Blue Notes

Checking in from Vienna...

Here in this magnificent city of pastries and music, just taking a well-deserved hiatus with my wife before heading back to Prague for the practice on Thursday. Caught the recap of the 8-1 defeat of SC Bern, which wasn't exactly unexpected. And that's without Staal (palm) Naslund, Dawes, Mara, etc...Tonight's Victoria Cup game will shine more light on the progress of this squad....

Highlights so far: the Van Gogh exhibit of drawings and paintings at the Albertina, the Vienna Philharmonic at the spectacular Golden Hall, which seats about 1,200 and is acoustically perfect, schnitzel at Huth, the mushroom dishes at the Imperial Hotel, the gilded, breathtaking St. Peter's.

All recommended. But bring your wallet. I'll have to take a second job at the Tarrytown Hess station to pay for this sojurn.

But what the hell, as a wise man once told me, you should try to live as if you've already died...

More later and plenty from Prague down the road...

Two for one: Witnessed a rose sunrise and the golden light at sunset across the spires of Prague, a city first sampled on foot and by metro today; so far, four stars on the Z-list:

Sights and sounds:
The posters of Scott Gomez and Vinny Lecavalier promoting the game are plastered on walls next to concerts by Deus and Mozart concertos....A Viking boat gliding on the Vltava River....the magnificent towers and architecture with statues and castings and reliefs on almost every building... the walking bridges and paddlers underneath....the cobblestone alleys, Bohemian crystals twinkling in storefronts, lovely shaded parks with older couples on benches and younger ones on blankets, local beverages, just an outstanding late-summer day.

Just past the buskers and stalls on the Charles Bridge on the Mala Strana side, a familiar face: Petr Nedved strolling with wife Veronica and telling me that he stopped over in Paris on the way here and leaves tomorrow for his hometown team in nearby Libercec. Nedved played in Prague last year and wanted to return, but "there was a little pressure from Libercec" to skate there this time round. "Tell New York I said hello," he said, waving, and with that, they happily melded into the happy, moving crowd.

I'm catching a train to Vienna tomorrow, will be back here soon. Can't wait.

***
Back at the hotel in the Vinohrady nabe, an email response from Tom Renney in Bern, Switzerland that I'll share:

"Very good skate today. Practiced better then we played yesterday. Guys are in good spirits. Good to get the legs going and the blood flowing. Skated with the same combos as the last game. Have to give it a chance. See Valiquette getting the start vs Bern, Henrik vs Magnitogorsk. May make some minor changes to roster, so may skate with that in the am. Beautiful day here today."

***
Last, but not least, a literary suggestion and shameless plug from overseas for a little hardcover effort from yes, yours truly, just published by Triumph Books in Chicago and which should be available in Barnes and Noble and Borders in the good old USA this week:

"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping and Gut-Wrenching Moments from New York Rangers History".

It's not exhaustive or definitive, to be sure. It ain't every fact over 80 years. Instead, it's more of a portable assortment of Rangers moments designed to prod some memories and generate discussion; a recounting of players and coaches and games and issues in small bites, from draft busts to major trades, to classic overtimes, to favorite nicknames and quotes. Please consider grabbing a copy for yourself and for a gift. The holidays are coming!
And hey, depending on how this team fares, there might need to be a fast sequel by the end of the season....

Newsday's Mark Herrmann is carrying the puck today at the Garden while I'm at JFK waiting for a flight. Betcha Mark has fewer turnovers than your heroes.

Are the Rangers mentally on their 7 p.m. jet to Switzerland already?

The NHL.com scoreboard says it's 4-0 Devs...

Not exactly the sendoff that the coaches wanted...

Didn't see the call on Korpikoski, but it looks as if the message boards are buzzing...

Chip in with some reaction on that and the play in general, Blue Noters, I'm all ears...

First, it seems a given that---as many observers here and elsewhere postulated---the Dawes-Drury-Prucha line was a little on the light side. Just wondering, but don't be surprised if you see Drury drop back to the wing with Dubinsky centering that line with Dawes.

The No. 1 line gets smaller with Drury there, but better defensively. The proposed second line gets bigger with Zherdev and Dubinsky. But the Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev line looked pretty good in the pre-season. I'd give Dawes-Dubinsky-Drury, or Triple D, a go-round.
and maybe a third line with Voros-Korpikoski-Callahan.

Or Prucha, and Voros drops to 4?

Comments?

Here's the roster which will go to Europe...

Potter, Fahey make the cut, as does Korpikoski, no Nedved.

Eight D---Redden, Staal, Mara, Kaliinin, Rozsival (who rested today), Girardi, Potter, Fahey

Fifteen Forwards: Gomez, Naslund, Zherdev, Prucha, Drury, Dawes, Dubinsky, Callahan, Voros, Rissmiller, Korpikoski, Ftitsche, Sjostrom, Betts, Orr

Three goaltenders: Lundqvist, Valiquette, Wiikman

The Czech winger is not on the ice at the moment; loks as if he won't make the trip...or the team

From Wade Redden: "Up a goal after the second, then a couple breaks. We had a lot of shots (47). I think a lot of them were outside shots. That's what we talked about before the game, trying to get to the net more. If we got a few more rebounds, maybe it's a different game. We had a few empty nets that didn't cash (in) for us. Prucha's a little snake-bit...I don;t think anyone's frustrated. We're just trying to get ready for the fourth. Sure you want to win games, but guys worked pretty hard and that's where it starts. Personally, I felt better tonight than I have for a long time."

****

How about this from Tamp coach Barry Melrose: "I'm concerned about the 10-minute mark of the first to the one-second mark of the third. It was a terrible 30 minutes of hockey...we played awful. Our goalie gave us the chance to win...Steve Stamkos is getting better every game." He also singled out Andrej Meszaros, Radium Vrbata, Chris Gratton and Ryan Malone as having much better games...

***
Renney said he would "sleep on it", referring to his decisions on who to keep....He said Friday morning's practice would be a good indicator of the squad heading to Europe, which will include three goaltenders...

***

Dan Fritsche had a goal and assist, Korpikoski a beautiful individual effort for a goal, Dan Girardi registered an assist for 1-2-3 in three games.. Rissmiller had an assist as did Dmitri Kalinin.

****

Redden said he was looking forward to today, when the team would be pared down to more familiar faces. "I haven't seen half the guys," he said.

...and so little to show.

Despite a pre-season high in shots, the Rangers lost their fourth in five games, as the Lightning erased a 2-1 lead for a 4-2 win. The Rangers haven't scored more than two in any of the five games.

More in a little while...

Peruse tonight's roster. In fact, look at any team's roster this past week or so. Maybe eight to 10 recognizable names, the rest youngsters.

Hardly star-studded.

Yet season ticket-holder are forced to pay full freight for "lite" exhibition games.
Same as the NFL.

With prices increasing virtually across the board, especially in major markets, why not offer pre-season tickets at a lower price to give fans an opportunity to see a game at a reasonable price?

Give the season-ticket holders the option to pass on the pre-season without being whacked....

Evgeny Grachev has been assigned to Hartford, not Brampton....
As expected, Michael Del Zotto and Tomas Kundratek have been assigned to their junior teams. Tryout David Stich was released...

In a frank appraisal a few minutes ago, the Rangers coach offered this endorsement: "Somebody has to beat him out of a job, and I don't know if that's going to happen, quite honestly...Blair's a good hockey player and can play for 29 other teams in this league, I take that very seriously."

More from the Garden shortly....

Most of the stars will watch while a bevy of candidates for third and fourth-line openings skates tonight at MSG against Tampa...Steve Valiquette is expected to play the entire game in net...Lauri Korpikoski will center a line, which appears to be a good sign for him to stick...Among the other forwards: Ryan Callahan, who alos could see some time at center ice, coach Toim Renney said, Dan Fritsche, Fred Sjostrom, Patrick Rissmiller, Petr Nedved, P.A. Parenteau, as well as Blair Betts, Petr Prucha, Colton Orr, Aaron Voros and not Artem Anisimov, who along with Dale Weise are almost surely headed for Hartford... With a round of cuts/assignments tomorrow, Saturday's game against the Devils will be the first real look at the team headed to Europe...Tampa actually leaves for Europe tonight or tomorrow, we hear...

So why aren't the Rangers scoring?

"Strange as it may seem, we haven't really placed a premium on our offense yet;" coach Tom Renney said after the 3-2 loss here. "We wanted to make sure we had our defensive structure in place that we would be able to play anybody...I think we're OK there. This morning, we started to talk about the offensive attack, breakouts, entries...we haven't even touched on the offensive zone yet."

Renney said he was most disappointed by this: "The last couple of games we've had vacuums of time where we haven't done that much, so I'd like to see our intensity level and our overall participation, to be engaged at both ends, and then play to our strengths. I think we have to get to the net..."

****

With a goal and an assist last night to help his cause, could Petr Nedved make the trip to Europe Saturday as part of the taxi squad? I'm thinking that way...He's expected to play again tomorrow against the Lightning and coach Tom Renney will use the two games in Bern for more evaluation before the last cuts on Oct. 3rd. But he would not commit to anything. "He's not the only call."

****
Aaron Voros was sporting a shiner under his left eye and holding a bag of ice in the corridor after his fight with Bryce Salvador.. "He's a greasy guy," Renney said, referring to his play in front of the net.

****
The 22 shots were the fewest in four games for the Rangers...

Info, info, info...

Ranger-for-a-minute Fedor Fedorov is among the players on tonight's Devils roster. Brodeur and Clemmensen will share time in net, and for those fans who were hoping that the Rangers would sign free agent Brian Rolston in July and wanted a peek, well, he's not playing on the split-squad Devils...

For the Rangers, the lines at the Rock skate (although the coach said he would tinker during the game) were:

Dawes-Drury-Prucha
Voros-Dubinsky-Callahan
Rissmiller-Nedved-Fritsche
Dupont-Moore-Wiese

D-pairs:

Rozsival-Staal
Pock-Fahey
Mara-Vlad Denisov (making his Ranger debut)

Lundqvist is scheduled to play the first half again, then presumably the debut of Antoine Lafleur...

***
Here's the coach being a bit critical of the Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev line, which went scoreless in Tampa:

"It continues to have great potential. I think they try to do a little too much sometimes....I have no problem with the deception and the creativity but I have a problem with turnovers and when you try to manufacture too much by yourself. That's not just incumbent on that line...as a line they probably had 20 shots in two games, they're putting a lot of rubber to the net, what they've got to do is continue to work on their game and communicate, just have dialogue as a trio. I think you want to give yourself a chance; certainly on paper that combination makes sense."

****
Korpikoski, Potter, Byers "are very much in the mix" for roster spots, the coach said.

****

Looking back at Tampa:

"We came out of the first period pretty good even though we were down one, we felt pretty good about our game, that we had control of it. Then we lost control of that, managing the puck and getting it deep and continuing to forecheck. First and third (periods) were good, what we've done is deviate...instead of manufacturing the simple play that's effective, we're sort of doing the high risk, high reward."

****
About the 3-for-23 power play: "We skated through the slot, we passed through the slot, we worked ourselves out of the funnel when we had a chance to shoot." Keeping line trios together on the PP will continue tonight, but by tomorrow, Renney said power play units will be regrouped.

which means Lundqvist, Drury, Dawes, Dubinsky, Callahan, Prucha, Staal, Rozy, Mara and the blue split-squad square off against the Devils after the white team's 3-2 loss in Tampa.

I'll report from the morning skate at the Rock---first visit since the playoffs---so check in for lineups, quotes and comments before noon.

Zherdev misses one-timer on the PP, drawn by Jamtin. With Niskanen in the box, Girardi finally scores on a wrister, think G Mike Smith was screened, 3-1, end of two.

Second Period

Oh my. A perfectly-placed laser from Stamkos on the PP, 2-0....After a quick chat on the bench with the coach, the Rangers come out a little more physical. First scrap of the pre-season, Byers vs. Hall. Not much. Another PP for Tampa. Great set-up from Prospal cross-ice to Carle on the left to St. Louis for a one-timer 25 feet from dead center for the third goal.

***

Another PP for Rangers on Artyhukin's hooking, his second penalty....Zherdev just missed on wrister high, but 0-for-2 on PP, and now, a Rangers hook by Zherdev...Wow, scary, Gomez and Rangers couldn't clear the zone five or six times. 1-0, Tampa, end of 1.

***
On Tampa's third shot on goal, a score. Artyhukin goes around Redden---ouch---
on the right boards and Ryan Craig, with no one picking him up, cashes in the rebound...I was just about to say: Where's the sofa? Rangers goalies not being severely tested again...the Rangers D are keeping the puck in the O zone better...

***

With 12 and a half left in the first, Potter kept digging without a helmet...boy Artyhukin is massive, isn't he?...I think we're gonna like the "no TV timeouts after icings" rule...

***

First period

The No. 1 pick, Steve Stamkos, playing for Tampa...Wiikman starts... Korpikoski skating with Anisimov and Parenteau as second line with Kalinin and Sanguinetti...Betts/Orr/Byers next with Del Zotto and Potter...then Jamtin/Jessiman/Sjostrom

Nice save by Wiikman on St. Louis... Stamkos on with Malone...Rangers firing away again, as Joe Micheletti just said, the power play looks nothing like last season when Jagr was "stubborn."

Wonder if Tampa---who will face the Rangers at the Garden and twice in Prague--- will load up or not play a lot of regulars tonight....

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. One of the last good looks for a few guys before Friday cuts:

The roster:

F: Gomez, Naslund, Zherdev, Betts, Anisimov, Korpikoski, Jamtin, Jessiman, Orr, Parenteau, Byers, Sjostrom

D: Redden, Girardi, Kalinin, Del Zotto, Sanguinetti, Potter

G: Valiquette, Wiikman

I'm preparing for Europe, so not in Tampa, but will be tuning in and blogging the game right here. Wednesday, we'll be live from....Newark.

Back with more in a few...

Rangers had 38 shots, two more than in Ottawa....Zhredev-Naslund-Gomez had 14...Lundqvist stopped 12 shots and will have tomorrow off and play against the Devils on Wednesday...Naslund's 18:57 led all Rangers skaters....Dubinsky on his shot that hit the post: "It went in!"...Girardi was credited with nine hits....Alex Auld played very well stopping 28 of 30 shots...About half the Sens played in the NHL last season...The White team---with some extras---left to fly to Tampa. Game's on MSG tonight...

...for tonight anyway, with Wade Redden and Markus Naslund the alternate captains...Rangers coach Tom Renney said he wasn't close to making a decision on naming a captain for the season

Big Evgeny Grachev, the Rangers' third pick (No. 75) in the June draft, has been inked...Needs some work on his skating, but he could be a gem

****
After missing Saturday's game in Ottawa to attend to a family matter in Vancouver, coach Tom Renney was back at practice today and will be behind the bench tonight at the Garden....

****
Among the youngsters donning Rangers jerseys tonight is Matt Zaba, the goaltender from Colorado College who will play in either Charlotte or Hartford. He's expected to relieve Lundqvist at the halfway point of the second period. Says his improvement has come from tips on positioning from goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, who "has me staying on my feet a little more." Zaba, who has three sisters, spent the summer working out in Saskatchewan with NHL players such as Brooks Laich and attended Perry Pearn's camp.

***
Wade Redden, Dan Girardi and the Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev line are among the players headed to Tampa for an early back-to-back. I believe Mara, Staal, Rozsival, Drury, Prucha and Dawes have a couple days off, although Dawes joked to writers watching the practices that he was playing left defense tonight to work on skating backwards...

***
Freddy Sjostrom now has the close-shaved head, a la Mara. "Better aerodynamics," he said...

***
Some stats from Saturday: Callahan led team with six shots; every skater except Dawes and Byers had at least one shot...Staal led in time-on-ice with 22:26...Betts was 10-for-15 in faceoffs won...

Will touch base from the Garden....

On paper, looks like Dubinsky, who scored twice on Saturday, gets another chance. Things could change...

G: Lundqvist, Zaba

D: Redden debuts as a Ranger with Girardi; Kalinin, too, with Sanguinetti, and Pock-Fahey.

F: Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Fritsche-Dubinsky-Weise
Voros-Nedved-Parenteau
Korpikoski-Anisimov-Orr

More shortly....

Heading over to the training center in a few minutes for the two practices: One by the white team, which will leave for Tampa after watching Blue face Ottawa tonight at MSG. A communique from the rink will follow. Gonna be a busy week, folks....

....in the 3-2 defeat that featured a strong, physical effort by numerous players: The Dubinsky-Callahan-Voros line was tough. Liked Byers and Mara's play as well. And Del Zotto, as I wrote earlier today, looks like quite the investment.

Considering the Rangers played without a first line, the No. 1 goaltender and two of the top four D, not bad for the first time out.

Scrambly start for Rangers, but they settled in and the Sens were outplayed most of the last two periods. Penalty-kill was very good. Ottawa capitalized on early turnovers.

Sub coach Perry Pearn---with Renney in Vancouver on a personal matter---kept lines together for the PP.

Comments?

Now that's it official, a brief salute to John Dellapina, although he deserves much more.

Dell's leaving the Rangers beat at the Daily News after more than a decade for a job with the league. You can read all about it on his Blueshirts Blog.

Over the last few years, John and I had some laughs during the grind on the road, in rental cars, at hotel pools, in arena corridors and dining rooms and press boxes and occasionally in a watering hole. I recall numerous quality discussions on life and music and sports and the newspaper business and politics and family. A class act. I hope the league listens to him and learns from him as often as I did.

He's not gone forever. He joked the other day that he still would be at more road games than Sam Weinman.

OK, now back to the game....

Sloppy play by Valiquette allows weak third goal from Fisher off scramble in front...what a burst by Dubinsky on the left side in mid-ice, ripping through two Sens and firing a shot over Gerber's right shoulder....Rangers have improved and were controlling play for several shifts...Fewer penalties at least...WInchester looks pretty good for Sens, doesn't he? ...Wiikman in at the halfway point... Rangers ahead in shots, 23-13

I counted nine....Jeez, how about some 5-on-5?

Sens have 2-0 lead...the second on a shorthander by Spezza after Rozsival fanned on a pass at the blue line...could've been 3, but Heatley hit the post with 15 seconds left....Prucha turnover lead to Vermette breakaway that triggered a Drury penalty...Gerber has played well in the net for the Sens...

Thoughts?

Release the hounds!

About 3 1/2 hours until the puck drops for the pre-season....

I'll be watching MSG and offering some live commentary right here. Naturally, you're all welcome to post as well.

Somehow my short piece on Del Zotto's NHL debut tonight in today's editions didn't make it to the column on the left. Here 'tis.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/ny-sprang0920,0,5919146.story

It includes a refuting of the Swedish report that Lundqvist is taking weekly shots of cortisone in his knees. Untrue and medically impossible. Cortisone is administered no more than once every three months. It was a one-time thing in the worlds after the post-season. Once. He's fine.

Didn't get there (schedule shift) but a worthy observer tells me that Naslund and Gomez were really clicking at practice today and that Zaba and Sanguinetti looked sharp.

See ya later...

Steve Zipay answers your Rangers questions in a live chat at 1:30 p.m.

Sorry for the switch.....

Hope some of you can adjust....

I'll be ready for questions....

Early start today, ladies and gents....

First off, some changes---on paper anyway---in the potential lineup that will face Ottawa in the pre-season opener tomorrow. Scheduled to scrimmage today for the white team, which will fly out this afternoon:

The second line is Dane Byers is on the left side of Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan. Aaron Voros is on the left of Blair Betts and Colton Orr. Greg Moore centers Pat Rissmiller and Freddy Sjostrom. The Dawes-Drury-Prucha first line remains the same.

And No. 1 draft pick Michael Del Zotto will debut against NHL players, paired with Brian Fahey on D. The other d-pairs: Staal/Rozsival; Mara-Potter. The goaltenders: Steve Valiquette and Mikka Wiikman. Naturally, there likely will be some extras as well.

Unsure who'll be coaching against the Sens, will find out shortly. The split squad will leave Westchester about 1:30.

Back in a few...

****

UPDATE

The coach confirmed he will be behind the bench tomorrow night in Ottawa (game will be televised on MSG) and in Tampa nest Tuesday and that the roster posted above will be the travel squad, with some tinkering. We'll all speak with him before he leaves.

Blue topped White in the scrimmage 3-1. A Thomas Pock shot from the blue sign flew past a screened Mikka Wiikman for the third goal and second of the scrimmage for No. 22. The first was on a re-start rush after a penalty. The other scorers: Nigel Dawes, who my gut tells me could have a big year on Broadway, and Dale Weise (pronounced Weece by the way). The rumblings are that he'll be in Hartford this season.

Please join in. Much, much to review.

Was pulled in sixteen directions today (a tale unfit for short consumption), but finished up by writing about the scant openings and candidates for Friday's paper (headline up to your left soon).

Topics for chat: Day 3 scrimmage; the split-squad headed to Ottawa; will Wiikman accompany the team to Europe (think so, they'll need an emergency goalie. I suspect Lundqvist plays three of four and Vally starts against SC Bern); why I love our new panini griller, and perhaps the debut CD from Back Door Slam, the young trio from the Isle of Man, which includes a very commendable cover of Cream's "Outside Woman Blues"...

Cleaning out the notebook:

Before the squads were divvied up, Wade Redden told me he really didn't care whether he went to Ottawa to face his former club on Saturday. Turns out he'll stay here. . "I think I'd rather be there for a game that counts," he said. "I'm sure I'll hear it either way."

Not sure if you've heard that Rozsival quipped that his replacement number for when the "3" jersey is retired would be the last two digits of his social security number....

Bumped into prospect Evgeny Grachev as I was leaving the MSG Training Center today and he grimaced when I asked him about Traverse City. "I didn't like my game," he said. He's honest.

Sue me if this is obvious, but just don't see Nedved or Jessiman making the cut...

Some prospects back from the Traverse City Tournament are skating with the White and Blue squads, and one of them, Dale Weise, this summer's fourth-round draft pick, snapped a high shot past Steve Valiquette seven minutes in...Dan Fritsche sped past Corey Potter, cutting in from the left boards in front, to beat Valiquette for his second score in two days...Nigel Dawes' qucik shot from the slot zipped over Lundqvist's blocker...Other prospects playing: Del Zotto, Sanguinetti, Dupont, Anisimov...

Patrick Rissmiller scored the scrimmage-winner for the white squad....Petr Prucha ---on a line with Drury and Dawes---impressed with a goal against Lundqvist on the semi-breakaways awarded after penalties and an assist from behind the cage to Drury...Nikolai Zherdev, skating with Gonmez and Makus Naslund, scored after leaving the ice and missing a shift after a shoiulder-to-shoulder hit from Dane Byers in the first of the two periods...Other scorers, Ryan Hillier (roofed backhander), Dan Fritsche (high glove side on Valliquette)...Hugh Jessiman and Marc Staal caught sticks int he face....Lines and d-pairs were pretty much the same as reported here yesterday... More later

For your dining and dancing and debating pleasure, Blue Notes presents:

Some very interesting camp combos, starting tomorrow, with a Blue-White scrimmage at 10 a.m.

WHITE (which will open in Ottawa, possibly with some tweaking, on Saturday)

G---Valiquette, Wiikman
D---Rozsival/Staal, Potter/Mara, Denisov/Kondratiev, DelZotto/Murray.
F---Dawes-Drury-Prucha
Voros-Nedved-Rissmiller
Sjostrom-Anisimov-Parenteau
Byers-Moore-Jessiman

BLUE (home opener vs. Ottawa Monday and NJ)

G---Lundqvist, Lafleur, Mike Brodeur
D---Redden/Girardi, Kalinin/Fahey, Pock/Sanguinetti, Busto.
F---Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Fritsche-Dubinsky-Callahan
Korpikoski-Betts-Orr
Dupont-Pyatt-Jamtim

Initial impressions? Hmmm.

Fahey-Potter get early shots for No. 7 D; looks as if fourth lines need to impress to avoid Hartford...Voros-Nedved-Rissmiller has some height...Fritsche-Dubi-Cally a new one...Not surprised Rozy-Staal, mentioned it previously...

Thoughts?

Also, be sure to check out my colleague Mark Herrmann's view on the Rangers' captaincy---er, co-captaincy, an idea that has been