Rangers News: Zuccarello In, Gaborik Hopeful, Del Zotto Out
by Nick Montemagno on Dec 26, 2010 4:59 PM EST
in New York Rangers News
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The New York Rangers were back at it today in practice after their brief two-day holiday break. Following the skate, head coach John Tortorella spoke to the media about tomorrow's lineup against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden. First and foremost, Andrew Gross reports that Mats Zuccarello will be recalled for tomorrow's tilt and that was confirmed by Torts himself. "Zuke", as he is being called, was returned to Connecticut (AHL) on Thursday only so he could play in the Whale's game this evening, but will be back with the Blueshirts on Monday.
Tortorella had nothing but good things to say about Zuccarello after Thursday's performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He especially liked the way he skated alongside Derek Stepan and Brandon Dubinsky, so don't be surprised to see him back with those two against the Isles. Personally, I would leave them as the first line and, although Gaborik has been great when facing the Isles, make Gabby's trio the second line. There are no rules saying that your best player must be on the first line. And even if there is some unwritten standard, Gaborik has not been the Rangers' best player this season by any stretch.
Speaking of Gabby, he took part in practice today for the first time since his "groin soreness". Gross says that Tortorella seemed pretty confident that Gabby would be ready for tomorrow, but Marian himself did not sound as hopeful. What do I say to that? If he doesn't want to play, then don't force him.
Defenseman Michael Del Zotto has recovered from his flu bug, but will be a healthy scratch versus the Islanders. Tors said that he intends on sending a message to Del Zotto by sitting the 20-year-old like this. I am all for it because Michael has been atrocious for most of the season. He needs to regroup, and while he does that, Matt Gilroy has been doing just fine as his replacement.
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The lines should be Dubi-Stepan-MZA, FroLoaf-AA-Gaby, Feds-Boyle-Prust, and Avery-EC-Drury. Agree with Nick.
Speaking of 'Fro-Loaf'...he's been anything BUT lately, IMHO
Been very impressed with his effort levels the past week. Very high energy in the offensive zone, forecheck.
Or…it could be my stuttering PS3, NHL GameCenter app playing games with my head. :)
"...also I'll brush my teeth and remember to turn off the stars at night and put the hyena out." ERNEST HEMINGWAY
ready for zukes..rd 2..I’ll say a 2 point night…goal in regulation and an assist
by inHANKweTruST on Dec 26, 2010 5:32 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I don’t think we can afford to have “Zukes” and Del Zotto playing at the same time. I know they play completely different positions, but still, it changes the chemistry of the whole club. We need to be a predominantly physical, defensive minded club. I say get MDZ down to Hartford for at least a few weeks and bring Zuke up for a stretch. He’s bound to hit a wall and need to go back down to Hartford and then we can bring DZ back.
u had me
up to here
I know they play completely different positions
"If I had the Rangers payroll, I'd make the playoffs every year" Glen Sather
It took them 30 years to implement the forward pass and 70 to mandate helmets thus making all hockey players who wear helmets and visors as well as goalies who wear masks and pads all wimpy cry babies
forgot to add in
I know that we should have a physical team but i think that having both of them up here keeps us multi-dimensional…u saw how MZA goes into the corners throwing his body into Hedman along the boards and literally skating between two lightning players as they tried to crush him
Now onto MDZ, is he having a bad season? Yes, but i feel that if you send him down to Connecticut that would make matters worse by crushing his confidence, he needs to play through this sophomore wall in order to re adjust himself and learn to make changes to his game
"If I had the Rangers payroll, I'd make the playoffs every year" Glen Sather
It took them 30 years to implement the forward pass and 70 to mandate helmets thus making all hockey players who wear helmets and visors as well as goalies who wear masks and pads all wimpy cry babies
I’ve been really big on MZA since summer. We can expect there to be some defensive blips in his game as he adjusts, but I think it’s best for him to hang around overall. He also appears to play much larger than he actually is. If he gets adjusted to the NA game watching how the Rangers have been playing he’ll probably acclimate himself as a very dangerous man.
I don’t think having both on the ice would create any huge liabilities outside of the sorts of things one gets from the kids. let ’em play.
I don't see why, voice...
MZA will backcheck, as he’s got the speed to get back, and seems to know when to properly use it (unlike Lisin and Christensen). I don’t think we’d be that bad of shape with both of them in the lineup.
honestly this is a pretty weak point. They play two different positions and they both play physical up to there capabilities. I mean for a while DZ has been one of our more physical defensemen especially last season. And for Zuccs he plays as physical as he can.
by CrazyRangerFan on Dec 26, 2010 7:02 PM EST up reply actions
I say get MDZ down to Hartford
He will not clear waivers.
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he is on an entry level contract and not subject to waivers
by GAThingy on Dec 26, 2010 6:28 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Not true. Waiver eligibility is based on years and/or service.
That said, you’re right, I’ve been reading the wrong column. He needs 160 games to be waiver eligible based on his age. (i’ve been looking at goalies, who only need 80 at the same age)
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by George E. Ays on Dec 26, 2010 7:01 PM EST up reply actions
Good> I’m going tomorrow night, and I wanted to see MZA back in the lineup.
I didn’t know that Bourke and Kreider were from the same town in Ma…looking forward to the match up tonight.
hey guys just really bored and read something about burke actively looking for trades. I know kessel has been stinking it up in toronto and i know they gave up a lot for him…but would you give up for him. I personally would give up a first rounder, cally and maybe a second rounder. I haven’t seen too much of kessel but i remember earlier in the year he was crazy good against the rangers and in the olympics he was fun to watch. Callahan is a great player and i love him to death (and im pretty sure im gonna get attacked like crazy haha) but i believe kessel just has more to offer. The rangers need more players who can create and kessel does that. I doubt anything like this would happen but im just wondering what you guys think.
cally should be a ranger for life
I listen to Enter Sandman before taking exams. I wear the exact same jersey every Giants game. The Rangers goal song goes off in my head when I achieve small successes in life.
HEN-RIK
by BombersGmenBlueshirts25 on Dec 26, 2010 9:05 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Any trade mentioning Callahan just makes me shake my head. His energy and spirit are the heart of the team – and has to be considered the front runner for a third straight Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award.
Sorry, it just defies logic.
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
by SimpleManiac on Dec 26, 2010 9:57 PM EST up reply actions
We've got alot of energy and spirit
We just need one guy who wants to score regularly and an anchor for our defense. If Cally can bring us one of those things, we’ve got to listen to offers.
by BuckarooClub on Dec 26, 2010 10:45 PM EST up reply actions
There is no way Burke is trading Kessel because by doing that he would be conceding the fact that Kessel hasnt worked out for them in Toronto. He hears everyday about what an awful trade it was to get Kessel and every day he says he doesnt regret it. Even if deep down he thinks Kessel isnt as good as he thought, hes not gonna trade him
by nyrangerfan521 on Dec 26, 2010 10:06 PM EST up reply actions
A minor setback in what I hope will be a great career for MDZ
Remember, it took Alexandre Daigle a while until he reached his full potential
by The Last Shall Become First on Dec 26, 2010 9:10 PM EST reply actions
LOL
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
by SimpleManiac on Dec 26, 2010 10:05 PM EST up reply actions
I’m dissapointed that Del Zotto isn’t playing. Just got a Del Zotto jersey and tickets to tomorrows game so I was hoping he would play tomorrow.
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Team USA squeezed past Finland in overtime today, we looked like we had the talent but the work effort wasn’t there tonight. Bourque played pretty well, and Kreider looked alright but nothing spectacular from either of them.
by CrazyRangerFan on Dec 26, 2010 10:29 PM EST reply actions
today
no way they postpone today right? trains aren’t running right now so i hope we can make it down there.
Not postponed. Hope the L is running because my car is in a 5 ft snow drift. I heard the NHL forced the Islanders and Habs to play after the Isles wanted to postpone. about 2 two Islanders fans there and maybe 1000 Habs fans.
I believe that Gilroy knows he’s being shopped as he does have an option for a 3rd year
I don’t think they allow option years with NHL contracts.
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Tonight’s Lines: Brandon Dubinsky-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik; Alex Frolov-Artem Anisimov-Chris Drury; Ruslan Fedotenko-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust; and Sean Avery-Erik Christensen-Mats Zuccarello This is really BS, putting MZA on the 4th line. Again, the team is catering to Gaby getting going.
I’m not going to come in here and say that Gaborik has been playing to the best of his ability, because that simply isn’t the case. But the guy has 19 points in 22 games. You can’t argue with those numbers, he has definitely earned the top line spot. You want a guy who might put up .5 points a game on the top line instead of a guy who is a career point per game+ player? That isn’t catering, it’s being grounded in reality. I wouldn’t mind seeing Zuccarello get minutes with the second line to see what he can do, but if it comes down to Gaborik or Zuccarello, you’d have to be stupid to pick the unproven guy.
According to your own previous post that won’t be the line. Regardless, whatever line Gaborik plays on will be the first line. I was specifically replying to your comment that the Rangers are some how catering to getting Gaborik going. That isn’t the case, he isn’t have a career year by any means, but it’s hard to put his production in the disappointing column either, which is what your comment would imply.
As to your reply, you can slot Dubinsky and Stepan in with damn near anyone and they’re going to click. I haven’t seen a line with Stepan on it that doesn’t get opportunities, the guy creates. Dubinsky is always going to work hard in the corners and cycle the puck well. That being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Frolov-AA-Zuccarello rolling on the second line, but realistically that means relegating Drury to the 4th line. Zuccarello did some good things in his first game, but nothing that warrants that. Outside of perhaps Prospal when he is back, there isn’t another player on the team that I’d rather see centering Gaborik than Stepan. He’s got great vision and will find Gaborik when he’s open. You can slot in damn near anyone from Dubinsky to someone like Avery on that left wing, it doesn’t matter. They’ll score goals.
I’m not convinced they’re better skilled than Drury at this point, or if they are, ready to produce as such. Drury will chip in some points here and there and you can put money on him not being a defensive liability. That is more than I can say for sure about MZA right now. MZA should be a part of the Rangers future, but I don’t think there is any need to rush and see what he can provide right now, it isn’t enough to keep him in the roster when the team is healthy anyways. I’d project him as a second liner of the future, maybe a third line support player. He has too many players ahead of him in the depth chart to fill any of those spots at this point. Let him develop in the AHL until he has a reasonable shot at sticking in the NHL.
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