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I’ll be honest, I just don’t get it.  I look at this Rangers lineup and I try to do the calculations in my head.  Try to find some formulation where this team wins hockey games…and I just can’t find one.

Yet, they continue to prevail. 

The Rangers defied logic yet again last night as they came back in the third period to defeat the mighty Washington Capitals off the leg of Marian Gaborik in regulation and on the backs of Wolski-Zuke Nukem-Artie in the SO.  A Washington team mind you, that was previously a whopping 20-0-1 in games they led after two periods.

Oh, and by the way, not only did they do all this with such star studded names as Newbury, Grachev, and Kolarik; they did it with backup netminder Martin Biron.

Fact is, I don’t get it.  But, you know what, I don’t have to get it.  Because somehow, it works.

Following the December 15th game where Ryan Callahan broke his hand, the Rangers are 10-6-2.  During that stretch, they have beaten top-tier teams in Vancouver, Dallas, and Washington. While simultaneously losing Dubinsky, Fedotenko, Christensen and Frolov to significant injuries.

This team is a train that’s full of misfits, has-beens, reclamation projects, and teenagers.  But, with John Tortorella at the helm, it all stays on track and just keeps plugging away. Win after win.

There is no way not to like this team.  It’s impossible.  Against all odds, they have ridden on the backs of names like Boyle, Stepan, and Prust to playoff contention.

Simply remarkable.

Shout out to Gregg M. for the name that has basically become reality. This team is essentially the CT Whale, shipped down to the Big Apple, and damn are they good! While pretty much all of my focus is on the Rangers for obvious reasons, I often wonder these days who is even left to play for the Whale? Hey Hartford readers, who the heck is dressing for these games outside of Wade Redden?

You can cross off MDZ and Grachev.

Both have been called up from CT as, believe it or not, the Rangers have more injuries to deal with. Dan Girardi and Brandon Prust were injured in Saturday’s tremendous comeback win in Atlanta. It was a must-win game in which who else but Brian Boyle and Mats Zuccarello came up big again. Let this sink in: Brian Boyle is now tied with Dubi for most goals on the team (17)! What?! If you had said that would be the case at this point a few months ago I think we would all agree the Rangers would be in dead last in the NHL, or very close to it. Can’t praise his career year enough.

As for the injuries to Prust and Girardi, the good news is neither seems too serious. They might even be able to play tonight in Washington, but it’s a nagging problem that never seems to end. For now, it could be an opportunity for MDZ to get back on the big stage and see how he responds from the assignment in Hartford. Ice time will likely be limited for both MDZ and Grachev, but the one good thing out of all this is the young guys getting opportunities to play in the NHL.

Another tough back-to-back pair of games tonight (@Washington) and tomorrow (vs. Florida). It would be really nice to see the Rangers pick up two wins and take a three game winning streak into the All-Star break. If there’s a team who needs the break, it’s the Rangers. With so many injuries, it’s finally an opportunity for some of these young guys to get some rest as well as get closer to players returning to the team.

So far the Rangers have gone 6-5-1 in the month of January. A couple wins to close it out would make for one hell of a month considering the opponents and circumstances. At the very least, they need to come up with the win at home tomorrow night against Florida.

Eric and I will get a new podcast up after these two games before the All-Star weekend. We have a number of good e-mails in our mailbag that will be featured in the show. Keep sending them in. One question to keep in mind: Who’s your Rangers All-Star so far this season?. Tell us who and why at hosts@nyrangerscast.com.

***UPDATE: Another One Bites the Dust***

Anyway, let’s take the positive out of this. The penalty kill was good early. It set the tone. The Rangers dominated from there and collected another two points.

**********

So, you thought this team couldn’t suffer any more crippling injuries?  Oh, how foolish of you!

That’s right, it’s injury update time!

Brandon Dubinsky will reportedly miss 3-4 weeks with a stress fracture in his left fibula.  Apparently this injury occurred after the weight Dubinksy was carrying on his shoulders, more commonly known as the New York Rangers, got too heavy. 

Un-freaking-believable.  I would use expletives here, but I’ll keep them to myself.  Every week it seems the deck gets further stacked against the Rangers.  This is truly heart-wrenching.  Tonight against Toronto, or any game for the next month, is no longer a given. 

Who are we left with? 

BRIAN BOYLE TO THE RESCUE! 

But seriously, this sucks.

First off, apologies for the lack of blog posts over the last couple weeks.  Erik and I are both extremely busy with the jobs that are actually accompanied by paychecks, so the blog has taken a backseat for a second.  Podcasts have been up to date and we will have one coming over the next couple of days, TODAY!

Couple of news and notes to chit chat about in the meantime…

-I appreciate all the e-mails over my mispronunciation of Wojtek Wolski’s name.  I apologize that I am an ignorant American who reads names as they are written.  I will send my regards in a personalized floral arrangement to Vojtek Volski. 

-What a let down after the Vancouver game, huh?  Way to lay eggs against Montreal and Philly!  Side note, the Flyers seem to be the one team the Black and Blueshirts can’t muscle out a win against.  But really, I think the inconsistency goes back to the injuries and lack of Gaborik.  You’re going to have a hard time being consistent with that combination.

-All- Star Captains have been announced.  E. Staal and N. Lindstrom will be ro-sham-bowing it for picks.  First off, I love the format.  Don’t knock it.  All-Star games are meaningless and nobody (seriously, check the ratings from the previous years) watches the thing, so why not give it a gimmick?  Anyway, Rangers M. Staal says he would not like to play with his brother.  This is because and I quote, “He’s too mouthy.”  E. Staal has responded by slapping his brother in the back of his head, sticking out his tounge, and yelling nanny nanny boo boo.

-In today’s NY Post, Larry Brooks says Dubinsky is the only one who can bring Gaborik out of his funk.  Thoughts? At this point, I believe the only one who can bring Gaborik out of his funk is Gaborik.

-Over the half way point in the season.  I look around the league and really believe this is the first year in a while where the East has better Top 8 depth than the West.  Do you agree?  We’re so used to the West being the class of the league, but this year, I really like a lot more teams in the East.

QUICK! Get your emails into hosts@nyrangerscast.com!

This is really starting to get old.  What was a very successful week for the Rangers on the ice, ends with yet another debilitating injury. 

Alex Frolov is out for the remainder of the season after tearing up his right knee against St. Louis on Saturday.  Add him to the list of wounded that already includes Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen, Vinny Prospal, and Derek Boogaard.  The Rangers offense is taking the shape of a MASH unit.

Say what you will about Frolov, but its another experienced member of this teams offense that will have to be replaced with someone (most likely) of lesser skill.  After signing a 1 year/$3 million deal in the offseason, Frolov failed to be the right hand man to Marian Gaborik that he was brought into be. In half a season with the Blueshirts, Frolov managed 7G and 9A.

For the moment, Kris Newbury has been called up from Captain Ahab’s Connecticut crew.  We’ll see what Glen Sather is able to do on the market, if anything to help fill the void left by all the fallen goal scorers.

It’s yet another blow to this gritty team, who so far this season has seen stars like Gaborik, Drury, Callahan, etc. miss significant time due to injury.  The Rangers picked up 4 points against Dallas and St. Louis, yet with another injury, it seems to be 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

Notes from the road trip:

• - Proving that Coach Torts listens to the NYRangerscast, Sean Avery was given a larger role this past week and really shined.  We’ll see how long he stays out of the doghouse. 
• - Cally has begun skating, however, NY Post says he still at least 3 weeks aways from playing
• - Mats Zuccarello continues to impress, netting the game winner in scintillating fashion in the SO against the Stars.

Happy New Year to you all. Eric and I are looking forward to an exciting 2011.

Unfortunately, things aren’t quite as bright in Ranger land. The Rangers have lost four of their last six games (but did manage to get a couple points in those four losses) and injuries are starting to mount. Just prior to the turn of the calendar Erik Christensen went down with a sprained MCL in the Devils game. Diagnosis: Out 4-6 weeks. A few games before that emotional leader Ryan Callahan broke his hand blocking a shot. Diagnosis: Out at least another month. Vinny Prospal still hasn’t seen the ice and Derek Boogard has concussion problems that could keep him out for who knows how long.

Just when you think the injury scenario is getting a little out of hand (no pun intended), 2011 starts off with more bad news. Ruslan Fedotenko goes down with an injured hand while blocking a shot. The silver lining: x-rays were negative and his hand isn’t broken. Instead of the Callahan diagnosis he’s listed as day-to-day.

Okay all this medical talk is making my head spin. The reality is this isn’t an incredibly deep team. We talked about that from day one, especially at the center position. Injuries are inevitable over the course of a year and there’s really not much you can do about it except go out there and continue to grind. That is what I expect this team to do just like it has all year. What this also means is that young players will continue to get chances to step up and have a larger role (ie: Zuccarello and Weise). Those can be positive things for a young group, but the opposite side of the coin is it becomes harder to expect this team to legitimately compete with the likes of the Flyers and Penguins. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the Rangers are in good shape for a postseason berth and are a dangerous matchup in a 7-game series. However, there is a significant difference in talent level between those top tier teams and the Rangers.

This next month is a very crucial, and dangerous, time for the Rangers. Goal production has become sporadic at best over the past few games and the schedule is pretty tough. One thing I think the Rangers have done a really good job of this year is not falling into a slump. This team has responded well to adversity all year and generally does a nice job bouncing back from losses with a couple of wins. However, with these injuries and the schedule over the next month the Rangers could find themselves in a tough spot. Last year’s team in this situation would have me being very pessimistic. This year’s team keeps me optimistic. I still think the ultimate key the rest of the year is to get Gaborik on track, especially when the team is struggling to score goals. What is your key as we head down the stretch in the 2nd half of the season?

Eric and I will have a show up tomorrow, so get your questions in at hosts@nyrangerscast.com.

I know it’s not polite to kick a man when he’s down.  But, when that man happens to be the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders, I think we can make an exception.

The Rangers capped off the 2010 part of the 2010-2011 NHL season last night with a 3-1 win at The Rock in New Jersey.  That follows a Monday night victory against the NYI, giving the Rangers a record of 8-3-1 in the final month of the year.  Overall, the Blueshirts sit in 6th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22-14-2.

Considering where I thought this team would be at the turn of the new year, that ain’t too shabby.  Breakout seasons for Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Boyle and Derek Stepan have carried this team further than expected, with The King still anchoring the crease quite mightily.

So the question becomes, can the beginning of 2011 match the end of 2010?

I think it can.  Here’s what the Rangers need to do in 2011 to continue the success…(As a side note, I hesitate to call these resolutions, because no one ever keeps New Years resolutions…But I’ll do it anyway.)

1) Locate Marian Gaborik: This is by far the most obvious of all the resolutions.  The team’s most prolific scorer is tied for 4th on the team in goals with a mere 10 in 24 games this season.  One problem has been injury.  The other, a lack of a consistent line to play on.  Either way, Gabby needs to be reintroduced to the offense.  A lot of times he looks like he’s waiting for something to happen instead of going out and making it happen.  For this team to make a deep run, Gaborik needs to make his own opportunities and start taking over some games.

2) Pray that Boyle and Stepan don’t collapse: I love both of these guys, I really do.  I mean, how do you not love a rookie with double digit goals and a veteran who has already tripled his previous season high for goals scored?  The problem is, we don’t know what the 82 game projections are for these guys.  Yes, Boyle and Stepan both look poised to continue there success in 2011, but one has never had an opportunity to play a full NHL season before, the other has come up short throughout his career.  2011 needs to be the year of Boyle and Stepan.

3) Cally Comes Back Strong: Ryan Callahan needs to come back and play like the Captain he was before his injury.  Enough said. 

4) Find the Right Position: I think we’ve gotten to a point in this season where we can expect the Rangers to make the playoffs with the way they have played.  Missing out would be a disappointment at this point.  That said, not all playoff positions will be beneficial to the Rangers.  While they’ve played well, they are still under skilled compared to teams like Pittsburgh, Philly and at some points Washington.  The Rangers need to find a favorable match up for the first round and hope the other teams beat each other up before the Blueshirts get to them.

5) Stay the Same: Typically, on New Years, you’re trying to find ways to change.  I ask the Rangers to stay the same.  Please, play with the same intensity, grit and determination we’ve seen thus far.  Don’t slack off.  This team is likable, I don’t want that to change.  Let’s bring the playoffs back to the Garden with some guys everyone can rally behind.

That’s what the Rangers can finally do. After 19 games in the past 35 days I think it’s fair to say they have earned some time off. In those 19 games they have put up a 12-7 record, including 12 out of a possible 18 points to start December. Even better? With only three games left in the month, two of them are against the Isles and Devils. If the Rangers take care of business they should finish 2010 at worst with a 22-15-1 record and 45 points. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx them, but let’s face it, the Rangers should not be losing to games to the Devils/Isles at this point in the year.

With that all out of the way you can’t be anything but pleased with the way this season has gone so far. Have there been bumps in the road? Sure. But let’s not forget this team has been plagued with injuries over the first half of the year to some very important players. Gaborik missed a good chunk of games. Drury didn’t really come back until the last two games (and has looked above what I have expected). Prospal endured a full practice for the first time today without contact and still hasn’t seen the ice in a game. Callahan is out at least six weeks with the broken hand. So, all things considered this has been a tremendous start. It would have been a great start even if the Rangers hadn’t had any injuries up to this point.

What does this all mean? Well, I think Eric and I touched on this a little in our last podcast. It seems as though this is the first year where all hands have been on deck. By that I mean everyone on the team is buying into the system. Everyone seems to be contributing in some way or another. Insert Frolov joke here, but even he has played a much improved couple of games of late despite still not shooting the puck enough.

I think the biggest question here on out is how sustainable is this? I have no reason to believe it’s not sustainable. Are younger guys playing over their heads? Yes. But, I think one of the biggest things for young players is confidence. Clearly this team is playing with a lot of it. The Rangers have shown the ability to play with, and beat, the big boys.

Unfortunately the one exception to that last statement has been the Flyers. I hate to say this, but it just feels like there is a Philadelphia curse out there. Think of what that city has done to us New Yorkers over the past couple of years. If you’re a Mets fan like I am, I don’t need to say much more other than “collapse”. Speaking of collapse, how many of you Ranger fans are also Giants fans and hate the Eagles like I do. Yep, don’t need to say much more there either. Even for you Yankee fans, sure you beat the Phillies for the World Series a year ago but don’t you really wish you had Cliff Lee in your rotation right now? As for the Rangers, well yeah, 0-for-2 so far this year and we all remember game number 82 or the regular season last year. Philly curse? Maybe it’s just me, but man do I hate that city’s sports teams more than ever these days. I digress.

I will say this. Watching that game Saturday I believed the Rangers were going to come back and win in the 3rd period. Good thing or bad, it has certainly become the norm to see the Blueshirts make a 3rd period comeback to win a game. They came up short in Philly because of too many giveaways. The Flyers are a very good team, perhaps the best in the conference. You can’t make mistakes against good teams and expect to win. I was very encouraged by a couple of things from that game though. Stepan’s goal to cut the lead to 2-1 showed that no-quit attitude from the Rangers. That shift was a thing of beauty and they finished it off with a goal to put them right back in the game. Again, I don’t think Rangers teams of years past come back and score a goal down 2-0 in the 3rd. Also, how about the play of Dale Weise making his NHL debut. Here’s another young kid stepping in and looking like he has played up at the NHL level all year. He almost scored twice, skated well and took out Carcillo late in the game. I loved it! I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do over the next few games. Conversely, the one thing that bothers me to no end is seeing former (bad) Rangers score. Two goals for Zherdev? Really? I hardly remember him scoring two goals FOR the Rangers. Yuck. I guess at least Betts didn’t score in this one…

Notes

Eric and I are planning on getting a show recorded in the next couple of days with former NYRangerscaster Steven Gelbs. We’re just trying to work out our schedules. We’ve had a couple e-mails already which we’ll get to, but I wanted to give you all a heads up on this instead of keeping it from you so you could send in any questions you might have for Steve specifically. I think we’ve had some great mailbags already this year and that is part of what makes it really fun for us, so keep up the good work. Friendly reminder: send the questions in at hosts@nyrangerscast.com. In the meantime, hope you all have some great holiday plans. If you’re doing anything interesting, let us know. Happy holidays everyone!

I’ll be honest with you, for most of last night’’s SO Rangers victory, I was bored to tears.  Maybe it was because I had to listen to the Coyotes broadcast, which is not nearly as entertaining as Sam and Joe.  But really, I think it was because last night’s game was much different than the previous two, although the outcome remained the same.

Last night, the Rangers were able to grind out a win.  You could tell the Rangers were tired after having to keep pace with the Penguins the night before.  Yet, they kept pace, they got a garbage goal, and persevered yet again in the 3rd period to steal 1 point and then earn a second. 

The Blueshirts have now won three in a row.  In three of their last four wins, the Rangers have trailed in the third period.  It’s the nature of this team, the personality that Erik and I have talked about all year long.  Grinders.  If you watched the 24/7 premiere on HBO, you saw first hand how quickly a team like Washington got deflated after giving up a goal.  This Rangers team doesn’t fall into that trap.  New York always seems to be 30 seconds away from taking the lead, no matter how many goals.

Another great game by the dynamic duo of Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle.  I continue to be dumbfounded trying to explain these two.  So, I’ll just smile and laugh and enjoy their play.  Prust scored his third SH goal of the season on a team that leads the league in them.  They are just never out of it.

Although it came in the SO, the Rangers are now 7-0 when Erik Christensen puts a puck in the back of the net.  (May be more if you go back and check the other SO’s)

Want more resiliency? Derek Stepan gets benched for the first half of the 3rd period and comes out and scores the game tying goal with less than 6 minutes left. 

The Rangers have picked up 12 of the possible 16 points in the month of December.  They have the 4th most points in ALL of the NHL.  They sit just outside the top 4 in the East.  And the train keeps rolling. 

The question is, nearly halfway through the season, are you starting to believe???

There are a couple ways I sum up last night’s road victory in Pittsburgh (again).

1. That was a very typical Rangers/Pens game that wasn’t all too fun to watch until all of a sudden New York went wild, scoring two goals in 15 seconds and four in a total of 6:19. In the 3rd period. In Pittsburgh. Against the Pens. Woah!

2. The Rangers have now won back-to-back games. That’s great, BUT put this in perspective. The Rangers have won back-to-back games, claiming four points from the Caps and Pens. In the process, they outscored them 11-1. I don’t care that the Caps are really struggling right now, to take four points in regulation from those two teams is impressive. Sure, the Pens dictated play in the first two periods, but the Rangers showed up in the 3rd and put the hammer down. Very, very impressive.

3. The Rangers win when Erik, not Eric, Christensen scores. I tweeted during the game last night right after he scored that NY is 5-0 when he scores this season. Make it 6-0. They are also 9-1 now when he registers a point. Call it a coincidence if you want, but that’s at the very least a fun stat.

4. This plays off of #1 a bit and off something Eric and I talked about in our new podcast (which is up, check it out from right before the Pens game), but we are really seeing a new, New York Rangers team. Teams of years past didn’t do what this year’s team has been doing on a consistent basis. This year’s team is handling adversity extremely well and finding ways to win games and stack up important points.

5. Chris Drury returned and played a whole game for the first time this season. He managed 14:32 of ice time and I thought he skated relatively well. This is hopefully a good sign that he can stay healthy and contribute some the rest of the way.

6. Frolov scored the eventual game-winning goal and actually played a pretty solid game. Wait, what? Yeah, I said it and it’s not a typo. Move along.

7. I thought seven was supposed to be a lucky number. Guess not. I saved the negative for the end because I wanted to look at it with a glass half full perspective. How could you not be excited about that win? Well, Ryan Callahan broke his hand blocking a shot in the first period and did not return. It was reported that he would be out six weeks but he is going to be re-evaluated today. You don’t need me to tell you how much this stings. Eric and I have talked throughout the season how he and Dubinsky have really emerged this year, especially when Gaborik was out. Well, like I said before, the Rangers have handled adversity well this year. Here’s another heavy dose of it. That line of Cally-Arty-Dubi that has been so good all year. Now the question is, who steps up?

News and Notes

- Eric and I recorded a podcast just prior to last night’s game. It is up on the site so check it out.
- Andrew Gross is reporting there will be no call-ups for tonight’s home game against Phoenix. Todd White will be inserted for Cally in the lineup. He predicts Drury will be moved up to fill the void on the Dubi-Arty line.
- Chris Botta of NHL Fanhouse wrote a piece on potential rental names in this year’s market. Problem for the Rangers is a lot of these names come from the Devils and Islanders since they are both in the basement of the Eastern Conference. How likely are either of these teams going to be willing to deal to a division rival and do we really want to see young talent go to our division rivals? Yeah, didn’t think so… He also hints at a possible Messier/Leetch reunion in the Rangers front office.
- I watched the HBO series, 24/7 Penguins Capitals: Road to the Winter Classic last night. As a hockey fan, I thought it was really, really cool. It was the NHL’s version of Hard Knocks and it didn’t disappoint. The story works well given the two superstars and two teams heading in very different directions now. I love the all-access footage especially intermission locker room speeches. Rex Ryan who? Bruce Boudreau is an angry elf! Feel free to share your thoughts of the show so far hosts@nyrangerscast.com. How awesome will next week’s show be with another Rangers beatdown in there?
- I promised I would post a link of Colton Orr’s epic fight. Well here it is. Watch and enjoy.