Blog Archives
Around the League: Overtime changed, coach’s challenge, Schedule released, expansion?
Bobby Bevilacqua
The NHL announced the move to 3-on-3 overtime hockey for the 2015-16 season, which means that guys like Rick Nash will have plenty of room to work with. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
With the NHL draft looming, and the end-of-season meeting taking place between the league’s GMs, the NHL made some changes to the overtime rules in the regular season, and discussed some other potential changes as well.
The first change will begin at the start of next season, with the overtime rules being changed in an effort to make the shootout less frequent. The NHL will feature 3-on-3 overtime play in hopes that more space on the ice and less players will lead to more scoring chances, more odd man rushes, and more goals.
The format that will be used in the NHL next season is different than what was seen in the AHL this year. In the AHL, they played 4-on-4 hockey for three minutes, and then switched to 3-on-3 for the final four minutes. The NHL will have just one five minute overtime period, with 3-on-3 played for the entire time. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Update: Sather turns down deal for Talbot, New Salary Cap set
Bobby Bevilacqua
Cam Talbot is the number one target for both the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers. Will he be able to bring a first round pick in return? Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
It was a busy day in the NHL today, with the league agreeing on a new salary cap, and trade rumors surrounding Cam Talbot coming to a head, with an actual offer being made to the Rangers.
This afternoon, Darren Dreger reported that a team (not specified) offered Glen Sather two second round picks for Cam Talbot, which he turned down. Sather realizes that Talbot is the most coveted goalie on the market, and wants to maximize his return.
Peter Chiarelli, the new GM of the Edmonton Oilers, would disagree. This afternoon, he said that the market for goaltenders is actually a buyer’s market. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Player Grades: Rick Nash, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello
Bobby Bevilacqua
Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash made up part of the Rangers top line, a great possession line that was also responsible on defense, and poured on the goals. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
When looking at every NHL team, each one features their top line, meant to contain the most skilled, best scoring forwards on the team that also play well together. Every line has its role, but the first line is where a lot of the scoring comes from.
Due to injury at the start of the season, and some new faces, Alain Vigneault struggled to find chemistry amongst the top three forwards. Rick Nash was always a top line staple, but Martin St. Louis started as the center in the first game of the season, because Derek Stepan was injured. Stepan was expected to be the team’s first center, but injury changed those plans.
At some point during the season, he decided to promote Derick Brassard to the top line, and soon after that, Mats Zuccarello on the right wing, due to how well him and Brass played last year. This line meshed perfectly together, and soon became the Rangers’ most productive line.
Nash, Brassard and Zuccarello could do it all. They play solid defense, maintain the majority of possession, and most importantly, score goals. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Player Grades; Keith Yandle, Kevin Klein and Matt Hunwick
Keith Yandle, Kevin Klein and Matt Hunwick combined to make up the third pairing for the Rangers throughout the season, each playing a very different role on the team. Photos courtesy of MSG Photos.
Rounding out the Rangers defense is the third pairing, which at times, can be just as important as the other two pairings. For Alain Vigneault and New York, that third pairing was constantly changing. This article will evaluate what it looked like at the end of the season, including the extra defenseman.
As of March 1st, that last pairing consisted of Keith Yandle and Kevin Klein. Yandle had just come over in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes, and Kevin Klein, playing in his first full season with the Rangers and having one of the best seasons of his career.
Matt Hunwick, signed in the offseason as the seventh defenseman, wound up playing 55 regular season games, and became a very important player for the Rangers this season.
When looking at each of these players, Yandle, Klein and Hunwick are all very different. But each one of them were important to the team in their own way. Read the rest of this entry
Will Broadway Brad be headed back to New York this offseason?
Bobby Bevilacqua
After winning the Stanley Cup in Chicago, could Brad Richards be heading back to New York for next season? Photo courtesy of Nick Laham.
Now that the Stanley Cup Finals are over, with the Chicago Blackhawks crowned as champions for the third time in six years, it’s time for trade rumors, surprise signings and speculations. And today, I’m starting with my own speculation and prediction, something that I have said since before the start of the 2014-15 season.
Brad Richards will be a New York Ranger for the 2015-16 season.
Before I start, this is pure speculation. I don’t have an insider tip, I haven’t talked to Brad Richards or his agent or a family member, and I don’t have contact with any members of the Rangers’ front office. But I do think that I have some fairly strong arguments for my case.
After the Rangers were defeated by the Los Angeles Kings in five games in June of 2014, Glen Sather used his final compliance buy out on Brad Richards, terminating his contract after just three years in New York. It was a foolish contract by Sather, mainly because it kept Richards until he was 40, with a cap hit of $6.67 annually, and it was a contract that realistically never would have been completed. Keeping him at that hit would have handcuffed the Rangers when trying to re-sign younger, core players in the coming years. Read the rest of this entry
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