# 1. When will Chris Drury and Markus Naslund break out of their scoring funk? And will Naslund turn out to be the weakest link? Blueshirt Bulletin:
Still, there is an obvious problem brewing with two of the team's top players. Drury, the team's new captain, and his season-long linemate Markus Naslund were so clearly the worst of the Rangers' four lines last night that they didn't play at all over the last five minutes of the game and had only one and a half shifts over the final ten minutes. Gomez, freed from their line, had a second straight dynamic game, this time producing results with a pair of classic Gomez assists for each of his linemates, Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes, and controlling play every time he was on the ice. The next step would be to split up Drury and Naslund to see which one is holding back the other...FYI: the Rangers are averaging 2.63 goals per game so far this season (21 goals after 8 games). Last season they averaged 2.50 goals per game.
# 2. What are the odds that Sean Avery gets his first goal of the season tonight against the Rangers? And who did he get tickets for (anyone from Vogue)? Steve Zipay / Newsday -- Avery won't talk to NY media before game at MSG:
Believe it or not, Sean Avery is ducking the New York media. Avery and the Dallas Stars visit the Garden tomorrow, and the former Ranger won't talk to the media before the game, according to a statement from the Stars...Avery the anti-hero/villain returns stories: Post, Daily News, and Newsday.
Avery has no goals and two assists in five games.
# 3. Will the KHL rename their top rookie award after Alexei Cherepanov? Beyond the Blueshirts:
To honor the 19-year old forward, the KHL is expected to name its award for top rookie — an award won by Cherepanov himself two years ago when he set the Russian Super League record for goals by a first year player — after him. KHL president Alexander Medvedev has expressed public support for the idea, but a formal announcement has not yet been made. There has also been talk of re-naming the arena in Omsk in Cherepanov’s honor, though nothing has been confirmed.# 4. Does the "Goals Saved Above Average [GSAA] statistic provide a good measure of a goalie's value? And is there any possible way that Lundqvist will ever win the Vezina Trophy with Redden and Rozsival "standing" in front of him?
mc79hockey.com:
I’ve put together a list of goalies who have faced at least 2000 shots since the lockout, with their scaled save percentages and something called goals saved above average [GSAA], which is just how much better than average they are in terms of goals saved. The formula there is (Shots*Scaled Save Percentage) - (Shots*League Average Save Percentage). The list is sorted by GSAA...
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# 5. Are hockey bloggers really the "scourge of the earth"? And will the Ranger Pundit ever get invited up to the MSG press box? That will probably happen after Tom Renney and Glen Sather take Mike out to lunch. James Mirtle - The blog police:I can see why the Oilers wouldn't want a member of Covered in Oil blogging from a team-sanctioned location, even if their brand of wit is effectively harmless. But the proper response here was simply to let him know that type of coverage wasn't appropriate for the press box and leave it at that.
I don't agree that that's the case, but the team is certainly within their right to do that. What I object to is treating bloggers, regardless of what they write, like the scourge of the earth.
Here's Greg Wyshynski:It's pure bullying, based on a belief that anyone with "blogger" affixed to his or her name is a reckless amateur with no business sharing the same free popcorn with the pros in the mainstream media.What teams like the Oilers should see in Covered in Oil is the value of intelligent hardcore fans providing offbeat coverage of a team they adore...
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"# 1. When will Chris Drury and Markus Naslund break out of their scoring funk?"
Mike, you gotta start off with more questions like this!
blow-me-down-It was half a loaf tonight, however it is now a team problem.
When will tom Renney and his coaching staff stop changing the lines every game? Whatever happened to learning to play with each other?
DJ,
Good question about the lineups... The Rangers this season always seem to be in the perpetual state of flux, which borders the state of confusion. This waiver of Rissmiller today (who was their first free agent signing) further demonstrates how lost in the sauce they are. All these 3rd and 4th line forwards and no where to put them. Utterly amazing. Can Slats count? Can Renney coach or is he just a bureaucrat, who happens to stand behind a bench.