Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. As I write these words, the 2023-24 NHL campaign has begun with an ESPN staggered triple-header featuring a main event of Sidney Crosby’s Penguins vs. Connor Bedard’s Blackhawks.
(Other games? Predators vs. Lightning and Golden Knights vs. Kraken.)
For the Rangers?
As you all know, the first puck will drop for them this Thursday night, on October 12th, in Buffalo, NY, and where let’s face it – will you be shocked if Devon Levi, a goalie of only seven games worth of NHL experience, and where two of his five career victories have come at the expense of the Rangers – beats them for a third time in Game 1 of the Blueshirts’ season?
I can hear it now:
“OH JOE, DEVON LEVI JOE, HE’S SPECIAL JOE!”
Ugh.
However, I must keep muttering and repeating my mantra in my mind, in an attempt to stay positive, which brings us to your daily reminder for this 2023-24 season:
“WHATEVER THE RANGERS DO IN THE REGULAR SEASON DOESN’T MATTER. THEY CAN ONLY BE JUDGED BY WHATEVER THEY DO IN THE 2024 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS!”
I somewhat feel better after writing that!
In an attempt to present something different to you, while also trying to cover everything that hasn’t been previously addressed on this site; at this time, I present to you “The Top Ten Tuesday Takes in Rangerstown, USA.”
(What a creative and original title!)
ONE: The Rangers will have a six-man letter-crew for the 2023-24 season.
As depicted above, this past Sunday, the Rangers announced that Jacob Trouba would remain in his role as team captain and would also be aided by his four alternate captains from last season, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Barclay Goodrow and Chris Kreider.
In addition, Adam Fox, the 2021 Norris Trophy winner, was also “promoted” to alternate captain.
In my eyes, and I know that this opinion/perspective is shared amongst both the league and their alumni too – but six men wearing letters for a team is ridiculous – and to the point where it all feels “participation-trophyish.”
Put it this way: Goalies aren’t allowed to wear letters on their jerseys. In other words, that means that you have eighteen-eligible players during any given game that can serve as a team captain or alternate. By using my highly heralded mathematician skills, I have deduced that this means that 33.33% of a game day roster can represent the team as a leader.
Ever hear of that old expression, “Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians?”
Apparently, the 2023-24 Rangers have not.
And what does it say about the other 66.667% that don’t have a letter adorning the tops of their sweaters?
Granted, only three players on the ice can serve as captain and as alternates during any given game (Trouba will wear the “C” every game, and his assistant crew will rotate game-by-game); but still, how can one-third of your skaters be considered as leaders?
After all, it’s not like these Rangers are men amongst men, equivalent to our Founding Fathers in 1776.
And when you look at this current crop of Blueshirt leaders – it does kind of make you miss Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Adam Graves, no?
TWO: Artemi History X Panarin Remains as an Alternate Captain.
Panarin, who has completely disappeared for the club when it matters the most – the postseason – and despite being charged with illegally shooting a gun this summer (more on this NO NO topic below), is still considered as a “leader.”
Maybe he can teach a “YOUT,” like Will Cuylle, how to pay his way out of a crime should such a hypothetical event ever take place – and a hypothetical event that I can’t imagine ever taking place to begin with either.
And if you post nothing but goose eggs during playoff games?
Then who cares, the $11.6M is guaranteed!
Why pick on Panarin aside from the fact that he pretends that he can’t speak English, thus meaning he doesn’t do many media interviews, nor is able to talk to referees on the ice either – a role which the position entails?
Because it leads us to…
THREE: Ryan Lindgren is NOT wearing an “A” this season.
Of all the players that the Rangers could have selected to represent themselves as a leader, for some reason, the literal lifeblood of this club, and the player proverbially held together by duct tape, spit and heart, double nickel, Ryan Lindgren, isn’t part of the leadership group.
I don’t want to bury you with redundancy here, because after all, and as regular readers are already aware – I’ve been championing and campaigning for Lindgren to receive his flowers, in form of an alternate captain promotion, for the past calendar year on this site.
Just go back and check this site’s archives for all of it.
Back to the issue at hand: What else does Lindgren need to do?
Not only does he block every shot imaginable, put his body through hell, has won multiple team-exclusive year-end awards – but he also led the team in the plus/minus stat (+29) last season.
Say what you want about the value of the plus/minus stat these days, but no matter how you feel about it; at the very least, this number, and his standing, tells you that he’s very productive on the ice.
Sure, Panarin, when he’s on his game (and you never know when that will be), is one of the league’s best individual players. But a leader?
Give me Ryan Lindgren every day of the week – and twice on Sundays too!
That’s a guy who leads by example.
FOUR: Lindgren’s partner and BFF, Adam Fox, WAS promoted as an Alternate Captain.
I have no problems with Fox wearing the “A,” as much like Lindgren, I’ve been talking up his cause for the promotion for some time now too (plus – he has the long-term contract and it only benefits the club to have him fully invested as a leader); but five alternate captains devalues the meaning of the letter/honor/position.
My dream world? (Where in this realm, Ranger tickets are affordable for the whole family.)
Trouba as captain (originally, I thought Kreider deserved it, but the team wanted Trouba and they know better than me) and Lindgren, Fox & Kreider as alternates.
See, I’m willing to compromise and go with a quartet of leaders rather than a traditional trio!
Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here – but when I see others around the league, including former players, saying the same thing – then I do feel confident in my conviction about this topic.
At this rate, what’s next?
Creating “B” captains, and handing them out like Oprah to everyone else?
Push comes to shove, and with a playoff series on the line – I’d want Lindgren, Fox, Trouba and Kreider as my locker room leaders.
FIVE: Filip Chytil is now 100% – but for how long?
Chytil, no longer wearing the red non-contact jersey, is back and ready for Thursday, and as he indicated on Tuesday afternoon following the team’s practice:
Last week (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/10323/ ), I talked about Chytil’s history with injuries (and the word that-can’t-be-said too, “concussions”), but it was encouraging to see him back on the ice and at 100% on Tuesday.
For a team that’s not really deep anywhere, meaning that one injury to their core could rock them; can Chytil stay healthy?
Granted, and similar to Lindgren who was cheap-shotted by T.J. Oshie last season – some of Chytil’s previous injuries were also the end result of some cheap-and-dirty plays committed by Ranger opponents too.
Let’s just hope that he can stay in the line-up for all 82-games – and hopefully – beyond that for sixteen Spring wins too.
SIX: What topic will go away first – Alexis Lafreniere or “SYSTEMS?”
If you just scrolled by the Chytil interview, then I’d urge you to click play. After all, it’s not even three-minutes long.
And once hitting the play button, then count how many times the Czech center says “SYSTEMS.”
I lost count after 9086786868679696.
Similar to the new favorite word in town, and a word that’s repeated endlessly by Peter Laviolette, his players and the Ranger beat reporters too; another topic has already become as nagging as a house-wife trying to drag her husband to a Flea Market on football Sunday – Alexis Lafreniere.
But why beat this Lafreniere drum again?
The only way he can make a melody from all of these banged-out drums is by playing well.
But until that event happens, then all you’ll hear about is whatever he’s doing – and much like that word that’s now producing vibes of nails on a chalkboard (or Mollie Walker’s voice) – “SYSTEMS.”
This now brings us to….
SEVEN: The Latest Episode of “LAVY’S LOUNGE.”
Here’s what the head coach had to say for himself on Tuesday:
UPDATE: The Rangers have pulled the video, but I did share it on my Tweeter/X account when it was first posted:
New York Rangers: Peter Laviolette Media Availability | October 10, 2023 https://t.co/vcJqvuvXSp via @YouTube
Herman Muenster #nyr
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 10, 2023
I don’t know why the Rangers deleted the video from their YouTube account, as Lavy didn’t say anything controversial. In fact, the complete opposite, as he continued to push his systems jargon.
However, again, and proof to the point – he was once again asked about Alexis Lafreniere, who following a one-day Sunday spin on the Rangers’ third line, was back on the second line (top-six) on Tuesday.
Speaking of lines, that takes us to our next item on this list…
EIGHT: Lines don’t matter – but scratches do!
Following having Monday, Columbus Day, off and away from the rink in Tarrytown, NY, Laviolette used this line-up at practice on Tuesday – and a line-up that many expect to begin the season on Thursday:
FIRST LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Kakko
SECOND LINE: Panarin/Chytil/Lafreniere
THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Trocheck/Wheeler
FOURTH LINE: Goodrow/Bonino/Pitlick
FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox
SECOND PAIR: Miller/Trouba
THIRD PAIR: Gustafsson/Schneider
STARTER: CZAR IGOR
BACK-UP: Quick
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Jones and Vesey
Keyword here?
“EXPECTED” (and not those foo-foo stats that Sieve Vagistat pulls out of his ass either), as until 7:08PM Thursday night – no one can say with a 100% degree of certainty what line-up Laviolette will use to begin the season.
And who knows?
He may not even know himself just yet either!
I know that everyone and their mothers love to obsess over the lines and pairings, and where you even have morons (including beat reporters) blasting their “PROPOZED LINEZ” all over social media in July for a game in October; but for me, I just don’t get it.
After all, lines change in-game all the time. So does the line-up game-by-game too.
Furthermore, and as I’ve been saying on this site all summer – this roster, never mind the line-up, won’t be the same come the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
And oh yeah – you can’t predict injuries either – and for that matter – nor player progression and regression.
In other words, and this may even take place way before the deadline too – I wouldn’t be shocked to see Dylan Garand, Brennan Othmann and <GASP>, Patrick Kane, in the line-up – and at the expense of both Jonathan Quick and the player that I wish was no longer a topic of negative concern, Alexis Lafreniere.
That all said, I do understand the excitement in regards to the lines, and their tinkering, that others have; but for me, it’s the scratches to start the season that I’m focusing on.
Zac Jones, who as previously covered on this site, unless there is a major injury sustained by one of the Rangers’ regular rearguards – then I don’t see how he breaks into this line-up.
In other words, he has Libor Hajek and/or Nils Lundkvist 2.0 written all over him.
At the present moment, Jimmy Vesey, who just signed a new deal with the club last season, seems like the odd-man out, and in favor of Tyler Pitlick.
However, and unlike Jones, I can see Vesey and Pitlick being interchanged, somewhat like how Derek Dorsett and Dan Carcillo once were in 2014.
I only bring up 2013-14 because everyone is talking about how those Rangers finished 1-5 in that 2013-14 preseason – but as meticulously talked about last week (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/10523/ ) – every season is independent of another and I don’t put any stock into that.
NINE: Will Cuylle has all the makings of a star.
Lars-Erik Sjoberg, who at the prime of his playing career, won three Avco Cups as the captain of the WHA Winnipeg Jets, where as a result, the defenseman was later inducted into the WHA Hall of Fame too; the Swede then became a scout (head of the European department) with the Rangers following his one-and-done NHL season in 1979-80.
(He only played in the NHL with the Jets because of the league’s merger with the second league.)
Sadly, on October 20th, 1987, and at only the age of 43-years-old; Sjoberg passed away after a battle with cancer.
During his eight-years with the Rangers, he helped general managers Craig Patrick and Phil Esposito discover the likes of Tomas Sandstrom, Jan Erixon, Kjell Samuelsson and Ulf Dahlen.
(And you can read about how all of these players were then traded away in my four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade” – and where the Samuelsson trade “trumps” all.)
Due to Sjoberg’s work as a scout; starting in 1988, the Blueshirts created an award in his namesake, which annually honors the top Rangers’ rookie in camp.
For the sake of posterity, here are all of the winners:
1988 Mike Richter
1989 Troy Mallette
1990 Steven Rice
1991 Tony Amonte
1992 Peter Andersson
1993 Mattias Norstrom
1994 Mattias Norstrom
1995 Niklas Sundstrom
1996 Eric Cairns
1997 Marc Savard
1998 Manny Malhotra
1999 Kim Johnsson
2000 Filip Novak
2001 Dan Blackburn
2002 Jamie Lundmark
2003 Dominic Moore
2005 Henrik Lundqvist
2006 Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinsky
2007 Marc Staal
2008 Lauri Korpikoski
2009 Matt Gilroy
2010 Derek Stepan
2011 Carl Hagelin
2013 Jesper Fast
2014 Anthony Duclair
2015 Oscar Lindberg
2016 Jimmy Vesey
2017 Filip Chytil
2018 Lias Andersson
2019 Adam Fox
2020 Not Awarded (Pandemic)
2021 Nils Lundkvist
2022 Brennan Othmann
2023 Will Cuylle
As you can see from this list, it’s pretty much all over the place.
For legendary players such as Mike Richter and Henrik Lundqvist, there’s also Crybaby Andersson and Nils Lundkvist too.
However, if you look at this collection of names as a whole – then most of these players have gone on to have lengthy NHL careers – as the amount of “BUSTS” is minimal.
Will Cuylle, the 2023 recipient of the award, looks to do the same – which means that he’s looking forward to spending the next fifteen-years of his life in the top hockey league in the world.
However, and as talked about above, it looks like he’ll have to start his career on the Rangers’ third line – but based on both how hard he’s worked and has spoken (details here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/10823/ ), I think he’s not only ready for the challenge – but will ace this test too.
TEN: The Rangers will continue to use their fans as personal ATMs this season!
Admittedly, this is a tired topic on this site, but really, this giveaway shirt is the best piece of clothing that Chase and the Rangers have to entice their fans to purchase insanely-priced tickets to next Monday’s home-opener?
I don’t even think the abundance of illegal migrants in NYC would wear such threads.
And as explained about five times on this site during the summer – the Rangers knew what they were doing (if not asked for it), when they landed the dreadful Arizona Coyotes as their opponent for the first game to be played at M$G this season.
Ever since the inception of the Desert Dogs, ticket prices for these games featuring these nomads from Arizona (where the iced tea is more famous than them) have been the cheapest on the schedule.
As a way to combat another traditional Tuesday night slog, where the secondary market in recent years has even dipped below three-figures for ducats to these games – the Coyotes, akin to a shit-team your high school would play during “Homecoming”- the at-the-gate patsies will now draw their largest crowd and gate in their franchise history at M$G.
Let’s just hope that they play the role of patsies on the ice too!
BONUS SEGMENT: The top topics and questions that the Rangers’ beat reporters refuse and fear to talk about – and stories from only a time-span of the past few months:
— The Chris Drury/Gerard Gallant blow-out/war of words. (SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman broke this story from another country while the Rangers’ beat shared pics of their food. And no – I’m not making this up.)
— The Jim Ramsay firing
— Peter Laviolette’s time in Washington and what his former player Evgeny Kuznetsov said about him.
—Alexis Lafreniere’s off-season.
— Artemi Panarin’s gun charge.
— Did a new kid at home impact CZAR IGOR’s season last year?
—Filip Chytil’s injury and what it was (can’t say “concussion”).
— Ryan Lindgren snubbed for alternate captain.
As said many times before – this is the worst crop of beat reporters that we’ve ever had – where the state of a dying print media is the catalyst. No one can go the extra mile or go against the grain anymore, in fear of losing their jobs.
Heck, just look at the Daily News, which doesn’t have a dedicated Rangers’ beat reporter anymore, or even The Athletic today, that now has Arthur Staple pulling double-duty with the Islanders, meaning that he can’t efficiently cover the Blueshirts at his best capacity.
And the New York Post?
They are hiring anyone straight-out-of-college, willing to work for near minimum wage and without full medical benefits these days.
And hockey experience? That’s not required for the NYP scribes either!
Furthermore, don’t expect Adam Fox and others like him to be asked about the attacks on Israel either; but to fair, staying out of the political realm is what’s best – and it’s NYR’s policy too, which finally brings us to:
Two more sleeps to go and then it’s Wing Night in Buffalo.
Of note: I’m going to Saturday’s game in Columbus, so expect a PICTORIAL REVIEW blog sometime next Sunday.
As far as anything else, again, and as said last time in this space – My best wishes to everyone living in Israel right now.
Personally, I know that my friend, the great Stan Fischler, is too close to the action and I’m hoping that he, his family, and everyone else in the country remains safe.
Sadly, others have already lost their lives following these horrific Hamas crimes against humanity (those videos of babies being slaughtered made me throw up) – and unfortunately – it’s a time like this where the Rangers don’t seem to matter that much either.
And what a horrible transition as I now go to my usual go-home spiel, you know:
PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!
“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for preorder.
For complete information, please visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/rangerkillers/
My second plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”
As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD
For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.
My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.
To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/
To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”
The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.
All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.
To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com
To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:
“CUYLLE HAND LUKE” Makes The Cut! Brodzinski, Harpur and Othmann Assigned to the Prison in Hartford; Wolf Pack’s Roster, Chytil Returns; Lafreniere Goes Away Day-To-Day, Lavy’s Line-Up, Gorton’s Greatest Trade, HBD To The Best NYR of All-Time & More
NYR/BOS 10/5 Review: Fear and Loathing in NY! Lavy’s Lot Finishes Preseason 1-5; Every Season is Independent of Another, Cullye Says “CASE CLOSED;” Jury Still Out on Lafreniere (And What’s Next), Special Ed Special Team Streak Continues, Terrible TNT & Darren Pang, Let The Excuses Begin & More
NYR/NJD 10/4 Review: DEJA POO! Devils Dominate Blueshirts Again; 2023 Stanley Cup Playoff Vibes Won’t Go Away, Can’t Blame Lafreniere, Special Ed Teams Continue To Sink; “Quicksand” No Better, Cuylle Lone Bright Spot & More
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
Don’t forget to order my recently released four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”
If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com
For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Thanks for reading.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine
Kuznetsov was -26 last season, so the opinion of a player unhappy his coach was yelling at him for shitty defensive effort makes what ever he has to say about Laviolette suspect. Hey Gino; coaches tend to get pissed when your guy scores all the time. Perhaps get back on defense?
Refs are in midseason from in Pittsburgh. Their Pens jerseys are at the cleaners.
I understand your point, but at the same time – isn’t it the job of the reporters to ask Lavy about this?
Of course, first of all we stand with Israel and that is priority. I agree how can they overlook Lindgren if having another A. How in the world is Panarin even included. It’s ridiculous. Quick is no backup for Igor. Well anyway, the season is almost finally here and let’s go Rangers.
Yeah, I really wish #55 got the “A” – no one deserves it more.
BTW, shipped out your book on Wednedsay, LMK when you get it.
Hell of a game tonight, keep it rollin’!