Inside The Penalty Box 10.22.07: Avery Needed To Spark Rangers
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 10.22.2007
A team with high expectations prior to the season, the New York Rangers rank last in the Atlantic Division through seven games. The Rangers’ offense not showing up is a major reason for that, but the absence of the team’s spark plug, Sean Avery, is an even more pressing concern. In the latest edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein dissects the play of the Rangers thus far this season.
Rangers Missing Avery
New York Suffering Without Agitator
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
With the Rangers 2-4-1 record, Sean Avery's presence is sorely missed.
f there's anybody who doubts the impact one player can have on an organization, just take a look at the New York Rangers' record through seven games and realize Sean Avery has been out of the lineup since the team's game against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 6.
After taking a hit from Chris Neil 7:23 into the first period, Avery left the ice and didn't return. The diagnosis was a separated left shoulder and he was scheduled to miss four weeks, which has him on pace to return by early-to-mid-November. That's not a drastic amount of time. But judging by the play of the Rangers since that game, in which they were shutout 2-0, Avery's presence is missed and his return to the lineup as soon as humanly possible is going to be welcome with many open arms.
The Rangers are 2-4-1, sporting an Atlantic Division low five points. They are also 14th in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Atlanta Thrashers, who the Rangers lost to on Oct. 18, 5-3.
Records and points on the season aside, the Rangers' most noticeable deficiency is that as a rich offensive team, they only have 13 goals as a team this season. That ranks New York 30th in the NHL.
While it is entirely too early to monitor the standings and statistics and panic about playoff positioning in October, it is time for the Rangers to get a wake-up call. With the talent they have and the expectations of being the top team in the Atlantic Division, the way they have played thus far this season just isn't going to cut it. And much like he did last season, Avery can be the catalyst to get this team on track and headed in the right direction.
When acquired close to the trade deadline in February last season, the Rangers were sputtering en route to the playoffs. There was a possibility that if they didn't start playing better, they would miss the playoffs, which is hardly a way to rebound off a first round sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils the season before. Avery's arrival was met with mixed reaction – I will admit I wasn't thrilled with it at first. But his tenacious physicality on the ice that agitates every opponent he faces, added with a decent set of offensive skills, sparked the Rangers to a 20-6-6 record over their final 32 games of the season – and landed them the sixth seed in the playoffs.
New York took that momentum into the playoffs by sweeping the Thrashers and taking the red-hot President Trophy winning-Buffalo Sabres to six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, where the Rangers made their exit.
That kind of turnaround is what the Rangers need now, before their poor play digs them into a much deeper hole. Avery can only be the catalyst to change, though.
He is a good offensive player who's capable of putting points on the board. But other players in New York need to step up in that department much sooner than Avery does. Avery's teammates need to feed off of his play on the ice. Avery will get into the face of opposing players and create an environment of high intensity that motivates his teammates. But rarely is he going to be the guy that scores that game-tying or game-winning goal. Rarely will he be the guy to setup that game-tying or game-winning score, too. Instead, he needs to create the atmosphere – something he is truly proficient at.
Lack Of Scoring
Many of the Rangers' top offensive weapons are not stepping up early this season, hence the reason the team is last in goals seven games through.
New York has been shutout twice this season – to the Senators in the second game of the season and on Saturday to the Boston Bruins. The Rangers were held to only one goal in two other games – in a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Oct. 10 and a 3-1 loss to the Senators at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 13.
This isn't acceptable for a team that is supposed to be led by its offense. A team that has the depth the Rangers have with weapons like Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Martin Straka and Petr Prucha should be much more present on the scoreboard than they are now.
Jagr and Drury have played decent hockey to start the season. Jagr has eight points and one goal this year, while Drury has six points and the game-winning goal in the Rangers win over the Florida Panthers to start the season. Jagr, however, should have more goals and half of Drury's points came in that first game of the season.
These two, however, are really the least of the Rangers' scoring problems. Shanahan, who scored 40 goals two years ago with the Detroit Red Wings, only has one goal this season. His veteran presence is always welcome, but he needs to put the puck in the net for the Rangers and produce more than two points in seven games. Even if he cannot reach the 40-goal plateau and is just a 30-goal scorer, that's better than the 11-goal pace he's on right now.
Gomez has also been a bit of a disappointment to start the year. At $7.357 million per season, there is an expectation that he put up more than three points in seven games. And Gomez is supposed to be a playmaker more than a goal scorer, so it seems backwards that he should have two goals and only one assist right now. I do think part of this has to do with Tom Renney starting the season with Gomez on the second line instead of on the first line with Jagr. But he hasn't really done much more since being moved onto Jagr's line. So whatever chemistry Gomez is supposed to find with his new teammates, regardless of what line he is on, just hasn't been found yet.
For the Rangers' success, Gomez better find that chemistry real soon. The big boys need to step up. The only role player to show up so far has been Marcel Hossa, who has put up an assist in each game he's played thus far – three. But Prucha, Ryan Callahan, Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinksy have one point or less to show for the season. If the top players don't send the message, the rest of the team will just follow suit in performing under their potential.
The Rangers also face the problem of losing Straka for an undetermined amount of time after sustaining a broken finger in the game vs. Boston. He did this by blocking a shot from the point of Zdeno Chara, so the extent of the injury could be pretty serious. Right now he is day-to-day and is seeing a hand specialist to determine just how much time he will miss.
The Rangers need a game that's a shootout, and I'm not talking about the extra session that comes after overtime. They need to take part in a game where 10 or more goals are scored and defense is thrown completely out the window. Maybe once the fire gets started for these players, it won't get extinguished and they can take that into future games. But that fire needs to get started first.
Maybe it will on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that has given up 3.39 goals per game and has allowed four or more goals four times this season.
Defense Still Strong
Until Avery comes back for some much needed motivation, and the offense starts to click, the Rangers' defense is actually providing very strong relief. While the Rangers haven't found their scoring stride quite yet, they are tied for fifth in the league with only 15 goals against.
They have allowed three goals or more only twice this season – in the 3-1 loss to Ottawa and the 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Thrashers. And in the last game against Boston, the only goal surrendered by the Rangers was a Phil Kessel shootout score that gave the Bruins the victory.
The Rangers' defense, not typically known as their best side of the puck, has showed up this season. Henrik Lundqvist always gives the Rangers a chance to win and is currently sporting a 2.14 goals against average and .924 save percentage with one shutout. Michal Rozsival has been a great all-around blue line asset for the Rangers since they brought him in following the lockout. Marc Staal is adjusting the NHL game extremely well and will become a defensive leader for New York soon enough. Marek Malik is a liability a lot of the time, but he is still in the shuffle.
When the Rangers' offense eventually picks up, they just need to make sure the defense doesn't let up. New York started the season strong defensively, which isn't always the case, and it's important that when the team starts scoring more that it doesn't let down its guard in its own zone.
Feedback …
Just wanted to comment on your article of the Senators and signing Wade Redden. They play better with him on the blue line than without him. He is a big asset to the team, even if he did struggle last year. He's been there 10 years, one out of 10 isn't bad odds, they've got to give the guy a break. Sign him for an extension, and keep him!!!
- Tom
Tom, I'm a big fan of Wade Redden. He's a veteran leader who's been around the Senators' system his entire career. But I think his tenure in Ottawa is coming to an end.
I think the relationship between Redden and the Senators was severed over the summer. Ottawa tried to deal him, Redden exercised his no-trade clause and got annoyed that he wasn't informed of the deal previously. I don't think he and general manager Bryan Murray are cool. And I'm sure he's going to be very reluctant to give Murray any kind of break if he tries to re-sign him.
Plus, payroll is starting to fill up real quickly in Ottawa. And it might not be the best move to invest at least $6.5 million a season on a long-term deal. They already have to ink Jason Spezza to a long-term deal for what's going to be at least $6.5 million per season. Adding $13 million at the very least to a payroll that's already set at over $35 million next season is a dangerous route to go. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros is another player that needs to be re-signed, and will probably cost Ottawa at least $2.75-3 million.
If the Senators can deal away Martin Gerber this year now that Ray Emery is back and healthy between the pipes, that might give the Senators enough breathing room to ink Redden.
But with the tension between the team and him and the fact that money is tight, I don't think giving Redden an extension is in the best interest for all parties involved.
Thanks for the e-mail, Tom, and everybody keep it coming.
Send all comments, questions, suggestions and telephone numbers from the ladies to br7qbsteelers@yahoo.com.
Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
f there's anybody who doubts the impact one player can have on an organization, just take a look at the New York Rangers' record through seven games and realize Sean Avery has been out of the lineup since the team's game against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 6.
