As Hasan noted in his news and notes bit earlier today, all 30 teams are in action tonight for the only time this season. There’s really nothing cooler.
In the lone matinee, the Flyers got a great Jeff Carter deflection while he was down on the ice to beat the Devils 3-2 in overtime. I’m not going to say much about it cause Hasan will have a lot more in detail but being that I’m home a little under the weather instead of at the Garden with family to see the Rangers and Pens battle, this was one heck of a game.
There were battles all over the ice. Scraps. Scrums. Exciting goals. Goaltending. Close calls. And even idiotic hooligans in the form of a dangerous smoke bomb tossed on the ice after Martin Brodeur robbed Simon Gagne delaying the conclusion of OT. What else would you expect from a Philadelphia crowd?
This was easily one of the best games and I wouldn’t surprised if it ranks up there for the entire season. Just a great hockey game.
There also were a couple of phantom calls but at least it evened out and allowed the Devils to get a power play they were owed with Brian Gionta cashing in tying it getting them a point.
It was just an unpredictable game between two bitter rivals fought tooth and nail like you figured the rematch would be. That Carter won it the way he did was kind of fitting.
A tremendous match.
Here are the other match-ups:
Pit vs NYR, 7 ET, MSG and can be seen on yahoo.com
In case anyone missed it, St. Louis Blues starting netminder Manny Legacesuffered a freak injury before the puck was dropped when he accidentally tripped over a carpet used to welcome VP hopeful Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, who dropped the ceremonial first puck before the Blues took on the Kings.
In the first period, Legace allowed two goals on 12 shots before giving way to rookie backup Ben Bishop, who played the final two periods allowing a couple of more in a 4-0 home defeat to Los Angeles.
“I felt a pull right away,” Legace later acknowledged of what is a strained left hip flexor. “I was hoping it would just go away.”
Instead, he won’t be able to suit up tonight when the Blues play the Panthers and isn’t certain how many games he’ll miss. If you’ll recall, Henrik Lundqvist suffered a similar injury a couple of seasons ago and wasn’t the same goalie when he returned for the Rangers’ final game before they got swept out of the playoffs by the Devils.
So, it’d be wise if Andy Murray and his staff play on the safe side not rushing back the 35 year-old Toronto native who was off to a decent start winning his first four starts before dropping two straight to Detroit and LA. In six games, Legace’s posted a 4-2-0 record with a 2.94 GAA and .902 save percentage helping the Blues get off to a surprising 4-3-0 start tied with the Blackhawks for second in the Central Division with eight points.
Now, with vet backup Chris Mason also sidelined indefinitely due to an appendectomy, the Blues will have to place their faith in 21 year-old Bishop, a former 2005 third round selection who allowed two goals on 17 shots in 40 minutes of action last night.
The bizarre injury can of course be seen on the video above. Good God. First, Palin drops the ceremonial puck for the Flyers’ home opener and they don’t win until their seventh game and now Legace gets hurt kinda cause of her presence which is too comical for words considering I picked him up the other day for my last place team and now he’s gonna miss some time.
Wow. Just a hunch here. But Palin might want to consider skipping out on the remaining 28 NHL hockey arenas.
A couple of notes to pass along regarding the locals. So let’s get to them:
1.Holik Out 3-4 Weeks-The Devils will be without C Bobby Holik for about a month due to a broken pinkie suffered during last Saturday’s shootout win over the Capitals. He underwent surgery yesterday. The Devils recalled left wing Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond for tonight’s home game versus Sean Avery and the Stars. No matter what’s being said, he’s likely up for one reason only. We’ll just have to see if Avery obliges.
2.Rolston likely to miss significant time-The Devils also could be without top pivot Brian Rolston for an extended period due to the severe ankle sprain he suffered in the club’s 1-0 shutout of Atlanta last week which ironically he scored the lone goal in before losing an edge crashing hard into the boards during a two-on-one. Though the team has indicated that x-rays were negative with no structural damage, the recovery from an ankle sprain can be slow. According to Roto World, don’t expect to see Rolston anytime soon even going as far as to say he could miss 1-2 months. I would venture to guess he’ll be out at least another three weeks.
3.Rissmiller on waivers-The Rangers placed forward Patrick Rissmiller on waivers yesterday following Monday’s 2-1 home defeat to Dallas in which he was a minus-one with no points. Why Glen Sather inked the 29 year-old depth forward to a three-year contract worth $3 million is beyond comprehension. He was nothing more than a mirror image of Blair Betts when he played for San Jose making his signing baffling. Now, if another team picks him up, the Rangers will suffer a $1 million cap hit. I can’t really see anyone claiming him and figure he’ll pass through and play in Hartford. This dwindles the Ranger logjam at forward to 14 with Petr Prucha and Dan Fritsche now battling for ice-time with rookie Lauri Korpikoski, Nigel Dawes and Colton Orr though our coach seems to like having the enforcer in the lineup.
4.Rivet to miss 2 weeks-Also of note, Sabres captain Craig Rivet will miss up to two weeks following arthroscopic knee surgery. In six contests this season in which the team has gone a 5-0-1 including a nice comeback 3-2 shootout home win over the Bruins last night, the former Shark defenseman has posted three assists while racking up 29 penalty minutes. He was acquired for forward Steve Bernier, who then was dealt to the Canucks. Rivet is a steady puckmoving D who has bolstered the Sabre corps along with a healthy Teppo Numminen. Notice how much better they are without Dmitri Kalinin. According to BONY contributor Brian Sanborn, it’s no coincidence.
5.Lilja undergoes appendectomy-Detroit D Andreas Lilja underwent an appendectomy yesterday and will be out for tonight’s visit at St. Louis but could return Friday.
6.Avery and Giannone in spat-Apparently, former Ranger Sean Avery’s mouth was in rare form in his MSG visit Monday. Not only did he take a verbal jab at Stephen Valiquette but unleashed profanities during the first intermission at MSG’s John Giannone nearly getting into it before they were separated. Some things never change.
Don’t forget the Devils play host to the Stars tonight at 7 at The Rock. Figure it to be quite interesting. Here is the rest of the league’s schedule:
Sharks @ Flyers, 7 ET- Philly still looking for first win look to avenge OT loss in San Jose and will start Antero Niittymaki with struggling No.1 Martin Biron riding the pine. They’re the only team left without a win bringing an 0-3-2 record into a rare home and home four days apart with a Western foe. Odd.
Panthers @ Senators, 7 ET- Ottawa has broken up their top line shifting Mike Fisher between Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson while Jason Spezza works with the improved Nick Foligno and rookie Jesse Winchester. The Panthers come in having scored only 12 goals in five games with Nathan Horton the only consistent threat. Craig Anderson gets the start.
Red Wings @ Blues, 8:30 ET- The defending champs meet an improved St. Louis club which is out of the gate 4-1-0 with a perfect 3-0 home record. The Blues have gotten balanced scoring from Keith Tkachuk, Brad Boyes, Andy McDonald and Paul Kariya while former Wing Manny Legace is off to a great start. Detroit could have Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg back in what figures to be a good test.
Oilers @ Blackhawks, 9 ET- Historically, Edmonton doesn’t fare well in Chicago but split two games at United Center last season taking the season series 3-1. They’ll put they’re perfect 4-0-0 mark on the line against Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and a high flying Hawks’ offense. Both teams are extremely fast with Edmonton countering with talented forwards as well in Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner (lower body injury). So, this could be a fun watch.
I’ll also be on talking puck with Gary Harding and Joe McDonald for a NY Hockey Report live show between 9 and 10:30.
According to a TSN Report, Wild superstar Marian Gaborikcould already be available. The 26 year-old franchise leading scorer with 207 goals and 208 assists for 415 points since is rumored to be on the market with Minnesota GM Doug Risebrough looking to unload the potential UFA.
The talented Slovak is in the final year of his contract earning $7.5 million. There’s no telling just how much he’d attract if he goes on the market next summer. We’re talking about one of the game’s brightest young stars who could be an asset to many clubs looking to contend this season.
Coming off a career best 42 goals and 83 points, Gaborik has only played two games for the Wild this season scoring a goal while sitting out the last couple of games with a bad back and is currently day-to-day.
It was going to be hard for the Wild to get him re-signed with hints he could be dealt before next year’s deadline. So, perhaps Minnesota decided to get a head start on the festivities though I believe they’d be better off retaining him for the sake of the franchise’s future.
It’s true that the state of Minnesota has great hockey fans but this is a team that really doesn’t boast another star player with budding center Mikko Koivu and top defenseman Brent Burns as the next pieces with steady vet Niklas Backstrom in net keeping them afloat.
The Wild are hoping former first rounder Benoit Pouiliot who scored this highlight reel goal above can develop into a consistent scorer in his first full season.
Still, you have to figure the Wild can get a king’s ransom for someone as young as Gaborik whose best years are still ahead.
I wonder if Glen Sather or Lou Lamoriello would be interested since their teams don’t seem to have improved much in the scoring department. The Rangers have little scoring wings aside from Nikolai Zherdev and struggling Markus Naslund banking on the likes of Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan while the Devils are still a team who can’t put the puck in the ocean despite talent such as Brian Gionta, Patrik Elias and top threat Zach Parise. The injury to Brian Rolston doesn’t help and neither does Jamie Langenbrunner’s quiet start. Perhaps former first round pick Petr Vrana who tallied in his first NHL game can provide a spark.
-Week Two is about done with the Blackhawks netting their first win under new coach Joel Queeneville by a count of 4-2 with Patrick Kane (goal, 2 assists) and Patrick Sharp (2-1-3) posting three point nights while Cristobal Huet returned to the net making 28 saves against the Canucks.
-Meanwhile, the Ducks continue to struggle falling at home 3-1 to the Hurricanes and are off to a rocky 1-5-0 start. They’re not scoring enough and really could use top prospect Bobby Ryan but due to no fault but Brian Burke’s no matter what he says (watch him blame Kevin Lowe- he does for everything else), Anaheim doesn’t have enough cap room to give their former No.1 pick a chance to play.
You’re telling us he can’t crack their lineup right now? Corey Perry’s off to a miserable start probably cause he’s on my fantasy team. If he, Ryan Getzlaf (1 A) and Teemu Selanne aren’t scoring, they don’t got much else up front. Chris Kunitz also has gotten out slowly. At the moment, the checking unit led by Rob Niedermayer has been their only consistent line which won’t get it done even if they have two of the best D in the game in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger.
It doesn’t help that Jean-Sebastien Giguere is off to a tough start. However, when you’ve scored only 13 goals in six games while permitting 20, it puts a lot of pressure on the goalie to be perfect resulting in little success.
-If not for the Ducks, the league’s biggest early disappointments would be a tie between Dallas where Marty Turco can’t stop a beach ball and Calgary, who despite Todd Bertuzzi’s great beginning reunited with Mike Keenan can’t hold a lead. Each has only three points which sadly is one better than Anaheim. Yikes.
-The Blues continue to surprise winning four of their first five getting balanced scoring from team captain Keith Tkachuk (6 goals), Paul Kariya (1-8-9), Brad Boyes (4-3-7) and Andy McDonald (1-6-7). With promising former first rounders players David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and T.J. Oshie contributing, suddenly St. Louis might be more competitive than first believed. Especially if veteran No.1 Manny Legace (4 W, 2.41 GAA, .915 Save Pct.) continues his strong start. Who does Team President John Davidson have to send a Christmas card to? None other than Burke for sending him McDonald in exchange for veteran Doug Weight (Isles) as a salary dump clearing space for Niedermayer’s return.
-Thus far, Kristian Huselius has played well alongside Rick Nash in Columbus pacing the club with six points. Why Glen Sather didn’t consider the younger left wing over aging Markus Naslund is beyond us. He’d have been a better fit for the Rangers’ youth movement than a player who looks like he can’t find any space to get his shot off and hasn’t done anything since the two-game series in Prague.
Meanwhile, R.J. Umberger has just two assists and is minus-two so far with the Blue Jackets.
-This Just In: Larry “Scrooge” Brooks still believes Brendan Shanahan can help the Rangers though they’re off to a 6-1-1 start with him still finding things to critique. Does it ever end?
-And finally, I love HNIC’s Coaches Corner as much as anyone but why didn’t Don Cherry address the awful Alexei Cherepanovtragedy during last night’s segment with Ron MacLean? There certainly was enough time. Instead, he was thinking of Denis Savard who was wrongly axed by the Blackhawks which everyone gets. That’s fine.
He also had time to praise former Leafs’ goon Wade Belak who’s still a good scrapper. But why not closing with something on the disheartening death of a 19 year-old hockey prospect who much was expected from with plenty of blame to go around? Wouldn’t we have liked Grapes’ take on something so sad? Oh wait. Cherepanov wasn’t Canadian.
Starting with the locals, both the Devils and Islanders are in action tonight. New Jersey goes to Atlanta, usually a place for weird Devil-Thrasher games - while the Isles are at Tampa Bay in their first game since the Columbus Day massacre at home against the Sabres.
For the Devils there will be at least one lineup change, Andy Greene will be in for Anssi Samela. Hoo boy. Here’s to hoping Greene’s the player he looked like he was going to be in 2006 and not the lost soul he was last year, although this could be nothing more than rest for Samela who isn’t used to an 82-game schedule.
On Long Island, apparently Rick DiPietro is ‘getting closer’ to a return, whatever that means. Perhaps he’ll play tonight, this weekend, or not for another 15 years. I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, the Islanders did lose another key part to their team when Radek Martinek went down for four to six weeks due to an unspecified upper-body injury. Usually teams aren’t this anal about revealing the nature of an injury in the regular season but I guess coach Scott Gordon went to the NFL school of injury secrecy at all times.
And from bizarro world: The Blackhawks have fired Denis Savard a mere four games into the season. Funny, I thought Lou Lamoriello was the only GM that fired coaches when nobody expected it. I mean wow, what happened here?! With a team on the upswing last year, 1-2-1 four games into a season (with tough losses at NY and Washington and a win last night) gets a legendary player fired? Yes, Joel Quenneville is a capable coach and a fine replacement but come on! If it was going to be done this quickly it should have been done in the offseason.
I can’t believe it. It’s hard to fathom thatAlexei Cherepanovcould have really died during a KHL game.
There are no words. The talented Russian prospect who the Rangers selected 17th overall in the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft was just 19 years-old. He was off to a great start for Omsk having scored seven goals and 12 points in 14 games playing alongside Jaromir Jagr.
Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during the third period of a game. According to coach Wayne Fleming, medics couldn’t revive him after his heart stopped. They tried for a reported 15 to 20 minutes without success.
“We are extremely saddened by the tragic passing of Alexei,” Rangers Team President and General Manager Glen Sather said after getting the horrifying news. “On behalf of the New York Rangers organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Alexei was an intelligent, energetic young man, with tremendous talent and an extremely bright future.”
His agent Jay Grossman told TSN the following:
“He was a great kid. He had a great smile and was an outstanding player with a great future on and off the ice. It’s both shocking and devastating news for all of us. “
They don’t know what could’ve caused Cherepanov’s fatal death. Certainly, many questions will be asked in the coming days and need to be answered as to how he could’ve died during a Kontinental Hockey League game. I wish I could fully grasp this but it’s impossible without asking why? He was so young.
This isn’t about the promise or talent but for any human being to die so tragically at such a tender age is a nightmare. Of course, I wanted to see him wear the Ranger sweater like many Blueshirt fans and fulfill a lifelong dream. But that’s now on the backburner forever and doesn’t even matter anymore.
He died. I feel so awful for his family. I want to cry and feel I might tonight when they honor his memory before the drop of the puck in what’s now a meaningless hockey game between two rivals. It just doesn’t seem to matter anymore.
I’m terribly distraught by this news. I want to say so much more but don’t know what to say. I guess we’ll just head out to the arena now.
Russian Alexei Cherepanov died tragically during a KHL Game earlier today at the age of 19.
Former Ranger 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherepanov passed away during a KHL Game. He was just 19. R.I.P.
I knew there was something wrong the past week but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Suddenly, there was no John Dellapina Ranger articles in the Daily News. Something which had become the norm for more than a decade.
As it turns out, the likable beat writer has left his post to work for the NHL. Kukla’s Korner had the full story a couple of weeks ago with colleague Patrick Hoffmanwriting a piece on Dellapina’s move from being at the rink covering the sport to suddenly helping the league promote the game as the new Director of Media Relations.
Regarding his new position, he said:
“In a way, I’ll be doing the same thing - trying to spread the hockey gospel to those who sadly have yet to get it while providing all of you hard cores with as much of the game as you can stand.”
He’ll sorely be missed as he was a very knowledgeable hockey guy who always put together solid recaps along with columns which were a fun read. The man also was a frequent guest on WFAN talking puck with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts as well as the one and only Schmoozer himself, Steve Somers as well as other WFAN late night talkshow hosts.
Dellapina was always willing to come on and talk hockey. Very entertaining listen and a keen sense of humor. You could really tell he enjoyed his job which definitely had its peaks and valleys with 1994 being all the way at the pinnacle with a brutal stretch of playoff futility following rock bottom. I guess we can say that at least his run finished on a high note with a Ranger team which restored pride to the jersey making the playoffs three consecutive seasons and the Eastern Conference Semis twice.
As much as I might curiously read Larry “Scrooge” Brooks’ Slap Shots columns, Dellapina was always a good read giving proper perspective on the team without the unnecessary shots below the belt his controversial colleague often uses. There was an ounce of class about this man unlike Brooks, who has just become way too cranky even if he does bring up valid assertions about league issues.
With Johnny B. Goode no longer at the Daily News, Michael Obernauer has taken over doing alright thus far but it’s still going to take some getting used to.
It’s not often a beat writer gets the kind of praise Dellapina received from other colleagues that covered the team but that only tells ya about the man’s character.
I’m sure he’ll do an outstanding job working in a vital league capacity where there’s never enough good PR. Something which is always needed for the sport to succeed.
Thanks John for serving the Ranger hockey fanbase so well. Best of luck with your new endeavor!
First off I’m with Devils coach Brent Sutter that I don’t like the fact that the NHL or any of these other leagues (the NBA and MLB have done this a number of times too) starts its season overseas.
Granted, I don’t know when else during the season you could put the games without having the teams be at a tremendous disadvantage (even moreso than now) but as a fan I would rather not have a league’s opening games be in a different timezone. I’m a traditionalist to the extent that I feel almost all or all of the teams should play on the first night of a season and in their home rinks. I’ve never even been a fan of the concept of a stand-alone game like the NFL or MLB has done in recent years, it adds unfair artificial hype for two teams.
I do see the logic of playing games overseas though, especially in the NHL which is more global than any other sport though the NBA’s become pretty global as well. It not only helps grow the game but can bring stars like Daniel Alfredsson back to their home country for a couple of games that count. And at least the games started on a weekend afternoon and not 5 AM on a weekday like baseball’s Japan trips (though having the Rangers play a Sunday game overseas at the same time as a Giants home game is not exactly ideal either).
As far as the actual games, well I’m sure Derek or Lenny will be around with the full Ranger recap later, but it might as well be a reprint of yesterday’s recap (just change the names) because it was basically the same game, only with Olaf Kolzig keeping an outclassed Tampa team in it this time as they lost a second straight day by a misleading 2-1 score. I guess after they play some other teams in North America we’ll find out whether the Rangers really are that good or Tampa just sucks.
In Sweden, Pittsburgh and Ottawa split their series with a shaky Martin Gerber dooming the Sens to a 4-3 OT loss in the Saturday matchup. Alex Auld started today’s contest for the Senators and the results were a bit different. Auld’s 30 saves (only allowing a last-second PP goal that spoiled a shutout bid) and Dany Heatley’s two goals led the Sens to a 3-1 triumph. At least Ottawa can claim three points from their first two games, though the goaltending riddle is already a concern up there.
1 (1). Philadelphia - between their overall turnaround last season with a surprising playoff run, getting Simon Gagne back and the weakening of a couple of division rivals, all the pieces are in place for the Flyers to have a great season. The biggest concern might be how a young team handles expectations as opposed to being the underdog.
2 (4). New Jersey - You don’t often say this about a Devils team, but they might have been the only team in the division to improve their team via UFA. Usually it’s the other way around. Although Lou Lamoriello’s version of a UFA splurge involves going back to the future, the Devils still have Martin Brodeur and more talent than the 99-point team of last year.
3 (6). Pittsburgh - Okay they still have Malkin, Crosby and Fleury, but man the offseason hasn’t been kind to them. Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone,Gary Roberts and last season’s revelation in goal Ty Conklin all left in UFA. Top defensemen Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar are both injured for months. And there’s Cup Finals hangover to deal with.
4 (11). Rangers - Lots of changes, but were they really for the better? And on top of it, the whispers are getting pretty loud about Henrik Lundqvist’sknees.
5 (15). Islanders - With the Isles’ luck they’ll finish last and wind up with the third pick in the draft, not even getting John Tavares for their troubles.
Northwest:
1 (2). Montreal - still a good team in a suspect division but can Carey Price do the job over 82 games and will the team recover quickly from a horrendous playoff performance?
2 (7). Boston - overachieved last year but they do get Patrice Bergeron and Manny Fernandez back for 2008-09 after neither had any impact last year due to injury. And Claude Julien’s message does tend to wear on teams after a while (witness premature firings in NJ and Montreal), though I don’t see a complete flameout yet.
3 (9). Buffalo - underrated signing of Patrick Lalime finally gives Ryan Miller much-needed time off after starting nearly 40 straight games at one point last year but not having Brian Campbell hurts.
4 (10). Ottawa - fine, I’ll say it - Ottawa will not make the playoffs this year. Their D keeps getting worse, there’s not enough offense around the big three and Martin Gerber’s not the answer in goal either, though at least he isn’t a wackjob like the departed Ray Emery.
5 (14). Toronto - will wonders never cease, the Leafs finally realize they have to go full-bore towards rebuilding.
Southeast:
1 (3). Washington - some think they’re a fluke but they’re getting overlooked in the midst of Tampa-mania despite winning the division last year. Just look at their record post-Bruce Boudreau taking over as proof they’re not going away any time soon. And they get Michael Nylander back this year after he missed a good chunk of last season.
2 (5). Tampa Bay - I really wanted to pick them to miss the playoffs, but the last-minute addition of Andrei Meszaros was huge for the D. It does remain to be seen what Mike Smith does in goal outside of Dallas’s system. Their offense still has the big two and now Steven Stamkos as well, but was Ryan Malone’s career season in Pittsburgh a fluke? Usually the answer’s yes when the player in question is in a walk year.
3 (8). Florida - The youth-laden offense was a question mark before getting rid of Olli Jokinen and they have a rookie coach as well. But Florida’s D is among the best now and their goaltending tandem’s pretty good too so this may finally be the year for the Cats to return to the playoffs.
4 (12). Carolina - I’d pick them to finish worse except there are some bad teams in the East, but the Canes have aged and been run into the ground since their fluke Cup win in 2006. Peter Laviolette or GM Jim Rutherford (or both) might not survive another non-playoff season.
5 (13). Atlanta - take heart Atlanta fans, Matt Millen was finally fired by the Detroit Lions a couple of weeks ago - maybe Don Waddell will meet his maker after another last-place finish too. Unfortunately, it’s too late to get Braydon Coburn back.
