Business about to pick up for Blueshirts

October 11, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

They’ve already played a ton when you include the busy exhibition schedule traveling to Switzerland before a successful sweep of the Lightning in Prague. Then the Rangers returned home and got some much needed rest before pulling out their home opener last night over the Blackhawks despite not playing their best which drew the ire of Tom Renney, who knows his team needs to be better if they’re to continue their best start since 1989-90.

Tonight, the competition goes up a couple of notches in the City of Brotherly Love when they visit the archrival Flyers in front of “hockey Mom” Sarah Palin in their home opener. If you’ve seen mine and Hasan’s predictions, we both like this Flyer team a great deal and believe they’ll come out on top in the ultra competitive Atlantic as beast of the East. As for right now, that remains to be seen.

Figure a talented roster which includes Daniel Briere, new captain Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell, Scottie Upshall, a healthy Simon Gagne, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Martin Biron to be a very good early test for the Blueshirts when they drop the puck in a couple of hours. They’ll be plenty rested too and full of energy.

The question is how does Renney play this back-to-back in a critical stretch which includes three in four nights when they return home to host another division foe the Devils Monday. Considering that he’s got three extra forwards to work with, the affable coach can bring in fresher legs if he so chooses. It would be wise to give Dan Fritsche a go tonight along with Petr Prucha. Heck. Even Patrick Rismiller stepping in for solid penalty killer Blair Betts might make sense. Though Renney is extremely loyal to the fourth line center and club enforcer Colton Orr perhaps to a fault.

There’s no doubt that the Ranger coach is a diplomat who never wants to diss players who have helped the franchise get back on track making the postseason the past three seasons. However, if he wants to take that next big step, Renney can’t play favorites here. It’s about what’s best for the team. Winning must take precedent. Even without Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Brendan Shanahan, expectations remain high for a younger faster club that features Nikolai Zherdev along with vets Markus Naslund and Wade Redden.

Giving a blow every now and then to a Betts or another support player takes advantage of the surplus of forwards he has been provided with. You have to figure at some point, the issue of only six D will get addressed by Glen Sather. For now, Renney can shuffle guys in or out. So, if that means sitting a Nigel Dawes for Prucha or Fritsche due to the left wing’s slow start, he should consider it.

When you have this kind of roster, spots can’t just be handed even if I like Dawes and feel he’s important to how the team performs. Competition can be a plus cause it will make players compete harder and realize that if they don’t give their best, they could be out of the lineup.

The next week promises to be very challenging with two Atlantic battles over the next three days before the Sabres and Maple Leafs visit MSG Wednesday and Friday. Oh. And this hectic schedule of six games in nine days concludes with a back-to-back visit to the defending champion Red Wings next Saturday. Factor in the Stars visit the following Tuesday and it’s seven in 11 days against pretty good competition.

This is an early opportunity for the team on Broadway to set a tone for 2008-09. Like Scott Gomez said last weekend in the Czech Republic, they can’t use the schedule as an excuse. They’re young and deep enough to get through these sort of stretches. That’s why Slats changed the roster increasing team speed.

It all begins tonight.