Friday, April 23, 2010

On the Brink

Over the last couple of months we have gotten to talk several times with Chris Doyle and we have taken a liking to the young man from Prince Edward Island. Doyle who was the Ranger's 5th round pick in the 2008 draft has worked hard trying to make his dream of playing in the NHL come true.

It is because of the liking we have taken to Doyle that left us feeling really bad in watching his Victoriaville Tigre lose game 4 of their series to the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-1 on Friday night. The loss puts the Tigre on the brink of elimination trailing the Sea Dogs 3 games to 1.

For Doyle this will be a game he will not have any happy memories from as Doyle had a very rough night for the Tigre. Besides being scoreless, Doyle was a -5 but before anyone says anything it was more about being in the wrong place at the wrong time than anything else for Doyle.

Doyle was not responsible for the Sea Dog's scoring the 5 goals but this is going to be one of those times when the stats are going to stand out because of how nobody else came close. Doyle did try his best to get his offense going as he took 4 shots of which 2 were strong scoring chances.

The teams get the weekend off before game 5 on Monday night. We will watch if for no other reason to see how Doyle responds to this kind of evening. If it is going to be his last game of the season (and as a Ranger draft pick) then we hope for Chris that he plays his best game of his career.

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So there I am on Twitter when this "tweet" went by from Darren Dreger of TSN: "Speculation should end. Glen Sather will remain Pres+GM for the New York Rangers. More ahead as part of our intermission on TSN."

Now what I would like to know is beyond the wishful thinking and dreaming of Ranger fans who really had any hope that Glen Sather was not going to return to the Rangers? Sorry but if you want to talk about a "non-story" then this one is it.
Maybe the bigger question should be is how much effort was put into finding out something that just about everyone already knew was going to happen? OK who besides James Dolan who more than likely had to be reminded who Glen Sather was?

So as a public service to our friends up north at TSN, we here at Prospect Park would like to let you know that there is also no need for speculation as the Rangers are not going to move from New York City. The Rangers are also still going to wear blue uniforms at home with white ones on the road.


Cmon people we know it is a slow off-season and the first round of the playoffs has been basically boring as heck but come back when you have a real story for us please.

(Doyle courtesy of Katherine Ep)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

They Are Not Coming

Well if the New York Rangers were looking to add Ryan McDonagh or Derek Stepan to the professional ranks then the news out of Madison Wisconsin is not going to be good. The Wisconsin Badgers held their annual hockey awards banquet on Wednesday night and both Ranger prospects were awarded letters for next season.

McDonagh will be serving as the Badger's only captain next season after serving as one of the Tri-captains last season. Derek Stepan was named as an assistant captain with another player to be named as a second assistant next fall.

At the banquet, McDonagh was awarded two awards for his performance this past season. First was being awarded the Fenton Kelsey Jr. Most Competitive Player award for the 2nd year in the row.

What makes this award stand out is that it is voted on by his teammates and to earn it 2 straight seasons is going to make Ranger fans that much more disappointed in his decision. The other award was the W Club Community Service Award, given to the Badger who best balances his hockey success with community involvement.

Now Stepan did not take home any of the team awards; that he was named as one of the assistants should come as no surprise for those who saw Stepan as the captain of gold medal winning Team USA. We knew that Stepan was planning on returning back to Wisconsin for his junior season but this more or less seals the deal.

But it also appears that the third member of the Ranger college hopefuls Carl Hagelin is also not going to leave school either. Unconfirmed reports out of Michigan say that not only will Carl Hagelin be back for his senior season but is going to move up from assistant captain to team captain.

Hagelin who finished the season as Michigan's leading scorer in our book is making the right decision here. Hagelin had a great year there is no question about it but he has only in our eyes given one really strong effort in his off-season work.

We think improving his finishing skills as well as being a strong leader on and off the ice is only going to pay dividends for the Rangers in the future. The Rangers are looking at adding 3 prospects here who are going to be more than just players for their team but strong presences for their teammates.

On that the Rangers have to be happy especially after the words of John Tortorella on breakup day about the Ranger locker room. While any of these 3 would be a welcome addition to the Ranger system at the same time the short term disappointment will also force the Rangers to think long and very hard about how to use the 10th pick in the draft.

We also think that Hagelin and Stepan are going to go into next season as legit candidates for the Hobey Baker award which will be a first for the Rangers. But we also think the Rangers will also have a serious problem because of these 3 staying in school.

If thinks fall into place as we expect it to do then after next season, McDonagh, Stepan, Hagelin, Werek, Horak and Bourque should all sign entry level contracts. All would be 3 year deals but if the Rangers were to have all of them start as professionals at the same time then all of them would be as a unit when it came to their their 2nd contracts.

If that is the case then the hope would be that the Rangers would finally smarten up on how they spend their money. The hope has to be that these prospects along with Chris Kreider and whoever they select in the 2010 draft will force a change in the addiction to free agency that has seriously damaged the Rangers over the last 15 years.

Maybe these kids are smarter than the Rangers or at least we can hope they are.


(McDonagh and Stepan courtesy of Melody Hasse, Hagelin courtesy of Scott Galvin)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Roaring Back to Life

The cliche machine would have labeled game 3 of the series between Chris Doyle's Victoriaville Tigre and the Saint John's Sea Dogs as a "must win" for the Tigre. It would have also said the "odds were stacked against them" as Saint Johns was riding a 10 game winning streak entering game 3.

All of which means the stage was set for the Tigre to win game 3 which they did 6-3 to get right back into their QMJHL semi-final series. Chris Doyle scored his 4th goal of the playoffs as part of a 3 goal first period outburst as the Tigre for the first time in the series never let down and stayed on the attack.

For Doyle, his goal broke an 7 game streak without a goal and hopefully it will be the start of a hot streak. Doyle has had a lot to deal with during the QMJHL playoffs off the ice and has not been able to get back on track until tonight.

Doyle is still on the edge when it comes down to whether or not the Rangers will be offering him a contract before the 2010 draft. Doyle has to stand out if he has any hope of getting that professional contract.

It is not helping that if you take away his first game of the playoffs when Doyle was 2-2-4 and just 2-2-4 in his next 10 games. Doyle has an opening here and he has to take it as he may not get many other chances.

For his sake we hope Doyle realizes and understands that despite scoring a goal that he has to do more than 1 shot and 1 hit no matter whether the Tigre win or lose.

As for the series, the Tigre get to host the next 2 games at home as this series is being played in the 2-3-2 format. Game 4 will be Friday night.

(Doyle courtesy of Benoit Dery)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

It is Not Just Money

With the rumors that the New York Rangers are about to sign Norwegian scoring sensation Mats Zuccarello Aasen running wild; what really bothers us is the mindset that Ranger fans and even the Ranger beat media have.

"It only costs money" is how many a fan and media are justifying this reported move but they are wrong it is more than just money that is involved in this move. The very first thing that is wrong here is the mindset about it being just about money.

It is "just money" has been the excuse used by the Rangers for why they have become dependent on free agents both in North America and now it seems Europe. What is sad is how many Ranger fans are OK with another free agent signing and are making the case as for why this is a good move.

Last season the buzz was about Ilkka Heikkinen who was supposed to be the good move
by the Rangers. Now after spending most of the season in Hartford; Heikkinen is already looking to return to Europe.

Heikkinen was supposed to be the best defensemen out of Finland, how he was going to help the Rangers but as we saw he just was not NHL material. But we will remind you that Ranger fans wanted this player too.

Once again a European is going to come over with a lot of hype about how much he is going to help the Rangers. Yes he played well in the Olympics for Norway and yes he led the Swedish Elite League in scoring but to see people thinking that here is the answer to take the pressure off Gaborik is a bit much.

Want to talk about setting a guy up for failure before he has even been officially announced as a member of the Rangers. But still it is more than just the more involved here as too many are looking at Hartford as a dumping ground for Ranger mistakes.

That is not what the Hartford Wolfpack are supposed to be used for; they are supposed to be where the Rangers try to develop players for the future. Great keep sending Ranger mistakes to Hartford which in turn takes up roster space from a player who should be there trying to develop.

It is more than "just money" as it is a contract that counts against the 50 contract limit so if the 5'7, 5'6 or whatever his size is does not make it then one more wasted contract. The Rangers already have a ton of them.

And please spare me that the Swedish Elite League is a very good league because it is still below the level of the NHL. And just because the Rangers are going to sign him should not be viewed as a sign that the Rangers are being pro-active in fixing their mistakes.

They do these kinds of moves every year as Mats Zuccarello-Aasen is just another in a list of European prayers that the Rangers have tried. So while people are just saying "It is just money", "it is worth the gamble as they can always send him to Hartford" and more; what is being forgotten is that the Rangers have been tossing money at their problems for more than a decade and look how well that has worked.

Maybe instead of tossing money all the time what they should be doing is developing their own players so they have a team chemistry rather than spending money and then crossing your fingers hoping it will work.

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Computer issues kept us from reporting on the outcome of Game 2 of the Victoriaville Tigres/Saint John Sea Dogs but it did not make much of a difference for Chris Doyle and his Tigre. The Tigre lost Game 2 5-1 to fall behind in their series 2 games to none.

Chris Doyle had a secondary assist on the Tigre's only goal but the Tigre just can not solve the Sea Dog's defense. As in game 1, the Tigre took a first period lead but the lead did not make it out of the first period. 

It is as if scoring first just makes the Sea Dogs mad as they took control of the game in the 2nd and 3rd periods with 4 goals in those periods. We can not blame Doyle as he has been trying to do his job as he has been getting scoring chances.

But you are not going to win many games when you give the other team 11 power plays as the Tigre did on Saturday. The 11 power plays led to 3 Sea Dog goals and that right there was the game for the Tigre.

The series now heads to Victoriaville for game 3 on Tuesday. 

(Mats Zuccarello-Allen courtesy of Modo Hockey)