N.Y. Rangers: Some Things Never Change

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

In round one of the 1978-1979 NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers.  They would likewise defeat the New York Islanders in round two en route to the Stanley Cup finals against the Montreal Canadiens.  

Islanders defenseman and Norris trophy winner Dennis Potvin scored 101 points that season, making him only the second blueliner in NHL history to notch 100 points in a season.  

Rangers fans of that generation always wondered if the outcome against Montreal might have played out differently had defenseman, Ulf Nilsson, been available.  On Feb. 25, 1979, in a game against the Islanders, Nilsson skated into the left corner to pursue a loose puck.  With his head down and eyes focused on the puck, Nilsson gets blasted into the boards by an onrushing Dennis Potvin.  The result of the hit was a broken ankle.  It was also the genesis of the "Potvin Sucks!" chant, now over 40 years old.  Too many fans today participate in the chant, not knowing its origin, but just play along because it's the thing to do.  

I digress ...

Nick Fotiu played for that Rangers team.  His presence often made opponents think twice before committing any on-ice indiscretions against the Blueshirts.  The lack of a similar type of player arguably cost the Rangers a Stanley Cup or even two during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  

Fast-forward, Mike Keenan was aghast upon his arrival as head coach of the Rangers at that systemic lack of physicality and essentially ordered general manager Neil Smith to fix it. 

All these years later, the song remains the same.  On Apr. 14, against the Islanders, Jacob Trouba absorbed a big hit from Matt Martin and has been out of action ever since.  Max Pacioretty's hit on Brad Richards several years back comes to mind.  But the list of unanswered hits goes on and on.

The assumption was John Davidson lived it and knows better.

The assumption was Jeff Gorton came through the Boston organization and knows better.

Yes, the Rangers are rebuilding, but they continue ignoring this one critical component.

One Stanley Cup since 1940 ... just ask Mike Keenan.  He knew post-haste what the problem was.

• UPDATE: Did you see Monday's game against the Washington Capitals?  Did you see what Tom Wilson did to Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin?

Smurfs!

N.Y. Rangers: Because Trading Brendan Lemieux is the Off-Broadway Thing To Do

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

Nick Fotiu, Nick Fotiu,

Wherefore Art Thow, Nick Fotiu?

You can sum up the last fifty years of Rangers hockey this way: weak up the middle and lacking overall physicality and toughness.

If you're too young to remember the days of The Smurfs on Ice at Madison Square Garden, consider yourself lucky because it's this very condition that has frustrated Rangers fans for many, many decades.  Back in the day, Emile Francis ignored all the clamoring to beef up the roster, and it cost him and the organization at least one Stanley Cup and maybe even two.

History says the Rangers never draft big and refuse to toughen up.  When Mike Keenan arrived in town, he recognized this post-haste and effectively ordered general manager Neil Smith to change it, and he was right!  Of all people, I thought Jeff Gorton (who comes to the Rangers via the Boston Bruins) and John Davidson would understand this.  I thought the exit of Alain Vigneault finally signaled the end of it.  But shame on me.  Finesse still rules the day.

Once again, there goes the little bit of toughness and hard-nosed play the Rangers possessed. 

Extenuating circumstances around Saturday's trade of Brendan Lemieux to Los Angeles make this no less infuriating. 

Was Brendan Lemieux destined to remain with the Rangers beyond this season?  That very likely is a definitive no, thus rendering my words to a mere rant.  I get it; the Rangers wanted to make room for Vitaly Kravtsov who's KHL season just ended.  They come away from this with L.A.'s 2021 fourth-round draft pick.  

Lemieux certainly wasn't going to be protected for the Seattle expansion draft.  But will the Rangers use that pick to draft someone who isn't afraid to mix it up in the corners, win possession, and actually make a decent pass to the more skilled players who should be positioned in front (but can't fight their way through a wet paper bag)? 

And here I wanted to see Lemieux on the third line ...

Regardless, my point still holds true, now and moving forward.

Damn Smurfs!

N.Y. Rangers: Boston Provides Not So Subtle Reminder of Blueshirt History

From the desk: RAISE GRESHNER WITH THE GREATS

Bruins lead Rangers; 3-1

I - BOS 3; NYR 2*

II - BOS 1; NYR 0

III - NYR 6; BOS 2

IV - BOS 4; NYR 1

* overtime

That's Just Boston Being Boston; So What's Our Excuse?

Feeling good about themselves after Friday's convincing victory over Boston, the Rangers received their latest attitude adjustment on Sunday through an assortment of roughing, high-sticking, cross-checking, fights, unsportsmanlike stuff, misconduct, and even goalie squashing.

Brendan Lemieux was the recipient of the misconduct - after the final buzzer!  Someone needed to get after Nick Ritchie, and no later than the clock striking zero, Lemieux was on it.  I'll repeat it: Quinn must give Brendan Lemieux more minutes.

Because this game is a stark reminder, this team is soft.  It's actually rather ponderous that after all these years and decades, physicality is still an issue.  Fans know the deal.  If the Rangers of the early 1970s were just a wee bit tougher, they win a Cup .. Period.  The Cat was hounded over and over about it!  They were called Smurfs by a later generation for a good reason.  More recently, the L.A. Kings ground us into a fine powder.  The thing is, John Davidson was the bridge to the aforementioned eras.  He should know better.  General manager Jeff Gorton came to the Rangers via the Boston Bruins that he personally helped build.  He should know better.  Yet, here we are all these decades later, still waiting for the next Nick Fotiu to walk through the door.  Once again, finesse is losing out over brute force and ignorance.  Just take a look at the division.  These Rangers are indeed young.  But it's the veterans who are no more rugged for the wear than the teenagers.  Who is punishing David Pastrnak for cross-checking Alexis Lafreniere? 

• Alexis Lafreniere posts points in consecutive games for the first time this season; two assists versus Boston.

Thank goodness for Colin Blackwell.  His goal at 10:47 of the third period ruined the shutout for Boston's Tuukka Rask, who faced only 21 shots and made three saves in three power-play opportunities for the Rangers.  Colin Blackwell now has five goals and eight points in just 11 games.  Otherwise, Rangers' centermen joined for eleven shots on goal and just one point.  Ryan Strome, Kevin Rooney, and Brendan Smith joined together for a grand total of one shot on goal.  Mika Zibanejad had three.

Patrice Bergeron did not get off a shot all night, and Brad Marchant was limited to just one shot and an assist.  Five other Bruins centermen joined together for 16 shots on net, three goals, and two assists for five points. 

N.Y. Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist's Reign at Madison Square Garden Draws to a Close

From the desk of: RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

THE KING

The first thing that comes to mind is my son and our time spent together at Rangers games.  I invested in a pair of season tickets when hockey returned from the lockout.  It was Henrik's rookie season and since day one we both knew the Rangers were in good hands.  I gave up the tickets a couple of years ago.  But for the better part of the last fifteen seasons my son and me paid loyal tribute to our Liege.  Henrik is what my son knows best.  Whereas I have Ed Giacomin, John Davidson, Beezer, and Mike Richter to compare him by.  I certainly mean no disrespect to Gump Worsley, but think it safe to say Henrik Lundqvist is the greatest goalie in New York Rangers history.  In fact, to date only five goalies in NHL history have earned more career victories than The King.  Marc-Andre Fleury is the lone active goalie with slightly more wins than Henrik.

• Career Record: 459-310-96   .918 SV%   2.74 GAA   64 Shutouts
• 61 Playoff Victories   .921 SV%   2.30 GAA   10 Shutouts
• 2011-2012 Vezina Trophy

The respective emergence of Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev make it plainly clear a new era of Rangers hockey is upon us - ever since general manager Jeff Gorton stood at the podium informing the media of the club's future intentions.  Henrik appeared in 30 games this season and did not appear in any games after the NHL return.  Last season, at 36-years of age, Henrik in 52 appearances posted a career low .907SV% and a career high 3.07 GAA.  

The Rangers are buying out the final year of his contract.  With any luck Henrik will sign a free agent contract with a contending team and win a Stanley Cup before his playing days are through.  In the meantime, I'm going to avoid going through Glen Sather's failure to reconcile the position of center and Rick Nash's major post-season shortcomings during the Liege's reign.

After Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky signed off, no one made the New York Rangers a topical subject on basketball biased sports radio like Henrik Lundqvist did during his formidable years minding net at Madison Square Garden.

He is and forever will be to New York Rangers fans, The King.

My son and I will be sure to be in attendance when they lift his #30 to the rafters.

N.Y. Rangers: Hurricanes Burst Blueshirts Bubble

From the desk of: RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

The #NYR are still a rebuilding team. Oft times winners must first learn how to lose. JD and Gorton still have more work to do. I'm fine with this. #LGR

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) August 5, 2020

At no time are the Rangers ever really in this series.  Thanks to former Blueshirt Brady Skjei, Jesper Fast is knocked out of action in the first period of game one and never returns.  Coach Quinn says losing Fast changes the whole complexion of the Rangers' approach.  I, on the other hand, do not completely buy into that notion.  However, I agree that not having Fast, and Brendan Lemieux, and Igor Shesterkin, on the ice does indeed compromise the Rangers.

Otherwise, eleven New York Rangers make their playoff debut against Carolina.  That speaks directly to the ongoing efforts of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton.  Lest we forget they're only a year and a half into this, and as far as I'm concerned, are going about their business well.  With regards to the players, learning how to lose as a team is part of the process.  Getting outscored by an 11-4 margin over three games is a hard, but necessary lesson learned.  If nothing else, this series demonstrates to the younglings the drastic differences between three regular season victories over the Canes versus three straight losses in the playoffs.  Carolina has been through this before, and it shows throughout all nine periods of hockey.

If the Rangers through three games only score four total goals, going 1 for 14 on the power play is largely to blame.  Otherwise, Artemi Panarin gets off ten shots in three games, but only one SOG in game one.  He scores one goal, but does not score enough; Chris Kreider scores a goal, but does not score enough; Mika Zibanejad scores one goal, but does not score enough.  Kaapo Kakko creates some nice chances for himself, but ultimately concludes the series with no goals and no assists. Circling back to Zibanejad, as a center he assists on just one goal.  And since I'm going there, Carolina wins 95 face-offs versus 85 by the Rangers.  Carolina also out-shoots the Rangers from the field by a 102-88 margin.  Quinn's Rangers are ill prepared to contain Andrei Svechnikov, who tallies a hat trick in game two, and less able to shackle Sebastian Aho, who totals three goals with five assists.

N.Y. Rangers: Battle of the Hudson Resumes

From the desks of: 

RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS  &  THE BRICK CITY STYX

BATTLE OF THE HUDSON - I

New York Rangers

vs.

New Jersey Devils

FROM

THE ROCK

It's time I welcomed myself to the 93rd season of New York Rangers hockey.  It's also high time the Rangers hoist Ron Greschner's #4 to the rafters!

Thank you very much ...

Even though the front office hastened the rebuild, I enter this season with few expectations.  But, boy, am I a happy camper!  The triumvirate of John Davidson, Jeff Gorton, and David Quinn, along with this collection of young talent, has elevated my enthusiasm to levels not experienced since 1992 (Roger Neilson withstanding).  Sure, they financially capped themselves like a jar of marmalade, but I don't care.  Everyone I want in a blue shirt is present and accounted for right down to Anthony DeAngelo's last minute signing.

DROPPING PUCKS

• I mean Mika Zibanejad no slight, but I like the idea of entering the season without a captain.  The Rangers are in a good place.  Let some of these players distinguish themselves first.  If everyone takes the ice with the characteristics of a captain in mind then eventually one will materialize.  But make no mistake, Zibanejad has a big fan in me.

• Henrik Lunqvist's playing time is a big concern.  At this stage of his career perhaps less is more.  Two seasons ago Henrik started 60+ games for the eighth time in his career.  Last season he was limited to 52 starts.  In March he turns 38-years old.  Not one bit do I mind him chasing down career milestones.  In fact, I'm rooting for him.  But closer to the point, I just want Alexandar Georgiev receiving representative minutes in net.

• What is Chris Kreider still doing here?  He is the last person I expected to survive Gorton's purge.  But since he still dons a blue shirt, how about some consistent play for a change.  If Kreider ever gets his head screwed on straight could be a top forward of the league ... but it isn't, and he's not.

NYR - Kaapo Kakko

(2019 #2 overall draft pick)

vs.

NJD - Jack Hughes

(2019 #1 overall draft pick)

And let us not forget Nico Hischier, the 2017 first overall pick of the 2017 draft.

Point being, the next ten years of metropolitan area hockey is shaping up to be a lot of fun.  Just don't say that too loud.  Newark is off to a ponderous 0-4-2 start, and giving away multiple goal leads like candy on Halloween.  With the return to full duty of Taylor Hall, and the big acquisitions of P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmonds, no one anticipated such a start as this.  All I'll say for now is that coach John Hynes deserves to see this through.

Raise Gresch With The Greats

N.Y. Rangers: John Davidson Back Where He Belongs

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

JOHN DAVIDSON HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING

New York Rangers: A Marriage Made in Blue Shirt Heaven

I like many fans found myself in a better place when after nearly two full decades of putting up with Glen Sather's crap he finally stepped down as general manager of the Rangers.  I was similarly pleased with the appointment of Jeff Gorton as his successor.  Even better was when both he and Sather together announced the club would be initiating a rebuild.

I've always believed Jeff Gorton to be his own man.  His resume previous to his employment with the Rangers stands on its own.  He partly helped build the Bruins into the team we know today.  As a member of Boston's front office for most of the 1990's and midway through the 2000's he gained practical experience in team building as assistant general manager.  As we've seen throughout these playoffs, Boston is still in the midst of an extended and very successful run.  I care not why Boston let him go, but felt all along the Rangers were fortunate to secure him when they did.  However, for as long as Sather remained every one's superior I remained forever leery of his existence influence over and above Jeff Gorton and his assumed autonomy moving forward.

Due to recent developments, I'm happy to announce that I no longer harbor suspicions regarding Glen Sather's role with the Rangers - not with John Davidson in the house.  J.D. is not coming back to the Garden if it means having Glen Sather looking over his shoulder, or worse, meddling.  Davidson  possesses a far stronger backbone than that.  He was his own man at St. Louis, and his own man at Columbus, and will continue being his own man as the Rangers lead man in charge.

Davidson also arrives at a rather opportune time.  Gorton has assembled a small army of prospects whom still require extensive evaluation.  He's also inheriting significant salary cap maneuverability, and is extremely well positioned heading into the June entry draft.

I'm copacetic with all of it.

All these decades later, watching a young goalie named John Davidson celebrating with his Rangers team mates after helping defeat the Islanders in the 1979 conference finals still feels like yesterday to me.  As an impressionable 11-year old at the time the memory of that game and that night remain  vivid as ever.  As a broadcaster, his game calls and analysis were brilliant, while his "Oh, Baby!" became the catchphrase for the next generation of fans.  Then he left to run hockey clubs.  Throughout his time as an executive with the St. Louis Blues then with the Columbus Blue Jackets I longed for him to be the Rangers chief executive.

Now we got him.

I couldn't be happier.

N.Y. Rangers: After Thirty-Five Years, It's Time To Ooh La La Again

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

2013-2014

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

Rangers Defeat Montreal 4-2

I - NYR 7; MON 2

II - NYR 3; MON 1

III - MON 3; NYR 2

IV - NYR 3; MON 2

V - MON 7; NYR 4

VI - NYR 1; MON 0

WE WANT THE CUP!

WE WANT THE CUP!

WE WANT THE CUP!

NEW YORK RANGERS: ...And Lord Stanley Said, Let There Be Hockey In June!

PAYBACK!

Payback - for Ken Dryden and the 1979 Montreal Canadiens, for Patrick Roy and the 1986 Montreal Canadiens, and for any other game we ever lost to the Montreal Canadiens.

I don't expect my fellow Blueshirt brothers and sisters to understand unless they've been there, but the team that lost to the Habs in the '79 Cup finals always remained a little more dear to me than the 1994 Stanley Cup champions.

Don't get me wrong.   I attended the '94 playoffs, and felt what every other Ranger fan felt when our boys lifted the Cup for the first time since 1940.  I went to the parade, saved my ticket stubs and made a scrapbook with all the local news clippings.

I was clearly older by then, and there's the rub.  The revisionist history (even back then) is hard to ignore. For all intent and purpose, the 1994 Rangers raised the (Eastern) Edmonton Oilers 6th Stanley Cup championship trophy, only this time at MSG.

Mark Messier was clearly the Messiah, and Adam Graves became a great Ranger his own way.  Then outside of homegrown heroes like Brian Leetch and Mike Richter, most of those Rangers were mercenaries - but very good mercenaries.  We all knew GM Neil Smith created a win now situation by trading away the club's youth, but we fans were okay with that.  Mike Keenan was perhaps the biggest reason why.  But Coach left shortly thereafter, and Neil Smith went on to make several more questionable moves.  After Wayne Gretzky's swan song, the lights off-Broadway went out for a while.

I guess, when you're younger, you're much more impressionable.  I was 10, 11, and 12-years old when the Blueshirts of Ron Greschner, Phil Esposito, John Davidson, the Maloney Brothers, Ron Duguay, Don Murdoch, and all those guys sparked my passion for Tex's Rangers and hockey in general.  Phil Esposito?   Yeah, I was too young at the time to grasp the trading of Brad Park to the Bruins.

I was more part of the Ooh La La generation:

As a late teen, the Smurfs of 1986 were just that, a 4th place, but likable band of smallish blue shirted skaters named Tomas Sandstrom, Mike Ridley, and Mark Pavelich, whom overachieved in advancing to the conference finals against Montreal.  The Beezer was at the height of his popularity, but many years after the fact, fans were still deliberating over the trade to acquire Barry Beck.

It's been 20 years since Mark Messier skated to center ice in MSG to accept Lord Stanley's Cup from Commissioner Bettman, and 35 years since my childhood heroes beat the New York Islanders, and advanced into the 1979 Cup finals.

This era, these Tortorella-Vigneault Rangers, stand to change everything.  My son was 3 1/2 years old in 1994.  His welcoming into the Blueshirt Brotherhood came later in the careers of the Four Horsemen of the Impossible (Richter, Messier, Leetch, Graves).  So this is his first Cup series.

I started taking him to Rangers games regularly after the lockout, in Henrik Lundqvist's rookie season.  Since then, we've experienced many highs and lows together, but obviously none quite like this.

He hates Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils like I learned to hate ALL the Islanders in my youth.  In fact, he chides me for not having the same disdain towards the Devils as him.  But because the Islanders have fallen on hard times over the last two decades(!), that rivalry does not resonate with him as it does with me.

What we do have in common is the Glen Sather era.  (Sigh)  To my son's credit, he did not like John Tortorella.  I did.  He liked the hiring of Alain Vigneault.  At the time, I didn't.  So chalk one up for the kid.

Back in 1994, my wife of five years was quite indifferent to our (then) 54 year plight, and my personal 15-year odyssey getting back to the Cup finals.  After spending the previous 20 years of my life furiously rooting for the Rangers, I was confronted by a strong headed mommy wanting to take our little pookie to Disney World, right in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals no less.  The significance of 1940 meant nothing to her.   Needless to say, I watched the Rangers lose games Five and Six in a Florida hotel room with two people too pooped to stay up and watch with me.

The wife has come a long way since then.  She started out understanding the basics - icing, off-sides, the power play, and stuff like that.  But ever since the lockout, she expects to attend games and becomes quite the vocal one.   She even has her own ticket connection now, and attended the Pittsburgh series without me.

Go figure.

Today, she is at the point where good play is recognized, strategy is questioned, and poor play gets trashed. But where is she exactly?  She enjoyed a good cry this morning while reading Dominic Moore's background story in the Sunday paper.  I think it safe to say blue blood finally courses through her veins.

In 1994, I suffered through the Rangers and Devils Game Seven double overtime thriller as both my son and wife slept.  Twenty years later, the wife and I celebrated the end of Game Six against Montreal together.  (If she only knew how I felt in 1979).  I then waited till 2:00am for my son to arrive home from work so we could have another mini celebration.

...to be continued.




Mike.BTB