Offense, Where are You?: Three games, 59 shots, three
goals.
"We've got a lot to think about," said Rangers coach John Muckler
after a 3-2 loss to Al MacInnis and a 4-2 loss to St. Louis.
I guess that's one way to put it. This 1998-99 version is, not
surprisingly, drawing comparisons to the 1997-98 troops. They've
basically been outworked in everyone of their games so far this
season. Philly is just at a level that the Rangers can't even
see with a telescope. In Montreal, they forgot that a game is 60
minutes not 40. And St. Louis just out hustled them to every
loose puck.
"Sports is played so much on confidence," Wayne Gretzky said.
"People sometimes refer to it as momentum. Whatever you want to
call it, our team, as players, seem to be headed the other way.
We seem to be lacking confidence, and a lot of that may have to
do with nerves."
Nerves or not, this ship is sinking fast and they need to call
the Coast Guard to stop it from disappearing in the ocean.
Alexei Kovalev has been the Kovalev that put that Happy Gilmour
look on Colin Campbell's face. Esa Tikkanen needs to have his
skate blades sharpened as he looks like he's skating still. And
Gretzky is beginning to look his age.
The lack of depth has been especially evident at center as the
Rangers have been getting annihilated on faceoffs. They lost 30
of 52 against St. Louis to make it 62 wins and 116 losses for the
season. That means acquiring a No. 2 center has become even more
urgent. Petr Nedved and Doug Weight are on the market but will
most likely cost them either Kovalev or Niklas Sundstrom. Anyway
you slice it, this city is in for some tough hockey times. At
least the Garden scoreboard isn't falling apart.
Tikk Attack is Back: The all too familiar face is back in
Ranger blue. Esa Tikkanen, who came to camp as a tryout was
signed after leading the team in scoring during the preseason.
Tikkanen, now 33, had more goals in exhibition games (five) than
all of last year (three) while playing with Florida and
Washington.
While no one can argue Tikkanen's tenacity and competitiveness, I
think this signing tells you a lot about this Ranger team. A
team that lacks productive wingers picks up a winger who scored
all of three goals last season yet was instrumental in the
Capitals' dive to the Stanley Cup Finals to play on their top
line. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this playoff warrior
will get a chance to do the same with this squad.
Top pick signed: The Rangers have agreed to contract terms
with Manny Malhotra, a center who was their first-round pick in
the 1998 NHL entry draft. The Rangers announced the signing in a
news release Wednesday night just a couple of hours before a
midnight deadline that would have forced the Rangers to return
Malhotra, to the junior ranks for the entire 1998-99 season.
Malhotra signed a three-year deal at $975,000 a season, with
performance bonuses similar to but more lucrative than the
$1-million package Calder Trophy winner Sergei Samsonov earned
last year.
"It's not so much I was terrified of it, but having a taste of
what life is here and the skill level, and having an opportunity
to play would be the greatest thing in the world," said Malhotra
when asked his thoughts about going back to juniors. "Going
back to junior would have been a disappointment."
Malhotra, 18, dazzled in the preseason with his hockey sense and
emotional maturity. GM Neil Smith avoided a public relations
disaster by not allowing their highly touted first-round pick to
slip back to juniors. Smith blames Boston GM Harry Sinden for
breaking the bank with 1997 rookies Samsonov and Joe Thornton,
and the ridiculous contracts he threw at them.
"The Bruins ruined it for everybody because they paid Samsonov
and Thornton all this money. Now we're all fighting
tooth-and-nail with ever high-level player," Smith said.
The argument, while valid, is not as ferocious when coming from
the mouth of a GM who, if I can recall correctly, signed Joe
Sakic to a front-loaded 3-year $21-million offer sheet last
season.
Galanov Lost to Pens: The Rangers, who lack a young
offensive defensemen, lost Maxim Galanov, one of the few in the
organization, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the waiver draft. The
6-foot-1, 195-pound Russian defenseman scored 30 goals his first
two professional hockey seasons in the Western Hemisphere,
playing for the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate in
Binghamton, N.Y.
Galanov displayed enough explosive speed, skilled puck handling,
and slick passing in the preseason to force the division-rival
Penguins to snatch him with the seventh of the nine selections in
the draft.
"It was a surprise," said Galanov when asked about his initial
reaction the news. "I don't like to change something."
I really don't know what Neil Smith was thinking here. On a team
that, minus Brian Leetch, lacks offense behind the blue line, a
kid like Galanov can't be given away. Now you have Smith looking
towards Toronto and restricted free agent Mathieu Schneider to
answer the bell.
Fedyk Makes the Cut: Brent Fedyk, former "Crazy Eights"
linemate of Eric Lindros and Mark Recchi, has been a pleasant
surprise this year.
Fedyk is attempting to reconstruct a career hampered first by a
fractured neck, then weakness in his right leg, a condition that
forced Fedyk out of the NHL for the 1996-97 season.
No doctors could find the problem until physical therapist Gary
Gray discovered Fedyk's right leg was shorter than the left and
had caused his hip muscles to deteriorate.
With rehabilitation and a temporary lift in his skate, Fedyk has
regained his strength and skating stride. He had 39 goals and 36
assists for the IHL Detroit Vipers and Cincinnati Cyclones last
season and the Rangers signed him as a free agent over the
summer.
"It's been cool for a lot of reasons, especially because of the
year I had to sit out with the injury. It'll be all around
special," Fedyk said. "The hardest thing in this league is to get
a second chance."
Now that's cool.
Short Game Recaps:
Oct. 9, lost to Philly 1-0: Former Ranger John
Vanbiesbrouck stopped 20 weak shots to shut out the Blueshirts
1-0. Alexandre Diagle had the lone goal as the Rangers went 0-
for-6 on the power play.
Oct. 10, crushed at Montreal 7-1: By making 21 saves, Mike
Richter held the fort for two periods before he buckled under the
weight of far too many unstopped offensive thrusts by the Habs.
What had been a 2-1 game going into the third, avalanched into
the landslide left on the scoreboard. Adam Graves had the only
red light for the Rangers.
Oct. 12, beat up by St. Louis 4-2: Al MacInnis put on a
slap shot clinic as he had a natural hat trick to single-handedly
overpower the now infamous Broadway Blueshirts. Brian Leetch and
Alexander Karpovtsev scored two meaningless third-period goals.
