NYR Coach Hunt `13: Getting Interesting or Awkward?

This afternoon, reports surfaced that both Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky are interested in becoming the new Ranger coach.   While that's sort of interesting, it's potentially awkward as well.  Messier, particularly,  has never done much coaching,  He did coach Team Canada in a couple of tournaments they lost, but he's never done anything at the NHL or even AHL level.   Though he is tremendously leaderly, that doesn't always translate into being a great coach.    If he's serious about coaching, the Rangers should offer him the WolfPack, but that creates even more problems.  First, Mess is 52 and that's almost geriatric to be starting your coaching career in the AHL.   Second, what coach is going to want to coach the Rangers knowing that Ranger Legend Mark Messier is a phone call away in Hartford ?     So the AHL idea seems too tricky.   What about hiring him and loading his staff with great and experienced coaches.   That's basically what they would HAVE TO do, if they decided to go down this road.   But I'm sort of hoping they stick with an ascendant coach like Dallas Eakins.

Gretzky is, perhaps, a little more interesting.    He was a .500ish coach with some really bad teams and a franchise that wouldn't pay him in Phoenix.   So he has coaching experience and possibly even impressive coaching experience.   He's also a hockey genius.   There are no two ways around that statement.  And though hiring The Great One over Messier might ruffle feathers - there's no crying in hockey   So, I'd be a little more interested in Gretzky if they decide to go the legend route, but I'm hoping they don't.

Anyway, it seems everybody wants the Ranger job, and that must at least speak to the overall health of the franchise, which should continue to improve.


 Let's get Eakins and Let's Go Rangers!

New York Yankee Draft Stuff

Alright. while former first rounder Slade Heathcott is finally breaking out of his early season slump in Trenton, the Yanks will be back at the draft looking for more prospects starting June 6th.    This is a really interesting draft for the Yanks because they have 3 first rounders, starting at #26, and then 5 picks in the top 103. This is like Christmas compared to what they usually have going in.   What's more, is under the new system, all the high picks have jacked up the Yankees draft "allowance" to 8M.   Even more, teams can always add 5% without being penalized, the the Yanks really have 8.4M to spend.   And that's more than they would generally spend under Hal and the old rules.   So we might see them swing for the fences and connect this year.

Over the past few years, I've written pretty extensively about the Yankees draft, and how, picking late as they always do, they have to take advantage of things like college relievers, and college seniors from time to time.   They've kicked but with the college relievers, but this year, with the extra money, they might go after more starters.   They will also have an extra rookie A team this year, so that will mean they need more starters, and it will also probably tilt the draft towards preps a bit more.

As I've mentioned every year, the more players they Yanks can develop out of a given draft, the more money they save for other things.   And, usually if just one player from a draft makes it, he will still pay for the entire draft if he's a regular or a starting pitcher, probably even a reliever.   So don't fret too much, though we'd all like to draft some high end talent this year - and we're finally in a pretty good position to do it.

Rangers Receive Permission to Interview Eakins, and Also Seek To Interview Vlgneaultt

Today, it was revealed the NYR Coach Hunt `13 is underway.  The Rangers have reportedly received permission to interview Toronto Marlie HC and former Rangers Dallas Eakins as well as arranged to speak with former Vancouver head man Alain Vigneault.  This is pretty exciting news because Eakins is probably my first choice of the guys who aren't still coaching.   His players have loved him and won for him.  And in the AHL you also have to develop kids and he's developed them into winners.   With the kids we have coming along, Eakins seems like a perfect fit.   We'll see what he'd do about assistants - perhaps a power play guy?    Anyway, I'm glad the Rangers seem interested.

Vigneault is another interesting guy.   His Canucks played an exciting brand of hockey and they were always in the mix for several of his years there.   Their playoff performance was a little underwhelming though they did make it to the finals.   He, too, seems to have been effective at bringing up the kids.   He's also interviewed for the job before and didn't get it.   But he's an interesting candidate.

In other news, the Rangers did sign Samuel Noreau, the big nasty, right shooting Dman.   He turned a corner in his game this year and added some scoring, to make him a more well rounded guy.  And he's 6'5", 220 and still only 20 years old, just like Dylan McIlrath.    So I'm very pleased with the signing.   Let's Go Rangers!

New York Ranger Orthodoxy?

I had promised to write something about the Ranger Offense at some point this week, but it doesn't really make sense now since we'll be switching coaches and, presumably systems.  So instead, I thought I'd write something about us fans, and what I've come to think of as the Ranger Orthodoxy.  We've run into it quite a bit in the past 12 months, and it's an interesting phenomena, born or at least coalesced by the internet and the dozens of Ranger and hockey sites we frequent as fans.  It's a dogmatic set of positions that aren't necessarily supportable but are widely held in our internet community, and though I wouldn't advocate suppressing anyone's thoughts, feelings or speech, I think we'd all do better by maintaining some objectivity and remembering our thoughts are just our thoughts.

Here's what I noticed over the last year.   According to the orthodoxy, the Nash trade wasn't going to happen.  Someone else would offer more, and the Rangers just weren't going to do it.  No matter that they had tried hard to get him at last year's deadline.   He was just going somewhere else.  Of course, he soon became a Ranger for what was a good deal, though it robbed us of some depth for much of the season.

Then Gaborik was not getting traded, not after the season and certainly not at the deadline.   The reasoning for this was that he was our only true sniper or something like that.  One couldn't really bring it up on the boards without getting shouted down by the apostles of the orthodoxy.   Of course, he was traded and sooner than later.   Anyone watching the Rangers with any degree of objectivity, saw that was a real possibility.  He had high trade value, they weren't going to re-sign him, the coach didn't like him and he wasn't helping much this season. Of course he was trade bait.  And traded he was for a pretty good haul, though we didn't get our first round pick back from Columbus.

The most recent example was Coach Tortorella.  The orthodoxy, who had assured us he wasn't being fired seemed absolutely dumbfounded when he was.   Now this happened not because it wasn't a surprise, it was because these people, including reporters - who risk credibility - had invested too much in him staying on as coach - regardless of trends and results.   Some have written mea culpa's while others continue to defend an indefensible position.  He's gone and he punched his own ticket with his performance.

So here's my idea, and that's all it is, my idea.   This offseason,  let's try to be a little less authoritative when giving our opinions on the Rangers.  Everything the orthodoxy said they wouldn't do, they did.  So let's be a little more flexible than that, both in what we'll say and in our tolerance of conflicting ideas.   If we're patient and patient with each other, we'll see what happens and all get it right.

Btw, my current predictions are that the Rangers will try to get a first or second round pick in next month's draft, and that they might be willing to trade Michael Del Zotto, in that process or for something else.  He's an under achiever with upside, who was probably suppressed by the system, but he should have some trade value, and Moore is already on the roster.   We'll see.  But honestly who knows what's next?  Not me and not the Shadow!  Let's Go, Rangers!

NYR Coach Hunt `13

So we're in Day 1 of NYR Coach Hunt `13.  Yesterday,  Sather said they'd like to have someone in place by the draft.   This lead me to believe they had their eye on an assistant or other coach whose team was still playing, like Tony Granato (Pens) , Mike Babcock (Red Wings -he has an opt out he can use), or Geoff Ward (Bruins), rather than an available coach like Lindy Ruff or Alain Vigneault.

Today, Staple has tweeted that it could be a quick process and that Sather may already have someone in mind.   That would tend to rule out Granato and Ward, but Babcock is now available if he opts out.  The other sort of available candidate I'm interested in is Dallas Eakins of the Toronto Marlies.   He's a former Ranger and has been great with the young Leafs, and since we're bringing along a lot of kids for the foreseeable future he seems like a great fit.

In general, I'm looking for a fundamentally sound but creative guy, who is also a great teacher and an inspirational speaker.   I don't want a re-tread, but I also don't want a legend like Messier - though he is considered among the greatest leaders in sports history - he doesn't have any experience behind the bench.   Gretzky does, and he could be interesting, but I'd rather get Babcock, Eakins, Vigneault or someone ascendant who I haven't thought about.   Let's Go Rangers!

Sather Speaks

Glen Sather is currently talking to the press.   The upshot is that the Rangers  hope to have a new coach by the draft, which starts on June 30.  That later date would also make coaches who are currently under contract like Tippett and Babcock possibly available for the job.  He didn't say it was one specific thing with Torts, just that he wants to win the Cup and thus he felt he had to make a move.   LGR!

No Mulligans: Torts is Toast

While I'm sorry whenever anyone loses a job, I think the Rangers have made the right move for this offseason and the future by dismissing John Tortorella today.   I wanted them to do it, but thought they might give him a mulligan for the truncated season.   Such was not the plan and now the Rangers are without a coach.   Sather is supposed to address the media at 2:15 EST.    We'll see what he says. 

I'd like to see a coach that trusts Hank to be great and pushes the offense to be both aggressive and creative.   I also want a coach who has a plan for integrating young players.  I hated the way Torts treated Chris Kreider and JT Miller this year, and as we all know there are more prospects where they came from.   I'd also like to see a coach who can roll 4 lines without overplaying any one or two of them, likewise, 6 defenseman.   

I'm sure we'll know more details later, but the extreme version of the offseason plan seems to be underway.  Let's go, Rangers!

Of Course Brad Richards Will be Amnestied

I guess people feel like they have to write something.  Why else would some of them spend column space trying to figure out whether or not the Rangers will use their second and final amnesty buyout on Brad Richards?   There has never been a bigger no-brainer.  Of course they are.   First, if they keep him and he gets hurt, they can't use the buyout.  Second,  if he would then get hurt so badly he retires, the Rangers would bear a cap penalty (salary recapture provision) for the years that would remain on his original deal.   Finally, both Derek Stepan and Derrick Brassard are much better than he is at this point, and it's bad business to be paying your 3rd or 4th best player at a position more than your first and second best players.    Anyway, it takes no special insights to realize the Rangers have no choice but to buyout Richards.   The more interesting question is will they buyout anyone else?  I'm not sure and it would probably depend on the cap consequences.   In any event, they will buyout Richards, and will be 20M under the cap (barring other moves) when FA opens on July 5.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE

The biggest questions on what was once a deep, young defensive core revolve around health.   Specifically will Marc Staal ever again be the difference maker he was before the head injuries?   Anton Stralman is also banged up right now, and of course Michael Sauer didn't play all year and his career may be over.

On the positive side. Ryan McDonagh is turning into a rock and John Moore looked like the first rounder he once was with the Rangers.   Both of these guys are still young and can really skate.   Moore also won his only fight.   Presumably, Dan Girardi has a few seasons left, though he has been ridden too hard by Torts over the past few years.   I don't know why, but I feel like Michael Del Zotto will be traded for a pick or a young player around draft time.  Emminger could be back, and Gilroy will probably be gone - his failure to develop, along with the Staal and Sauer injuries have really hurt the Rangers' depth on D.

In the system, the Rangers have 2 prospects who might be ready when camp opens.  The first is Dylan McIlrath, the big, shutdown D with the nasty disposition and punishing hands.   The other is Mikhail Pashnin, who has been screwing around in the KHL for the last two years, but his contract could be up and we'll probably see him over in America.   He's 24 and if he wants to have a meaningful NHL career he's got to get it going.  Pashnin is not as big as Dylan, but he is just as physical and has better puck skills.   This Spring, the Rangers also added two more amateur D's Connor Allen and Tommy Hughes both have good size, and both have been compared to our own Dan Girardi.   So they could also be in the mix with good camps or impressive starts in the AHL.

Sam Noreau is another big, punishing man, who scored some big goals in his finally year in juniors.  He almost certainly will get signed, while Peter Ceresnak, a big, sort of skillsy guy probably will not.

Last year's first rounder, Brady Skjei is sort of the third in the McDonagh/Moore study of defensemen who can skate like the wind.   He had a weird season and Minnesota and there were some rumors that he will switch to juniors this year.   That bears watching.    Meanwhile Calle Andersson is still over in Sweden doing his thing.  We'll probably see him in a few years.

So that's basically the player and prospect map for D.   I wouldn't be surprised if we make a trade for an NHL D, or a high end D prospect (like McDonagh was when we got him) and spend some more picks on D once the draft starts.   We're just not quite there yet.   I guess I'll look at the offense in the next few days.

Rangers Season Ends

Too many injuries and too little offense finally undid them.   They really missed Staal and Stralman in the Bruins series.  Also, Hank was not quite the all world goalie he usually is, but that might have had more to do with the lack of O and defensive injuries than it did with Hank himself.

So what now?   Obviously, there will be changes and the biggest question is probably whether or not management has seen enough of John Tortarella's act.   Personally, I have.  Having said that, I do think it was a truncated season and that Torts needs his long training camps to get himself and his teams ready.   So if they want to give him a mulligan, I guess I will understand.    I just don't trust him with the kids coming up, what's more, I don't understand why they have never fixed the power play or went back to a more aggressive offense once their talent base grew.   Remember "safe is death" in Tampa?   Safe was all there has been with the Rangers.  I won't be surprised; however, if they force him to hire a power play assistant or dump Mike Sullivan.

On the roster side, they have a bunch of expiring contracts and a few players they have to extend like McDonagh and Stepan.  They will almost assuredly their remaining buyout on Brad Richards, so they will have plenty of cap room - even though the cap is going down.   Stepan's ascendance and Brassard's emergence has made this a no-brainer.   The third and fourth line C's can either come from the system - JT Miller or Oscar Linberg  - or come from trades or free agency.  The Rangers will have plenty of room and chips for either.  They also need a right shot D.   That too could be a trade or free agent.  They have a pretty easy decision to make on Clowe, too.   Btw, god bless his health going forward.

What the Rangers are sorely lacking right now are draft picks.   They have a bunch of threes, but no first or seconds, and that's a shame because it is a deep draft with lots of first and second round value.   I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they moved quickly to secure more picks.   They could do this by moving players - or combining them with picks (present and future) to get into those first two rounds.    Now's the time when they usually start making their moves, so don't be surprised if they do something before the draft.

I think some of the current players who are under contract, like Brian Boyle and Michael Del Zotto could end up elsewhere by way of trades.  MDZ is a big time talent, but he's been really inconsistent and you have to give to get in NHL trades.   As long as the get back was good, I wouldn't spend too much time wondering what might have been.    The arrival of John Moore has also helped in that regard.

Kreider's heroics in the playoffs are just the tip of the talent iceberg that's should start arriving from juniors, the minors and overseas as camp opens.   Let's just hope they're not all blocked, and that none of them have to go through what Kreider had to go through this year.  If that means a new coach, so be it.

Kreider Saves the Day!

Chris Kreider just saved John Tortorella's job for at least another day.    What a great goal for the scapegoat!   Really clutch play tonight by Stepan and Brassard and Nash made a great pass to set up Kreider for the OT winner.    Let's see if we can win our next game.   Go Rangers!

Yanks Keep Winning

The Yanks won again tonight, this time in extra innings.  Now is it just me or do the 2013 Yanks, even with all of their injuries, seem a lot scrappier than the Yanks of the last few years?  I wonder if that's because the old teams were always sort of waiting for ARod, Tex, Jeter or Grandy to do something.   It seems something is different.   Of course we are seeing the old Pinstripe Effect on players like Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner who seem reborn this year.   The Yanks are also getting pretty good pitching all around, and lately, contributions from kids like David Adams and Austin Romine.  I still have no expectations, but they are fun to follow again.  Go Yanks!

Knicks Season Ends

Awful ref job not withstanding, the Knicks got badly outcoached in this series.  Finding a new coach should be their first priority, then it seems like they have some moveable contracts.   They also finally have a first round pick again, though it looks like a bad draft.  Lots of decisions ahead.   Thanks for a fun regular season.   Alway, Go Knicks!

Rangers Finally Win a Road Game 7

Wow!  Last night we called for the Rangers to support Hank and tonight they did - but they didn't need to as the Best Goalie on Earth was once again on his game.   Still 5 different Rangers scored goals, and Henrik Lundqvist pitched his second straight shutout when faced with elimination.   Just an unbelievable night where we got goals from Asham, Pyatt, MDZ,  Cally and MZA, to advance.   Brassard had two more assists and finished with 9 points for the series.  Chris Kreider had an assist and hit everything that moved.    We'll play Boston for the first time since 1973 on Thursday.  Let's go, Rangers!

New York Rangers Tie It Up!

The Rangers, today, finally remembered how to win a 1 goal game.   Now, in game 7 they need to remember how to score many goals.    Frankly, Brassard's goal would not have had to stand alone, if on the final Ranger Power Play, Brad Richards hadn't blocked a great shot with his ass.  I'm not kidding, it would have been 2-0.   We cannot buyout this guy fast enough, once the season ends, which I hope is not tomorrow.   Btw, the Caps are an incredibly dirty team and played their dirtiest in trying to close out the Rangers.  They grabbed sticks, boarded, crosschecked, kicked and launched themselves off the ice and into Rangers.   I doubt any of them will get suspended, but some should.  Also, there is no way Ovechkin isn't a lab experiment.  Late in the game he literally threw Dan Girardi headfirst into the boards.    Oh, and Hank was brilliant today.  Just the best goalie in the world.    Let's see if we can win again tomorrow.  Otherwise, I've got a busy offseason planned:)   LGR!

New York Giants Make More Moves

All of the reports out of the Giants rookie camp were pretty positive.  As expected Ryan Nassib looked better on Day 2 than he did on Day 1 hooking up with his receivers for some typical Giants deep balls. However; the news wasn't positive for as as big name UDFA's like  WR Marcus Davis, and Division III wonderman  LBCharles Dieusuel were cut, along with 4 others to make room for WR Jeremy Horne,   vet tryouts TE Michael Palmer and  huge DT Frank Okam, as well as UDFA DB's Junior Mertile and John Stevenson.

Don't be surprised if there's more movement before the Veteran Mini-camp.

Rangers Take a Tortsy Loss

The Rangers lost in overtime, again.   This was a direct result of John Tortarella's insistence on giving absolutely shot Brad Richards major minutes on the power play.  His gut is dumb.   And his team has underachieved this year because he has underused parts of his roster while overusing parts like Brad Richards and Brian Boyle.  I still believe we can win this series because we are a talented team regardless of coach.  But unless we win a cup, I seriously want to see a new coach for the Rangers and see what a rational man can do with the roster and the players coming through the system.

New York Giants Sign Curry

Speaking of Linebackers, the Giants today have reportedly come to terms with Aaron Curry, the #4 overall pick in the 2009 Draft.   Jerry says he can play Mike or Sam for the Giants so that probably means they harbor no illusions that's this tight hipped "bust" will be a 3 down player for them.  He's a big backer, who was known for jarring hits at Wake, but was an overdraft at #4, and has had injuries and ineffectiveness in college.  Combined with Rivers that gives the Giants a former #4 and #5 overall pick at LB.   Let's see if we can get any production.   It's funny the Raiders used to be the team that rejuvenated busted #1's.  I believe he was originally taken by the Seahawks, but most recently played for the Raiders.   Let's hope for the best.

New York Giants Linebacking Situation

Okay, a lot of folks seem sort of antsy about the Giants current LB situation.  After all, this is the team of Huff, Carson, Taylor, Banks and Armstead.   So do the Giants have a big problem at LB, because they only signed Connor while cutting Boley and drafting no help?   Probably not.   The current Giant 4-3 does not generally have 3 linebackers on the field.    So right there, the position is a little less important than the old days when we had to keep drafting LB's to fill out our 3-4.    No, very often the Giants play a version of the Big Nickel where a safety moves up and either blitzes or drops.  In fact, they draft just that kind of Safety, Cooper Taylor, in the 5th round last month.

Now, though Cooper Taylor is just the sort of Big Safety that the Giants will want to play some chess with.  It may not be this year, or to start this year.   That's because the Giants don't play or start a lot of rookies.  Fortunately, they still have Antrel Rolle for his job, as well as last year's gift from the football gods, Will Hill.   So we'll be okay in the Big Nickel if we can just get two LB's who can cover, play the run or both,   And the Giants already have some of those, and a couple of them may finally be ready for prime time.   I'm talking about Jacquan Williams and Spencer Paysinger.   Williams flashes as a run and hit big play rookie two years ago, and Paysinger was getting more and more of Boley's and Rivers' reps as last year went on.  They're both outside LB's, as is Keith Rivers who was unimpressive but retained.

In the middle we have Dan Connor, who is probably going to be a bit of an upgrade over Chase Blackburn, his slow but beloved predecessor.  And Mark Herzlich, the courageous cancer survivor who looked all worldish before he got sick at BC.

They also have a couple of interesting prospects who were either UDFA's or Street Free Agents last year and this.  They are Jake Massau and Charles Dieusuel, an undersized LB who looked like Super Sam Mills for Division III powerhouse, Mount Union.

So while they'll probably kick the tires on some more guys for camp, their actions show they are not as concerned as either Mel Kyper or much of the fan base is.   And if all else fails, they always have Kiwi.

New York Rangers Tie The Series at 2!

This was another trying game.  The Rangers were great for the first period and a half taking a 2-0 into the last six minutes of the second period, then they gave up 2 quick goals at it was tied going into the third.   Richards and Hagelin had the first two goals.   Girardi would score a PP goal to put the Rangers back up again at the start of the third.  Then Derek Stepan scored again on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Cally and MZA.   It turned out to be the game winner, cause the Rangers gave up another goal before holding on for the final 4-3 win.   Derek Brassard had two more assists and both MZA and Hags had 2 assists as well.   Getting some O from the kids.   This assures there will be a game 6 in MSG.  Now let's go win in Washington!   LGR!

New York Giants Rookie Mini-Camp Thoughts

Thursday. the draftpicks as well as the 6 signed UDFA's and some other invitees will arrive at the Giants complex to take part in this year's rookie mini-camp.    These things are usually sort of boring, because hitting is discouraged and they don't usually feature a QB prospect that can make things happen.   That's not the case this year and Ryan Nassib will start building his legend when they hit the field for drills and controlled scrimmage work on Friday and Saturday.

One guy who could really stand out or be released right off the bat is jumbo WR Marcus Davis out of Virginia Tech.   Now Davis has everything you are looking for in a wide receiver including, size and speed and strong YPC averages.  He was a HS QB, and coaches tend to favor those kind of guys.  But there was a reason Marcus wasn't drafted, and it's that he has trouble catching the football.   Readers of the blog can probably recall me railing about body-catchers while praising hand catchers -- well this guy is neither!   However, the Giants did apparently give him more than any of the other UDFA's got to come to camp.   And in Tom Coughlin they have a sort of legendary WR guru who probably has some drills for a guy like Davis.   So since they have a big arm in Nassib and there's basically no touching allowed, this guy should get opportunities.  Of course he had endess ones at Va Tech, but we'll see if he turns in on for the Giants.   He has the talent to be another undrafted gem, and Eli likes big receivers.   Or he can be a guy who doesn't even make it to the next mini-camp.

It's unclear how many guys will be there on a tryout basis.   And we probably won't know who's being signed and cut till Sunday.    Should be interesting, because they will have an actual QB prospect there.

New York Knicks Lay The Smack Down!

The Knicks just had one of their more Knick like second halves in game 2 against Indiana and totally blew them out.  Once the Knicks added energy to their D, it wasn't even close.  Shump was the first half hero for the Knicks and had a classic putback dunk which we'll be watching for years, and Melo went off in the second half finding what he'd been missing for the past few games.  Prigioni was also brilliant, when he was in.   JR still needs to get going but Shump and Felton have picked up much of his slack, and Amare will be back for game 3 and that could add another boost!    Go Knicks!

Derek Stepan!

Wow, these Rangers never make it easy.   After giving up and early goal, the Rangers came back onlty to tie it on a goal from Brian Boyle, then take a lead on a goal from Derek Broussard.   Then they gave up the lead.   Then they took another lead on a goal from Aaron Asham.   Only to give up the lead again.  Then Stepan scored on a great pass from Rick Nash and the Rangers were finally able to hold onto a lead, even when the Refs called a questionable penalty against Brad Richards on a clear Ovechkin dive, that created a 6-4 situation for the last 90 seconds or so.  By the way, Brassard assisted on the Boyle and Asham goals and finished the night with 3 points.  Now let's tie up this series!  Go Rangers!