NYR

James Dolan Does Not Represent New York

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New York Knicks, James Dolan

The New York Knicks and New York Rangers owner and the CEO of the legendary Madison Garden James Dolan has always been controversial. Making boneheaded decisions with icons and fans like Charley Oakley and Spike Lee, ruining ties with star players like Kristaps Porzingis, and failures to provide a title from either team since the 90s. This is already enough to say “Wow he is a horrible owner” but that’s not even the end of it. Hiring sexual assaulter Isiah Thomas as a coach, making horrible front office decisions, and the Knicks not winning more than 37.8% of their games in a season since 2013-2014 are also more than disgusting acts as an owner, and his incompetence is well documented. Where I draw the line?

When the entire country is in the midst of a movement to end the killings of innocent African American lives and you don’t even feel as if you should use your power as a wealthy powerful white man to at least make a statement.

In a letter by James Dolan released internally was quoted to say “As companies in the business of sports and entertainment, however, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters. What’s important is how we operate”. This to me is understandable if the Knicks and Rangers or MSG had actually made significant actions in order to support the movement in getting justice for George Floyd.

The issue is that they haven’t, and they’re the only team other than the Spurs to not release a statement, but unlike the Knicks, the Spurs’ legendary HOF-worthy coach Gregg Popovich made a statement about this situation and is part of a committee of coaches that involve former Knicks coach David Fizdale that will help local leaders and communities with this issue. I’m not only as a New Yorker and person of color disgusted and dumbfounded by Dolan’s refusal to use his platform to aid this cause but utterly baffled.

I do not believe forcing people into political activism is a good thing, even for a great cause because we each should have individual liberties. That doesn’t mean if you see the city and state you have such influence in trying to fight against injustice that you just sit there and refuse to do anything. You have players on the Knicks reportedly outraged, you have other owners releasing statements and having people aware, and all you have done is say you’re not “qualified” to have opinions on this matter. If you’re not “qualified” to have opinions on one of the most pivotal moments in American history, then you’re not qualified to own a team in New York.

As New Yorkers and as a content creator with a platform, unlike Dolan, I’d like to use this platform to advocate for those who are protesting and condemn the minority that are destroying things for personal gain. I’d also like to provide links for a GoFundMe for David McAtee’s family, as he was an African American man wrongly killed by police during the protests, a GoFundMe for George Floyd’s family, a man killed by disgusting men who abused their power as cops, and a link to a Change.Org petition get the degree of murder on the man who killed George Floyd raised.

As New Yorkers or Americans (for all my non-NY readers), let’s make the change we want to see in our country, unlike James Dolan, even if we don’t have the money or power he does. While all lives do equally matter to me, right now black ones are at risk due to these killings. Let’s make sure we do everything we can to help African Americans feel like they know their lives and their voices matter and are heard.

NHL concludes season, Rangers are in the playoffs

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New York Rangers

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the 2019-’20 regular season has officially concluded, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will consist of 24 teams with the New York Rangers getting a shot to play for the Stanley Cup.

The National Hockey League announced its Return to Play plan on Tuesday afternoon. The regular season has been officially declared completed and the league will jump right into the NHL Playoffs with a 24-team format to include the New York Rangers.

The Rangers were the hottest team in the league when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to pause the regular season on Mar. 12. The Blueshirts were two points away from a wild card spot with doubts if they would get an opportunity to complete the season or qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2017.

The tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round, and a “Seeding Round Robin” among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the first-round.

Bettman’s statement:

Commissioner Bettman was highlighted by the statement that the league is looking to award the Stanley Cup because the fans want to see a conclusion to the season.

“Let me assure you that the reason we are doing this because our fans have told us in overwhelming numbers that they want to complete the season if at all possible. And our players and our teams are clear that they want to play and bring the season to its rightful conclusion,” NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reported.

The Qualifying Round and the Seeding Round robin will be held at two hub cities which have not been decided as of yet. One for the 12 Eastern Conference teams and one for the Western Conference teams. Locations being considered to include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver.

The Rangers to play Carolina

The top four teams in the Eastern Conference are the Boston Bruins (44-14-12, 100 points), Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, 92 points), Washington Capitals (41-20-8, 90 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, 89 points).

The Rangers will play the Carolina Hurricanes in a best of five series. The other play-in games will be Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Islanders vs. the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Following the conclusion of the Qualifying Rounds, the conference based playoffs will continue in the same hub cities. It remains unclear if the first-round series will set through seeding or bracketing.

Games in the qualifying round will be played with playoff overtime rules. The round-robin games will be played with regular-season overtime and shootout rules with ties in the standings broken by regular-season points percentage.

What’s next?

Phase 2 is expected to begin in early June. The will allow clubs to return to home facilities for voluntary, small-group, on and off the ice training.

Phase 3- It would be a formal training camp that is not expected to occur before July 1. This is good news for the Blueshirts as some of the star players are currently overseas. Henrik Lundqvist, Kaapo Kakko, and Mika Zibanejad are a few players who returned home when the NHL pause was put in place.

These players would most likely have to be placed in a 14-quarantine when they arrive back in New York. The phase three-date allows these players along with all players in the league not currently in the United States time to come back home.

Time is of no issue with the leagues understanding that fans would not be allowed in the stands for the foreseeable future.

Bettman intends to play a full 2020-’21 season and is willing to wait until December or January 2021 before beginning the new season.

David Quinn has plenty to do

David Quinn can check one thing off his bucket list. He has made the playoffs in his second year behind the bench. Now comes the hard part.

Let’s address the elephant in the room right now. Will it be Henrik Lundqvist or Igor Shesterkin to start in goal for the play-in series. Hank is 25-5 against Carolina since 2011. Rookie Shesterkin was named the number one starter in February and won 10 of his first 12 games to start his NHL career.

Chris Kreider has fully recovered from his injury suffered right after the trade deadline. Quinn now has to get him back to where he was prior to the injury where he scored 24 goals. A playoff driven Kreider could cause the Hurricanes plenty of trouble in a five-game series.

Pavel Buchnevich was involved in a car accident along with Igor Shesterkin and though he wasn’t injured physically, he was pretty shaken up and never found his game right up until the pause. The Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Buchnevich line has been one of the best over the last few years, the club needs Buch at his best.

The younglings will now get their moment to shine in a national way. Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, Alexandar Georgiev, and Kaako Kappo will get a taste of playoff hockey for the first time. The game changes dramatically in playoff time, cant wait to see what these guys will bring to the table when it matters most.

Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad together on the same team in the playoffs. Not much else can be said about that. The scoring and plain out fun watching these two play will be worth the price of admission (if fans were allowed).

On a down note, whenever the playoffs begin Brendan Lemieux will be watching from the press box. Lemieux had a hearing with the NHL Player Safety Department after a hit Colorado Avalanches’ Joonas Donskoi. The NHL didn’t announce the result of the hearing, but it’s expected he will sit a few games when the league resumes.

Rangers playoff hockey back. Well its almost back, but when the league resumes games, the Blueshirts will be playing hockey and that’s what matters most in Rangerstown.

Report: NHL has Target Date for New York Rangers to Enter Re-opening Phase 2

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New York Rangers

According to TSN‘s Pierre LeBrun, The NHL and NHLPA sent out a 29-page Phase 2 protocol memo to the New York Rangers and other teams late on Sunday. The memo details the plan to reopen team facilities and allow small group workouts.

This comes on the heels of a recent announcement by New York State governor Andrew Cuomo that allows New York state sports teams to conduct practices and training in their facilities. ESM covered this in more detail in an article you can find here.

Phase 2 will allow a maximum of six players in a practice facility at one time, and no coaches or personnel will be permitted on the ice with them, according to LeBrun. He also added that players would need to wear face coverings at all times, except when exercising or on the ice, upon entering or leaving the facility and while inside where social distancing cannot be maintained.

The memo outlines how teams can safely return to practice facilities, and the protocols players and staff must follow to do so. LeBrun added that participation during this phase is strictly voluntary, and players outside of their home cities are not yet required to return. The memo also states that based on the current information available, the NHL is now targeting a date in early June for a transition to Phase 2. This will give the New York Rangers time to determine where they want to train and provide players with guidance on how and when to return.

LeBrun also says that when it comes to testing players and staff during Phase 2, the NHL will do so as long as tests are available. he also wrote that the memo also stated:

“As an over-riding principle, testing of asymptomatic players and club personnel must be done in the context of excess testing capacity, so as to not deprive health care workers, vulnerable populations, and symptomatic individuals from necessary diagnostic tests.”

There were no mentions of Phase 3 (training camp) and Phase 4 (return to play) in the memo, but this is a positive sign for the New York Rangers and their fans that hockey will return at some point in the near future.

 

 

Report: Players Will Approve Tournament that Includes the New York Rangers

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New York Rangers

The National Hockey League Players’ Association’s Executive Board is expected to approve a 24-team Return to Play proposal put forth by the NHL according to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. At the time of his report, McKenzie indicated that he was informed that the vote was finished, or close to finished and that the players will approve the 24-team format. This format would include the New York Rangers.

The New York Rangers should be in the play-in round

The most recent reports on the return to play format have the teams seeded one through 12, based on points percentage. That would put the Rangers as the eleventh seed, where they would face the Carolina Panthers. Dates, times, and places would not be immediately known, as the league is still working on where these games would be played, most likely in some kind of hub community. It is also not known if the higher seeds would get some kind of built-in advantage, like being awarded a game in the best of five series. Some teams and players have stated that higher seeds should get some kind of advantage in this expanded format.

This may have been why McKenzie stated on Thursday that the NHLPA executive committee conference call got “a little heated at times” and various individual players still have a wide variety of views on the NHL’s Return to Play proposal. However, his sources indicated that at least 18 of the 31 representatives would vote in favor of the proposal, the minimum number needed for approval.

The league is also considering several hub cities as an option to resume play in a centralized manner but has repeatedly said they are not close to determining what locations will be used. The league will have to monitor what local, state, province, and even national governments say about what can be done. One of the biggest barriers, for example, is the 14-day quarantine that is in effect for any person that enters Canada.

This former New York Ranger Gets an Assist in Helping to Start a Trend

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New York Rangers

Many New York Ranger fans are familiar with Andy Bathgate who played 10 seasons with the Blueshirts from 1954 to 1963. Unfortunately, Bathgate was frustrated with the poor play of the Rangers during this time and was traded to Toronto during the 1963-64 season and promptly helped them win the Stanley Cup. But it was something that he did in a game that helped start a trend in hockey that continues to this day.

Bathgate had quite a reputation for having an extremely hard slap shot and that was made evident during a game on November 1, 1959, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. In the first period, Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante was struck in the face by a shot from Bathgate that required the Canadians netminder to receive some stitches. During the period in the NHL, goaltenders did not wear masks, leaving their heads open to injury. After being stitched up, Plante insisted that he wear a mask, something that he had done during practice but not in a game. Montreal head coach Toe Blake initially refused to allow him to wear it in a game, fearing it would inhibit his vision. Plante told Blake that he refused to play unless he could wear the fiberglass mask. Faced with a decision of letting his goalie wear a mask or try to scrape a goalie out of the stands. At that time, NHL teams did not employ back up goalies. Faced with the choice of letting his goals wear a mask, or the use the EBUG as we now know it, Blake let Plante play with the mask. Plante continued wearing a mask for the rest of his career, starting a trend that continues to this day, with the assist going to Andy Bathgate.

Of course, Bathgate is known for more than his hard slap shot leading to a change in goalie decor. In 2017 Bathgate was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players”. During his time with the Rangers, he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy for the MVP of the NHL in 1958–59 after scoring 40 goals, which was a great accomplishment during that period of NHL hockey. The Rangers retired his #9 along with Harry Howell’s #3 in a special ceremony before on February 22, 2009. Bathgate joined Adam Graves, whose number 9 had been hoisted to the MSG rafters 19 nights earlier. Graves has been quoted as saying that Bathgate is “the greatest Ranger to ever wear the number 9”.

New York Rangers legends John Davidson and Mike Richter featured on MSG Network

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New York Rangers, Mike Richter

Former New York Rangers goaltenders Mike Richter and John Davidson will be guests on MSG Networks “MSG 150 at Home” on Wednesday night.

As part of “Goalie Week”, Madison Square Garden Network will have a roundtable discussion hosted by Steve Valiquette. Richter and J.D. will share some of the fondest memories of their time wearing the famous Rangers sweater. From NHL debuts and rookie seasons, players they looked up to growing up, staying connected to others during this pause, and more.

John Davidson

Davidson talked about the time when he was traded to the Rangers in June 1975.

“My second year I played so well that I got traded to the Rangers after the season. And that was the best thing that happened to me. Aside from my family, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was blown away when I got to New York. I had never seen anything like this. Madison Square Garden, New York City, the busy streets, oh baby. It was quite something.”

Davidson was part of the great team that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in. 1979 where they lost the series to Ken Dryden and the Montreal Canadiens.

The president of the Blueshirts also talked about the current team and how he has been staying connected with the scouting staff and some of the prospects thanks to platforms look Zoom.

Mike Richter

Stanley Cup Champion Mike Richter was asked about his NHL playoff debut during the 1989 playoffs.

“It was good to get the opportunity to play. I’m indebted to Phil Esposito who gave me it. I didn’t expect that I was necessarily going to get in there. I didn’t expect it. I was so thrilled and excited. I had so much energy.”

Esposito was the Rangers General manager at the time but was fired following the team’s elimination for the playoffs in May 1989.

Richter also spoke of the players he looked up to in the NHL, namely Eddie Giacomin. Richters idol was the team’s goalie coach when he was called up to the Rangers.

Two of the last three goalies to reach the Stankey Cup Finals in the last 41 years (Henrik Lundqvist was the third) talk about the great memories playing for this original six franchise.

The show will air Wednesday night at 5:00 p.m. an again at 7:30 p.m.

New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin nominated for ‘NHL Fan Choice Award’

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New York Rangers, Artemi Panarin

The National Hockey League announced it’s nominees for the “Fan Choice Awards” and New York Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin was nominated for Best Celly.

Artemi Panarin had to expect to hear his name mentioned for some NHL hardware after he signed with the New York Rangers last summer. I am not sure the Best Celly Fan Award was what he had in mind but it is something to talk about during hockey’s downtime.

The NHL has created 20 different categories for fans to choose from. There is a large range of different topics, from best team dog, the goal of the year, best dressed, funniest player, save of the year, and my favorite best pregame ritual.

Fans can head over to www.nhl.com/fans/nhl-fan-choice-awards and pick who they would like to see win with voting ending on June 1.

Panarin has some good company in his category. Buffalo Sabers jack Eichel, the Carolina Hurricanes, and Panarin’s former team the Columbus Blue Jackets.

These are all good choices but none are as comparable as the Breadman’s leg kick which has been measured as high as 5.9 feet.

Panarin has been in the Hart Trophy conversation recently. The trophy is awarded to the league’s most valuable player, an accolade that he deserves based on what he has accomplished this season for the Blueshirts. This season Rangers fans have seen plenty of cellies with the Breadman finding the back of the net 32 times along with 95 points.

This Hub Playoff Makes More Sense for the New York Rangers and the NHL

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New York Rangers

While waiting for plans to be worked out, the New York Rangers must feel like the teams that are on the bubble of being included in the NCAA basketball tournament. If the NHL goes with the traditional 16 team format, the Rangers are out. Many hub playoff scenarios have the Rangers in. But some hub playoffs, like having a strict division playoff, leave the Rangers out. However, Elliotte Friedman of sportsnet.ca has proposed a hub playoff that addresses many of the concerns that people have had about previous plans.

First, let us address some of the concerns about the most alleged most popular hub plan which is a 24 team playoff that features a best-of-three play in for the bottom seeded teams.

Concern 1: You are the New York Islanders. Your hub is located in Edmonton, which means that you have to go to Canada and be quarantined for 14 days. You start the tourney and you are swept out in just two games. Now you have gone through all of that just to play two games. Toss in the fact that your regional television network now cannot show any more of your games and try to recoup losses they sustained in the shutdown.

Concern 2: You are assigned to play the Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-three, facing a healthy and rested Carey Price.

Concern 3: You are one of the top-seeded teams, hanging around while the lower-seeded teams get to play some meaningful games.

Friedman’s proposed playoff addresses many of these concerns. First, let’s take a look at his proposed hub assignments:

METROPOLITAN HUB: Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Islanders, Columbus

ATLANTIC HUB: Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida, Montreal, Rangers (added as lowest seed from Metropolitan — Bruins are top-ranked in the East and should have that reward in their hub)

CENTRAL HUB: St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Nashville, Chicago (Blackhawks stay in Central because Blues are top-ranked in West)

PACIFIC HUB: Vegas, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Arizona, Minnesota

His playoff would involve a round-robin format in the first round. It would look very much like a youth hockey or other sports tournaments that happen around the globe. This would assure that each team would get to play five games, which helps to know you are going to play at least that much, and your regional television partner would also get those games. Friedman would also like to award bonus points to the higher seeds as a reward for where they finished in the regular season.

The top four teams would then move on and play the traditional best-of-five or best-of-seven format.

The NHL/NHLPA Return to Play committee convened both last Tuesday and Wednesday. And, as Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, there could be a return-to-play format announced next week. Having an NCAA basketball tourney reveal show would not be a bad idea either.

New York Rangers Prospect Named Junior Player of the Year in Sweden

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New York Rangers, Brad Skjei

The New York Rangers are genuinely excited about their young prospects as recently Nils Lundkvist was named the  Junior Player of the Year in the Swedish Hockey League. Lundkvist was selected in the first round, 28th overall, of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.

The New York Ranger prospect had an excellent year in Sweden

The Swedish blueliner has made his mark in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) for Lulea, scoring 31 points in 45 games, thereby setting a new points record for a junior defender in the league.  Lundkvist is also no stranger to international competition, representing his home country at the U20 World Juniors twice, once in Victoria in 2019 and in 2020 in the Czech Republic. In helping lead Sweden to the Bronze medal, he tallied eight points by scoring a goal with seven assists. When asked what the experience of setting the new points record, he told eliteprospects.com that “It’s was that it was a cool thing. When there was talk of that record, that I had a chance to overtake it, I had a drought of four to five games when I didn’t put up any points. Then there was a lot of talk about that, a lot of questions, ‘when will you set the new record? When are you going to hit it?’

What is the next step in his New York Ranger future?

The recent coronavirus pandemic has made that question a little tricky to answer. Assuming the opportunity exists, Lundkvist could make a push to make the Blueshirts roster next season. The scouting report on him states that in addition to his scoring ability, he draws praise for his back end mobility and that he continues to improve from year to year. He is familiar with his future Ranger teammates, having participated at the Rangers’ developmental camp this past summer, an experience that Lundkvist has repeatedly stated has helped his progression as a player

His family is no stranger to professional hockey, as his uncle Jan Sandstrom played many years for Lulea in the Swedish Professional League. Lundkvist was quite happy that he could play one season with his uncle.

The Rangers have quite a few talented defensemen on the way, at the forefront being Lundkvist and former Wisconsin defenseman K’Andre Miller, as the Rangers continue to stockpile young talent in the hopes of making a run at the Stanley Cup in the near future.

This Neutral Site Making a Strong Case for New York Ranger Games

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Brady Skjei, New York Rangers

As we get closer to summer, it is starting to become apparent that the best way for the NHL and the New York Rangers to play games is to have a neutral site host them.  Recently, a governor of a nearby state confirmed that he has been in talks with the NHL to host neutral site games if the NHL decides to conclude their season in some sort of fashion.

Manchester NH being discussed as a neutral site location

In addition to Grand Forks, Manchester New Hampshire has also been mentioned as a neutral site location for the NHL. On Friday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu joined WEEI Sports Radio Network and confirmed that he has been in discussion with the NHL. “There is truth to that,” he said. “I have had discussions about that. Don’t know whether it’s going to happen, but we are talking about it.”Governor Sununu added that any discussions he’s had have been preliminary and that there is still a myriad of issues to sort through and figure out before they could proceed. In addition to its resources, it’s location makes it reasonably convenient for the East and Northeast NHL teams that may end up being part of a resumed NHL season.

What makes Manchester a good neutral site host for the New York Rangers and the NHL

New York City is about 250 miles from Manchester, not that it matters as these games will probably not have fans in attendance. Boston is only 50 miles away and Manchester and the city have hosted Boston Bruin preseason games in the past. Manchester was home to the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs, and have hosted AHL team’s in the past. It hosted the AHL all-star game in 2005, so the arena is capable of hosting major sporting events. SNHU Arena holds over 9000 people for hockey, making it big enough for those who are deemed essential to make games happen can spread out.

Manchester is one of an apparent handful of cities that have approached the NHL about hosting games. But as Governor Sununu warned, there are still many questions that have to be answered before any city hosts a game. ‘Yes, we want this” Sununu said, “because we gotta make sure what are the liabilities here? What if a team were to get sick, how’s it going to be managed? So we’re working through some of those logistics, but that’s on the table for sure.”