Psychology is an interesting aspect to sports. You can’t really quantify it, so you have to kind of leave it to the side, even though psychology is a huge part of just about any competitive game. The psychology of the New York Rangers is a complex thing to try and understand, though. They’re a team [...]
The New York Rangers were kind of smart in trading for defenseman Bryan McCabe. First of all, they didn’t give up very much. Just Tim Kennedy, who seems to have been accidentally been signed in the off-season and was never really given a shot to return to the NHL, and a third-round draft pick. In [...]
Photo by Anna Enriquez Earlier this season, both the New York Rangers and the Dallas Stars drew accolades for their physical play. Neither team was very deep and neither played with much finesse, but both teams could grind an opponent down. But is that kind of play sustainable over the course of an 82-game season? [...]
Photo by bridgetds Yesterday, Larry Brooks had a column wondering what the New York Rangers’ plan is for Chris Drury. Drury has two years left on a contract with a cap hit of over $7 million per season and he’s been relegated to the fourth line. Drury has yet to score this season (he’s been [...]
Photo by Cindy Andrie Darren Eliot is complaining that more NHL teams are returning to the dreaded neutral zone trap. Eliot’s hypothesis is that after a brief glory period for stretch pass driven hockey, more and more NHL coaches are returning to the safer trap: The eyeball test tells me the game is now backsliding [...]
Photo by Anna Enriquez For years, pretty much going back to the final season or so of Jaromir Jagr’s tenure with the New York Rangers, the team has suffered with a lack of secondary scoring. Even when Jagr was essentially replaced with Marian Gaborik, Gaborik had no one to help him, goal-wise. But now, the [...]
Photo by bridgetds Yesterday the New York Rangers traded defenseman Michal Rozsival for Phoenix Coyotes forward Wojtek Wolski, straight-up. In addition to clearing cap space, the move brings some experience to the Rangers forward corp. Decimated by injuries, the Rangers were in danger of starting to look like an AHL team. Rozsival was a fan [...]
Michael Del Zotto has spent much of this season struggling for the New York Rangers. The second-year defensemen often seemed confused, unable to generate offense, but also unable to play defensively. And so Del Zotto, who finished second among defenseman in Calder voting last year, was sent down to the AHL. Ryan McDonagh, a rookie [...]
It amazes me what a difference attitude can make for an NHL team. Look at the Rangers. On paper, the team shouldn’t be significantly better than last year’s model. The biggest difference is the absence of defenseman Wade Redden. Yet, this is simply a much better team than last season. This team has 41 points [...]
For much of John Tortorella’s time coaching the New York Rangers, I wondered how long he was going to last. He seemed to have nothing but contempt for his players and a lack of patience that bordered on child-like. Lines would only last a few shifts. Sean Avery was scratched for acting like Sean Avery. [...]
