It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
San Jose saw its Presidents' Trophy campaign come to a surprising end in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Los Angeles is still the perfect spot for Dany Heatley, and is there any hope for success on the ice in Phoenix?
Before the Rangers made a whole host of changes to their team in March -- the additions of Sean Avery, Derek Morris, Nik Antropov and a coaching switch -- they had a few problems; their high paid stars weren't producing, they played with no emotion many nights and they couldn't score at all, depending on Henrik Lundqvist to win games.
During last night's loss to the Capitals and in their other three losses during the series, the Rangers fell prey to these same faults. Blame coach John Tortorella's distractions and GM Glen Sather's letter all you want, but this was still the same that struggled mightily before the bandaids were applied.
After taking a series of potentially costly penalties late in the third period of Game 4, the New York Rangers have apparently seen enough of Sean Avery, as the super-pest is a healthy scratch for Game 5 against the Washington Captals.
According to ESPN.com's Pierre Lebrun, head coach John Tortorella wasn't in any mood to talk about potential lineup changes earlier in the day.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins rallied from a bit of a swoon around the All-Star Break to easily win the top seed. Even if you subscribe to the idea of Boston being favored because of their strong overall record, there are no sure things in these here playoffs. Who will threaten to knock the Bruins off their pedestal?
The playoffs might not start for another week, but Tuesday's throw down in Madison Square Garden between the Rangers and Canadiens might as well be a playoff game. How big is this game? Well, if we believe Larry Brooks of the New York Post, this is the biggest regular season game the Rangers have played since the lockout. Yeah. It's that big.
Just one day after signing his new contract extension, Boston's Tim Thomas stopped all 31 shots he faced to pick up a 1-0 shutout win over the New York Rangers. He also made some highlights with another epic meltdown, this one sparked by Rangers super-pest Sean Avery.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Rangers 3, Devils 0: Rangers forward Sean Avery is excellent at his job. His job, of course, is to cause as much chaos as humanly possible, and be a disruptive thorn in the side of any player lining up across from him on a given night. His particular brand of hell was on display in the Rangers' 3-0 win over New Jersey on Monday night. Video evidence after the jump.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Blues 5, Blue Jackets 2: After knocking off Columbus in a shootout on Saturday, the St. Louis Blues completed their weekend home-and-home sweep of the Blue Jackets with a 5-2 win at Nationwide Arena. Patrik Berglund picked up a goal and two assists for the surging Blues, while Brad Boyes scored his 30th goal of the season, giving him two straight 30-goal campaigns.
T.J. Oshie made some highlights on Saturday for his crushing hit on Rick Nash, and followed it up on Sunday with his 14th goal of the season.
Caveat emptor. I'm sure Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks was aware of the phrase prior to his signing of Sean Avery this past summer, and if he wasn't, he most certainly is now.
Avery, the NHL's super-pest, never seemed to fit in the Stars locker room after signing a four-year, $15.5 million deal, clashing with veterans and failing to produce much of anything on the ice in his brief, 23-game tenure in Dallas. Then came December 2, 2008, when the Stars visited Dion Phaneuf and the Calgary Flames.
In this week's power rankings, the New Jersey Devils remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL, holding off the Detroit Red Wings for the top spot thanks to an historic week for goaltender Martin Brodeur.
Vancouver makes a big jump, while the Montreal Canadiens continue to fade at the absolute worst time of the season.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
Before the Rangers made a whole host of changes to their team in March -- the additions of Sean Avery, Derek Morris, Nik Antropov and a coaching switch -- they had a few problems; their high paid stars weren't producing, they played with no emotion many nights and they couldn't score at all, depending on Henrik Lundqvist to win games. 
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Caveat emptor. I'm sure Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks was aware of the phrase prior to his signing of Sean Avery this past summer, and if he wasn't, he most certainly is now. 
In this week's power rankings, the New Jersey Devils remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL, holding off the Detroit Red Wings for the top spot thanks to an historic week for goaltender Martin Brodeur. 
