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New York Rangers Notes

Snow Day; Step playing well; Marty the Family Man; GM Meetings; Prospect News

Here are your New York Rangers Notes for the morning of November 21, 2014. TGIF.

Rangers News and Notes:

In case you haven't heard, Buffalo is pretty much in the midst of that The Day After Tomorrow movie. Except with less Jake Gyllenhaal. But about the same amount of snow. And Dennis Quaid is all like, "Mr. Sather, if we don't go right now, it's going to be too late." And Slats, with a twinkle in his eye, retorts, "I believe that time has come and gone my friend." He then leans back in his chair, idly flipping through the pages of the latest Cigar Aficionado Magazine. And all the 'Gers faithful are like, "Noooo! Camaaannn. We just won a game, gonna lose our mojo!!!! Sabres!!! Not good at hackey at all!!!"

But really, Buffalo is in a state of emergency and the game scheduled for tonight has been postponed. It's a serious deal up there, with lake effect snow reaching 8 or more feet in some areas, and at least ten reported deaths. No word yet on a makeup date. The Rangers next scheduled game in Buffalo is not until March 14. [Blueshirt Banter] [Die By The Blade] [NY Times] [NY Post] [NY Daily News] [SI] [Newsday] [Blue Line Station]

The Rangers next suit up against the Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night at MSG.

Marty Biron tried to clear the way for his old mates to land a plane. But he got tired and took a seat, as he is wont to do:

Love that guy. Give him a follow on Twitter. He is currently doing great work with The Academy of Hockey, and various media spots.

Derek Stepan has played well since returning from his broken leg. I don't think this has gotten enough attention. The man broke his leg. [NY Post]

Despite a small sample size, Stepan's 2.77 P/60 (all situations) is second on the team, only trailing Rick Nash. This is mainly as a result of his high setup pass rate and his assists per 60 rate reflects it. He's done fine helping his team and should continue to settle into his defensive duties, helping to swing the 5v5 shot attempt battle in NYR's favor, as he works the rust off.

Marty St. Louis is a family man. And it is a big reason he asked for a trade to the Rangers. His sons play hockey in nearby Stamford, CT and Marty says that nothing beats watching them play. [Pro Hockey Talk - NBCSN]

I think Marty will play at least one more year. He has the fire and the ability. There's more in the tank. But at what cost? I highly doubt he will sacrifice the convenience and importance of being near his family just to chase more money elsewhere. But the Rangers are strapped for cash, and I question just how much the cap will actually go up next year (shameless plug: to be covered in my next Capology!) I, for one, hope that NYR brass and St. Louis can come together on a team friendly deal for next season, and maybe beyond. It makes sense for so many reasons to do so. What do y'all think?

NHL GMs had their annual November meetings up in Toronto this week. A few immediate rule changes will be in place. First, arenas will be sounding a buzzer if they believe a goal has been scored that the officials did not see. Second, the OT dry scrape that was instituted this year to speed up 4-on-4 play is being decommissioned because it takes too long and doesn't serve its purpose of increasing games decided in the OT frame. Finally, GMs are considering expanded goal review for goalie interference calls. [SB Nation]

NYR could have used that in the playoffs, eh?

Bob McKenzie reports that the NHL is watching the AHL's 3-on-3 OT format very closely, and that the league may well be headed towards it for next season. I love it. And it is working. [Pro Hockey Talk - NBCSN]

Prospect News and Notes:

This is from last week, but I figured some may be interested. A translated interview with Rangers uber prospect Pavel Buchevnich. Some interesting tidbits about the excitement over his participation in the upcoming World Juniors in Canada, as well as discussion of his expiring contract status with KHL club Severstal. [The Hockey Writers]

Brady Skjei hopes to return from his lower body injury in time for the Minnesota Golden Gophers' upcoming trip to Boston. Skjei has been sidelined since November 1. Minnesota (7-3) is currently ranked #4 in this week's USA Today Poll. [Star Tribune]

The AHL notoriously does a terrible job of tracking data. Josh Weissbock (@joshweissbock) over at nhlnumbers.com has done some solid work to come up with a possession proxy with shots for%, scraping the meager data he had. Keep in mind that most AHL teams have only played around 12-14 games so the sample size is small. So how do the Wolf Pack stack up? Uhhh...not well (46.54%, 27th). [NHL Numbers]

Friday Fun:

Can you name every New York Ranger to score a goal from 2010-2014? Give it a whirl! [Sporcle]

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