Well, tomorrow 2005 comes to a close, and the Rangers have the chance to finish up the year 11 games over .500 and right in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race. We are nearing the halfway point of the season, and the roster looks pretty much the same as it did on opening day, with the exceptions being only Jamie Lundmark gone, and Colton Orr added.
It's been fun, and we can only hope it continues. Not only do they want to build a foundation of young players, but they want to develop a winning atmosphere in the organization. So far, so good.
Evan Grossman of the NY Post writes about the demotion of Maxim Kondratiev, and that the team hopes it has the same affect for Maxim as it did for Petr Prucha, who was sent down earlier in the year only to return and explode offensively.
John Dellapina of the Daily News talked to Jason Ward, who says that his skating has been improving and now allows him to do a little more on the forecheck, and hopes that it eventually translates into added offense.
Matt Marrone of the News looks back at the NHL lockout.
Anthony Rieber of Newsday writes that Michael Nylander's benching a couple of games ago appears to have gotten him back in gear. I would say so, as he rebounded with a four-point night.
A big "welcome back" to Colin Stephenson of the Star Ledger, who talks about the success of this season up to this point. He includes a good quote from Don Maloney:
"There has been a method and a purpose behind how this team's put together, and it's rewarding to see that what we felt was important to build a team and an organization is coming together a lot quicker than we expected."
But in his next breath, Maloney brought the conversation back to cold, hard reality.
"It's how many games?" he asked. It is only 38 games. Not even the midpoint of the 82-game season.
"Yeah," he said. "So we shouldn't be jumping up and down on a pedestal and patting ourselves on the back after the history we've had over the last half-dozen years."
The Rodent has a guest today in Margaret Hurley, who talks about the classy Kevin Weekes.
Terry Frei at ESPN has an article about the Rangers' resurgence, led by Jaromir Jagr and Tom Renney.
Scott Burnside at ESPN gives us Part I of a series on the NHL Shootout.
Don't forget, if you are not doing anything today, some Hockeybird readers are getting together for a little pick-up roller hockey and some beers, I am sure. They will be meeting tonight from 7-9 pm. You can read more about it on the messageboards.
I'll stop in tomorrow morning with the news before the game against the Penguins, which starts at 1:00 pm EST.
HDH
Posted by Jim at December 30, 2005 11:06 AMeMail this entry!
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