Monthly Archives: June 2015
Rangers Player Grades: The Goalies
Bobby Bevilacqua
Cam Talbot and Henrik Lundqvist combined to form one of the best goaltending duos in the entire league, with each goalie reaching the 20 win plateau and playing a major part in the Rangers’ success. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Throughout the offseason, I’m going to be writing articles, giving my opinion on a player’s performance throughout the regular season and the playoffs. I’ll be starting from the back end out, which means goalies first, then defensemen, and finally the forwards.
To avoid super long posts, I’m going to split up the defensemen and forward groups. For defensemen I’ll probably do the plays who are paired with each other, and I’ll try and separate the forward lines. This will allow me to talk more in depth about each person, and talk about how they played together.
Without further ado, let’s get going on the 2014-15 player grades. Read the rest of this entry
Mackenzie Skapski sidelined 4-5 months following hip surgery
Bobby Bevilacqua
Mackenzie Skapski, one of the top goaltending prospects in the Rangers organization, had hip surgery on tuesday to repair a muscle tear. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
New York Rangers goalie and prospect Mackenzie Skapski had arthroscopic surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip, with the procedure taking place on Tuesday. He is expected to be sidelined for 4-5 months, which will put him out of action until sometime in October or November.
Skapski was called up on Febrary 4th following the vascular injury to Henrik Lundqvist, and backed up Cam Talbot for seven weeks. Dubbed the “Buffalo Killer” by head coach Alain Vigneault, Skapski made his first two career starts at the First Niagara Center against the Sabres, winning both games.
On March 14th, in his second career start, the 20 year old shut out the Buffalo Sabres, become the first Rangers goalie since 1957-58 to post a shutout in one of his first two starts. Skapski was 2-0-0 with a .50 GAA and a .978 save percentage in two games. Read the rest of this entry
6 Things the Rangers needed to do better in the playoffs
The Rangers fell short of their lofty expectations in the playoffs. These are a few things that they needed to do better. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Bobby Bevilacqua
A promising season led to postseason disappointment for the Rangers, falling short of their Stanley Cup goals, and losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. They came just 20 minutes shy of a second consecutive Stanley Cup Finals berth.
After acquiring Keith Yandle at the trade deadline, many believed that this put the Rangers in a “win-now” mode. The players had these same expectations, which is why they too seemed disgruntled during their exit interviews yesterday.
A lot of people thought that this was the year that the Rangers would finally recapture the Stanley Cup after 21 long seasons. But there were injuries, failed game plans, as well as a strong Tampa Bay team standing in their way.
Hindsight is 20/20, so here is what the Rangers needed to do differently or better in order to win. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers breakup day: Injuries galore, Zuccarello recovering, St. Louis’ future uncertain
Bobby Bevilacqua
Derick Brassard, along with other Rangers, spoke to media members today during the exit interviews, with the season officially over. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
At the end of each team’s season, a breakup day is conducted, with players and coaches giving exit interviews, equipment being removed, and new information being released, regarding things like injuries.
To some extent, it was known that some Rangers were dealing with injures. But today’s interviews revealed a lot more than just bumps and bruises.
After Game 7, Alain Vigneault announced that Ryan McDonagh had been playing with a broken foot for a few games. It was obviously quite serious, because he came into his interview on crutches and wearing a walking boot. He fractured the foot while blocking a shot at the end of the second period of Game 4 against the Lightning. He’ll wear the walking boot for four weeks, and will then be reevaluated.
The Rangers were dealing with a lot of other injuries on the blue line as well. Read the rest of this entry
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