The Nation - Official Blog of Ranger Nation

Sather to step down, Burke to step in?

J. Ragus — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:28:02 GMT

It's definitely a rumor that is gaining alot of steam since it was announced, that's for sure!

Yesterday on ESPN, Scott Burnside said that Rangers GM Glen Sather and former Ducks GM Brian Burke have been spending a ton of time together and recently just came back from a hunting trip.

This is fueling speculation that Sather, 65, is ready to finally step down as the general manager of our Broadway Blueshirts and give the job to his good friend Burke, 53.

Slats has been a success in his career and really what more for him is there to do, except sign Michal Rozsival to a horrible contract.

Burke, in my eyes, was instrumental in signing great players for Vancouver that shaped their team to what it is now and for winnnig a Stanley Cup in Anaheim with his expertise.

Should this happen I think it would be a warm welcome to Ranger fans who have grown tired of Slats, but than again.... it is just a rumor right?

Rozsival scored?

J. Ragus — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:18:21 GMT

I blame this on Dubinsky for not deflecting the shot. =)

Gomez out against Devils (UPDATED)

J. Ragus — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:24:07 GMT

Scott Gomez will miss tonight's game due to an injury to his leg that has been lingering.

Coach Renney said right now its just the pain keeping him out of the game. Hopefully Gomez will be set to go for Saturday's game.

UPDATE: 9:22pm - The Rangers have finally assigned winger Patrick Rissmiller to the Hartford Wolfpack on a conditioning assignment. About time if you ask me.

A rumor and Shanahan

The Nation — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:29:35 GMT

A couple of interesting tidbits for you.

According to The Prospect Park blog that the Rangers prospects are going to have a new addition which will make Ranger fans EXTREMELY happy.

"We have it on very good authority that the ranks of the Ranger prospects are about to be increased by one. We are not at liberty to announce his name just yet but we have to admit that we really are happy to hear about this news.

When the official announcement is made this week, Ranger fans we are very sure will be as happy about the news as we are.

It is not very often when we get excited about adding another prospect but this one is special as if there was anyone who Ranger fans will adopt instantly it will be this young man.

This is the true feel good story of the season and we will be very happy to bring it you once we get the OK to do so."

Also in further news, Chuck Gormley from the Courier Post Online expects Brendan Shanahan to choose a team and sign later this week.

The Philadelphia Flyers are the front runners.

Korpikoski recalled

J. Ragus — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:12:38 GMT

The New York Rangers announced minutes ago that they recalled Lauri Korpikoski from the Hartford Wolfpack.

This is just in time for tomorrow nights game against the Edmonton Oilers. Glad the Rangers are finally listening to their fan base and bringing Korpedo back to the main roster.

Next move they need to do now is bump Fredrik Sjostrom up to the 2nd or 3rd line and let him use his offensive game to the team's benefit. The 4th line has been great but Sjostrom deserves more ice time.

Mike Smith: The classless goalie

J. Ragus — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:10:10 GMT

Tonight was wonderful on all measures but one.

Not only did the Rangers win but their power play finally clicked and Captain Clutch Chris Drury scored a hat trick. Drury looked to have his confidence back after sitting on the bench after scoring his second goal of the night.

But the only measure of tonight that killed my joy was the unsportsmanlike play of Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Mike Smith. Here is a guy who I thought did a splendid job backing up Marty Turco in Dallas and who I was extremely excited for to see start in Tampa Bay. But his play tonight spoke truly for itself.

The stick swinging and cross checking that Smith threw at Rangers forward Aaron Voros was sickening.

You may not care Mike, but you just lost the respect of a fan of yours. Not only that, you were just dropped from my fantasy team. Here's to hoping no one picks up your classless behind.

Guess you haven't learned anything from Turco and Olag Kolzig.

A special congrats: Goes straight out to our boy Chris Drury. You proved the nay sayers tonight with your remarkable power play goals and that beautiful shorthanded goal.

Andres Jamtin leaves Hartford; returns to Sweden

J. Ragus — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:18:41 GMT

Winger Andres Jamtin, who was compared to Sean Avery with more of a deadlier skate, left the Hartford Wolfpack today.

Sources say he returned to Sweden where he may very well have a deal already.

Thank you Kenny Albert

J. Ragus — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:00:17 GMT

Last night Kenny Albert, the Rangers radio play by play announcer, joined Ranger Nation Radio hosts Randy Sobel and Steve Karas at 10pm.

If you missed it you can go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nyrnationradio and listen to the show.

We at Ranger Nation wanted to thank Kenny for joining us. Not only is he a classy individual but a great personality and we look forward to having Kenny back on in the near future.

Next week's guest will be announced soon.

If you have any questions and/or comments for the hosts or any of our future guests you can email them to radio@nyrnation.com or call in when the show is live at 1-347-884-8692

Isles embarrass Rangers (A loss well deserved Part 2)

J. Ragus — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:56:05 GMT

This should not have happend at Madison Square Garden.

The roster and the problems for the Rangers could easily be fixed but Tom Renney and Glen Sather are in dream land right now. If they are banking on Mats Sundin signing for Patrick Rissmillers $1 million or if they got something else cooking who knows, but this should not be happening.

The main cause of tonight, Michal Rozsival, could easily be rid of. Granted, right now he is untradeable, but at this moment just waive him and hope someone claims him. Eat the $2.5 million you would owe for half his salary this year and bring up a young, hungry player in Corey Potter.

Hey, I would even package him with Dawes and/or Prucha. Throw Rissmiller in also if a team is dumb enough to take this mistake also.

Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev were starting to score next to Scott Gomez. Why was Zherdev on the third line with Aaron Voros and Brandon Dubinsky?

These line changes, coaching decisions and the sporadic play of Rozsival are killing the New York Rangers.

Also, take notice that Dmitri Kalinin and Wade Redden actually play more solid on the ice when Rozsival isn't near them. Just some food for though.

Fix the problems, they are easy to fix Glen and Tom.

A loss well deserved

J. Ragus — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:43:02 GMT

Tonight's debacle was a well deserved loss for the New York Rangers.

A reality check you might say.

After taking a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period, the Rangers started to get lazy on defense and skating hard for pucks up against the boards and in the corners.

After Toronto scored it's first goal of the evening, Michal Rozsival made yet another incoherent, close eyed pass which was intercepted by Toronto and a quick goal to tie the game up at 2-2.

Fine, we are used to Rozsival making these kind of passes, actually he makes more than one a game way to often but the momentum went strictly into the favor of Toronto at this point who scored 5 unanswered goals to win the game by a final score of 5-2.

Also, I was being yelled at in the Ranger Nation chat room by Rozi fans during the game for expressing my concerns of having him on this team. First off, he doesn't deserve or warrant a $5 million a year deal and secondly, I think he is a huge liability on the ice. That's probably why Marc Staal was ripped from his wing and put under Paul Mara's which he is prospering under.

Just think, Rozi's $20 million 4 year deal could actually help the Rangers lose Nikolai Zherdev, Marc Staal or Brandon Dubinsky this coming offseason. Is it worth it?

Granted, Rozsival isn't a TERRIBLE defensemen but he also isn't a good one either. I honestly believe Corey Potter could come up and take his spot and no one would even miss the guy, for alot less money also.

My answer: move Rozisval.

Also, poor coaching decisions by Tom Renney, who I also blame this loss on.

After the 2nd and/or 3rd goals, why wasn't the checking line sent out onto the ice to try and take the momentum away from Toronto? A fight by Colton Orr or the defensive skills of Blair Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom along with the amazing defensive line of Marc Staal and Paul Mara I believe could have easily helped the Rangers gain back some of that edge.

Terrible loss, but a well deserved one.

*Hopefully my writing made sense tonight. I am still recovering from an emergency operation to remove my appendix and boy those pain killers are making me loopy!

The best has yet to come

J. Ragus — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:37:05 GMT

Last nights game against the Thrashers told us one thing, there is more to come.

The Rangers right now are firing on all cylinders. Can the team stay this cohesive with one another because right now they are clicking as best as they could be. Passes are being made, shots are being taken and Henrik Lundqvist is showing why he is one of, if not the, top goalie in the league.

Last night also showed us a few things. It showed us that Paul Mara is finally being let loose by Tom Renney, he is playing the game he knows. Not only that, he is making Marc Staal out to be an even better defensemen. This team has just been tops.

Michal Rozsival is another story. Rozi and Dmitri Kalinin just aren't clicking. Although I like what I see from Kalinin at times, I just don't like Rozi on this team at all.

Last night when he was wide open he wouldn't shoot the puck, constantly making bad pass after bad pass to Wade Redden and Scott Gomez. Finally, he shoots the puck. But he was covered man to man by an Atlanta player which swallowed up the puck.

His constant turnovers and bad shot selections means he needs to be off this power play unit and Mara should get his chance to shine. Mara's shot is just as hard and probably even more accurate considering he is not afraid to take a shot.

I believe if Renney and Perry Pearn finally take Rozi off this power play unit that it will begin to shine and score even more goals.

Give it a chance, if Mara doesn't work than put Daniel Girardi on it. He loves to shoot also.

Hugh Jessiman traded

J. Ragus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:38:39 GMT

The Hugh Jessiman experiment on Broadway is finally over. Wait a minute, did he even make it to Broadway?

The Rangers traded Jessiman to the Nashville Predators for future considerations. Considering the Rangers could get rid of Ryan Hollweg, I knew there would be a market for Hugh!

Rumor is the Predators offered up a bag of hockey sticks and a few dozen pucks for Jessiman but I have yet to confirm that.

It's amazing. The great hockey genius that Sather is and he passed up on Ryan Getzlaf, Zach Parise, Mike Richards and other notable names just to select the Connecticut born Jessiman, who grew up rooting for the Blueshirts.

Yeah, who wants Getzlaf anyway! =*(

Kenny Albert on Ranger Nation Radio

The Nation — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:26:44 GMT

On Wednesday, November 5th at 10pm EST Kenny Albert will be joining hosts Randy Sobel and Steve Karas on Ranger Nation Radio.

Kenny Albert is the New York Rangers play by play radio announcer. He will be talking Rangers hockey and hopefully will take some fan call in's also.

This is definitely not a show to miss. Head over to www.blogtalkradio.com/nyrnationradio

Future guests to be announced soon.

Thank god baseball is over....

J. Ragus — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:40:04 GMT

And your World Series MVP is Philadelphia......... THE UMPIRES! Blown call after blown call which the umps came out and said a day later is what gave you runs.

Thank god the slowest, laziest sport is now over. On to hockey!

P.S. Yes, if the Mets won I would be happy. Philly fans have a right to be happy. But I think they would be happier if they won it without the umpires crappy calls in their favor. It's ashame because Tampa Bay really deserved this after the killer season they had.

Korpikoski sent to Hartford

The Nation — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:29:00 GMT

Another player who never got a chance to shine on Broadway was sent packing today.

Lauri Korpikoski will now be playing minutes for the Hartford Wolfpack instead of the New York Rangers. A line of Dan Fritsche, Patrick Rissmiller and Petr Prucha was on the ice today for practice giving everyone the hint that "Korpedo" was going to be sent down.

Whose Line is it Anyway?

Randy Sobel — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:13:07 GMT

We have seen this all before. Tom Renney doesn't like a line one night and decides to change it until he sees point production from them. In nine games this season Renney has changed the lines just about every night since Prague in order to give them the best chance to win. It has worked for some lines, other not so much. Oh and we can address the defense as well all on todays game show Whose Line is it Anyway!!!

Now we start off by praising the two men leading the Rangers are two of the top ten point scorers in the league thus far. Ladies and gentlemen Brandon Dubinsky and Aaron Voros! We know the story of the Playstation Line, how Dubi added Voros to his line on NHL '09 and the next day they are skating together. Along with Nikolai Zherdev its our top line without question. They have good chemistry together so far and they are practically the only line that scores. The line deserves an A for their work so far.

Jumbled up lines elsewhere are lines 1 and 3. We start the season off with the letter line putting Drury and Gomez together although they are both Centers. That's bad move number one. The talent is there on that line yes, but you must understand that both players are playmakers. Drury hasn't played on the wing since his days in Colorado, it isn't easy easy as switching from Center Field to Left Field. The captain whose making the most money to play center needs to play there end of story. Most of the time we saw Gomez skate down with the puck having only Rozival open who'd end up getting the puck taken away. Not a warm New York welcome for Markus Naslund in this mix.

The change is good. Gomez now centers a line for Callahan and the everchanging monster of Dawes/Prucha/Fritsche. I see Cally and Gomez having good chemistry thus far, they need to score more goals like the one Cally had in Detroit. Perfect formula for a successful line. Keep Dawes around, he hasn't been useless yet. He just needs to remember what game he plays. But I wouldn't choose a new scratch every night unless Renney knows something will just not work.

I think Drury and Naslund will be able to help Korpikowski big time. He'll get the best opportunities on that line. Before you give him the opportunities, lets hope Drury and Naslund can invent them. Two big game veterans I have no doubt that they'll start to gain chemistry soon enough. Don't go crazy, we haven't won a cup just yet.

I don't think I have major criticism on the 4th line. They do their job as Penalty Killers, and keeping the puck out of our zone. Orr is always a threat to fight, he's becoming one of the top fighters in the league. And Sjostrom's talents are outstanding. I love his puck handling and he's a proven shoot out threat. Betts is Betts, he keeps playing we'll keep paying he's doing just fine, even has a goal so far for his efforts.

The defensive pairing I think needs a little tweaking. Staal needs to play with Rozival first off. You have good speed in Staal who can move up ice with the puck and keep Rozival back to defend in front of the net or come in for a big hit. This would switch the other pairings to possibly Redden and Mara. Mara has been solid with the hits so far this year, if he works with Mara it might even give him a few more chances offensively as well.

The blog is being put out a bit later then I intended it to. So I know they made some changes today in practice. Basically this whole blog has now become irrelevant. But guess what! You still read it! The genius must still be there!

Rissmiller clears waivers

J. Ragus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:57:43 GMT

A $3 million investment will now be buried some where on the Hartford Wolfpack roster. One wonders what was going through Sather's head when he signed this kid.

Can he help? I am sure with regular ice time he can, but with the forward system being packed I doubt you will see him again. Plus if he comes back up he must go through waivers again and the Rangers wouldn't want to be on hook for his salary if another team takes him.

Will he be traded? Maybe in a package, but I don't see someone swapping for just him.

Rissmiller placed on waivers

The Nation — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:09:11 GMT

Well that didn't take to long.

At least I know my answer now to the question of "Why did Slats sign this kid in the first place?".

Let's see if anyone claims him.

Sorry to all our fans & members

The Nation — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:28:19 GMT

I am real sorry I have not updated the blog as of late.

I had to have an emergency appendectomy on Friday. Boy, did that suck! I am recuperating at home as I write this and will be back this week!

Thank you all for your well wishes and for sticking with Ranger Nation.

Ooh La La! It's Princess Avery!

Randy Sobel — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:15:21 GMT

Wednesday October, 8th may have been the most boring day for sports news since baseball season began. Absolutely no professional games the Tuesday night prior, and very little to stir the pot with. Hmm... You know? I wonder how the SportsCenter creative team prepared for this lackluster news program. I'm sure it went something like this...

SC Executive Producer: So has Tony Romo picked out his ring for Jessica Simpson yet?

Producer #1: No he hasn't, she refuses to wear it until Jerry Jones gives him a signing bonus of 2 Mil.

SC Executive Producer: Brilliant! Let's open with it! What else can we use?

Producer #2: Well theres Stuart Scott's "Top 10 Boo Ya's" highlight reel, a doberman pincher wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, and with some spare time left we can have Hannah Storm decorate the studio with Boston Red Sox Fatheads!

SC Executive Producer: Terrific!

Producer #3: Ummm guys... I know this seems weird, but it feels like we're missing a sport.

Producer #1: Is it Badmitten season already?

Producer #3: No, but if memory serves me correctly it does involve a net.

SC Executive Producer: Oh, right. The NHL. Didn't they move to some foreign country or something?

Producer #2: No, they played four games in Europe last weekend. This week begins their season we should probably do a preview or something?

SC Executive Producer: Didn't we already do that last year?

Producer #1: Hey! I got an idea! Why don't we show that piece cut on Sean Avery becoming a fashion intern? That would totally get the audience ready for hockey season!

SC Executive Producer: Perfect! Throw it on after the dog!

Naaa hockey would never take a backseat on their programming! Before we continue to digress, ESPN decided to show this fashion piece on Sean Avery instead of doing the obvious preparation for hockey season. And yeah, we all knew some interesting things about Sean during his tenure here. The women he dates, the clothes he wears, etc. But the truth has finally come out, and it's all good reason to either no longer be fearful of him, or even more so.

He admitted that he never thought he was gonna be an athlete growing up. He was more into dressing up his babysitters dolls then rolling around in the mud with Tonka Trucks. His young boy hobbies were not collecting baseball cards or playing with Batman action figures. He enjoyed the fine, vibrant, silky smooth looks of women's clothing. "It's probably my desire for dress up that brings me back to women's clothing." said Avery in the interview.

Handbags, sun bonnets, and evening gowns. Just a few of Sean's many passions off the ice. It was even on his mind during last years playoffs when he decided to write a letter to the editor of fashion magazine Vogue asking if he could intern with them. He spent the entire summer critiquing high heels and coach bags, and when New York Fashion Week came along, he was sitting alongside Wynonna Rider and Martha Stewart watching the clothes go by on the runway.

Well we all know if he was commissioner of the NHL, he'd be able to beat out Bettman for Best Dressed. He also thinks he would do a much better job at marketing the sport. (Though even a mule could do a better job) Avery stated "They haven't figured it out that villains and heroes are what sells... Nobody cares about Jerome Iginla and guys like that. They're just not exciting enough." Wow. Good point. The only time I ever really cared about Jerome Iginla was when I had the 7th pick in my fantasy draft and he was the best available.

So when the Stars come to town October 20th, the Rangers have nothing to worry about. If Avery gets in someone's face, it probably because their skate laces didn't match their jersey stripes, or their helmet is the wrong tint of blue. It's sad to see, but the current style trends are much more complex then a Scandanavian mullet and a gapped tooth grin. You can check out the piece in it's entirety here. sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3632996

Oh by the way, no. 1 on Stuart Scott's Top 10 list of BOO YA's, a Joe McEwing two run Homer.