Blue Notes

Hello all,

Mike Casey filling in for Steve Zipay again. This will be a fairly regular Sunday occurence, as Steve likes to enjoy a little family time on Sunday afternoons whenever the Rangers are at home. That means more opportunities for me to cover hockey, which is something I always look forward to.

So the 'big' news tonight is that Thomas Pock is finally back in the lineup -- but not as a defenseman. Just a short while ago in the locker room, Tom Renney informed the media that Pock will dress for the first time in 16 games, but he will skate on the fourth line as a forward, replacing Colton Orr.

Pock played forward at the University of Massachusetts before converting to defense, so he has some experience in that role.

Renney stressed that he still thinks of Pock as a defenseman, but wanted to see him get some time at forward.

"I'd like to see him use his speed," Renney said. "Because he's relatively familiar with the forward position, I think he understands what a forecheck looks like. I think he knows how to go to the net. He can shoot the puck, he can pass the puck."

Renney also said that getting Pock into a game as a forward is a good way to ease him into the Rangers' system.

"If there are errors to be made by a young player, better [to make mistakes] at the front end where they're somewhat camouflaged and you can recover from them as opposed to the back end."

Makes sense. It was starting to look like the Rangers had forgotten about Thomas. Let's see how (or if) he impacts tonight's game.

One other interesting storyline to tonight's game is the Rangers' suddenly sputtering attack. Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr have been the sum total of the Rangers' offense, scoring all four Blueshirts goals in the last three games.

It's time to put out an APB for Michael Nylander, Martin Straka, Petr Prucha, Matt Cullen, and Adam Hall. Each has been invisible or close to it the last few games.

Also keep in mind that Jaromir Jagr is one away from 600 goals. If he scores tonight, it'll overshadow a lot of other storylines. Hopefully one of those won't be a continued lack of offense.