2008 Free Agent Day!

5:43 Brian Campbell just signed an 8 year, $56.8 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.  According to TSN that puts them about $5-$6 mil over the cap.  I see a goaltender leaving Chicago in the near future.  Nikolai Khabibulin to the Lightning for Mike Smith maybe?

4:14 The Rangers sign forward Aaron Voros.  Voros played for the Wild so he should be accustomed to the Rangers’ defensive style.  He had 7 goals and 7 assists in 55 games last season so he’s definitely a depth signing.  The 6’3″ 220 pound forward could give the Rangers a little bit of size but that’s if he actually plays.

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NHL to Change Schedule for 2008-2009 Season

Starting next season, the NHL will revert back to the system used before the lockout.  Each team will play the other four teams in their division six times (3 home games and 3 road games) and play the other 10 teams in their conference four times (2 home games and 2 road games).  The remaining 18 games will be played against the teams in the other conference.  That ensures that each team will play every other team in the league at least one time during the regular season.

Beginning with the 2005-2006 season, the NHL started using a new schedule structure.  The new system had each team play 2 additional games against the other four teams in their division (four home games, four road games).  They still played four games against the ten teams in the other two divisions in their conference (2 home games and 2 road games).  The remaining 10 games were played against ten teams from the other conference (5 at home against one division, 5 on the road against another division).  Teams did not play the 5 teams in the third division of the other conference.  The interconference matchups rotated every season and after 3 seasons, every team had played every team in the other conference both at home and on the road once.

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Uh Oh

After a 13-game streak of aggressive, hard-nosed, and winning hockey, the Rangers returned to their pre-All-Star-break ineptitude in this weekend’s losses to the Panthers and Lightning — two teams outside of the playoff picture.

The Rangers showed no energy whatsoever in the two games.  The Eastern Conference is so tight that going into the weekend, it looked as if 1st place might have been within reach.  Now, the Rangers might struggle to hold on to their playoff spot.

It is frustrating to watch a hockey game where the players refuse to forecheck,  refuse to finish hits along the boards, and miss FOUR open-nets in the 3rd period!  I can deal with Sjostrom getting robbed by the stick of Tampa’s goalie Mike Smith, but Jaromir Jagr should be ashamed for letting a Defenseman slide across and block his shot.  No question that puck should have been ripped to the upper half of the net.  Instead, he unleashed a flittering misfire along the ice. Just horrible.

Anyway, the Rangers had better figure out where to find some energy, and quick.  They have three games this week against Atlantic Division foes: Pittsburgh on Tuesday, New Jersey on Wednesday, and Philadelphia on Friday.  I, for one, would really like to see Ryan Hollweg back in the lineup Tuesday.  And I know Eric (and our sister Melissa) would love to see Petr Prucha back on the ice.  We shall see.

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Rangers lose to Panthers; Will play Lightning tonight

The loss to the Panthers was a tough one because they had some serious scoring chances at the end and just couldn’t put the puck in the net.  The loss snapped a 13-game streak in which the Rangers had not lost in regulation.

Earlier in the week, Tom Renney had mentioned he would probably start Valiquette in one of the two games in Florida.  After the loss last night, however, it seems he has abandoned that plan and will stick with Lundqvist.  Lundqvist is playing well right now, and I understand Renney’s desire to stay with what’s been working, but with games this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, he has to be careful not to overwork Henrik.

The rest of the lineup will probably stay the same for tonight’s game.  The Defense will definitely be the same tonight, since Mara and Malik are both hurt.  We might see some changes in the forwards — Petr Prucha anyone?  We shall see.

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