashville about Alexander Radulov.
This guy is going to come to the Rangers? (Photo: Paul Nicholson/flickr)
You know the guy who bolted for the KHL a few years ago and then came crawling back at the trade deadline in hopes of getting a Stanley Cup ring. The guy who was suspended by his own team for Game 3 of the Predators Western Conference Semi-Finals series against the Coyotes for missing the team curfew earlier in the series. The guy who by all accounts fits the stereotypical description of a Russian hockey player playing in the NHL. (Side note: I’m against giving these stereotypes but guys like him may be the reason they exist.) The Rangers are going to put THIS GUY on a team coached by John Tortorella. Thanks for the laugh!
Forget the rumored cost (which is just as ridiculous), there is no way in hell John Tortorella will allow this guy on his team. He could be promised he will score 100 goals this season and Torts would still cut him from camp as early as he was allowed to. And why would Radulov agree to play for Torts? He is the type of player who does it his way, proven by the way he’s acted the past few years. It’s no secret that’s not allowed on a Tortorella coached team. This match is like placing oil and water together – it just doesn’t work.
I get that these writers need page hits or people to buy their papers but sometimes just think before you report something. I don’t care how good your source supposedly is, if you cover this team can you honestly think this is a possibility? It’s stories like this that lead Tortorella to make the comments about the media that he does.
**Editors Note: I linked to an article from The Fourth Period rather than the original article because I refuse to give the original article page hits. Please do not take this as me saying The Fourth Period is not doing their job. They do a great job and in this case are only reporting what they read elsewhere.
