New York Rangers

By Dan Akeson Wade Redden, who like Rozsival has something to prove, looked in much better shape and had some confidence in his step. We will see if that can translate into a game. In the final group, Captain Chris Drury looked a step ahead of last year and skated more similar to his time in Buffalo.

By Jane McManus Sean Avery showed today to talk to the kids at the Rangers hockey camp in Greenburgh at the Rangers practice facility. I’m including a few audio clips. He talked about how his relationship with coach John Tortorella is coming along and address Colton Orr’s replacement. Here’s what he had to s...

By Rick Carpiniello IMHO, the Rangers have been talking to teams about trades involving Zherdev based on certain salaries. If he wins a large contract, though, I think they’ll walk away and let him do the same. ———————

By Jane McManus “Unlike the Wings when Steve was there or the Devils when Lou was there, this was our one shot at it,” Leetch said. “We never got back to the finals, we never won another Cup with that group. And the Rangers are still trying to get back to that point. So it’s a single season that sticks out in a lot of p...

By Jane McManus Sean Avery was not in the locker room. Here is some Markus Naslund audio. On a serious note, Tortorella said he was concerned about Chris Drury, who has not been himself since the playoffs began and has an unspecified arm/wrist/hand injury.

By Jane McManus Tortorella experimented with the lines a little today. Avery-Gomez-Antropov and Voros-Betts-Orr were the same, but Dubinsky centered Drury and Callahan once, and Markus Naslund was mixed in with the group. Zherdev skated with Korpikoski and Sjostrom.

By Jane McManus The Rangers can clinch with a win over Philly on Thursday. The 3-1 win over Montreal and an assist from the Flyers with a 2-1 win over Florida means the Rangers just need one out of the next two games to mathematically eliminate the Panthers. Henrik Lundqvist on Chris Drury…

By Jane McManus But Antropov did say the left knee felt “all right” and, given the way Tortorella brough Michal Rozsival back pretty quickly from his knee injury, seems inclined to play his best players as the playoffs are on the line in the last three games of the season.

By Jane McManus Tortorella had the defensemen wearing green jerseys today, while the first two lines—Avery-Gomez-Callahan and Zherdev-Drury-Antropov wore blue. Sjostrom-Dubinsky-Naslund and Korpikoski-Betts-Orr wore white. Potter skated with Mara, Girardi with Staal and Morris with Redden.

By Jane McManus Henrik Lundqvist addressed the question of whether he would like to meet the Devils in the playoffs and he said Whoa Nelly, or the Scandanavian equivalent. “That’s the new Sean,” Lundqvist said. He’s been very focused since he got here.”

By Jane McManus Starting at 7 on Versus, the Devils (47-24-4) take on Sean Avery and the Rangers (39-28-9)! (Actually, borrowing from NBC’s hockey coverage in that lead-in.) Before tonight’s game Rangers coach John Tortorella was asked if this is a must-win game for his team, and he said he just couldn’t...

By Jane McManus The Rangers practiced today on their home ice after losing a tough one in Pittsburgh. The two-game road trip yielded just one point, but captain Chris Drury said he thinks the Rangers can still make the playoffs despite the two losses and tough schedule.

By Jane McManus When the Rangers lost to the Thrashers on Feb. 3, it was one of the lowest points of the current season. It was Adam Graves night, and a host of Ranger legends had taken the ice at the start of the evening to bring back the memory of that 1994 team. And then the current Rangers [...]

By Jane McManus Defenseman Michael Sauer was recalled from Hartford this morning, which means that Michal Rozsival is not ready to go for tomorrow’s game against Minnesota. Rozsival, who had arthroscopic hip surgery last year, was injured in the second period of last night’s 2-1 loss to Ottawa at The Ga...

By Jane McManus Back to the Rangers. With the loss, the Rangers (38-27-8) missed an opportunity to spring into a fifth place tie with Pittsburgh, and remains in the seventh spot with nine games left to play. Ottawa is 32-30-8 and has now won five straight.

By Jane McManus Shhh…. Playoffs.) But that’s a lot to ask considering that the Rangers have three home games coming up, with a 21-10-4 record on the Madison Square Garden ice. That’s decent, especially considering that Buffalo has a 14-16-5 away record.

By Jane McManus The lines: Naslund-Drury-Antropov; Avery-Gomez-Zherdev, Sjostom-Dubinsky-Callahan, Korpikoski-Betts-Orr. Defensive pairings Morris-Redden, Mara-Rozsival, Girardi-Staal. New York, March 19, 2009 —New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced tod...

By Jane McManus Rangers coach John Tortorella said he liked the lines that skated on Sunday, which doesn’t necessarily mean he will keep them. Obviously, Nikolai Zherdev, Scott Gomez and Sean Avery got a lot of time. Fredrik Sjostrom skated in the third line with Brandon Dubinsky at center and Ryan Callah...

By Jane McManus The Rangers scored on three of those power plays—final score 4-1. Andrew Alberts got a penalty for charging Avery in the third period. So much for letting the skill players take over, Avery scored two of the goals himself while playing on a line with Scott Gomez and Nikolai Zherdev.

By Jane McManus As for the line, Tortorella made his first major switches since taking over. With Antropov out, Aaron Voros played with Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. Sean Avery was on the second line with Scott Gomez and Nikolai Zherdev, and Markus Naslund played with Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callah...

By Jane McManus Antropov had the first goal of the game, and sent Scott Gomez a pass for the second to break a 1-1 tie in the second period. Derek Morris also had an assist on the Gomez goal. Marc Staal had a breakaway and his shot ricocheted off the backwall and onto Nikolai Zherdev’s stick for the winning goal.

By Jane McManus That was the theme today at an optional pre-game skate at Nassau Coliseum before they take on the Islanders at 7 p.m. Newcomers Nik Antropov, Derek Morris and Sean Avery were on the ice even though Torts let assistant Jim Schoenfeld handle the practice.

By Jane McManus Avery was back on the ice wearing a blue jersey, and he said walking in with that the Rangers feel like coming home. He alternated in a line with Petr Prucha, Nigel Dawes and Lauri Korpikowski. And he could play tomorrow. Late in the 40-minute practice, Rangers coach John Tortorella took Avery...

By Jane McManus Ryan Callahan, Nikolai Zherdev, Petr Prucha, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Markus Naslund all scored tonight as the Rangers new aggresive style of play finally broke the dam. The Rangers don’t play again until Thursday night at the Islanders.

By Greg Wyshynski • Chris Drury compares Nikolai Zherdev to Alexei Kovalev. Obviously Drury doesn't know that in New York Rangers-speak, that makes Zherdev more enigmatic and frustrating than the crossword puzzle in the Times. But also once in a while quite rewarding, to be fair. [NY Post]

By Sam Weinman That’s not to say the Rangers aren’t exploring other options, because I’m sure they are. But it’s doubtful any of those move would be ones that would fundamentally alter the core of the team. A player like Shanahan, for instance, would have that impact. And even in looking fairly unspectacul...

By Sam Weinman It’s fair to say the Lightning will be a different team than the one the Rangers faced in Prague. Perhaps because Barry Melrose’s mullet is growing on players, Tampa Bay has points in seven of eight games since then. Update, 3:55 p.m.: For more analysis on all things Rangers, the esteemed Kenny...

In Sports News this Monday: Rudolf Kraj fails to become the first Czech professional world boxing champion after his WBC cruiserweight title fight with Italy’s Giacobbe Fragomeni is halted in the eighth round – Kraj says the referee favoured his opponent; in football, Sparta Prague ge...

In Sports News this Monday: history is made with the first NHL games ever held in the Czech Republic taking place in Prague, New York Rangers twice beating Tampa Bay Lightning to get their season off to a perfect start; Tomáš Berdych wins his fourth ATP title and is once again the highest ran...

By Dubi As expected, the Rangers will not get to close out the old Yankee Stadium with an outdoor game, but the Daily News reports that the new Stadium could host a game on New Year's Day of 2010. Elsewhere, listen to Tom Renney talk about the Rangers on ESPN radio, and read Stan Fischler at MSG.com as he...

In Sports News this Monday: Radek Štěpánek is so frustrated at going out in the third round at Wimbledon that he breaks six rackets; Nicole Vaidišová enjoys something of a return to form at the tournament; Jaromír Jagr is considering his future as his contract with New York Rangers comes t...

By Sam Weinman In other news, the promising Miika Wiikman Era continues. The Rangers announced they re-signed the young backstop for at least next season. No word yet on terms, but I’m going to assume the team will still be under the salary cap. The good folks hosts at NYRangerscast had me on again last night...

Justin Dahan breaks down Game 1 of both the Devils/Rangers & Sens/Pens games. Justin Dahan breaks down Game 1 of both the Devils/Rangers & Sens/Pens games.

Tim Bontemps checks in and breaks down the Rangers/Devils series, while Steven Hindle joins us to discuss the Capitals fairytale end to the season, and how he thinks their post-season will go…No One Will Guess!! Tim Bontemps checks in and breaks down the Rangers/Devils series, while St...

By Sam Weinman Or better yet, download it and put it on your IPod. If listening to me analyze the Rangers’ fourth line can’t get you through a treadmill session, nothing will. The Fredrik Sjostrom impact extends to Ryan Hollweg, who will be scratched today to make room for Colton Orr’s return. Petr Prucha is...

By Joey Matschulat As the dust continues to settle from Sunday’s surprise acquisition of outfielder Milton Bradley, another free agent target of the Texas Rangers may be on the verge of selecting his next employer. And finally, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel issued a rather cryptic re...

Brendan Shanahan is leaning toward returning for a 20th NHL season and wants to stay with the New York Rangers.

NEW YORK Henrik Lundqvist stopped Daniel Brieres shot just short of fully crossing the goal line with 17 seconds left, and the Rangers hung on for a 21 victory over the Sabres Tuesday night to square the Eastern Conference semifinal series after four games.

NEW YORK Michal Rozsivals aching left knee made the New York Rangers best defenseman a question mark for the biggest games of the season.

Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander made Kari Lehtonen long for his safe spot on the bench. And the New York Rangers top line needed less than a period to do it.

Led by Jaromir Jagr, the Rangers scored the first two goals of Thursday nights opener and held off Atlantas comeback to beat the Thrashers 43.

By Jose de Jesus Ortiz(joe.conway@chron.com) Audio: Astros GM Tim Purpura says Rangers' claim opens door for Astacio Class AAA Round Rock pitching coach Burt Hooton and his wife Ginger were on the minor-league side Monday afternoon when Astacio went looking for them to thank them for their support.

By technologyted@mac.com This enhanced Podcast features a look at the U.S. and Canadian Women's Olympic teams. We also bring in the Good, the Sad, and the Ugly as we close out the NHL action prior to the Olympic break. Hear why the New York Rangers are our pick for the Good Team of the week. We also report on the honoring of Jim...