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I hate you, Toronto, ON • Canada • 27 Years Old • Male
Alrighty my Hockey Buzz brotha's and sista's. With a nice handful of teams and their players predicted by moi, I thought I'd move to a team that I believe will be the powerhouse of the East... a team known as the New York Rangers. With a season under raps, the Rangers were eliminated by a mightier and badass'ier (yes, I make up words) team in the Sabres. But don't fret, the Rangers dipped in the free agent pool by acquiring Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. With 'King Henrik' getting a second consecutive Vezina nomination in his first two NHL seasons, will he reign as the King of their D once again? The aswer is oui, of course. With a very average D at the helm, Lundqvist has proven to be the backbone of the defense and the team in general. So, add a much improved offense with the slighty imporved defense ( by adding Marc Staal, Sudbury Wolves boy :D) and you got a team ready for the next step... The Holy Grail of Stanley! That's right, I'm calling for the Rangers to hoist the Cup and bring glory back to the NYC.

Now, on with the predictions!

NOTE: I'm assuming everyone plays 82 games knowing full well it will NOT happen. It's a PPG system this way. In no particular order:

Forwards:
Jaromir Jagr: 39 G 96 PTS

Scott Gomez: 34 G 87 PTS

Brendan Shanahan: 32 G 76 PTS

Martin Straka: 28 G 75 PTS

Sean Avery: 17 G 49 PTS

Chris Drury: 30 G 65 PTS

Petr Prucha: 25 G 51 PTS

Brandon Dubinsky: 10 G 24 PTS

Ryan Callahan: 13 G 38 PTS

Marcel Hossa: 12 G 42 PTS

Blair Betts: 6 G 11 PTS

Colton Orr: 2 G 6 PTS

Defenseman:
Michal Rozsival: 9 G 38 PTS

Paul Mara: 10 G 37 PTS

Fedor Tyutin: 4 G 17 PTS

Marik Malik: 5 G 25 PTS

Dan Girardi: 3 G 14 PTS

Marc Staal: 5 G 22 PTS

Goaltenders:
Henrik Lundqvist: 2.20 GAA .920 SV% 6 SO

Al Montoya: 2.95 GAA .895 SV% 0 SO

There you have it, folks! Enjoy and I look forward to you're comments!

EDIT: Thanks to R2R for the tips!
Filed Under:   NHL   Predictions   Marc Staal   New York Rangers  
August 30, 2007 11:34 PM ET | Delete
I hope all those are correct, except for Jagr. I hope he goes 110 and really goes out with a bang in what could be his final year.
August 30, 2007 11:44 PM ET | Delete
Great job, RG. I especially like the prediction for the team. I have two points. 1. I dont think Gomez will get 32 goals but assists should get him to 80-90 points anyway. 2. I think Prucha will score 30 goals. That is a minority opinion, but i think with talented linemates and more ice time, he will net 30 like his rookie season. Very accurate predictions coming from a fan of a different team. Good Job!
August 31, 2007 3:13 AM ET | Delete
Good calls. I'm liking the Blueshirts this year, best squad they've had since 1994! I'm calling for them to finish first in the conference, and make the ECF alongside Atlantic rival Pittsburgh. Lundqvist is just that good, and I think Staal aids an average D-core (though, for the record, I do find Roszival and Mara to be rather underrated).
August 31, 2007 5:41 AM ET | Delete
gomez 34 goals yea right maybe 20. and u have some high expectations for the players on the rangers and i think they will finish 6th because the defense is poor
August 31, 2007 9:02 AM ET | Delete
Why does everyone keep saying our defense is poor? Our D was one of the best in the league last year after January. We were also solid throughout the playoffs until Drury scored three crucial goals in our series. Our D makes some mistakes, but it's not as paper thin as people think. We also have Henrik. If we don't finish top 3, it will be because of injuries.As much as I hate philly, I'd like to see them in the playoffs.. it would make all the local games to me interesting... but with Biron... meh
August 31, 2007 9:28 AM ET | Delete
Henrik=Vezina=Cup
August 31, 2007 10:35 AM ET | Delete
Rozy is definitely underrated, though Mara is only slightly underrated. He provides a wicked shot from the point but can be a liability on D..Needs to be paired with a good shut down partner.I highly doubt they finish 6th, unless something goes horribly wrong. Aside from the 3rd line center, the team is upgraded or the same in every single slot as last season. Bagging two premier centers in the game also brings more flexibility as to where they put guys like Straka and Avery who are better off on the wing, but can fill in at the center postion.
Ty
August 31, 2007 4:06 PM ET | Delete
August 31, 2007 6:11 PM ET | Delete
rangers have no backup and the defense is sketchy at best.if henrik goes down the rangers are done. even die-hard ranger fans cant dispute that.
Ty
September 1, 2007 12:25 AM ET | Delete
I think that same argument could be attached to the majority of the teams in the league, especially those with a world class goaltender like Henrik. New Jersey, Calgary, Vancouver and even the Isles, are just a few teams that would suffer the same fate as the Rangers if their tender was to go down. Also, even though their is not a marquee name on defense (and I wont argue that it is their weakest area) they are still have shown the potential to be play strong team defense as a group. They might not be Anahiem, but teams such as Carolina and Tampa Bay both proved that team defense and a good goalie can take you all the way. Although we will see if the Rangers D can come together as a group and reach that same level. My point is that you dont need a Pronger or a Neids to on the back end to win the Cup(although it does help! haha)
September 1, 2007 3:58 AM ET | Delete
Thanks for the comments, brotha's! I appreciate it! :D:D
September 1, 2007 7:41 AM ET | Delete
I really do like the Rangers team this year. Gomez will not score 35 goals, however they do have a potent offence great goaltending and okay defence. I'm certain that they will be the strongest in the east. Good luck to the rangers!
September 1, 2007 11:48 AM ET | Delete
It surprises me how almost everyone disagree's with Gomez scoring 34 goals, he scored 33 goals in 05/06 with a defensive minded Devils. With a scoring team in the Rangers he should rebound with a similar season..
September 1, 2007 4:03 PM ET | Delete
I love how everyone thinks that Gomez and Drury are saviors! The reason the Rangers made their run last year, besides Henrik, was Avery and Ortmeyer. Ortmeyer came back to this team and gave them a huge boost. He was their best defensive forward, sparkplug, and a regular ole' Charlie Hustle type. How many times has this guy won the Steven McDonald Award given by Ranger fans. Also, lets not forget the great defensive faceoffs and play Matt Cullen provided the Rangers. These 2 guys are gone. Avery is angry at Sather. Finally, they added nobody on defense. Save me the Marc Staal speech that my Ranger fan buddies give me. There is no doubt the Rangers will have the best pp in the planet and score goals, but how many will they give up. Henrik will be exhausted by Feb. Stanley cup teams win with defense and goaltending. Rangers just have a goalie.
September 1, 2007 4:56 PM ET | Delete
Oh yeah ortmeyer really carried us huh than why isnt he making the big bucks... he was great on the penalty kill but did little else
September 2, 2007 12:51 AM ET | Delete
Yeah, thats why he won the Steven McDonald award multiple times. Same as a guy named Graves. Maybe you heard of him. Pretty popular Ranger. Hockey is lot more than goal and assists. Grit, heart, passion, and work ethic also have a lot do with hockey. Mr. Ortmeyer had all these attributes. Hell of lot more than Jagr. If Jagr had 1/10 of Ortmeyers heart he'd be the best NHL player ever.This coming from and Islander fan. Who said anything about Ortmeyer carrying the Ranger anyways. I said he was a sparkplug than ignited his team when he came back from his injury. This is a fact. Coupled with Avery, it carried the Rangers into the playoffs. As far as salaries goes, there are many players who don't deserve their keep. How about a guy named Yashin. He earned his bucks right back to Mother Russia. Finally, I know many many ranger fans that are unhappy that Ortmeyer is gone. These are guys that are serious Ranger fans for a long time. You know, Sather does make mistakes. This is one of them. Defensive forwards are important. I hope Drury and Gomez know how to backcheck and throw bodychecks.
September 2, 2007 12:09 PM ET | Delete
I completely agree that Avery was the spark that got us into the playoffs i cant say the same about ortmeyer. yes he does play with a lot of heart and grit but that only goes so far, the guy was amazing at blocking shots but like i said before did little else.
September 2, 2007 4:55 PM ET | Delete
Ortmeyer was a PK machine and always gave it his all, I would have liked to see him stay, but if you think the rangers will not be capable of having a run like last year because of one player, a fourth liner at that, then they wouldn't deserve to be in the playoffs to begin with..
September 3, 2007 1:30 AM ET | Delete
I wasn't saying the Rangers weren't capable without Ortmeyer. I am saying that their defense took a hit with Ortmeyer and Cullen leaving. Every player on a team has a role. Cullen and Ortmeyer weren't superstars but did have important roles on their team. They were given the job of shutting down the opposing teams best lines and they were good at it. My question is, who is going to fill that void? I am not hinging the Rangers year on Ortmeyer and Cullen. The Rangers forwards do need to play defense and right now they have many that really excel at offense and not defense. Thats my point. The Rangers defense isn't good to begin with. Then you lose 2 of your best defensive forwards. Don't forget, killing pk's is just as important as scoring pp goals! Who fills the void left by Cullen and Ortmeyer. Lets not forget the speed and energy the borught to. I think many Ranger fans are undervaluing or underappreciating the role of Cullen and Ortmeyer.
September 3, 2007 7:08 AM ET | Delete
They got a few choices on who to fill that role...They can drop down Avery from the 2nd to the third line, while bumping Prucha to the 2nd line and Avery can play that shut down/annoy the hell out of role. They also have Dubinski who is a sound defensive forward..Not sure if he's ready to kill key PK time, but I guess we'll find out
September 3, 2007 1:44 PM ET | Delete
i believe callahan is pretty sound defensivley as well
September 3, 2007 4:20 PM ET | Delete
But drury plays the pk not to mention shanny. It should be Betts and Shanny on one unit and Avery and Drury on the other. As for orty, i really liked him but with the offensive depth, his spot on the 4th can be filled with better players in the system like Dawes.
September 3, 2007 8:38 PM ET | Delete
does anyone think Montoya will be a backup?
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