A 19 year-old kid is dead now for more than three weeks and it’s still hard to believe that Alexei Cherepanov is no longer with us.
Since the former Rangers’ 2007 first round pick was buried, the Continental Hockey League (KHL) has received plenty of deserved criticism for not having a working defibrillator or ambulance at the venue which could’ve prevented disaster.
It’s since come out that Cherepanov suffered from chronic ischemia- a medical condition where not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs. It’s still uncertain how such a serious health issue could’ve gone undetected.
While all this has been discovered, a top Russian military official said that he shouldn’t have been playing hockey and instead serving mandatory military service for Russia’s Railway Troops. Col. Vladimir Karpenko claims that 19 other players who suited up for Avangard Omsk did so illegally.
I realize that this is part of the harsh reality of growing up in Russia. But what’s the point of even making this announcement after the fact when Cherepanov is dead? It just reeks. It’s almost like they’re trying to cover themselves.
This article is so poorly timed, it’s maddening. We really don’t need to know this after the fact. If they want to continue investigating his death, fine. They should. If they want to do the proper thing and reward Cherepanov’s family with millions in dollars to help ease pain and suffering for the loss of their son, good cause that’s what should be happening.
I just don’t believe there was any need for the Russian military service to bring this to light. If he had a heart condition, there’s no way he could’ve served regardless. He would’ve been medically excused.
I just wish this whole situation would just vanish into thin air. It still hurts to read about it.
Edit:I was just watching some videos. I’ve watched before and always was amazed at how unique a talent Cherepanov was. Hence the title change honoring the skills he had. I really believe he would’ve been a star here. The skating was similar to Pavel Bure and I don’t like comparisons but some of his finishing was too. It’s impossible to know what he could have been.
I haven’t watched his final shift. I refuse to. It’s just too much. There are videos of course on YouTube. I just would rather not see it.
Anyway, being that it’s Halloween and all, I wanted to try to finish this with something of Cherepanov in much happier moments. I should’ve put something up a while back but what the hey? I think these two cool videos are how he should be most remembered. I think all hockey fans would agree on that.
I was considering a Devils month in review, but nine games does feel a bit too short for a team critique. Especially when half of them are on the darn injury list - with the latest casualty being defenseman Andy Greene, out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand courtesy of a Pavel Kubina shot. The joke of it is Greene was finally starting to live up to expectations and he played most of the Leafs game with the broken hand unbeknownst to anyone, which was the best game of his career ironically (three assists and a +3). Well if we’re going to play the Lowell Devils roster for the next month maybe we should have Lowell Devil ticket prices. Nah, that’ll never happen.
But team issues aside, it is fun to take a look around the league once in a while and see what is going on. To wit, here are some tricks and treats getting in the spirit of Halloween:
Treats (in net): Some underrated and overlooked goalies have started the season off very well. Carey Price has rebounded well from his playoff meltdown in Montreal while the underappreciated Tim Thomas is also off to a hot start for the Bruins. Both have GAA’s under 2 and save percentages above .930. Mike Smith’s played very well in Tampa - with a joke defense around him - in his first full season as a starter and Alex Auld seems to have finally found a niche in Ottawa after bouncing around the NHL since being part of the infamous Roberto Luongo trade (and doing a credible job as the Bruins’ back up last year)
Tricks (in net): What’s happened to most of the elite goalies? Other than the two goalies who happen to play for the Devils and Rangers, not a lot of big-names are playing very well. To name a few, Marty Turco, Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov - all have gotten off to bad starts (despite what the W/L record says for Osgood and Nabby). Others like Jean-Sebastian Giguere and Mikkua Kiprusoff also started slowly but have picked it up in the last few games. Of course Jose Theodore has been a dissapointment - again, this time for the Capitals. And Rick DiPietro is still in witness protection, hurt or both.
Treats (up front): While Alexander the Great has slumped in Washington partly due to family issues, the Capitals’ other Russian hotshot with the same first name - Alexander Semin (above picture) - is tied for the league lead with 16 points in his first nine games, while Marian Hossa has lived up to billing so far in Detroit with 6 goals and 9 assists in 11 games for the defending champs. An early favorite for comeback player of the year is Simon Gagne in Philadelphia - all he’s done is put up 7 goals, 5 assists and a +6 in nine games for the suddenly hot Flyers after missing most of 2007-08 with concussion issues.
Tricks (up front): Did anyone tell Ryan Malone the season’s started yet? He only has two goals and a -1 in nine games - but he does have 24 penalty minutes which I suppose is a plus for fantasy leagues. Malone’s former teammate, Sidney Crosby got hurt again in the Penguins’ loss to Phoenix last night. Hopefully this injury doesn’t last too long as Crosby’s one of the best players in the league - over-the-top hype or not. And can Mats Sundin please make up his mind already…I think five months is more than adequate to decide whether to retire or not. Unless he already knows and just wants to avoid training camp a la Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer. While we’re on the subject of old star forwards, can someone clue Brendan Shanahan into the fact the Rangers don’t want him already? Unless of course this ‘waiting game’ is an even more elaborate ruse for a planned mid-season signing due to the fact the Rangers have very little cap room in the first place.
Treats (teamwise): Lindy Ruff is at it again in Buffalo and the Sabres are becoming the Minnesota Twins of hockey. Mid-level budget and market, lose star players every year and somehow rebound to put a competitive (6-2-2 so far) team on the field. At least the Sabres still have NHL leading goalscorer Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller in goal, who by all rights should be considered at least one of the ten best at his position if not higher. Speaking of Minnesota, I didn’t expect much from the Wild either, after losing Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston, among others to UFA. But once again they sit on top of a tough Northwest division with a 6-2-1 record. And as much as I want to put the Rangers in the trick column, they have had a surprisingly solid start to the season, leading the NHL in wins and points. Enigmatic Nikolai Zherdev leads the NHL in plus-minus and is tied for the team lead in points (12) with emerging Brandon Dubinsky. And rumors of Henrik Lundqvist’s impending demise in the preseason (ostensibly due to bad knees) were as exaggerated as 95% of the political innuendo in the silly season just before Election Day.
Tricks (teamwise): The jury’s still out on the effect of the Blackhawks’ firing of coach Denis Savard basically five minutes into the season. The team is 2-1-2 so far under Joel Quenneville. While the Stars and Flyers struggled (to put it kindly) early, both seem to have picked it up recently, particularly the Flyers who have won four in a row and are living up to their tag of favorites in the Atlantic Division. Predictably the Isles and Thrashers have struggled, but nobody else has been really bad so far. Even the Kings have three wins. Surprisingly however, the Red Wings have struggled defensively despite getting out to a 7-2-2 start. Osgood and backup Ty Conklin have given up 37 goals in those 11 games…yikes. Does the usually dominant D miss ancient Chris Chelios that much?! I doubt it but something’s wrong in Motown besides the economy.
Jeff Carter’s overtime power play tally proved to be the difference in the Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Islanders Thursday night at Wachovia Center.
Twice, the Islanders rallied back from a goal deficit with Andy Hilbert notching his second with 7:20 remaining in regulation earning Scott Gordon’s club their first point in five (0-4-1). He got to a wide Andy Sutton shot and banked a shot off Flyer D Ossi Vaananen past Martin Biron tying it.
The Isles fell behind twice in the first period. First, it was Mike Knuble staying hot connecting for the fourth consecutive game when off a set play on a faceoff win, he one-timed a Simon Gagne feed past Joey MacDonald for his fifth at 7:45. All five have come during that span.
Less than three minutes later though, Islander team captain Bill Guerin knotted the score at one apiece on the power play by scoring in identical fashion off a Mark Streit pass for his third. Doug Weight added his club-leading sixth assist.
But 5:12 later, the Flyers struck again thanks to Carter’s first of a pair on the night when he redirected a Vaananen point shot past MacDonald restoring a one-goal lead.
Instead of getting down, the Isles picked up the play testing Biron by outshooting the Flyers 13-8 in the middle stanza. They continued to get chances in the third when ironically enough, the Flyer netminder stoned Hilbert on a point blank opportunity.
As fate would have it, he scored the tying goal on a more fortuitous bounce getting a deserved break. Mike Comrie also netted a helper.
Both teams had chances near the end of regulation to win it but each goalie was up to the task forcing the contest into OT where thanks to Kimmo Timonen’s holding minor at the buzzer, the Isles had a 4-on-3 to start with. However, it turned into a wasted chance due to too much passing on the perimeter and not enough shots with Biron able to see Guerin’s one-timer snatching it.
When it was over, the Isles continued to apply forecheck pressure but Frans Nielsen was nabbed for a holding call reaching his stick into a Flyer which was all it took to hand them a power play with just 76 seconds left.
On the four-on-three, the Flyers worked the puck around with Richards firing wide but with the help of Gagne, recovered it and eventually centered a pass through a maze of players which got to a wide open Carter who roofed one past MacDonald for his club-leading eighth ending the game with 22.9 seconds to go.
It was the only Philadelphia shot of the OT but was enough to give them their fourth win in a row.
Notes: Sutton returned after missing the Isles’ first eight immediately logging big minutes (21:13) on the blueline while registering his first point of the season. … Streit continues to be a workhorse getting over 28 minutes tallying an assist with four shots. The helper extended his point streak to four straight (3-3-6). … Isles outshot the Flyers 24-16 over the final 40 minutes in regulation. … Biron made 34 saves while MacDonald, who continued to sub for now IR’d starter Rick DiPietro turned aside 25 of 28. … With his first multi-goal game of the season, Carter extended his point streak to six (6-3-9). … Rookie D Luca Sbisa recorded an assist giving him five helpers in his first 10 NHL games. The 18 year-old from Italy was selected by the Flyers 19th overall this past summer. … Islanders (2-6-1, 5 Pts) return to Nassau Coliseum hosting Montreal tomorrow night where they’ll don their original dark blue jerseys.
Just call him the amazing Saint Nik. As we get into the holiday spirit with Halloween ending with the best Ranger start in franchise history, first-year Blueshirt Nikolai Zherdev continues to be the story.
The 23 year-old Russian was the biggest Broadway star scoring a goal and setting up another in the club’s 3-2 home win over a feisty Thrasher club on All Hallow’s Eve. Their fourth straight victory allowed Tom Renney’s club to finish off the quickest start in Ranger history with the team finishing October 10-2-1 for a league best 21 points.
“We can’t mistake what we’re doing here for being great,” Renney later pointed out. “We’ve had moments of greatness in every game, but it’s about sustaining that.”
Not surprisingly, it didn’t come so easy against a team which entered winless in five having gotten blown out 7-0 on home ice by Philadelphia the other night. The Thrashers came with a much better effort and were rewarded with the game’s first goal. Something that’s become a Ranger habit. They entered 4-0-1 when allowing an opponent to get on the board first.
Veteran Russian forward Slava Kozlov was the recipient of a Todd White pass after the Atlanta pivot forced Dmitri Kalinin into a turnover and quickly found an uncovered Kozlov in the slot for a perfect wrist shot top shelf putting Atlanta in front 4:42 into the contest.
If there’s one characteristic to sum up this Ranger team thus far, it’s resilient. They don’t panic when the other team scores and stays with them. That was again on display when the resurgent Markus Naslund took a Marc Staal pass inside his own blueline and then outskated two Thrashers going coast to coast wiring a shot off the far post and in for his fourth extending his point streak to five (3-4-7).
That’s how the first ended tied. In the second, Atlanta handed the Rangers an early five-on-three but they got little done following a Naslund goal which got wiped out for a kick even though that didn’t seem the intention with it going off the heel into the net. Afterwards, they rarely tested Kari Lehtonen including a third straight power play which went for naught leaving it scoreless.
Despite the team firing blanks putting an MSG crowd to sleep, the two goalies took over with Lehtonen stopping all 14 his way while Henrik Lundqvist was also sharp denying all nine Atlanta shots sent his way.
It was during the Rangers’ fourth man-advantage in the period that a stellar defensive play by Zherdev saved a shorthanded bid and possibly a goal. With his teammates continuing to fiddle around with the puck, an aggressive Atlanta PK eventually broke out and sprung White for a breakaway. But as he was making his move, the hustling Russian skated full stride diving to make a clean poke check swiping the puck without taking a penalty keeping the game tied.
“The power play might be the simplest thing to play on the ice,” Renney duly noted. “We find a way to make it hard.”
During the club’s success, they’ve pointed to strong third periods which have helped them pull out tight games. Once again, that loomed large as the Rangers took their game up a notch though it wouldn’t have been possible without Saint Nik.
With another Ranger PP about to make more fans blue in time for trick or treating, a brilliant solo effort from Zherdev with a lightning quick backhand finish top shelf gave them a 2-1 lead at 6:58. The broken play which saw Paul Mara shoot the puck down trickled off Brandon Dubinsky before coming to a Thrasher. But before they could touch it, Zherdev snuck in stealing it and then made a dash for the net deking Lehtonen for his fifth bringing the crowd to their feet.
“He’s so good with the puck,” Lehtonen later admitted after finishing with 30 saves. “It looked like he was going to go all the way to the other side, but he was able to put it up very quickly before I even knew it. He’s just one of those guys that you don’t want to let alone in front of the net. Usually something bad happens.”
But the Thrashers weren’t deterred taking advantage of a Naslund hook thanks to second-year center Bryan Little, who was left isolated to deposit his fifth from White and Kozlov tying it again with 9:32 left.
That’s when another dynamic shift from Zherdev put the home club in front to stay. After coming from the bench, he called for the puck and Kalinin obliged and then watched as the dynamic Russian circled around the net drawing defenders centering the puck which then caromed right to an open Dan Girardi, who blasted it home with Lehtonen down at 13:33.
“I just work for the team. That’s it,” the Russian Saint Nik modestly explained.
It wasn’t all roses for the still learning former 2003 fourth overall pick who then took a needless roughing minor off a draw forcing his club to kill it off before nearly setting up Scott Gomez with another great skating exhibition.
Still, there was little doubt whose star shined brightest on this night.
-Atlanta sniper Ilya Kovalchuk was held without a point with two shots in 19:48 while posting a minus-two.
-The Thrashers won the faceoff battle 30-26 with Marty Reasoner going 10-7. The Rochester veteran had a strong game getting four SOG including a point blank chance with Lundqvist shutting the door. Gomez was the Blueshirts’ best on draws going 13-9.
-The teams combined to miss the net 29 times: Atl-12, NYR-17
-The physicality was about even with the Rangers edging the Thrashers 28-27 despite a game best six hits from Nathan Oystrick. The Blueshirts were more spread out with Staal, Mara and Ryan Callahan all getting three.
-The first period saw an entertaining scrap between enforcers Colton Orr and Eric Boulton with the two squaring off for several minutes making some wonder if it would ever end. The Ranger enforcer landed more to get the decision but give Boulton credit for staying in and landing a few haymakers. Refs also deserve kudos for allowing them to continue.
-Dan Fritsche took Petr Prucha’s spot playing on the third line getting 13 shifts (9:26) including one great chance generated by his skating moving in on Lehtonen but his backhand stuff try was foiled.
-Mara not only earned the game’s third star but also was quite busy wearing a mic for MSG talking it up with teammates. He really seems at ease and has a lot more confidence growing into a club leader. He and Staal have become the most formidable pair.
-Wade Redden was quiet again and Michal Rozsival struggled on the power play refusing to shoot. Memo: No.68 ain’t here anymore!
-Despite not having any luck finishing, Nigel Dawes played a solid game registering five shots including a pair of great opportunities with only Lehtonen denying them. It’s just a matter of time before they start going in.
-Rangers get today off before traveling up north to the Air Canada Center for a Hockey Night In Canada visit to Toronto. Figurefellow native Stephen Valiquette to get the nod.
On All Hallows Eve, maybe it was appropriate that the Rangers finally tradedHugh Jessimansending the big forward to Nashville for “future considerations.” Trick or treat. Unfortunately for them, they probably wish this incredible folly was a cruel trick considering how rich with talent that 2003 Draft was.
It was five years ago that the organization committed one of its biggest blunders tabbing the Dartmouth product in the first round 12th overall before the likes of Dustin Brown (LA-13th), Brent Seabrook (Chi-14th), Zach Parise (NJ-17th), Ryan Getzlaf (Ana-19th), Brent Burns (Min-20th), Ryan Kesler (Van-23rd), Mike Richards (Phi-24th) and Corey Perry (Ana-28th).
Only one player from that remarkable first round which also included a top 11 of Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Nathan Horton, Nikolai Zherdev, Thomas Vanek, Milan Michalek, Ryan Suter, Braydon Coburn, Dion Phaneuf, Andrei Kostitsyn and Jeff Carter has failed to play a game in the NHL.
That would be Jessiman, who’s toiled in the minors having never fully recovered from a high ankle sprain early in his career. He was a project who looked to finally be on the verge of the NHL following a breakthrough 2007-08 with Hartford that saw him produce 18 goals, 24 assists totaling 42 points with 154 penalty minutes in 71 games.
There was even talk he might get serious consideration for a roster spot but once Glen Sather began signing the likes of Patrick Rissmiller along with Sean Avery replacement Aaron Voros and then trading for Zherdev and Dan Fritsche while re-upping Fredrik Sjostrom, it became apparent that Jessiman had no realistic chance of making the cut.
At age 24, the New York native who grew up a Ranger fan had to realize his dream was dashed after making two brief cameos during a crowded preseason. Truthfully, in the few minutes he got, Jessiman wasn’t bad nearly scoring on a stuff try. But how could he have gotten so little time with even recent pick Dale Weise getting more of a glance?
The blame goes yet again on an organization which outside of drafting Marc Staal, has an awful recent first round track record.
RANGERS FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS (Last 10 Years)
1999-Pavel Brendl (4th), Jamie Lundmark (9th)
2000-None
2001-Dan Blackburn (10th)
2002-None
2003-Hugh Jessiman (12th)
2004-Al Montoya (6th), Lauri Korpikoski (19th)
2005-Marc Staal (12th)
2006-Bobby Sanguinetti (21st)
*2007-Alexei Cherepanov (17th)
2008-Michael Del Zotto (20th)
*died
Looking over this list, it’s incredible to think of how awful the Rangers’ luck has been with even the highly rated Cherepanov dying tragically during a KHL game after collapsing next to Jaromir Jagr.
There also was Blackburn’s nerve damage which ended his career. The botch of epic proportions drafting Montoya probably due to Slats’ penchant for Cuban cigars. The past few drafts look to be better with Del Zotto impressing during camp and much expected from Sanguinetti. We’ve also gotten a taste of Korpikoski, who seems to possess some skill but became the odd man out on a crowded roster. So, they sent him down to Hartford to get valuable playing time.
The good news is that at least it looks more promising. But just imagine what a Cherepanov could’ve done for a roster deep on centers but thin on scoring ability? A line with him, Gomez and Zherdev might’ve been electric to watch. Now, we’ll never really know how good the Russian could’ve been.
If there’s a flaw in the current team, it’s that lack of finish which could prove detrimental next Spring assuming the club which has matched its best start in franchise history qualified for a fourth consecutive postseason.
There’s plenty of work to be done in the mean time starting with the lowly Thrashers who come in off a 7-0 home rout at the hands of the Flyers. Figure them to be sharper. It’s still a game the Blueshirts should win. We’ll see if they remember not to take their opponent lightly.
Could Stephen Valiquette get the nod in the final game of what’s been a great month? We’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, Jessiman becomes Nashville property and will probably never see the light of day though I wish him well. He was mistreated by the organization this Fall after his best pro season. It very much reminded me of how they mishandled Manny Malhotra and Lundmark screwing them over. The only huge difference is that this is a playoff team looking to contend and was much deeper across the board.
I have always believed the Rangers don’t do a good job developing players. Though former second round steal Brandon Dubinsky along with late grabs Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes are doing their best to change that reputation. There’s also King Henrik in net. Possibly the biggest theft of all-time. Who could’ve known? Petr Prucha still is here but for how long? He’s not in the lineup tonight as Tom Renney has again switched things up.
Here’s the lines:
Naslund-Gomez-Drury
Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev
Dawes-Fritsche-Callahan
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr
Didn’t Renney try the first combo before with no success at all? What gives? If I were constructing the lines, it’d go something like this:
Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Dawes-Drury-Callahan
Voros-Dubinsky-Prucha/Fritsche
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr
Dawes and Callahan worked well with Drury last year doing damage against the Devils. They are smart two-way complementary wings comprising a nice checking line which can score. Sjostrom could also see time with Dubi. His skating is good enough and he’s scored double digits before. People forget he was a first round pick with Phoenix.
Sticking our best two finishers with our No.1 playmaking pivot makes too much sense. Perhaps the coach needs to try it. These lines would provide more balance moving foward.
After catching the highlights, I figured I’d toss in some bonus coverage of what was a wild and wacky game won by the Maple Leafs via Niklas Hagman’s interesting backhand shootout goal giving Martin Brodeur a snow shower which the affable Devil franchise netminder at least managed a chuckle at despite the outcome.
Vesa Toskala forced Jamie Langenbrunner’s try just wide ensuring Toronto’s 6-5 shootout road triumph in Newark last night which pushed the Devils (5-2-2) winless streak to three (0-1-2). He finished with 26 saves including six big ones coming in overtime when New Jersey had a chance to win it on the power play following 18 year-old rookie defenseman Luke Schenn’s minor for playing with a broken stick.
Toskala’s two best saves in OT were on the Devil captain who tallied a shorthanded goal earlier in the contest. The former Shark netminder made two groovy glove saves preventing Langenbrunner from rescuing his teammates who were outshot 48-25 in regulation before getting all six in the extra five minutes.
As Hasan noted regarding the shootout, Patrik Elias and Tomas Kaberle traded goals forcing it to extras where Hagman took a different tact coming in fast before stopping and going to the backhand for the clincher.
The former Star wing admitted afterwards that the snow shower was never his intent:
“I decided I was going to try something else and I felt pretty confident with it. I didn’t want to put snow in his face. That’s why I felt a little bad. I didn’t want to celebrate too much. I didn’t want to be cocky.”
Considering that his team entered more rested with the Leafs playing a night before falling at home to the Lightning 3-2, New Jersey coach Brent Sutter was understandably upset with the Devs’ effort.
“We were very fortunate to get a point,” the second year coach noted.
“Two of the last three games, we haven’t been very good. A lot of our players have to play a lot better. It was like our first game of the season and we hadn’t had training camp. We weren’t sharp at all.“
Who could blame him? The Leafs are basically a younger team who should be hard pressed to make the playoffs. Certainly, under Ron Wilson’s guidance they’ll work harder and won’t mail it in. Despite being outscored 33-26 thus far, the pesky Leafs are 4-3-3 with 11 points.
Not bad early returns considering there’s no Mats Sundin and no more Darcy Tucker or Bryan McCabe. Though I’m beginning to think Toronto got the better of that one with Florida getting a younger Mike Van Ryn, who’s played well logging lots of minutes while McCabe has been sidelined with a lower back strain since registering an assist in the Panthers’ first game.
Game Notes:
-The Devs’ first goal was changed from Petr Vrana to David Clarkson, who also was in the vicinity and apparently got his stick on Andy Greene’s shot.
-If Colin White’s goal was a rarity, then there was maybe something even rarer with every Maple Leaf outside Toskala registering a shot including Jamal Mayers scoring one and Ryan Hollweg netting an assist and two shots. You’re not going to win many nights when that happens.
-Due to all the scoring in both ends, no surprise that there was little in the way of hitting with the teams combining for just 22 total (Tor-12, NJ-10) with Jeff Finger laying the best one- a cruncher of Dainius Zubrus putting him into Hollweg’s lap on the Leaf bench. He shared the hitting lead with White as each had three.
-Each team blocked 14 shots with Greene and John Madden leading the way with three apiece while three Leafs had two.
-Toronto got the better of the Devils in the faceoff circle going 42-for-76 paced by former Ranger Dominic Moore’s 7-3 output. Madden was New Jersey’s best going 14-13 on draws.
-In the NJ rookie file, Vrana played 6:19 losing two of three draws while finishing plus-one. Meanwhile, the new kid on the block Matt Halischuk tallied his first career point, notching a secondary helper in 13 shifts (9:47) but finished minus-one as Hasan pointed out due to being on for three goals against.
-With a primary assist on Matt Stajan’s first, Schenn tallied his first career NHL point in his 10th game. Toronto had already said they’re retaining the former 2008 fifth overall pick who looks to be a solid skating steady D. He played 21:51 netting the assist with two shots and the minor in OT. Looks like he could stick for a while there. Something which the Original Six club has badly needed.
-If there’s a plus out of this one, Greene’s sudden emergence on the NJ blueline has to be a pleasant surprise. He looked like the odd man out early but has gotten back in and is starting to produce registering three assists with a plus-three rating in 19:36. Not bad production.
-With Elias playing just 11:39 due to a cut suffered early, the Devs’ top forward Zach Parise took 26 shifts getting as much ice-time (24:24) as defenders while scoring the big tying rebound tally at 11:17 to earn his club a point.
-Regarding the Hollweg hit on Parise, it looked like he led with his shoulder catching the Dev superstar clean. I’ve seen hits like that before where the shoulder and elbow almost come together. It looked alright. I don’t got any issue with the Devs sticking up for their best offensive performer. They should and Hollweg’s reputation isn’t too good.
However, sendingthe much bigger Mike Rupp out the way they did might not sit well with their opponent and probably warranted an instigator. The only reason he didn’t get an extra was because of who he bloodied. Such a move might be duly noted by the Maple Leafs the next time they see the Devils say in Toronto. Let’s keep that in mind. The rematch won’t be until the third week of December on 12/16 at the ACC. Circle it on your calendars.
-He did give up one weak goal but Brodeur was pretty strong. Otherwise, the Leafs get eight or nine.
-That was the Devils final game of the month. They finished October 5-2-2 with 12 points. They’ll host the Thrashers this Saturday 11/1 on Turn Back The Clock Night. Atlanta will visit the Garden later tonight to battle the Rangers.
-The Islanders will visit the Flyers as well tonight looking to end a four-game skid. They enter as the league’s worst team with a 2-6-0 record for four points. We’ll see what they can muster against a resurgent Philly team that’s taken three straight and should be flying high off the Phillies’ World Series win.
Last night while the Leafs and Devs were taking part in a wild unpredictable contest featuring 10 combined goals plus a couple of scraps and a skill competition with the road club getting the better of it in Newark, I was upstairs in my room flying solo on the NY Hockey Report minus co-hosts Gary Harding and Joe McDonald.
It was a bit of a wild show as well considering I recapped the Rangers’ recent success including their two-goal road win over the Islanders Monday. Plus discussed the Devils’ tough weekend against the rival Flyers and further examined the Isles’ issues health wise and team wise. Are they making future plans for top Canadian prospect John Tavares?
This was one of the things I talked about along with some concern about prone players putting themselves in defenseless positions by turning as a player finished a check resulting in a boarding penalty. Has this become a league issue? Are players failing to protect themselves allowing opposing players to get nabbed in the process? What do you think?
Anyway, I gave my input on this and also covered the very crazy and interesting final three-plus innings of the Phillies’ first world championship in 28 years even doing a little play-by-play for that ninth inning in their five game series win over the Rays.
Why not? It’s not every night you got a big ballgame going on when we’re nearing Halloween and the conclusion of the first month in a long season.
Also, NHL Arena good buddies TheRick and poor Met fan Chris Wassel joined the program over the final portion talking some Sabres, Devils and a little Phillies as we even paid tribute to Wassel who was having a rough night.
All in all, it went alright and was a fun program despite no Harding or Joe around. Hope they’re back next week.
Last night, a scrappy but rebuilding Leafs team suffered a bad regulation loss at home to a similarly mediocre Lightning squad. Tonight they made up for it by stinging the Devils on the road with a damaging shootout defeat. Yes, the Devils got another charity point but games against a borderline playoff team at home are ones supposed upper-echelon teams need to win. And honestly, the Leafs looked like a much hungrier team tonight. While the Devils were missing a handful of forwards they did score five goals after all, and weren’t missing anyone on a defense which looked brutal the entire night.
Deflected goals would prove to be the order of the evening, and it started when David Clarkson tipped a Mike Mottau shot past Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala less than three minutes into the game for his second goal of the season. Just past the seven-minute mark Danius Zubrus would also get his second goal, swatting in a rebound from a Brian Gionta shot, giving the Devils a two-goal lead that they kept through the first period, despite the fact that Toronto outshot the Devils 13-7 and New Jersey briefly lost Patrik Elias for the latter part of the first period and early in the second due to what appeared to be a cut near his eye, but when Elias returned no stitches were visible. A mystery that hasn’t quite been explained yet.
In any event, the Leafs kept coming and Matt Stajan would finally break the lock on the Devils’ goal deflecting a shot past Martin Brodeur at 4:13 of the period. Not even a minute later, Brodeur was called for high-sticking (those naughty goalies!) and Stajan again deflected a shot past Brodeur on the power play with what appeared to be a high stick, but of course Toronto wasn’t going to overturn a questionable Toronto goal. Nonetheless, an angry Brent Sutter called timeout to try to shape up the Devils. Yet, it was to be a case of wash, rinse, repeat as a Jamie Langenbrunner penalty led to another Leafs goal just two minutes later. Of course it was tipped in - by Alexander Steen this time, giving the feisty Leafs a 3-2 lead.
Ironically the turning point of the period would prove to be a fight - when David Clarkson clocked Jamal Mayers seconds after Steen’s goal. If you’re Mayers, that’s probably a case of you better win the fight otherwise why risk giving a sagging team momentum? As it worked out, Langenbrunner atoned for his penalty by tying the game just a couple minutes later, when a Mike Mottau shot deflected off of him and past Toskala for the captain’s second goal of the season. Perhaps the strangest goal came at 13:42 of the period when a Colin White rocket from the point beat Toskala clean - and no, that’s not a typo. One-eyed Whitey’s (we kid because we love him) goal gave the Devils the lead once again. For good measure, Mike Rupp bloodied Ryan Hollweg in a fight after Hollweg appeared to hit Zach Parise with an elbow.
Travis Zajac nearly extended the lead early in the third when he beat Toskala with a rocket, but an offsides by Clarkson blew the play dead and Zajac’s goal was waved off. While the fourth line was huge for the Devils in the second period, the Leafs’ own fourth line would dish out some payback in the third when Mayers scored a rebound goal in traffic to tie the game. Just a minute later the high-flying Red Wings Leafs scored what could have been a backbreaker, after a Zubrus penalty when Alexei Ponikarovsky beat Brodeur unscreened and shortside with what appeared to be a five-hole goal. Fortunately the Leafs proved as bad at holding a lead as the Devils when Parise tied the game less than a minute later, scoring off a rebound from Paul Martin’s shot from the point. Though Brodeur had given up a bad goal to Ponikarovsky, he somehow got the team into overtime despite the fact that the Leafs outshot the Devils by a whopping 48-25 margin in regulation.
After Brodeur kept his team in the game throughout the first three periods, Toskala would do the heavy lifting for the Leafs in overtime - making all six saves in OT, including one off a point-blank shot from Langenbrunner on a power play after Luke Schenn had been sent to the box for playing the puck with a broken stick.
Finally it went to the shootout, and Ron Wilson actually left Toskala in for the shootout this time. It paid off as Toskala stopped three of four shots, only allowing Elias to score while Brodeur couldn’t stop Devil-killer Tomas Kaberle or Niklas Hagman, who scored on a weird backhand for the winner. While losing a shootout is annoying, it was probably the just result on this night.
Notes: Jay Pandolfo left the game midway through the third period and didn’t return. Yay, another forward injury - hopefully whatever’s wrong, Jay will be back in time for Saturday’s game against Atlanta at the Rock. After pregame speculation that Langenbrunner would miss another game, he did play. So did Matt Halischuk, leaving Niklas Bergfors on the bench. Halischuk got a secondary assist on White’s goal in his first NHL game, and also had some nice forechecking on Zubrus’s first period score, but was also on the ice for three goals against and finished a -1 in just under ten minutes of icetime.
Updating something that was probably obvious a few days ago, the Devils officially put Bobby Holik and Brian Rolston on IR, and both are expected to miss at least the next couple of weeks.
It also looks like captain Jamie Langenbrunner will not be ready for tomorrow’s game against the Leafs, since he was not on the ice for practice today. As a result the Devils will call up both Matt Halischuk and Niklas Bergfors from Lowell. Halischuk, 20 was a fourth-round pick in 2007, and leads Lowell in scoring with five goals. This is his first NHL game while Bergfors, 21, played in last year’s season opener at Tampa Bay. Bergfors was the Devils’ first round pick in 2005 and may finally get a chance to live up to the hype.
Both players should play in tomorrow night’s game against Toronto, as GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t believe in calling up prospects to have them sit. Needing to make one more roster move to make room for the two kids, the Devils also have reportedly sent Pierre Luc-Letourneau Leblond down. I called this after the major boarding penalty Friday. You can’t be the fourteenth forward on a team and do those types of things, no matter how good a fighter you are.
Correction: Well it turns out Mr. Leblond is also injured…apparently he cracked an orbital bone in his nose when Riley Cote slammed him into the boards Saturday. It won’t need surgery but he won’t play until it heals completely. Man, the Devils forwards are dissapearing at an alarming rate. Thank goodness it’s only October.
Chris Drury was 0 for 11 despite the Rangers’ quick start. However, the Blueshirt team captain’s fate changed with one visit to Long Island for an ultimate rivalry game with the Islanders.
The veteran center scored twice snapping the worst start of his career leading the Rangers past the Islanders 4-2 at Nassau Coliseum Monday night. The win improved the Rangers to 9-2-1 with the 18 points matching the franchise’s best ever start- something only the 1978-79 and 1989-90 teams achieved.
Drury got help from center teammate Scott Gomez (goal, assist) and defenseman Michal Rozsival (2 assists) as the Rangers took the first of six meetings from their bitter rival.
Despite a lineup which excluded four defensemen along with injured starter Rick DiPietro, Scott Gordon’s Isles still fought hard battling to a 1-1 draw after 20 minutes. The game didn’t begin well with Drury catching a bit of a break for his first of the season. Following brilliant stops from backup Joey MacDonald including a denial on Nikolai Zherdev, the Ranger captain beat an Islander to a loose puck behind the net and banked it in off the Islander netminder for a 1-0 lead at 1:15.
The Isles though fought back creating numerous chances forcing Henrik Lundqvist to come up with some strong stops including a glove save of a Mark Streit one-timer during a power play labeled. Their aggressive attack also forced Zherdev into a blind giveaway with Trent Hunter missing upstairs.
MacDonald wasn’t without some good ones as well just getting to Gomez’ redirect try on a Blueshirt power play snuffing it out.
Despite outworking their more expensive Broadway foes, the Islanders looked like they wouldn’t be rewarded. But all that changed when rookie Kyle Okposo broke free of a check for his first tying it with 7.3 seconds left. The talented 20 year-old former 2006 first round pick was left open in front following a Drury win in which Richard Park beat Dan Girardi to a loose puck centering for Okposo, who buried it for his second in three career games against the Rangers.
The second saw the action pickup with both teams looking for the go-ahead tally forcing each goalie to stand on their collective heads as both MacDonald and Lundqvist took turns keeping it tied sending the frustration to a feverish pitch. MacDonald’s best stop came on a Brandon Dubinsky rebound when he got across kicking it out. Meanwhile, Lundqvist was called upon by his club to deny two pointblank Isles’ chances including a Jeff Tambellini rebound which he shut off.
Afterwards, a scrum finally broke out eventually resulting in Aaron Voros challenging Nate Thompson with the Isles’ energizer accepting. The two enforcers went toe to toe for a few minutes trading glancing blows resulting in a draw to cheers from a mixed bag of Ranger and Islander supporters.
The fight just might’ve given the Rangers a lift because it took only another 2:15 before Ryan Callahan put them ahead to stay. Off a vigorous forecheck, the right wing got a bounce when Paul Mara’s shot trickled off Hunter’s skate right to him allowing for an easy stuff in at 16:16 with MacDonald out of position expecting the original shot to get through. Gomez got the secondary helper.
The home club kept coming and tried to find a way to tie it in the final minute buzzing but their opponent wouldn’t break playing better defense taking the one-goal lead to the locker room.
Through 40 minutes, the only difference was on the scoreboard with each team having the exact amount of shots (25) in a high octane contest which has become the norm in this rivalry. However, it was the Rangers who appeared fresher despite their third game in four nights outscoring the Islanders 2-1 and outshooting them 14-5.
They got some key insurance from Gomez when he put in a rebound of a Rozsival shot from a sharp angle for his third at 6:52. The goal came off a faceoff win where the ex-Devil pivot was dominant winning a ridiculous 70 percent (19-of-27). Dmitri Kalinin worked the puck to Rozsival, who fired a low shot off MacDonald which caromed right to Gomez who deposited it for his third.
Trailing by a pair, the Isles got sloppy losing discipline when both Sean Bergenheim (really Bill Guerin) and Doug Weight were sent off for simultaneous high sticks with a double minor handed out to the wrong player. Bergenheim and Guerin were in the same vicinity.
In any event, it put the Isles in a tough hole two men short with less than eight minutes remaining. Awarded a five-on-three, the Rangers actually cashed it scoring their first two-man advantage goal of the season when Drury wired a slap shot inside the right post for his second of the night making it 4-1 with 7:26 to go.
Following a Rozsival wide shot, the defenseman followed up the play legally sealing off an Islander along the boards allowing Drury to take the puck and step in for his second which essentially ended the contest.
Mark Streit did tally shorthanded with 116 seconds left. The defenseman’s third came on a nice play executed by Weight and Park with a pass coming out to the trailer who just got enough to trickle it through Lundqvist closing the scoring.
Notes: The Isles announced prior to the game that Witt would miss at least three to four weeks with an undisclosed injury adding him to a growing list that includes Andy Sutton, Radek Martinek and Mike Sillinger. Freddy Meyer also sat out and is day-to-day with an abdominal strain. In his place, Brett Skinner debuted on the blueline getting only 13 shifts (6:45). … After just an assist in his first nine games, Drury’s got a three-game point streak (2-2-4). He finished with a game high eight shots. … With a helper, Markus Naslund extended his point streak to four straight (2-4-6). … With two assists in a losing effort, Park tripled his point total after entering with just one assist in seven contests. … Both New York teams get the next couple of days off with the Islanders visiting Philadelphia while the Rangers host Atlanta Thursday.
Renney Hits Milestone: Ranger coach Tom Renney reached a milestone winning his 142nd game behind the Ranger bench surpassing Roger Neilson (141 victories) for fourth all-time in club history. He trails Emile Francis (342), Lester Patrick (281) and Frank Boucher (179).
THREE STARS
3rd Star-Kyle Okposo, NYI (1st goal of season, 7 SOG, plus-one in 13:47)
2nd Star-Scott Gomez, NYR (goal, assist, 5 SOG, 19-8 draws in 25:52)
1st Star-Chris Drury, NYR (2 goals, 8 SOG in 21:53)
Quick Hits:
-Isles won the physical battle outhitting the Rangers 32-17 with an active Hunter pacing them with seven. Streit chipped in with half a dozen. The Ranger leader was Marc Staal, who finished with three.
-Isles also had a slight edge in the faceoff circle 36-35 despite Gomez dominating them. Rookie Frans Nielsen was their best finishing 10-for-18.
-Each team was guilty of double digit giveaways with the Isles having 11 with Sean Bergenheim losing three while the Blueshirts had 10 with a pair (Zherdev and Rozsival) losing a couple.
-Special Teams: NYR-1-for-8, NYI-0-for-4
-Lundqvist finished with 28 saves improving his record to 7-2-1 maintaining a 1.99 GAA and .927 save percentage ranking in the top six in all three categories.
-MacDonald was no slouch turning aside 35 of 39 to fall to 2-4-0.
-The game was called very tight with several marginal calls on both sides including a double minor on Guerin for roughing after sticking up for a teammate when Voros got a boarding minor. It should’ve been even.
I was considering a Devils month in review, but nine games does feel a bit too short for a team critique. Especially when half of them are on the darn injury list - with the latest casualty being defenseman Andy Greene, out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand courtesy of a Pavel Kubina shot. The joke of it is Greene was finally starting to live up to expectations and he played most of the Leafs game with the broken hand unbeknownst to anyone, which was the best game of his career ironically (three assists and a +3). Well if we’re going to play the Lowell Devils roster for the next month maybe we should have Lowell Devil ticket prices. Nah, that’ll never happen.
It’s not every night you got a big ballgame going on when we’re nearing Halloween and the conclusion of the first month in a long season.
