The Hockey Rabbi

Food For Thought

The Rangers are staring summer in the face right now.  So are their fans!  There's so much to say and so little time. Here's a little food for thought:

1.  Jagr is a great captain.  I don't care what anyone around the league says about the guy.  I don't care what happened in the past.  The guy's playing with passion.  He wants to win.  He's pushing his 36 year old body to the max.  As far as I'm concerned, he should be proud of himself.  I know I am.

2.  Is it just me, or is Lundqvist making anyone else just a tad nervous?  Every goalie is bound to let up "bad" goals.  It happens.  Even the greatest goalies are human and every human makes mistakes.  One of the things that turns a great goalie into a champion is mental toughness.  For goalies, part of what that means is the ability to shake off a "bad" goal.  Thus far in his career, Lundqvist doesn't have that kind of mental toughness.  That deficiency doesn't bode well for the Rangers championship chances. 

3.  Finished.  A big part of the reason that the Rangers are pretty much finished is because they can't finish.  The Rangers fire 42 thousand shots on goal and only score 3 goals.  Isn't it a shame that Renney decided to finish Prucha?!?  I'm not saying Prucha's a superstar or that he would have been the difference in this series.  However, for all of the Rangers offensive weapons what they're clearly lacking is a true "finisher".  The coach's job is to manage his assets.  He clearly dropped the ball with Prucha.

   

Pathetic!

The woeful Blueshirts are losers again.  The most recent defeat came courtesy of the NHL's doormat Atlanta Thrashers.  It's getting late real early on Broadway.  It's not so much the losses that are cause for concern.  After all, we're only six games into a season of drastic change.  Rather, it's the fact that their don't seem to be any line combinations that make sense.  Or maybe it's the coaching staff that can't seem to find the right combinations?

It's easy to criticize the coach.  Instead, I'm going to give Tom Terrific some advice.  Tommy Boy, if you're reading this, here's what you do with the offense:

Line 1:  Prucha - Gomez - Jagr

Line 2:  Straka - Drury - Shanny

Line 3: Hollweg - Dubinsky - Callahan

Line 4: Strudwick - Betts - Orr

Allow me to explain: 

Line 1:  Although I don't think that Gomez is the best centerman for Jagr, he is the best option the team has.  Playing Prucha with those guys has two benefits: (1) In his rookie season, Prucha and Jagr had great chemistry.  For reasons known only to Tommy Boy, they were never really allowed to play together since then.  (2) Gomez needs to play with a speedy FINISHER.  Prucha can be that guy.  Instead of worrying so much about balancing ALL of his lines, it's time for Renney to consider icing at least ONE competent line.

Line 2:  Another imperfect line, but where else will you play these three?!?!

Line 3:  These three guys have played hard all season.  They can all skate, hit and play a high energy game.  They could be this season's HMO line.

Line 4:  Why Strudwick?  Because on any given night at least one of the Rangers top six d-men play pathetic hockey.  By having seven d-men in the lineup, Strudwick can move back to the blue line if (or should I say when) one of those d-men start to struggle.  The fourth line doesn't play much anyway so it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the game much if Strudwick took some shifts on the blue line. 

Renney's pretty much tried every other combination possible.  It's time to stop stubbornly refusing to reunite Prucha and Jagr.  Prucha's teammates obviously respect him as evidenced by the two fights that were started to avenge dirty hits on Prucha in the third period of tonight's game.  If only his coach felt the same way about him.  Like I said, pathetic!    

Time For Tom To Wake Up

The Rangers didn't break down tonight.  Ottawa broke through.  There's a BIG difference.  Sure it's early in the season.  Sure there are a lot of positives to take out of tonight's game.  But those things can't be used as excuses for the Coach.  The bottom line is that it's Renney's job to give his team its best chance to win every night.  Thus far, Renney hasn't done that.  Renney is annoyingly stubborn when it comes to certain players.  Most notably, Malik and Hossa.  Keenan used to have a thing for certain players as well.  Remember guys like Doug Lidster and Brian Noonan?!?!  At least those guys didn't hurt the team.  Renney's use (or should I say gross over use) of Malik and Hossa is hurting the team. 

Malik shouldn't be in the lineup.  Period.  He contributed to two of Ottawa's three explosive goals.  These were the latest in a long list of Malik inspired debacles stretching back to last season.  The Rangers can no longer afford to waste a roster spot and $2.5m in cap space on Malik.  Malik MUST be traded or waived.  At the very least, it would be addition by subtraction.

Then there's Hossa.  This one is really starting to bother me.  I can see why Renney's intrigued by the kid.  He does have a tremendous combination of size and skill.  He does have a super-star brother.  But so what?  He clearly can't put it all together.  Any player who only plays inspired hockey while playing on the top line does not deserve a roster spot.  That kind of an attitude shows an utter lack of professionalism.  It's disrespectful to his other teammates, it's disrespectful to the organ-eye-zation, and worst of all it's disrespectful to the fans. 

If the Rangers had no other options, I could understand the need to continue to dress Hossa.  However, the Rangers do have other options.  In fact, continuing to play Hossa on the top line is actually hurting the team.  Prucha should get that spot.  The Rangers desperately need a finisher on their top lines.  Prucha is the closest thing the Rangers have to a pure goal scorer.  You would think that with Avery out of the lineup, Prucha would move up the depth chart and get a shot on one of the top two lines.  You'd be wrong!  Not with Tom Renney running the bench.  In the third period of tonight's game, Prucha got half a shift with Gomez and Jagr.  Not only did he almost score, he helped draw a power play that ultimately led to a 5 on 3 advantage for the Blueshirts.  In half a shift with the top line, Prucha accomplished more than Hossa has all season!  Did Renney take notice?  Did he give Prucha another shift with the big boys?  Nope. 

There's a fine line between patience and stubbornness.  There's an even finer line between stubbornness and stupidity.  It's time for Tom to wake up and stop being so stubborn stupid.         

Here We Go!

The regular season starts tomorrow night!  Unfortunately for me, it's a Jewish holiday so I will not be able to watch the game. 

The hockey world is filled with previews and predictions.  There's not much to add in those categories.  Besides, making predictions is really more for entertainment than anything else.  Especially in the new NHL where parity reigns supreme.  The truth is that there really isn't a team in the league that's dominant from top to bottom.  Many teams have overwhelming strengths.  Yet they all have fairly significant weaknesses as well.  Ultimately, the last team standing in June of 2008 will be determined primarily by hot goaltending and good health as opposed to any other factor(s).  That being said, I've prepared my top five lists.  I've got two lists for you here:  (1) The Top Five Reasons Why The Rangers Will Win The Stanley Cup This Season and (2) The Top Five Reasons Why The Rangers Will Not Win The Stanley Cup This Season.  Here we go!

I.  THE TOP FIVE REASONS WHYTHE RANGERS WILL WIN THE STANLEY CUP THIS SEASON:

1.  Offense.  This team is stacked up front.  The Rangers are quite possibly the deepest offensive team in the league.  Jagr, Gomez, Drury, Shanahan, Straka, Avery and Prucha.  That list doesn't even include Marcel Hossa (who came alive late last season) or the up and coming rookie Nigel Dawes (who may very well get a shot with the big club this season).  The Rangers have scorers on each of their top three lines. 

2.  Henrik Lundqvist.  He's the King on Broadway.  After a slow start last season he really came alive to carry the team through their unbelievable run down the stretch.  He gives the team the confidence it needs to play an offensively oriented game.  When he's hot he gets into shooters' heads forcing them to try to pick their spots carefully, too carefully!

3.  Jaromir Jagr.  Yes he fits into reason number 1 (offense).  But Jagr is literally in a category of his own!  He's an old school super star who can literally change the course of a game (or a series) by himself.  To me Jagr is the Rangers' nuclear weapon.  His skill and game breaking ability are virtually unparalleled.  If opponents don't match up against him, he'll break the game open.  If they do match up against him, they'll be forced to pay less attention to the team's other stars.  A no loose situation for the Rangers!  Most importantly, he's in great shape and appears to be determined to win it all. 

4.  Transition/Speed.  This team can fly.  Period.  Of the top 9 forwards, 7 of them have serious wheels:  Jagr, Drury, Straka, Gomez, Prucha, Callahan and Avery.  As weak as the defense is, Roszival, Mara, Tyutin, Pock and Staal all have respectable mobility.  They can all make outlet passes as well.  We're obviously not going to have flashbacks of Leetch and Zubov, however, this team should be able to get down the ice in a hurry.

5.  Grit.  The Rangers are not what you would call a big bruising team.  Nonetheless, they do possess a handsome serving of team grit.  Avery loves the rough stuff.  Drury plays a fearless in your face style.  Shanny's big and strong (albeit slow!) and he's earned high marks for dropping the gloves in the preseason to stand up for teammates.  Jagr may not be tough but he's absolutely huge.  Trying to get body position on him will wear out even the biggest and strongest opponents.  Prucha and Callahan are fearless cannonballs.  Dubinsky is a big strong physical presence.  Even Gomez has good size (5'11" 200lbs.) and is used to playing Atlantic division hockey.  Hollweg is a physical presence.  Betts is a gritty player and Colton Orr is a legitimate heavyweight.  On defense, Roszival and Tyutin played like warriors down the stretch.  Although neither is overly physical, they both have good size and know how to use their bodies.  Strudwick is a tough player.  Staal has good size (although he is young and has some filling out to do) and he seems to be proficient at playing the angles well.  Malik has great size... forget it!   The bottom line is that although no one will mistake this team for the old Broad Street Bullies, the Broadway Blueshirts can handle the physical demands of a long and grueling Stanley Cup tournament.      

II.  THE TOP FIVE REASONS WHY THE RANGERS WILL NOT WIN THE STANLEY CUP THIS SEASON:

1.  CHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY.  The Rangers' opening night roster will apparently feature up to 10 new players who were not on the opening night roster last season.  That's a huge turnover.  An adjustment period seems inevitable.  If that happens, it's not outside the realm of possibility for the Rangers to find themselves in the same boat they were in last season: being forced to play playoff hockey in February just to qualify for the posteason.  The Rangers' offense is their strength, yet we don't even know if the forwards will form a cohesive unit.  The Gomez-Jagr experiment has already been put on the back burner (for now) and the season hasn't even started!  Chemistry makes the Rangers' offense a double edged sword: it could turn out to be tops in the league or it could wind up being far less then the sum of its (very significant) parts. 

2.  Defense.  Enough said!

3.  #2 Goalie.  Right now there is none.  At least not an NHLer.  Even though Lundqvist is expected to play the lion's share of games, it is very important to have a reliable back up.  It's one thing to play 70 games a season because you are an elite goaltender who can and should carry that kind of a load.  It's a very different thing to play 70 games in a season in part because there is no adequate back up.  The latter creates a lot of unnecessary stress and pressure.  Goaltending is already the most psychologically grueling position in the sport, Hank doesn't need any extra adversity. 

4.  The "Kid" Line.  The 3rd line for the Rangers could turn out to be the energetic, cycling and responsible line that this team desperately needs it to be.  Or......  Dubinsky may prove ill suited to handle the pressure of anchoring an important line for a contending team in his rookie season.  Callahan was impressive down the stretch, but he's also a rookie having played a grand total of 24 NHL games in his career (regular season and playoffs combined).  2/3's of the Rangers' kid line has a grand total of 30 games of NHL experience between them (regular season and playoffs combined).  Then there's the Prucha factor: he looks ready to break out.  Is it in his best interests to be lined up with two gritty rookies rather then on a more offensively oriented line?  Prucha had great chemistry with Jagr as a rookie.  Why not put him on Jagr's left and move Straka to the left of Dubinsky?  The Rangers don't really have a pure goal scorer in the prime of his career right now.  Prucha could be that guy.  But will he be while playing with Dubinsky and Callahan?  Like I said, the 3rd line for the Rangers could turn out to be the energetic, cycling and responsible line that this team desperately needs it to be.  Or...... 

5.  Specialty Teams/Flow.  Another double edged sword for the Rangers.  On paper, the specialty teams look to be pretty impressive.  However, could this be a case of relying on too few players to do too many things?  Drury will get significant time on the power play, penalty kill and even strength.  Ditto for Shanny. Ditto for Avery.  Ditto for Straka.  Maybe even a ditto for Gomez.  In fact, Blair Betts seems to be the only player who will not be asked to "do it all".  In the "New NHL" a lot of time is spent on special teams play.  If many of the teams top players on on the ice killing penalties, who does Renney send out for that very important first even strength shift? Jagr will be rested, but Straka and Drury won't be.  Gomez may be rested but Shanny and Avery won't be.  Renney will be forced to mix and match his lines which hurts the teams' flow.  The same thing will happen after power plays.  Apparently, Renney has recognized this potential problem and has decided to keep his top two lines primarily intact for power plays.  That will make it easier for him (although certainly not easy) to continue rolling his lines after the power play is over.  You might think that I'm being hyper sensitive here, but these little things make a big difference in a long season and an even longer (in some respects!) playoff tournament.      

It should be a great season in New York.  Here we go!                

Someone's Got To Step Up

We all know that two of the biggest keys for the Rangers' upcoming season are goaltending and chemistry.  Lundqvist has to continue to stand on his head.  Not just because goaltenders are the most important players for any team (especially in the playoffs).  Not just because the Rangers' defense is thin and Lundqvist will have to erase their inevitable mistakes.  But also because the Rangers will probably experience some serious growing pains throughout the season as their new faces struggle to adjust.  Lundqvist will be called upon to keep the ship afloat during those periods. 

The other obvious key to the season is team chemistry.  If the team can adjust and come together quickly, it should be a great season on Broadway.  If not, well...... 

There is, however, a third key:  Someone's got to step up.  I'm not talking about Lundqvist, Jagr, Gomez or Drury.  Those players are expected to step up.  They must step up or the Rangers' will not have serious success.  I'm talking about a "surprise" performance. 

Two seasons ago the Rangers surprised the hockey world by qualifying for the playoffs.  Obviously Jagr was a huge reason for their success. The other main ingredient that season was a "surprise" performance by a young goalie named Henrik Lundqvist.  Let's not forget the 30 goal outburst from a relatively unheralded rookie named Petr Prucha.  How about the high energy, high octane performance from the HMO line (Hollweg, Moore and Ortmeyer) that came as a very pleasant "surprise".  Two seasons ago, Jagr was phenomenal.  He gets paid to do that!  Ditto for Straka and Nylander.  The "surprise" performances, however, were vital in putting the Rangers over the top. 

Let's take a look at last season.  The big two (Jagr and Lundqvist) started slowly.  Not surprisingly the Rangers floundered.  Then Sather pulls the trigger and acquires the controversial Sean Avery.  People expected Avery to add some much needed grit and attitude.  No one expected the "surprise" performance that followed.   Remember Jagr's quote echoed shortly after the Avery trade, "We need more than Sean Avery right now".  That pretty much summed up the league's sentiment on Avery's worth.  No one expected Avery to totally re-energize the club the way he did.  In hindsight, however, it was Avery's "surprise" performance that helped propel the Rangers into the playoffs.  On a much smaller scale the Rangers' also got a "surprise" performance from Ryan Callahan.  His determined play allowed Renney to ice a highly competitive and energetic third line of Prucha, Cullen and Callahan.

So like I said, someone's got to step up this season.  We all know that the top players must perform in order for this team to succeed.  There's just no getting around that.  However, we also need a pleasant "surprise" or two (or three!).  So here's my list of the potential unsung "surprise" heroes to watch for this season:

1.  Petr Prucha.  I love this kid.  He's skilled, gritty and fearless.  If Prucha can breakout with a 30 something goal performance (not at all unreasonable), he'll add tremendous balance to the Rangers' forward lines.  The stumbling block for Prucha will be ice time.  Prucha doesn't seem to be a favorite of Renney's.  If he gets buried on the third line without meaningful power play minutes it will be hard for him to produce.  If he gets stuck with a rookie centerman like Dubinsky, it'll be even harder to produce! 

2.  Marcel Hossa.  He's not one of my favorites.  There's even some talk of him possibly not making the team!  However, it's hard to ignore his combination of size, strength and skill.  More importantly, Renney seems to really believe in this kid.  For whatever reason, he'll probably get more of an opportunity to shine than Prucha.  If Hossa responds with a 25-30 goal performance, he may well be the Rangers' "surprise" contributor this season.   

3.  Marc Staal.  I didn't get to watch him play much thus far (a bunch of the pre-season games fell out during Jewish holidays).  However, the people that did get to see him play are saying good things.  Defense is a tough position to learn and in a perfect world, Staal would get a chance to shine in Hartford before making the jump to Broadway.  This is NOT a perfect world and the Rangers' blue line is very far from perfect.  So it looks like Staal will at least start the season in New York.  If this kid steps up he could provide much needed talent and stability to the Rangers Achilles heel.   

4.  Blair Betts.  No that's not a typo!  Everyone has Betts cemented into the role of fourth line center.  The Rangers' line combinations are definitely a work in progress.  It wouldn't shock me to see Betts work his way to the third line.  He plays hard, he skates fairly well and he's not at all lost in the offensive zone.  Admittedly, this is not plan "A" for the Rangers third line.  However, don't discount the possibility of Betts stepping up and solidifying the third line. 

5.  Nigel Dawes.  Dawes may not survive the final cuts which should be announced soon.  I was unimpressed by what I saw of him thus far (although admittedly, I didn't see much!)  He seems to get knocked off the puck too easily.  That being said, there's no denying that he's got the skill and determination to succeed.  If the Rangers can figure out a way to get him some quality minutes he could be this years pleasant "surprise". 

6.  Brandon Dubinsky.  As of now (with the final cuts not yet being announced), Dubinsky looks to have the inside track as the team's third line center.  I like the kid.  He's big and strong and not afraid to mix it up.  Personally, I wouldn't give him the job though.  The Rangers need a quality, reliable third line center.  First, the team will already rely too heavily on its top two lines, those guys need a rest from time to time.  In order to give them that rest, the team needs a solid third line.  Second, Prucha and Callahan look to be on the verge of break out years.  Is it fair to either player to saddle them with a rookie centerman not known for his offensive capability?  Don't get me wrong, I like Dubinsky.  He's my kind of player.  However, I'm not sure that the timing is right.  Nonetheless, if given the opportunity I hope he can "surprise" me. 

It should be a great season on Broadway.  Especially if someone unexpected can step it up.