Fischler blog 01/17/07

[Rock]

January 17, 2007

Wins, losses and - maybe even trades

http://www.msg.typepad.com/stan_fischler/

After the first period of last night's Rangers-Devils game, my buddy, Steve Cangialosi asked me about the possibility of upcoming trades.

I replied that if the Blueshirts would lose to New Jersey, I would expect a deal to be done and, if Tom Renney's lad had won, then nothing much would be doing.

Thus, my belief is that by the weekend after the All-Star break, Glen Sather will have made some sort of deal to bolster his lineup.

Not that a 1-0 loss to the Devils suggests disaster of any kind; because it does not. After all, the game was decided on a rudimentary point shot by one-goal-all-season - now two! - defenseman Brad Lukowich.

Other than that, Henrik Lundqvist was as flawless as Martin Brodeur in goal and New York played New Jersey even.

But the fact that Sather-Renney know that his team so relies on Jaromir Jagr-- and his linemates - that if they fail to score, the club is in danger of losing, they no doubt are looking for another sniper.

Not that it will be easy. Assistant GM Don Maloney points out that because of Salary Cap restrictions, it's much more difficult to make deals.

Still, not impossible.

Possible people to be moved? Just check out those who have been benched: Darius Kasparaitis, Jason Ward and Adam Hall all are possibilities.

I would never trade Petr Prucha except for an equally young stud. To me, the Czech has too much potential to be eschewed at this point. But that does not make him an untouchable if a good exchange is possible.

At this point, the most critical element in Rangers thinking is securing a playoff berth. In this, tightest of all NHL races, nothing can be left to chance and if a deal has to be made, it will.

So, if nothing happens - trade-wise - in Rangerville by the following weekend, well, you can call me anything you want, but especially, W-R-O-N-G.

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DAUNTLESS DEVILS:

Unquestionably, the most sobering - and sensible - comment made following the Devils' 1-0 win over the Rangers to come out of the victor's dressing room was delivered by John Madden.

The splendid defensive center told me straight out that there remain areas in which his club could improve.

And what are they?

"We're missing scoring opportunities that would make it easier for us to win," Madden replied.

One that comes to mind was a Jamie Langenbrunner breakaway with the Devils ahead 1-0 that would have eased the march to victory. JL shot wide on Henrik Lundqvist who certainly isn't an easy chap to beat.

New Jersey had the better chances but, Madden is right, they have to exploit more of them if first place is to remain in their grasp.

A team that owns a ten point lead over New York should not be subject go nit-picking but the fact remains that the Devils still require more scoring power and Martin Brodeur cannot be required over and over again to bail them out of one goal games.

Nevertheless, New Jersey continues to progress without defensemen Alex Brooks and Johnny Oduya in the lineup, David Hale getting limited ice time and the newest rookie, Andy Greene being used more and more.

Greene, a Miami of Ohio grad, is looking like a young version of Brian Rafalski. He's poised, smart and quite willing to shoot the puck from the point.

In his post-game commentary, coach Claude Julien told me that he likes the way Greene is handling the power play point work and, especially, his ability to put the puck on net. This kid looks like a future winner to me and, who knows, might even enable Lou Lamoriello to make a deal, himself.

But that's a toughie.

Way back when, the thinking was that Brad Lukowich was the most expendable defenseman to make room for Richard Matvichuk. But Lukie - if not a star - certainly has reinforced his reliability and last night's winning goal certainly hasn't hurt his status.

Don't ask me what Lou does from here because speculation is ridiculous. Nobody but Lou knows and Lamoriello tells nobody. NOBODY. So, if you see a Devils trade rumor - and you won't see it here - don't believe it.

Tampa Bay's Lightning visit the Meadowlands tomorrow night for a game that will tell us a couple of things. Namely: 1. Will Julien rest Brodeur and play Scott Clemenson? 2. Will Oduya return to the lineup? 3. Will Erik Rasmussen continue to stay on the Jim Dowd-Mike Rupp fourth line?

My guess is that Marty stays in goal; Oduya rests one more game since the club has a winning combo and that the fourth line - more and more effective - remains intact.

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ISLES WOES:

Coach Ted Nolan's words had a sad ring to them: "You can't ask for anything more from our team. When you hold a team like Pittsburgh to ten shots, you should have better results."

The ten Penguins shots resulted in two goals against Mike Dunham after two periods and a 2-2 tie. But Sid Crosby beat Dunham on a second rebound early in the third and Pitts cruised to a 5-2 win over the Isles.

Dunham then allowed a long shot by Erik Christensen that was stoppable which opened the floodgates for Crosby, Inc. and the Isles playoff drive took another serious hit.

How serious?

Look at it this way: the club is 2-8-1 for the past 11 games with one more game in which to re-group before the All-Star break.

Nolan's brigade invades Philly tomorrow night but the Flyers certainly won't make it an easy two points.

The good news: Radek Martinek, the club's best defenseman, is back from his foot injury. Chris Campoli, from whom so much was expected, was the scratch last night.

What I'm wondering is whether Garth Snow is contemplating a move. Would he be interested in Jason Allison, still un-signed? I doubt it.

Stay tuned.

Posted at 12:22 PM in Hockey | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

[DarkDevil]

Interesting write up. I've also been curious since Marty was selected for the all-star game if he is going to rest thursday night or not. But, that's up to him of course. I would also agree that Oduya would rest and get as much rest as possible so when he comes back he is %100 like White was when he came back. Not sure what to think about Rasmussen yet.