Looking at the 2008/09 Rangers

From Larry Brooks of the NY Post:

There will be a gust of fresh air next season but it's impossible to immediately judge what the wind blew in this week. Wade Redden had a bad year in a deteriorating environment in Ottawa and Markus Naslund had a disappointing season in Vancouver. The Rangers, who gave Redden a six-year deal at $6.5M per and Naslund a two-year deal at $4M per, are heavily invested in the theory that a change of scenery will revitalize careers that went stale.

And who knows about Nikolai Zherdev, about as unpredictable as they come? Will Zherdev shine in the spotlight or will he melt? Will New York ignite him or overwhelm him after knowing only Columbus? Will he be an all-for-one, one-for-all guy here, and if not, will the Rangers have the presence in the room to correct or cope with that?

Read more from Brooks here.

This is the beauty of sports. No one knows how these three players will respond to the pressures and change of environment that New York will present. Nonetheless, the Rangers management obviously felt that the team, as it was constructed last season, was not good enough to make it to the Finals.

Rangers/Blue Jackets complete big trade

From TSN:

Sources tell TSN the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers have completed a trade. The Rangers will get Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche, with Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman going to Columbus.

Well, this is a doozy of a deal. To be honest, I like it from both sides. The Rangers solidified their defense on Tuesday with the signing of Wade Redden and that made Fedor Tyutin expendable. Additionally, they were looking for someone to take Christian Backman off their hands. This will enable them to have more room to spend under the cap. In this trade, the Rangers get a forward in Zherdev that has top-six talent. While he has been a bit of an enigma since he was drafted, he doesn't lack for skill. The Rangers also picked up Dan Fritsche who can solidify their third/fourth line. Fristche is feisty and is a solid up and down winger. His hands are nothing to write home about, but he is a serviceable young forward.

As for Columbus, they pick up two solid defensemen. The key to this trade for Columbus is clearly Tyutin. The young Russian defender is tough, can log big minutes and is a very solid defensive-defenseman. As well, he is young and still has room to become even better. In Backman, the Blue Jackets get someone they will probably put on their third-pairing.

Afternoon Roster News

Here are some notes and tidbits that may be of interest to fans and poolies:

• Peter Schaeffer (shin) is close to returning to the Boston line-up.
• Aaron Ward (throat) is going to be re-evaluated today and his availability for Saturday night's game is currently undetermined.
• Nikolai Zherdev (knee) didn't skate at Columbus practice but is expecting to play on Friday night.
• Sergei Fedorov (concussion) skated at practice today, but didn't take part in any contact drills.
• Patrick Marleau (groin) is a game-time decision for tonight's game against Edmonton.
• Joe Thornton (flu) will suit up tonight.
• Paul Stastny (groin) hasn't skated in the past couple days and his return date is unknown. (Writer's note: It looks like Stastny got injured while rehabbing from his appendectomy.)
• Brett Clark (shoulder) is out for the season.
• Brian Rafalski (groin) will miss Friday night's game.
• Kevin Bieksa (lacerated calf) skated with his teammates on Thursday but his return date is yet to be determined.
• It looks like Tim Gleason (flu) and Joe Corvo (flu) will miss tonight's game for Carolina.
• Brett Hedican (lower-body injury) is also out for Carolina.
• Niklas Backstom will start for the Wild tonight.
• Sean Hill (healthy scratch) will not be in the line-up tonight for Minnesota.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail wonders if the Leafs can build on their impressive victory over the Senators on Saturday night.
• Andrew Lupton of the National Post has a selection of some of the best takes in Bob McCown's new book the 100 Greatest Hockey Arguments.
• A.J. Perez of USA Today tells us that Sandis Ozolinsh is having the most fun of his NHL career in his second go-round with the San Jose Sharks.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes an inside look at the Oilers blogosphere in this morning's paper.
• The Flames got off to a bad start and it cost them last night in their 4-1 loss at Vancouver. The Flames own the worst powerplay in the league, at less than a ten percent success rate, writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun.
• For a very young team, the Blackhawks are sitting pretty at the quarter-point of the season writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. However, it's not all good news for the Hawks as they lost Rene Bourque to a broken thumb over the weekend and he'll be out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks.
• The Avalanche were easily defeated by the Wild 4-1 on Sunday night and, after the game, Joe Sakic said the Avs need to get back to the skating game that makes them most effective.
• The Blue Jackets were extremely satisfied with their performance last night versus the Red Wings, even if they did lose the game in a shootout writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. The Jackets received a terrific performance from Nikolai Zherdev last night.
• The new two-headed GM in Dallas has begun to clear ice-time for the organization's youngsters, starting with the waiving of veteran fighter Todd Fedoruk on Sunday.
• The Red Wings weren't happy with their performance in their own zone, but they still found a way to pull out the win over Columbus last night.
• "He's always doing cheap stuff like that (going after light-weight Michal Handzus). I'm kind of sick of that, seeing Pronger be that guy," said Kings' injured tough guy Raitis Ivanans in this morning's L.A. Times.
• Matt Foy slept in on Sunday and was late to a team meeting, so the youngster was surprised to be in the lineup last night; however, his inclusion paid off as Foy scored once and added an assist in his team's 4-1 victory over Colorado.
• Predators' captain Jason Arnott believes the key to the team's turnaround in the standings has been the team's improved work ethic.
• With the Predators facing the Blues tonight, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch details the Predators and their new-found identity.
• Apparently the Canucks don't need three of their top six defensemen as they handled the Flames 4-1 on home-ice last night.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Thrashers' goaltender Kari Lehtonen returned to practice with his teammates yesterday, however, coach Don Waddell doesn't foresee Lehtonen returning to the lineup for approximately two weeks.
• Bruins' coach Claude Julien gave his team Sunday off after their frustrating game at Montreal on Saturday night. In other Bruins' news, it looks like Boston will be without defenseman Andrew Ference for a few weeks with a sprained knee.
• The Sabres powerplay has struggled since Tim Connolly went down to injury writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
• According to Panthers special assistant to the general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, the Panthers need to change their mentality when they have a late game lead. After getting off to a slow start, Panthers' center Stephen Weiss is finally playing at the level he is paid to play at.
• There will be some tears in the building tonight as legendary Habs' defenseman Larry Robinson will have his jersey raised to the Molson Centre rafters tonight. Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette opines that Robinson and Habs' GM Bob Gainey were his two favorites Canadiens when the team was churning out Stanley Cups in the 70's.
• Martin Brodeur continues to be his modest self, even after winning his 500th NHL game over the weekend.
• Larry Brooks says Daniel Girardi's star is rising fast as the youngster has become a top-pair defenseman for the Rangers this season.
• Islanders' coach Ted Nolan has switched up his lines again in an effort to increase his team's offensive output.
• Dany Heatley is trying his best to practice his way out of his goal-scoring slump writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Senators' coach John Paddock has threatened to reduce ice-time for players who continue to give the puck away.
• Flyers' winger Simon Gagne was on the ice yesterday for a skate, but still remains a ways away from returning to the lineup.
• Penguins' winger Colby Armstrong is staying positive even though he has been a healthy scratch for six of his team's last eight games. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if coach Michel Therrien will start employing Sidney Crosby on the penalty kill more often.
• Brad Richards has had a very impressive start to the season writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• The Leafs have discovered a reliable shutdown line writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. As Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun tells us, veteran Boyd Devereaux has carved a niche for himself on the Leafs' penalty kill.
• Alexander Semin is expected to return to the Capitals lineup tonight when they face the Florida Panthers.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap: Detroit Snaps Losing Skid

Detroit 5 - Columbus 4 (SO) - Johan Franzen scored the shootout winner in the 5th round of the shootout. Detroit snapped a three game losing streak, and is now 1-4 in shootouts. Columbus is 0-4 in shootouts. Rick Nash and Nicky Zherdev had three points each for the Jackets, Nicholas Lidstrom had three for the Wings.

Minnesota 4 - Colorado 1 - Minnesota received goals from four unlikely heroes, Matt Foy, Aaron Voros, Brent Burns and Stephane Veilleux. It was Brent Burns' fifth goal of the year, his second in two games.

Vancouver 4 - Calgary 1 - Markus Naslund and Henrik Sedin each had a goal and an assist. The Canucks are now 5-0-1 since losing top defenseman Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo. The Canucks are now 8-0-1 vs the Northwest Division.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm NYI@NYR, FLA@WSH, TB@ATL (VS),
7:30pm OTT@MTL
8:30pm LA@DAL, NSH@STL

Morning Musings: Taking off Sundays

As Michael Remis of Illegal Curve pointed out last night, the NHL has made a smart decision by not attempting to compete for ratings with the NFL on Sundays. The fact is, with the NFL being the biggest sporting entity in the United States, the NHL doesn't need to go up against the league and fight for ratings. As well, with MLB playoffs underway, the NHL will already be hard pressed to get casual fans to pay attention to their product. I am firmly convinced that anymore than one game on Sundays is too many for the NHL. Even in Canada, where teams can get huge ratings on a Sunday night, the NHL would be better off leaving those games for the second half of the season when the NFL is into its offseason and the ratings possibilities are far greater. Think about it, there are 82 NHL games in a season and only 16 NFL games. Teams like the Cowboys/Giants play each other twice all season long. Whereas, the Rangers/Devils play each other 8 times in one season! If Joe Fan has to choose between the two, most right-minded people would favor the NFL. That is why the NHL is smart to avoid imposing such decision-making on even their most hardcore fan.

On to the morning papers:

• Reuniting Milan Hedjuk with Paul Stastny worked perfectly for the Avs last night as they handily defeated the Sharks 6-2. In order to get Jeff Finger into the lineup, coach Joel Quenville decided to make the NHL's former ironman Karlis Skrastins a healthy scratch.
• Sharks' coach Ron Wilson say that only one of his team's lines played well last night and it wasn't Joe Thornton's. After getting down 6-1, Wilson took the opportunity to get the Sharks' new backup goaltender Dimitri Patzold into some game action.
• The Devils' defensemen are trying to adjust to the freedom that new coach Brent Sutter is implementing in the team's new high-pressure system. A goal scorer in juniors and the minors, John Madden is looking to create more offense under coach Sutter's new system.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post is reporting that the Rangers will be without forward Sean Avery for at least a month with a shoulder separation. In his spot, it appears that Marcel Hossa will make his season debut Wednesday night.
• Chris Campoli is attempting to make Ted Nolan's decision very difficult as to who will come out of the lineup if/when Bryan Berard is signed to a contract.
• Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun says there are three reasons why the Senators have played so well thus far in this young NHL season.
• Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer follows Brennan's lead and lists three things that stand out while watching the Flyers through the season's first three games. After their loss to the Oilers on Saturday night, the Flyers headed out to Whistler for some team building exercises; Ed Moran of the Inquirer has the story.
• Coach Wayne Gretzky is happy with the Coyotes' work ethic writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• As Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains, the Penguins' forward line combinations are ever-changing and Sidney Crosby is quite used it by now.
• Without the help they have been getting from their veteran teammates, the Blues' youngsters may not be having the early season success they have enjoyed in the early going of the 2007/08 campaign.
• While the season is still awfully young, there is much to be excited about for the Lightning after an impressive 2-0 start to the season.
• Jason Blake is not worried that he hasn't scored in the Leafs' first three games writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. In other Leafs' news, coach Paul Maurice has been very impressed with the play of Ian White so far this season. Meanwhile, maybe Tomas Kaberle and Pavel Kubina aren't best friends as Kubina had thought...
• With a renewed commitment to defense, Alexander Ovechkin has earned coach Glen Hanlon's trust and is no longer glued to the bench when the Caps are protecting a lead to end a game.
• After Shea Weber was injured by catching a rut in Nashville's poor ice, his teammates are suggesting the need for a dehumidifier at the Sommet Center writes John Glennon of the Tennessean.
• Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette opines that the dynasties of the past are long gone in today's NHL.
• Apparently coach Jacques Lemaire believes Eric Belanger can register 80 points this season.
• After sustaining the criticism that comes with arbitration, Michael Cammalleri has his eyes on the playoffs writes Lonnie White of the LA Times. (Registration required)
• The Panthers were scheduled for an off-day on Sunday, but after two lackluster performances to start the season, coach Jacques Martin cancelled the off-day and put the team through an intense practice.
• Robert Tychkowski explains the importance of a positive start for a young team like the Oilers in this morning's Edmonton Sun. Meanwhile, the Oilers are hoping Andrew Cogliano can be their version of Paul Stastny writes Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. (Writer's note: Keep hoping Oil fans. These two players are not in the same class.)
• George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press tells us which teenager's dad made him get a photo taken with Dominik Hasek after the Hawks/Wings game on Saturday night. Also from Wings' camp, as Michael Remis of Illegal Curve reported last night, Johan Franzen will be lost to the team for 3-4 weeks with a knee sprain.
• With a season under his belt, Jeff Halpern feels more comfortable in Dallas and is hoping his increased comfort level leads to an increase in offensive output; Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has the story.
• As Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch details, the Blue Jackets have been very happy with Nikolai Zherdev's work ethic through the first two games of the season.
• The Hurricanes have three games in Canada this week and, according to Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer, should have a better read on whether they can avoid the early season slump they played through last season.
• The Flames have to develop more consistency to their game says coach Mike Keenan. Meanwhile, Flames' backup netminder Curtis McElhinney is out of the lineup at least 1-2 weeks with a blown-out knee.
• After last season, Jaroslav Spacek told Lindy Ruff has was misused and was disappointed he didn't play a bigger role. As a result, Ruff has put Spacek on the Sabres' powerplay and the defenseman has thrived.
• Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli doesn't think Marc Savard will play on Wednesday versus the Ducks. Look for Glen Metropolit to take Savard's place on the number one line.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.