Before you cancel your vacation plans in anticipation of the Rangers making the playoffs, I just want to point a couple of things out to you fine folks. For one, as of right now the Rangers are in ninth place, just outside of a playoff spot. But wait, you say, they have won both of their games since the All-Star break. Well yeah, but against awful, awful teams.
As a matter of fact, the Rangers have pretty much only beaten awful teams since mid-December. In their last 18 games, they are 7-11. Those seven wins include two over the NHL-worst Flyers, two over the free-falling Bruins, and one over the Capitals. Indeed, since December 16th, the Rangers have only two victories over teams with winning percentages over .500 (the Devils and Canadiens).
The real test starts tonight with the Maple Leafs. The Leafs have won four of their last five games, and have obtained recent wins over pretty good teams like the Sabres, Hurricanes, Canadiens, and Lightning. After Toronto, it just gets tougher. The Blueshirts' next eleven games include three against the Devils, two against Tampa Bay, and one each against the Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings.
That would bring us to the trade deadline, which brings US to Larry Brooks. Uncle Larry leads his story with a headline that suggests Malather (Glen Sather + Don Maloney = Malather) might be targeting Keith Tkachuk. Mr. Brooks also mentions Brian Smolinski from Chicago and Josef Vasicek from Nashville.
I'm on the fence about how I feel regarding rent-a-player type deals like these. As everyone knows by now, I am in full favor of an all-out rebuild. I don't think this team, even with additions like the ones mentioned, will make the playoffs, and if they did would not go very far. They are still too soft, too weak on defense, and not nearly deep enough to pose a real threat to legitimate Cup contenders.
At the same time, it is glaringly obvious that this team will not go for another firesale unless they lose their next ten games, leading right into the trade deadline. If that's the case, and it won't cost too much by way of youth and draft picks, why not try and improve the team? In reality, I would be looking at it as an "I told you so" situation when the acquisition of short term veteran talent fails, yet again, to propel the Rangers any further than they would have gone without making a deal.
Steve Zipay at NY Newsday: So although the Rangers knocked off both clubs on the road in the first two games since the All-Star break, Wednesday night's matchup against the Maple Leafs, who torched the Rangers, 9-2, in Toronto on Dec. 16, the first defeat in a crushing seven-game slide for the Blueshirts, will be telling.
The Journal News: In a season of constant change within the Rangers, it's hard to count on the Cullen-Ortmeyer-Prucha (or "COP line," as some fans already have dubbed them) for anything beyond the short term. And yet it still seems to be a line that embodies everything the Rangers want to be.
TSN previews the game.
As mentioned in the articles above, Michal Rozsival is questionable for tonight's match, as he suffered a strained MCL on Monday night.
The guys at Blueshirt Bulletin point out that two Ranger prospects will be the captains of their respective OHL All-Star teams, with Marc Staal and Tom Pyatt each earning the honor.
It's the Rangers and Leafs tonight in MSG. The puck drops at 7:30 pm EST.
HDH
Posted by Jim at January 31, 2007 12:35 PMeMail this entry!
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