Rangers Insider: Showdown in Beantown
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, of Finland, smothers the puck between his legs as New York Rangers' Wojtek Wolski, of Poland, looks for a rebound during the first period of an NHL hockey game. (March 26, 2011) Credit: AP
It's not generating the anticipation of the Yankees' visits to Fenway Park, but when the Rangers face the Bruins for the first time this season Saturday in Boston, it could be a showdown for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Kind of like a September series between the Red Sox and Yankees, except for one thing. We guarantee the matinee won't take four hours.
The Stanley Cup champion Bruins and the Rangers have been 1-2 in the conference since December, and six of the last eight games, covering two seasons, have been one-goal affairs. The Rangers are 6-2 in those eight games, and the last two have been memorable.
On March 26, the Rangers won in Boston, 1-0, as Henrik Lundqvist outdueled Tuukka Rask. On April 4 at the Garden, the Rangers, battling for the final playoff spot, rallied for a 5-3 win after trailing 3-0. The downside? Ryan Callahan broke his leg blocking Zdeno Chara's shot near the end of regulation and missed the postseason.
"Moneyball" on ice
"Moneyball" ballyhooed the advent of advanced stats for baseball. But NHL numbers-crunchers are rising to the surface as well, particularly on websites such as behindthenet.ca. One of the popular metrics is the Relative Corsi number, based on puck possession. It measures the number of shots directed toward the net at even strength while the player is on the ice, and also missed shots and attempts blocked, minus even-strength shots-against, per 60 minutes.
Here are the top six Rangers (minimum 30 games) as of Friday:
Brandon Dubinsky - 11.5
Artem Anisimov - 8.8
Brian Boyle - 4.7
Marian Gaborik - 4.0
Steve Eminger - 2.6
Michael Del Zotto - 1.2
The league leader?
Edmonton's Taylor Hall at 21.9
A 'Classic' mask
The planning began in early November when Henrik Lundqvist called David Gunnarsson, the acclaimed Swedish artist, to enlist him to design a hockey mask for the Winter Classic.
The payoff came Thursday when one of the two stunning masks that Lundqvist wore in the outdoor game against the Flyers on Jan. 2 raised $35,000 for the Garden of Dreams Foundation.
"I'm so happy it worked out so well," Lundqvist said. "I had heard $25,000 that afternoon."
Lundqvist, a creative soul and part-time rock guitarist, recalled that he knew exactly what he envisioned for the masks.
"It had to look like it was 30 or 40 years old, with some chips on the paint, some rust near the chin, the cream color of the jerseys. And some New York elements like the Statue of Liberty, which I have on my regular mask,'' he said.
Gunnarson, who has worked with more than 20 NHL teams, went a step further in the antiquing: He used a puck to scuff the masks, as if shots had hit them.
The second vintage mask, which matches the first, isn't retired yet. Lundqvist was reluctant to confirm it, but we hear the plan is for the Rangers to wear the Winter Classic uniforms and equipment once this season at the Garden.
Ice Ice Baby
On Friday after practice, country tunes were playing in the training center locker room. "Two days in a row now," Martin Biron said happily. The sounds generally veer more to pop and rock. Michael Del Zotto "played some song from 2001 and he called it old school,'' joked Mike Rupp, who at 31 can be considered an oldie but a goodie. Responded Del Zotto: "Well, I was only 11 then."
Several players and staffers said Brad Richards' selections were their favorites, with the center even mixing in stuff from his hometown of Prince Edward Island. Wonder if those are sea shanties?
