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By Zach Schiff  December 24, 2009, at 1:13 am  The average ice time for a forward in a 60-minute hockey game is 15 minutes.
The average ice time for a defenseman in a 60-minute hockey game is 20 minutes.
Explain to me how, in an “Era of Accountability” (my phrase), Michal Rozsival skates 3 more minutes than the average defender (23:18 against Florida).
The original intention of the writing was to praise Enver Lisin, yet wonder about how he skated 2 minutes less than average tonight (13:05).
To be honest, Lisin skating 13 minutes is 4 or 5 minutes more than he normally skates (and he only skated 4 minutes last Monday in the shootout loss to Atlanta). And on a night where Vinny Prospal, Sean Avery, Marian Gaborik, and even Chris Drury were playing good, I guess there wasn’t a ton of ice time to go around. So I’m happy with 13 minutes for Lisin.
But Rozsival rocking 23 minutes? He had over 9 in the first period! The reason Lisin didn’t play much was allegedly because he was atrocious defensively.
So is Rozsival! Or was the Panthers’ lone goal too early in the game for everyone to remember how awful he looked on that first goal. He played pretty poor the remaining 22 minutes he was on the ice as well, including his 1:59 on the power play. (To be fair to him, his penalty killing isn’t atrocious, but he refuses to look at anyone except the puck carrier, and it almost bit him in the behind twice tonight on the same Florida power play).
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My pregame prediction of a hat trick by Prospal was officially killed when Gaborik scored a shorthanded goal. I figured up 3-1, Tomas Vokoun would head to the bench, Gaborik would have an open empty net, pass to Prospal, and he’d have his 3rd of the evening.
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Ales Kotalik looked so disappointed after missing that breakaway on Vokoun in the 2nd period. He’s trying hard and he wants to score, it just isn’t happening today. It was good seeing him on the point on the power play, though, tonight.
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I’m not all negative, you know. Lisin had a really good game. He looked like Wayne Gretzky on that first goal where he out-hustled the opponent, kept with the puck, and passed it perfectly to Chris Drury, who pounded it home. Drury got credit for the goal and Avery got the biggest applause when it was announced, but Lisin did the legwork on that one.
Drury was huge on the 4th goal though; the pass from his knees to Gaborik was money. How Gaborik put that home is still a mystery to me, but that’s okay.
I’m just happy they scored today. The Garden was rocking for the first time in two months tonight.
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About those “Asshole” chants you heard towards the end of the 3rd period.
Two guys in Islander jerseys, one with a jacket, one without, were leaving the Garden. Instead of going out the gate closest to them, they – v e r y s l o w l y – walked halfway around the Garden and went out a different exit. Every section they passed yelled at them.
It was priceless.
And very ballsy by those guys. Some people were getting pissed. I found it hilarious.
By Zach Schiff December 19, 2009, at 7:17 pm Finally, John Tortorella did what Tom Renney should have done starting November of 2008 – bench Wade Redden.
I used to say that Redden was a $2M player getting paid $6.5M/year. Recently, he had been playing like a call-up from Hartford. The only thing is, the call-ups from Hartford were playing better.
When everyone under age 26 on the roster plays better than a mid-3os veteran, there is a problem. And that problem, regardless of salary, should sit in the stands and watch a few (dozen) games.
When they put him back in the lineup Monday against Carolina, if he doesn’t respond to the benching with smarter and more physical play (and if he stops playing “hot potato” with the puck like it’s going to hurt him if he skates with it) there is only one more thing you can do: put him on waivers.
It will hurt paying him $6.5M to be in the minors, but to be honest, I couldn’t care less. Our ticket prices are high regardless. Sure, we’ll see that stupid Chase ad on the plexiglass every game, but we see that now with him on the team. What we pay to watch the Rangers is only going to go up every year, regardless of if he is on the team or in the minors. Might as well have him down there.
Other teams couldn’t do that, because they don’t have an endless supply of money like Jim Dolan and Cablevision have. So if they’re paying a player over $6M to play in the AHL, ticket prices skyrocket. Ours will anyway. See what I mean?
What WOULD affect me is if he is taken on re-entry waivers and the Rangers have to pay half of his salary for the next 4 full seasons. That WOULD directly affect me because then they can’t use his Cap space to pay for a player who hits, or shoots, or passes well, or scores, or clears the crease.
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Coming off of back-to-back wins, there is no better time than now to bench Henrik Lundqvist. Let Chad Johnson get his first 2 games in against weak teams. Carolina and Florida are no definite wins, for sure, but the ideals thing would be to let him beat Carolina on Monday, then against Florida on Wednesday. This gives him great experience, some confidence, and his first MSG start.
Plus, it would give Lundqvist a full week off before he plays the Islanders on Saturday at MSG.
By Zach Schiff November 26, 2009, at 8:44 am Though it is cold and rainy, it is indeed Thanksgiving. I started to search for a pretty cool Hockey Thanksgiving image to put on here, but as soon as I saw pictures of those creepy fat birds that everyone else in America eats today, I decided not to.
Yes, I’m scared of turkeys.
Anyway, on a day that I’m thankful the Rangers gaining 4 points in 2 games for the first time since they beat LA and Toronto in back-to-backs in mid-October, I wish you the best today. (Sure, these 4 points came against 2 teams that haven’t won a combined playoff game since a 1997 series against Wayne Gretzky and the Rangers, but it’s still a good feeling.)
As for me, I’ll be in sunny San Diego starting tomorrow, and while you would think hockey would be the last thing on my mind, I’ll be glued to my cell phone for text message updates for the 3 games I’ll miss.
That Tampa Bay game is another big points, and if they can get 3 points against the Penguins, then that’s 9 out of 10 and a big step in the right direction. Of course, there’s a solid chance that Steven Stamkos will score 2 goals tomorrow, Marian Gaborik will score 1, and nobody else will score anything and they’ll lose 2-1. And taking 2 from Pittsburgh is more realistic (they can definitely win the home game on Monday, I believe).
I leave this website in the hands of Bryan, whom I’ll be seeing for some Thanksgiving hockey in less than an hour. I know Bryan was all set to write something last night, but then his daughter threw up because she ate too much. Since she ate dinner in my restaurant, I take full responsibility.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
By Zach Schiff November 20, 2009, at 8:58 am Thanks to Longtime Reader Lou (who was responsible for my seat upgrade a few weeks ago during that not-very-fun Sharks game at MSG), I got a ticket into the Garden of Dreams charity event last night at The Garden.
It was a great night with a free buffet (featuring prime rib), an open bar, Adam Graves, and 4 other Rangers patrolling the area all night.
Pictures? Of course I have pictures! But first, let me say…
- Donald Brashear does not like when you thank him for punching Aaron Ward in the face, even if you say that all Rangers fans wanted to do it.
- Marian Gaborik does not play fantasy hockey. And upon my request to slow down his scoring because my friend Dan has him on his team, he politely refused.
- Dan Girardi’s Dan Girardi jersey looked a lot better than mine, although his was free and mine was the crappiest jersey NHL.com ever sent out. I probably should have returned it.
- Marc Staal will tell you he “dusted” me “for two goals” in air hockey. He would be correct, but I decided to let him score to boost his confidence. If he nets two goals against Florida on Saturday, I will accept kudos and congratulations.
- Time for the Worst Moment of the Night, brought to you by Amstel Light. Staal gave up his air hockey paddle to Gaborik and I decided I needed a picture of it. I put the paddle down a moment, reached for my camera to give Lou, and some 6 year-old girl jacked the paddle. Very rude. And since it was a charity event and she was a guest, I couldn’t ask for it back.
- The coolest guy there was the PA announcer. He gave us really good inside information and even announced a line that we wanted to hear: “Ladies and gentleman, time for tonight’s scratches. Number twenty-five, Petr Prucha.”
 If I knew Gaborik was going to be there, I would’ve worn my jersey!
 This picture looks fake but I assure you, it is not. I was just afraid he was
going to hit me. Donald Brashear does not like me.
 I’m 25. I shouldn’t be taking this kind of picture with an athlete.
 This is me teaching our youth to play air hockey. Protect the puck!
 Reader Lou and Volunteer Brad after the event.
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