Bergen Record - Rangers watching Wisconsin duo
New York Post - Boyle, Stepan look solid for Rangers
New York Post - Rangers hope Fedotenko finds big-game form
New York Post - Rangers' Frolov looks sharp in exhibition victory
Daily News - Biron is insurance for Lundqvist in goal
Daily News - Gaborik lifts Rangers over Devils in OT
Newsday - Stepan delivers in debut as Rangers beat Devils
...first off my daughter is home and we are all excited about it. Again your prayers and well wishes have helped us get through this trying time.
...man it feels good to post again. I didn't get a chance to watch the game last night but I did DVR it and hope to watch tonight.
Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at nyrfan94@yahoo.com.
16 comments:
glad to hear your daughter is home...
What ever you dont blink in the first 5 game play minutes.
Cant wai to see the gm at Pru tomorrow.
Great news about your daughter.
This is the first time I've been semi-hopeful this late in the season in over a decade.
Glad to hear the good news.
Most fun I've had watching a preseason game in a while. Some thoughts...
Stepan looked comfortable, never really out of position, good passing
McDonough looked really good, very physical.
Was that the real Boyle?
MZA looked a little outmatched @ times.
Boogaard looks terrifying.
Prust!
Gabby and Frolov seemed very comfortable together.
Staal definitely played as if he missed some training camp.
Welcome back dude, LETS GO RANGERS!!!
great to hear that your daughter is home and recovering.
great game to watch, stepan looked like he is more than ready and it looked like he should be centering that first line come opening night. has great awareness and had great pace.
the tough guys look like they should be a lot more effective this year, no more gabby getting pushed around, hope that will help avery to be his old self with those guys able to back him up.
frolov looked great and i thought fedetenko played well, guys on D could have been a little tougher with the exception of mcdonough.
i dont know about anyone else, MZA has a great skill set amazing hands and puck moving ablility, but he got pushed around a lot during the game, i still dont think hes got the chops physically to handle an entire season, if he keeps getting thrown around like he did at times last night he is going to a rough go around in he nhl unless he puts on more weight or ups his speed a bit more.
Hopefully they can keep scoring and playing like this all season and i hope torts doesn't start toying to much with the lines
first off Kevin, echoing the thoughts of your blog followers, glad everything is better with respect to your family...obviously much more important than this banter..
nonetheless, I was at last night's preseason opener, and a lot of the play, individually and collectively, was inspiring...not in the sense that my heart was touched, but that the team looks pretty strong, outplaying the devils for the better part of 60 minutes.
First and foremost, I loved how the top forwards minus Callahan and Avery to a lesser extent were out there for this first exhibition. Stepan played extremely well with our top wingers. with the first line garnering eight points (i believe), the stat sheet reflects that. The kid is quick on his feet, has great hands, but most importantly is smart, alert, and quick moving the puck, even under pressure. His play on the pp, particularly in the passes leading to Gabby's first goal, was a thing a beauty. Quite frankly, I'd be shocked if this kid doesn't make the team out of camp, provided he doesn't regress 50% the rest of the way.
I also thought Kennedy demonstrated a fair amount of skill and poise on the ice. he will definitely find a place on the 3rd line for at least 80% of the games. I thought MZA struggled a bit, made a few errant passess (was definitely a little nervous), and generally was a bit soft on the puck. look for him to rebound in his second game. Fedotenko was relatively effective, and as has been documented, Boyle had a great game, and looks to be challenging again for the 4th line center role (That said, i wouldn't be surprised to see A.A. in that role again a little this year).
On D, I thought Roszival played very well, already looks to be in much better shape and skating shape than he was at any point last year. McDonagh held his own, playing alongside Rozy, making a few nice offensive and defensive plays. he coughed up the puck once or twice, but looked altogether promising as a potential 3rd line D-man this year. Staal and Girardi were solid. in fact, Staal looked a cut above (granted its preseason), was extremely quick w his stick, but did make a costly turnover, resulting in Zajac's goal.
Look forward to seeing Callahan, Prospal, Avery and co return in the next game. (in fact, saw Callahan waiting for the elevator on the first tier just prior to the game..that was cool..mingling with the fans). looks like torts might center White with Callahan and Prospal. interesting combo. A.A. and Avery with another player. not bad. honestly, we have a lot of depth after what could be a very potent first line. its a matter of our second line guys first earning that spot, and being more consistent. Dubinsky and Christensen are fast and crafty. I really like both their games, which are similar in many respects.
honestly, this is very deep team with a lot of speed up front if people can rise to their potential. sadly, i think a top 6-9 is better occupied by a number of players besides Drury. We'll see how that shakes out.
one of the most surprising things to me is how the PP improved. They are moving the puck around smoothly like a real NHL team.
Overall they looked tight, tough, and tenacious.
Very glad you're daughter is OK and that this blog is up and running again!
btw, if you can't tell, im a little too amped already after one preseason game (but i refuse to call it a meaningless game). there's a lot that can be gleamed from this game, i think... i will say that, even w/o 5 or so players that will surely be on our opening night roster, we looked like an improved team in many respects. disclaimer: then again, the team came out firing at last year's home opener against Ottawa, and proceeded to shine through the opening 15 games of the season (against good opponents).
echoing t's comments.. the bruisers, Boogaard, Prust, and actually Boyle as well pose a formidable opposition to any team looking to f with Gaborik and our skilled players. Despite his ridiculous size, Boogaard is also more mobile than Brashear and Shelly (shelly could not skate). and boyle looked pretty impressive in all respects. a 'tough' 4th line against physical teams consisting of Boyle, prust, and Boogaard could be really effective.
Bottom line: i like our chances to disprove the biased hockey media
Hoping your daughter will be perfectly well...good to hear she's home where she belongs...thanks be to God..
Rangers will definitely be more fun to watch this year...would still like to see more productivity from lines other than Gabby's...thought Staal and Girardi both looked rusty...don't want Fed-up-tenko on the squad...Stepan looked good...MZA a little out of sorts...Devils first line will be strong this year for sure...McDonagh was solid and should be there opening night...overall I see alot of potential and am optimistic but need to see some second or third line player(s) have breakout year.
Glad you guys are home... btw the game was awesome... maybe because it finally hit me within the first 5 min,,, HOCKEY IS BACK!!! but the game was good. Stephan looked good, and I have a feeling Frolov and Gabi will combine for 80 Goals.
Kevin, welcome back. Very happy to hear that your daughter is improving.
I liked what I saw last night. Man, do I hope Stepan sticks. He seems to be on the same page with Gabby and Fro while not deferring to them when he has a scoring chance.
Also liked the overall edge in the Rangers game. Don't think we'll have to worry about getting pushed around for a change.
btw, I must say, Kovi Zac and Travis line for the devs looks like it will be LETHAL... I'm a bit scarred. lol must give them credit.
Great to have you back, Kevin! Glad to hear the family is back at home.
annoying joe - staal was there for the beginning of training camp. the only guy i can think of who held out of training camp was dubinsky last year
LI Joe - Played "as if" implies that he played "as if" he missed training camp, not that he actually did. We call it call English. enjoy!
whatever- it seemed you were referencing him missing training camp and he only missed some informal practices. he did not pull a dubinsky and was there for start of official camp and he is by far our best defensive dman
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