Hockey Independent » Kotalik

Avery and The Rangers Take it to The Stars

howie9416 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:35:42 +0000

How about that folks, the Rangers won a 2^nd straight home game for the first time in over 2 months tonight 5-2 over the Dallas Stars at the Garden, and evened up their home record in 09-10. They also picked up 5 out of a possible 6 pts on a 3 game homestand. They played an extremely solid game and on top of that the PK was perfect and killed off a 2 man shorthanded situation as well. I think this team is finally playing like one and is continuing to move up the standings.

I want to give out some kudos tonight to several players for top performances tonight. Avery, who was all over the ice, scored a goal for the first time in ages and had 3 assists and even took a 10 min. misconduct; Cally – EN Goal; Drury – 1 goal; Gabby – 1 goal; Kotalik – 1 goal; Henrik, who was solid in net and had a rare assist; and Christensen, Gilroy, & Del Zotto with solid efforts as well.

It’s finally nice to see this team put a stretch together where they don’t want to make me rip my hair out or want to throw the remote through the TV. Hopefully they can keep this going for a nice stretch to pick up more points before the break. I just want to be able see them get another playoff spot this season which would make it their 5th straight if they did.

Anyway, their next games are on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face the Bruins for the 2^nd time in less than a week on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your content NYR blogger,

Howie

Rescuing the Night from a Certain OT or Shootout

howie9416 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:32:17 +0000

Well whaddya know, the Rangers won a game tonight 3-2 over the Bruins at the Garden, as rare as that has become lately. What is even more shocking is that Higgins finally scored a goal at home this year and wowee, it was the game winner with 1:29 left in the 3^rd. Actually I was shocked that there were 5 goals scored in the game tonight since these 2 teams always play low scoring ones and a few shutouts thrown in for good measure.

I want to tip my cap this evening to Callahan, Kotalik, who had his first goal since the flood, Christensen, who has seemed to find his scoring touch and of course, Henrik, who is just awesome as usual. I just wish that they would play D in their own zone a little better as they once again gave up a shortie. Another thing that drove me nuts is that they got caught in their own zone and allowed the Bruins to tie the game in 1:26 in the 3^rd after they had built up a 2-0 lead through 2 periods.

I want to quickly get on my soapbox with my next comments.

My beef with these games on Versus is that I have to watch them on a pc since Directv still doesn’t have it on their lineup, which totally sucks. The issue that I have with watching on the pc is that the picture is really small, but I guess being able to watch something is better than nothing. I really think that it would be nice if both Comcast, who now owns NBC Universal and Directv would stop being stubborn and finally put their damn heads together to solve this issue before the playoffs come around.

Anyway, their next game against the Stars on Wednesday at MSG and then they are off on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face these same Bruins on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your quite happy NYR blogger,

Howie

Nothing is Finer than a Win in Carolina

howie9416 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:21:51 +0000

Hey everyone. This evening, the Rangers played down in Raleigh where they faced off against the Hurricanes and came away with a solid 3-1 win which gives them a 3 game winning streak for the first time since Mid-October. Once again, there were lots of good, solid game play and they got just enough offense and some more top notch goaltending by Lundqvist which turned out to be the big keys today. After sitting for 2 straight games, Tortorella dressed Redden and Kotalik for this game and both played much better after the benching. I guess the message was received by the two of them since they are both needed on the roster at this point. The defense played well limiting the Hurricanes scoring chances and got goals from Gaborik, Dubinsky and an empty netter from Staal, who played extremely well and it was fun to watch him play against his brother also.

What I’m seeing over the streak is that this team looks like they are starting to build off of these wins and are beginning to make the climb up the standings as they have gone back over the .500 mark also after tonight. The team played like they were one in these last 3 and I’m wondering if they possibly have turned a corner, but I guess I will just have to wait and see if this can carry over to the games at home, where they have not played quite as well and are currently 2 games under .500 there. What they need to do is to make the Garden a place where opponents fear coming into going forward and it’s my belief that doing this can possibly help them in making the playoffs.

Anyway, their next game is at MSG on Wednesday evening where they will face the Panthers in the first game of another 3 game home stand where they will also see the Isles on the 26^th and the reeling Flyers on the 30th before they head back out on the road on New Year’s Eve to face the Hurricanes after which they come home for another 3 game home stand to begin the 2010 portion of the schedule in which they have 17 games in January due to the Olympics.

Well folks, that’s it till next Wednesday.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

Winning One Down in Snowy, Windy Philly

howie9416 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:35:38 +0000

Good evening everyone. This afternoon, the Rangers played down in Philly in front of a sparse crowd due to a major snowstorm that has moved into the Northeast. In the end, they came out of the game with a hard fought 2-1 win which gave them a 2 game winning streak for the first time in a while. Lots of smart play and just enough offense plus some top notch goaltending by Lundqvist were the big keys today. For the second straight game, Tortorella sat Redden and Kotalik for the same reasons as he did on Thursday night. Tortorella was very vocal behind the bench today as he really tried to keep his players heads in the game. Lundqvist played extremely well again as he made some great saves to help the team and there was another Drury sighting as he scored his second goal in as many games and Anisimov scored as well which proved to be just enough.

What I’m hoping is that maybe this team can build off of these 2 wins and continue to climb up the standings and that they play as a team like they have in these last couple after the disaster at MSG on Wednesday evening. The team most certainly looked like they actually cared about winning in these last 2 and if they can carry that attitude over from game to game, they might actually still have some hope yet this year. Other than that, there’s nothing else to talk about today related to today’s game.

Their next game is in Carolina on Monday evening where they will face the worst team in the league followed by another 3 game home stand. As I have said before, I still want to reinforce that these games are important and the continued need to pick up some points is vital if they want to remain in the playoff race.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

2 Games and 2 Different Outcomes vs. The Isles

howie9416 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:57:11 +0000

Good evening everyone. Tonight’s game at the Coliseum was one that us Ranger fans have been waiting to see for quite a while, and due to the great all around effort for a change, the Rangers came up on the right side of a 5-2 win over the Islanders. With this win, they ended a five game winless streak. The keys to this game were that they played really well and thanks to 3 power play goals and top notch goaltending by Lundqvist. This was necessary since last night at the Garden they failed to show up at all and it got uglier by the minute as they skated around like they didn’t care one bit.

One huge thing that Tortorella did was to sit a couple of veterans who were not playing well after last night’s game and they were Redden and Kotalik. Hopefully watching the game from the press box sent a message that the coach is no longer tolerating lousy play from any of his players.

Lundqvist played extremely well as he made some great saves tonight and was the best player on the team in last night’s debacle at MSG. The bright spots tonight were that the power play scored three times with Gaborik on a 5 on 3 and Callahan tallying twice, there was a Drury sighting as he scored his first goal in what seemed like ages (20 games) and Anisimov tallied on a beautiful move. One huge moment came in the 3^rd when they were short handed for 4 minutes and played well not allowing the Isles anything.

What I hope is that maybe this team can build off of this win and maybe start a vertical climb up the standings and that they can finally put the puck in the net on a more regular basis. I’m still not letting Sather off the hook though; he still is responsible for the team that is on the ice that for the most part has been awful a lot of nights with Wednesday’s game being true rock bottom.

I know I’m going back and forth between games, but I had to get the point across that after the disaster against the Isles on Wednesday at MSG, I wanted to talk about the effects of what a team meeting and being lambasted by the coach can do for a team.

Their next game is Saturday afternoon in Philly where they will face a reeling Flyer team and then they are off to Carolina on Monday evening where they will face the worst team in the league. Once again, I just want to reinforce that these games are vital and they need to pick up some points soon before the playoff train leaves them in the dust.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

Is the Season Going Down the Toilet?

howie9416 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:57:22 +0000

Hello everyone. Last night’s game, which was played at the Garden, was their 3rd straight loss in which they actually played well the first 2 periods and fell apart in the 3rd. They were outplayed mainly in the third period as the Pens simply had the better of the play, scored 3 times and won 5-2. I am at my wits end to try to get a good read on this team as they are totally inconsistent from game to game.

One continuous bright spot is Gaborik who scored both NYR goals and leads the league in that category. The other bright spot is Prospal who has been a great complement to Gabby on the top line. As far as the rest of the team goes, there is zero secondary scoring and it’s getting much worse by the game. The scary thing is that is simply isn’t getting better related to this problem. Higgins, Callahan, Kotalik, Drury, Lisin, and a cast of others have simply not done enough to contribute to the scoresheet which has been a huge part of this long slump. As far as the goaltending, Lundqvist is taking a lot of heat, but cannot do it all by himself and there have been times where the D has left him hanging out to dry by not clearing out the crease and leaving the middle of the ice open way too often.

To me, it looks like this team has no sense of direction, sense of urgency or any heart right now and things don’t seem to be looking up anytime soon unless by some miracle the secondary scorers begin to put some pucks in the net. I was in the bldg. last night and it just seems that something is missing besides that issue, maybe there is no team chemistry which also causes problems not only on the ice but in the locker room as well. They need to start having some fun when they are on the ice because it doesn’t seem like they are right now. Also, losing all of these games early means that they have thrown away a ton of points and giving away games at home which is also a bad trend.

The latest three game slide, where they have been outscored 18-6 and played tons of non-competitive, unwatchable hockey is just a continuation of a prolonged slump that has now spanned 19 games. I’m starting to believe like some other fans I have talked to that it may be time to show Sather the door since in his 10 years of running the team, they only have 2 2nd round exits and 2 1st round exits, some really bad trades, and a boatload of over the hill, overpriced free agents that haven’t worked out. As far as the bad free agents go, I wouldn’t know where to begin since the list is so big. The Dolan’s seem to have a love affair with this guy, but I think his time has run out with the team. At least Neil Smith in his 10 yrs won a Stanley Cup in 1994 and had them in the Conference Finals in 1997. I’m not sure who should replace Sather, but anybody has to be better than him to run this organization.

Anyway, their next games are on Saturday night in Buffalo against the Sabres at the HSBC Arena and then on Sunday night at the Garden where they will face the Detroit Red Wings. This is going to be a rough weekend, but maybe they can scratch out a win out of one of these.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie