The Best Time of the Year.

The New York Rangers may still have 17 games left in their season but for the prospects it is playoff time as the march towards championships begin. Already we have one elimination, one sudden death survival and one message sent about a prospect.

Tonight's Star: Derek Stepan

The Rangers 2008 second round pick had an impressive game as his Wisconsin Badgers wrapped up their 2008 WCHA regular season. Stepan had 2 goals including the game winner as his Badgers ended their regular season with a 4-1 win over North Dakota.

What made those goals even more impressive as they were back to back shorthanded marker 2 minutes apart for the freshman out of Hastings Minnesota. It was just the third time in Badger's history that a Badger had scored 2 shorthanded goals in a period and the first time since 1978.

Someone forgot to tell Stepan that he was supposed to be just a one way player who would struggle under the defensive minded Badger coach Mike Eaves. Stepan for the second straight game was the Badger's first line center which also is quite the accomplishment for a freshman.

Stepan got his night going in the second period as he took a pass from teammate Andy Bohmbach, skated in on a 2 on 1, fired a beauty of a shot from the mid circle that beat Brad Eidsness at 9:30 of the second period for Stepan's 7th goal of the season, a 2-1 Badger lead and the game winner.

At 11:12 on the same North Dakota power play, Stepan and Bohmbach teamed up again for another 2 on 1 that this time Stepan scored from the hash marks for his 8th goal of the season and a 3-1 Badger lead.

Stepan finishes his freshman season 8-22-30 and now gets ready for the WCHA playoffs as the Badgers will be hosting Minnesota State in the best of 3 series for the right to play in one of the most unique tournaments in college hockey; "The Final Five".

The Rest of the Prospects

We have our first season ender as Greg Beller and his Manitoba Bisons lost to the Regina Cougar 1-0 and were swept out of their Canada West series 2 games to none. Beller missed the series for the typical reasons playoff series unknown reason. Beller finishes his first season with the Bison 1-2-3 in 9 games.

Staying alive though thanks to a thrilling double overtime win was Max Campbell and his Western Michigan Broncos as they tied their series at 1-1 with a 4-3 win over Lake Superior State. Campbell had an assist on the Bronco's second goal and had several good scoring chances during this game.

Now Campbell and his teammates face a third and deciding game on Sunday at 7:30 EDT, we are waiting for word on broadcast info and will update it when we get it.

Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets spotted the Vancouver Giants a 2-0 lead then rallied for an exciting 3-2 overtime win. The Rockets won their 4th straight game, are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10 and are heading to the WHL playoffs on a roll.

Dowzak was scoreless and a -1 for the game but was key in keeping the Giant's leaders Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel off the scoresheet. Rockets now have won 3 straight against the Giants which might become important should the 2 teams meet in the playoffs.

Tomas Kundratek and his Medicine Hat Tigers though have been heading in the opposite direction as they lost to the Kootenay Ice 4-1 as Kundratek's scoreless streak has now reached 7 games.

The Tigers have lost 2 in a row but are 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Mitch Gaulton got to play for his Erie Otters but might have been better off staying on the bench as he was a -2 as the Otters lost to the Kitchener Rangers 4-2. Gaulton has been in Robbie Ftorek's doghouse for not being in game shape but to his credit Gaulton acknowledges that it is his fault.

Danny Hobbs went from starting right wing to healthy scratch as his UMass Minutemen whipped on Merrimack 6-1 to finish their Hockey East season at 15-18-3. The Minutemen now wait to see who they face in the Hockey East quarterfinals next weekend.

(Derek Stepan courtesy of the Wisconsin Badgers)

Friday Fun

Someone forgot to tell New York Ranger prospects that Saturday is when they normally do not put up numbers as Friday has been their strong night. Not this week as the output of Ranger prospects was 1 goal and 3 assists.

Evgeny Grachev is now just one point away from tying the Brampton Battalion single season scoring record by a first year player held by Jason Spezza after scoring his 38th goal of the season. That was the only highlight for the Battalion as they lost to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 4-1.

Grachev is now 38-32-70 as he leads Chris Doyle now by 2 points in the race for the Prospect Scoring title. As for the Battalion; the loss was costly as the Battalion fell 2 points behind the Belleville Bulls in the battle for the top seed in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

Michael Del Zotto set up the London Knight's first goal as the Knights defeated the Kitchener Rangers for the 2nd night in a row this time 5-3. Del Zotto now as points in 4 straight games (0-6-6) is at 61 points as he tries to top his career high of 63 set last year with just 3 regular season games remaining.

Max Campbell had 2 assists but his Western Michigan Broncos dropped game one of their best of three CCHA playoff series with Lake Superior State 6-3. Lake Superior State jumped out to 5-0 lead and then coasted from there.

In a way this is a great chance for us to see how Campbell handles playing in must win games as the Broncos now must win 2 straight in order to advance to the second round of the CCHA playoffs.

Chris Doyle saw his 3 game scoring streak come to an end as his Prince Edward Island Rocket lost to the Lewiston MAINEaics 5-3. Doyle was held to just 3 shots while going 3-2 on faceoffs.

Antoine Lafleur may have gotten himself a new lease on life as current Rouyn-Noranda Huskie's starting goalie Mikael Audette gave up 6 goals before giving way to Lafleur in the Huskies 6-3 loss to the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

Lafleur entered the game at 3:08 of the third period and stopped all 6 shots that he faced. It remains to be seen if Lafleur will be given the against the same Foreurs on Sunday but if he does then he had best play the game of the season.

Tysen Dowzak had a very quiet night as his Kelowna Rockets defeated the Chilliwack Bruins 3-1. The win coupled with Spokane's loss moved the Rockets into the 3rd seed in the WHL's Western Conference.

Tomas Kundratek also had a quiet evening as his Medicine Hat Tigers had a 3-1 lead but gave up 3 goals to lose to the Regina Pats 4-3. The Tigers now are the 5th seed in the WHL's Eastern Conference trailing the Swift Current Broncos by 3 points with 4 regular season games remaining.

Mitch Gaulton got to sit on the bench but did not play as his Erie Otters earned a 1-0 overtime win over the Sarina Sting. The win moved the 7th place Otters to within 3 points of the 5th place Sting in the OHL's Western Conference.

Derek Stepan and his Wisconsin Badgers are winless in their last 5 games as they dropped a 2-1 decision to North Dakota. Despite the loss the Badgers did clinch home ice advantage for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Stepan was the starting center but he was held scoreless and held to just 3 shots. With a 16-15-3 record, the only way that we see the Badgers earning a trip to the NCAAs will be by winning the WCHA tournament.

After spending most of the season as either a healthy scratch or a 4th liner, Danny Hobbs was the starting right wing for the UMass Minutemen. It did not help either Hobbs or the Minutemen as they lost to the Merrimack Warriors 3-2 in overtime.

Hobbs was scoreless but has to take heart that the UMass coach staff wanted to show some confidence in the freshmen after the struggle this season has been for him.

The Del Zotto/Grachev Shot

There are two very good reasons why when we hear The Sather speak about New York Ranger young players that we get very nervous. The first is Michael Del Zotto and the second Evgeny Grachev as every time The Sather says he is not going to move young players we do not trust him because his actions always say otherwise.

A prospect like a Michael Del Zotto is going to need time to develop into a full time Ranger contributor IF he is given a real chance to develop. Yes people can argue that the Rangers should have taken his current teammate John Carlson but the deed is done and Del Zotto is no slouch.

On Thursday, Del Zotto's playmaking skills showed exactly what the Rangers are missing. Del Zotto had 3 assists as his London Knights blew out the Kitchener Rangers 7-1.

And want to know what is even better about all 3 assists? They all came on the power play which as we have been saying is the Del Zotto future for the Rangers as the power play quarterback.

Del Zotto got his night going by setting up John Carlson for the Knight's first goal at 5:14 of the second period. Del Zotto then got a secondary assist on John Tavare's 53rd goal at 14:35 which gave the Knights a 4-1 lead.

Del Zotto then completed the assist hat trick in the 3rd period on Tavare's 54th goal at 15:29 to finish the scoring for the Knights. Del Zotto is now on a 3 game scoring streak (0-5-5) to bring his season numbers to 11-49-60.

Then there is Evgeny Grachev who's 37th goal of the season proved to be the game winner as Grachev's Brampton Battalion whipped the Niagara IceDogs 5-2 to win their fourth straight and move into first place in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

The Godzilla bag of tricks was used once again as this Grachev goal was taking a pass from Thomas Stajan, cutting across the mid slot and using a screen fired a low shot that the Niagara goalie never had a chance on.

Grachev also added an assist as the Ranger's 2008 3rd round pick improved his season's totals to 37-32-69 and back into the Ranger prospect scoring lead by one point over Chris Doyle.

Grachev is also just 2 points away from tying the Brampton single season scoring record by a first year player. With 5 games remaining in the OHL regular season 80 points may be out of the question but 40 goals remains a realistic target for Grachev.

And just for the record, in the 5 years of covering Ranger prospects this is going to be just the first time where we will have 3 Ranger prospects with 60 points or more in the same season. The best in the past was 2 players (Callahan and Dubinsky)

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Too late to make it in yesterday's report but Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets defeated last season's Memorial Cup champs the Spokane Chiefs 4-1. Dowzak was scoreless but a +1 on the evening.

The Rockets and Chiefs are fighting it out for the 3rd seed in the WHL's Western Conference and with the win, the Rockets pulled within 1 point of the 3rd seed Chiefs. Finishing in 3rd will offers the potential of avoiding the Vancouver Giants until the conference finals.

Speaking of Dowzak, Rocket's announcer Regan Bartel did a min-video interview with Dowzak that he posted to Bartel's blog Regan's Rants. Take a peek.

(Picture credits: Del Zotto/Rangers, Grachev/Brampton)

Cmon It Is The Sather (Updated with Prospects)

The month of March has been like a switch for Chris Doyle of the Prince Edward Island Rocket. 3 games into March and Doyle has 6 points to show for it (3-3-6).

On Wednesday Doyle scored 2 goals in a losing effort as Doyle's PEI Rocket fell to the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3. For Doyle it was his 27th and 28th goal of the season as he set new career highs in both goals (28) and points (68).

With the 2 goals, Doyle also reclaims the lead in the Ranger prospect scoring race as his 68 points leads Evgeny Grachev by one point. One has to wonder what has happened to restart Doyle's season but give the days events it is best not question just hope that it continues.

In the OHL, one has to wonder now why Mitch Gaulton rushed to get back on the ice with the Erie Otters. What started out as a great story about the miracle of a comeback is turning into a nightmare.

Gaulton was dressed for the Erie Otters game against the Owen Sound Attack but never got a shift as the Otters earned their first playoff spot in 4 years with a 3-1 win. While we admire Gaulton for admitting that he is not in the game shape that he needs to be in order to play.

It is hard to question Robbie Ftorek as Ftorek has turned that franchise around and as a former NHL player and coach, Ftorek is also the right guy to help Gaulton to develop into a player.

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Now as for the day's events

So were you really all that surprised that when it came to making a deal that your pal The Sather turned to an old friend and a former employee? Are the Rangers any better after these trades? Not really as once again Sather is gambling that a change of scenery will fix things.

The real answer is of course no because The Sather Karma tells you that higher paid players tend to fail in The Sather Reign of Error. We are supposed to accept that giving up 3 players and 1 sure (possibly a second) draft pick is the way to fix the flaws in the Ranger roster.

Once again The Sather does not think that Ranger fans have a brain, and can not think for themselves. Then again The Sather really does not care what you the Ranger fan thinks anyway; just shut up and give him your money has been his attitude.

It is about making moves and praying that they will work, that has been the basis of the moves made by The Sather in 9 seasons. Other than the Jagr charity trade from the Caps have backfired over and over.

Do either trade fix the problems with Chris Drury or Scott Gomez? Really the Rangers have tried everyone but Alexander Daigle with Gomez and nobody has been able to mesh long term with Gomez.

Chris Drury has badly needed a playmaker like former teammate Daniel Briere the last 2 years as nobody seems to be able to feed him the puck in scoring positions. This is nothing against Antropov but he is a scorer not a creator.

The Rangers say that Antropov adds size to the Ranger forward line but the question is where and with whom? The Sather has made it a habit of adding players who as individuals have talent but not been able to mesh with the current roster.

There is another concern that is not being spoken out loud which is the Antropov knees. Antropov has been healthy for the last couple of years but we all know what The Sather karma means.

Watch the karma cause Antropov to suffer a knee injury against the Islanders on Thursday as it is the way of The Sather.

Then you have to also look at what Brian Burke said about what he got out of The Sather:

“If you look at a timeline here, I don’t think we had a prayer of getting a second-round pick for this player until about a month ago when I confronted him publicly. His play improved after that. If you asked me a month ago if I would have gotten a second, I would have said no. His play improved over that time, so I think it’s fair value.”

Wow a player who has done well for all of a month can get you a 2nd round pick, bet The Sather must be jumping for joy that he fleeced his best friend by not giving him a first round pick.

Then again there is Don Maloney who gets needed depth for his younger roster while dumping a huge salary of a player that had no future with his team. Maloney gets 2 younger players who could very well fit right in with the future of the Coyotes.

Yes they could be restricted free agents after this season, Maloney can either keep both with 10% raises or if they sign with other teams get some draft picks. Every single person who emailed me about this deal said that Dawes is in a place where they will get the most out of his talent.

In the end the Rangers could wind up with nothing at all out of this deal given how neither Morris or Antropov has a contract for next year.

And what few who write about the Rangers have mentioned is those who are fighting with the Rangers for a playoff spot might have done a better job at addressing their needs than the Rangers.

The team to fear in our eyes is the Pens who added Chris Kuntiz and Bill Guerin with the Hurricanes (Eric Cole) a close second.

The Sather did not do that, he added a couple of question marks who once again the Rangers are rolling the dice and hoping it works.

The smart money says don't bet on The Sather.

(Chris Doyle courtesy of PEI Rocket)

Psst Chris Doyle Is Back

Tonight's Star Chris Doyle

So just when we were ready to call Chris Doyle a "one half wonder" does his scoring touch reappear as it did on Tuesday evening as Doyle's 3 points helped his Prince Edward Island Rocket to a 7-5 come from behind win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Doyle's 26th goal of the season at 7:43 of the third period broke a 5-5 tie and turned out to be the game winning goal as the Rocket came back from being down 4-2 to earn the win.

Doyle had assists on the Rocket's 1st goal as well as their 7th goal as the New York Ranger's 2008 5th round pick notched his 7th 3 point or more game of the season. After scoring just 5 points in 8 games during the month of February, Doyle has already equaled that output in just 2 games.

With the 3 points, Doyle has moved back to within 1 point of Evgeny Grachev as Doyle is at 26-40-66. Doyle on the season leads the prospects in several areas, 13 power play goals, 75 PIMs but also a -18.

We do not expect Doyle to be offered a Ranger's contract this off-season as the combination of his back injury, scoring slowdown as well having another year of junior eligibility will send him back to the QMJHL next season.

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Another player who has some serious question marks about his future is 2007 second round pick Antoine Lafleur who got a chance to start for the first time since February 20th. Sadly for Lafleur the break did not help him end a personal losing streak which now stands at 4 games.

Lafleur only gave up 2 goals but his Rouyn-Noranda Huskies could only score on goal as the Huskies dropped a 3-1 decision to the Gatineau Olympiques. Lafleur played much better then he has been showing but instead of defensive support from his team there was no offense.

Lafleur one has to wonder if the Rangers are going to offer him a contract before their rights to him expire. When Lafleur has been around Benoit Allaire then his play has been solid, away from the Ranger's goalie coach the play has been marred by inconsistency.

Lafleur drives us nuts because we see the 6'5 size that covers a ton of the ice, we see a player who when he has his game can be a very solid goalie. The problem is that we have not seen any kind of long term consistency out of him that a winning goalie has to have.

If it was up to us then right now Lafleur needs a major showing in the QMJHL playoffs to earn a professional contract. A 12-14 record with a 3.59 GAA but a very alarming 0.864 save percentage are not the kinds of numbers that say future Ranger.

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Call this the hat trick on frustrating New York Ranger prospects as Tomas Kundratek in his own way is the most mind boggling for us this season.

Like the other two, Tomas Kundratek has talent, he has a lot of skill on offense and he has the desire to be a physical defender. The problem is that we wonder if Kundratek knows what kind of player he wants to be.

Kundratek and his Medicine Hat Tigers had little problem with the Moose Jaw Warriors winning 5-1. Kundratek was scoreless for the 5th straight game but at least found a way to stay out of the penalty box or not get into a fight.

Off all the Ranger prospects, Tomas Kundratek and Derek Stepan are the 2 most likely to have the most success in the John Tortorella system. However Kundratek as of late has not done much at either end of the ice.

With Kundratek it has been either a good game on offense or a good game on defense, that is not going to help him make it to the NHL. Kundratek gets some slack because this is his first year in North America but at this point of the season there is less and less slack for one of the 2008 3rd round picks.

Kundratek is the needed 2 way defender who we believe Tortorella wants for his up tempo system. Kundratek has the passing skills to help spring the forwards on their way up the ice while playing the smart defense needed to cover up in case of odd man rushes.

What we are not seeing is an all around game that we know Kundratek is very capable of putting out. We have seen the defense which is a physical in your face style, we have seen the offense which is a smart passing game but not both in the same game.

Kundratek unlike the other two already has a professional contract signed but one has to wonder if he is going to be ready to make the jump to the AHL. Kundratek needs to improve his upper body and do some maturing on the ice.


(Pictures: Doyle/PEI, Lafleur/Rouyn-Noranda, Kundratek/Tim Machan(Medicine Hat))

Stop The Insanity

OK people gather together here as we need to sit down and have a chat. I want you to take a good hard <---------- look at this picture and ask yourself this question:

If Glen Sather could not be trusted to screw in a lightbulb without somehow messing it up; how exactly can any sane Ranger fan actually think that he will make the kind of trades to right the mess that he himself created?

Repeat after me, nine years of Sather; nine very long years with Glen Sather, nine very long and very frustrating years of Glen Sather as Ranger's General Manager.

Yet the Sather appears to have found a way to blind many a Ranger fan these days. All he had to do was hire John Tortorella to replace Tom Renney and Ranger fans now think that this year's team can make a run at the post season.

One win over the Avalanche has many a Ranger fans thinking over various possible moves that could save the season. Those same folks who were calling for the head of Sather not even a week ago seem to have forgotten who they are trusting to make these kinds of moves.

I really hate to be the bad guy here but whipping on the Colorado Avalanche should not give anyone the belief that the Rangers are going to become a better team with a couple of moves. More exciting under Tortorella yes but hello those AHL Islanders defeated those same Avalanche 4-2 on Monday evening in a game that even Versus wishes they did not have to show.

Really now people, Glen Sather the same person who gave you Wade Redden is the person is going to fix his mistakes by making even more moves. Put the blindfold on me and let me try to cross Times Square at rush hour as I have a better chance of not getting hit than Sather does making the kinds of moves needed to fix the Rangers.

Ranger fans want Jay Bouwmeester but they have a better chance at getting Derek Morris only because the Coyotes want to dump him for something and will find someone dumb enough to take Morris and remainder of the salary he carries with him. Sather will say he needs a chance to fix himself despite that drop in point production and a -13.

Ranger fans want Keith Tkachuk but now that the Blues think they have a shot at the playoffs, he is staying put. Instead picture a Ranger locker room with Darcy Tucker and Sean Avery as roommates as well as locker room leaders defending that logo on the locker room carpet.

Hey maybe Sather can find a way to make a deal with TSN for Matthew Barnaby as he might be available for the right price.

Oh heck this is Glen Sather people, the hero who gave you Sister Christian last year (and I still have Blues fans laughing at me over that deal). The only decent moves that Sather ever made were those of players that nobody else was not wanting like Avery or Zherdev because of their reps.

The Rangers need to move salary before they can move players, the problem is that hardly anyone wants the Ranger salary problems unless they can also take a couple of Ranger gems as well.

For every possible deal involving a Redden or Gomez, there is also a demand that a Del Zotto, Anisimov or Sanguinetti be included as well. Not to mention that other teams are also wanting a first or second draft pick which the Rangers simply can not afford to give away at this point in time.

Glen Sather is not going to be able to find the miracle players who can shore up a very bad defense. Glen Sather is not going to find the Rangers that goal scoring sniper with an affordable contract.

Glen Sather could not even make a trade with himself without overpaying for a badly bloated contract.

Nobody wants to see the Rangers fix what is wrong with the franchise any more than I do but the best way to send this franchise on it's way to recovery would be to not let Sather make any more trades/signings.

After all hasn't he done enough already to "help" us in 9 years?

(Picture credit Sather/thegarden.com)

A So-So Sunday

Just as we were going to send out a New York Ranger's Prospect missing persons alert on him, Chris Doyle showed some signs of life with a goal and an assist on Sunday. Doyle and his Prince Edward Island Rocket thanks to 3 goals in the 3rd period defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 6-3.

It was Doyle's 25th goal of the season at 1:11 of the first period that got the Rocket's going. Doyle also added his 38th assist of the season on PEI's 3rd goal to bring his season's numbers to 25-38-63 which is good for second place among Ranger prospects.

Doyle despite the game is someone who we believe is playing hurt as his numbers even with his effort on Sunday have been going south since the first of the year.

Doyle's stock has dropped because of his injury and his best hope for a future contract will be returning to the QMJHL for another season.

Michael Del Zotto had an assist to go along with a +3 to get his March going as Del Zotto's London Knights had no problem with the Kingston Frontenacs 7-2. Del Zotto's assist was his prospect leading 46th and came on the Knight's 6th goal on the power play.

For Del Zotto, while his offense was quiet his defense has been improving as the OHL regular season winds down. The Knights have long clinched their playoff position so the hard part now is to finish the regular season without injury while getting ready for the playoffs.

For Del Zotto these are the ideal times for him to be working on the parts of his game as the OHL playoffs are going to be where both the Rangers and Del Zotto will see how advanced Del Zotto has developed.

Our belief is that Del Zotto is going to have a very strong playoff run which will help knock a year off his development.

We have a new first for Evgeny Grachev; in the Brampton Battalion's 7-0 win over the Peterborough Petes marked the first time that Grachev did not register any points in the first game of the month. In 5 previous monthly openers, Grachev was 3-5-8 but guess that shows he is not perfect.

Grachev had a quiet game as Brampton coach Stan Butler used this blowout to try to rest some of his players (playing their 3rd game in 4 nights) so he changed up lines and rested his star players.

The win for the Battalion clinched the OHL's Central Division title and not worse than the 2nd seed in the OHL's Eastern Conference. The win did help the Battalion pull within 2 points of the Belleville Bulls.

Mitch Gaulton and his Erie Otters had a chance to clinch their first OHL playoff spot since the 2005 but forgot to show up until they were trailing 6-0 to the Plymouth Whalers.

The Otters made a mild run to get the score to 6-3 with Gaulton assisting on the Otter's second goal but it was too little too late.

Gaulton wound up with his first point in 6 games but the bigger question right now is: Is their a problem between Mitch Gaulton and Otter's coach Robbie Ftorek?

Victor Fernandes in his Shootout blog wrote:

Erie Otters defenseman Mitch Gaulton enters today's game against Plymouth not having earned a shift in the previous four games. Gaulton said coach Robbie Ftorek might not believe he's in game shape, although Gaulton had at least a few shifts in the first 12 games since his return from a year-long rehabilitation of his surgically repaired left elbow. Gaulton is frustrated with his lack of ice time. But he said, "I've just got to work hard and change his mind."

Gaulton earned his first shift of today's game midway through the first period. He was on defense with Brian Shaw, who's subbing for the injured Tyler Hostetter.

Gaulton will be getting some more playing time as another Otter defender is expected to be suspended for a game misconduct he received in this loss.

Finally Antoine Lafleur got to watch yet again as his Rouyn-Noranda Huskies lost to the Victoriaville Tigres 4-3 in overtime in QMJHL action. Lafleur has now been the backup for the last 4 straight games after giving up 6 goals in his last appearance.

(Pictures: Doyle/PEI Rockjet, Del Zotto/New York Rangers, Grachev/Brampton Battalion, Gaulton/Erie Otters)