Sport-scan daily brief

3) Because of that, and the return of Arron Asham (and maybe Derek Dorsett if they make the playoffs, or next season) for the first time this season, the Rangers resembled last season’s Rangers.

4) Seriously, you don’t judge much, if anything, by one performance … but it looks as if Brassard really passes the puck well, and isn’t afraid to make a blind pass (though I imagine that won’t look very good when those passes don’t connect). Good hands.

5) John Moore skated pretty well, shot it well, scored the goal (which shouldn’t sway your opinion of him either way). What I liked most was that he leveled that piece of cooke Matt Cooke, and later hit him again.

6) Of course all of this was happening as I was writing a column bashing the trade. You can read it here.

7) As much as I thought, big picture, that it was a bad deal, and the 82 games next season will tell a lot more than the remainder of this hacked-up season (and even John Tortorella admitted as much) in the short-term it really could be a boost. Because, let’s face it, the grinding worked pretty well last night, and this was the most grinding lineup they have iced since Adam Henrique’s goal sent them home.

8) This really does look like a new team, with the three new faces, then you throw in Mats Zuccarello and the return of Arron Asham. But the most important, crucial player in the night’s events might have been Brad Richards, because he skated better than he’s skated in almost every game this season, and he looked like he did at his best last season. Now with Marian Gaborik gone, the Rangers desperately need more out of their top guys, and Richards needs to be one of those.

9) Wouldn’t hurt, too, if Brian Boyle starts kicking one in now and then. His game’s improved lately, though he’s still not the player he was at times last year. If he can give them strong minutes and a point here and there, that’s another piece they need.

10) Three best lines in the pressbox: Gaborik was the player to be named later in the Nash trade … Sather thought he was getting Brashear … Sather should go directly to the cigar store and buy a fistful of lottery tickets.

11) Asham drops the gloves with Glass (remember their staged fight opening night?) after Glass took a whack at Henrik Lundqvist. When was the last time that happened? March 12. Then the two of them made reservations to fight later on, and did so. Asham with an important win.

12) This win makes the Friday rematch a house-money game for the Rangers, who moved into seventh and, after Friday’s game, don’t really have a daunting schedule remaining.

13) Based on what I’ve seen of the Pens the last two nights, Skid Crosby must be the best player who ever lived.

14) Brassard wore No. 16, which reminds me, we haven’t heard much from Mr. Avery after the last few games. I’ll have to go back and check Twitter. Or maybe he meant Gaborik wouldn’t play for “this CLOWN.”

15) Tuesday was one of those days (well every day is, but Tuesday was especially so) when I really wished I got paid by the comment. I’d be picking out a new car today. I don’t say it nearly enough, but as crazy as you guys are, as Jekyll and Hyde as you can be, you really do rule!

16) Oh, with a few exceptions. For those who earned a banning yesterday, if you want to come back, email me at rcarpini@lohud.com and we can discuss. Otherwise, adios.

17) We’re rolling out the new blog design (mobile friendly) this afternoon.

My Three Rangers Stars:

1. Ryane Clowe.

2. Derick Brassard.

3. Brian Boyle.

The real Kenny Albert’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Ryane Clowe.

2. Derick Brassard.

3. Brian Boyle.

RangerJHW’s Three Rangers Stars:

As per Groucho…”it’s like living in Pittsburgh…if you call that living!”

1. Slats—always better on the rebound.

2. Stralman—for that great play on Malkin while wearing #5 (you had to be watching NB(I don’t)C Sports to appreciate.

3. All the new guys—you get the love just for wearing “our” jersey…but all those goals will spoil us!

Loved the moves before the game-don’t even ask me now how I feel! I know-one game … but Slats replaced all the pieces…anybody see Hamrlik?

Your poll vote for Three Rangers Stars:

1. Ryane Clowe (32.36 %).

2. Derick Brassard (28.96 %).

3. Brian Boyle (13.43 %).

Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667867 New York Rangers

Rangers 6, Penguins 1: Post-game notes, quotes

by Carp

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES

April 3, 2013 (Game 36, Home Game 20)|

Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

Rangers 6, Penguins 1

Team Notes:

- The Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, for their second straight win. New York has now recorded a point in seven of their last nine home games (6-2-1).

- The Blueshirts improved to 18-15-3 (39 pts) overall, including a 12-6-2 mark at home this season.

- Newly acquired forwards Ryane Clowe (two goals, one assist) and Derick Brassard (one goal, three assists), along with defenseman John Moore (one goal), combined for eight points while making their Rangers debut in tonight’s contest. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, tonight’s contest marks the first time in franchise history that three players tallied a goal while making their Rangers debut in the same game.

- The Blueshirts have now had 16 players make their regular season debut with the team this season.

- The Rangers are now 8-5-1 against Atlantic Division opponents this season.

- The last time the Blueshirts tallied six goals in a game was on November 25, 2011, in a 6-3 win at Washington. The Rangers’ five-goal margin of victory was their largest since December 11, 2011, vs. Florida (6-1 win).

- The Rangers notched three goals in four power play attempts (4:25), and are now 14-65 (21.5%) with the man advantage in the last 24 games. The last time New York registered three power play goals in a game was exactly one year ago, on April 3, 2012, at Philadelphia (5-3 win, 3-6 on the power play).

- The Blueshirts held the Penguins scoreless in two power play opportunities (4:00), and are now 7-7 (100%) on the penalty kill in the last two games. New York improved to 11-4-1 when not allowing a power play goal.

- New York has registered a point in 12 of 14 games when scoring the first goal this season (11-2-1).

- The Blueshirts extended their point streak in games when leading after the second period to 86 games, dating back to the 2009-10 season, improving to 80-0-6 over the span. The Rangers’ last regulation loss in a game when entering the third with the lead was Feb. 4, 2010 (6-5 loss vs. WSH). New York is now 10-0-0 when leading after the second period this season.

Player Notes:

- Ryane Clowe notched two goals, including one on the power play, and added an assist in 15:22 of ice time while making his Rangers debut. He also tied for the game-high with five shots on goal, was credited with four hits and posted a plus-two rating. Clowe has tallied eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last nine games. He was acquired from San Jose yesterday in exchange for a second and third round draft pick in 2013, and a conditional pick in 2014.

- Derick Brassard registered a career-high, four points, including one goal and three assists, and won 11-15 faceoffs (73%) in 12:54 of ice time while making his Rangers debut. He has now tallied six points (three goals, three assists) in his last three contests, including a goal in three straight games. Three of Brassard’s points were tallied on the power play, which is a career-high. He was acquired from Columbus, along with Derek Dorsett, John Moore, and a sixth round pick in 2014, earlier today in exchange for Marian Gaborik, Steven Delisle, and Blake Parlett. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time a player registered four points while making their Rangers debut was Doug Bentley on January 20, 1954, against Boston.

- Brian Boyle recorded a career-high, four points, including one goal and a career-best, three assists, and registered three shots and four hits in 16:12 of ice time. Three of his four points were tallied on the power play, which represents a career-high.

- Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves to improve to 16-13-2 overall, including a 12-6-1 mark at home this season. He passed Ed Giacomin for second on the Rangers’ all-time goalie wins list with his 268th career win, and is now one appearance shy of his 500th career game. Lundqvist has now allowed two or fewer goals in each of the last eight games, posting a record 5-2-1 with a 1.72 goals against average and .938 save percentage over the span.

- Brad Richards recorded two assists, including one on the power play and one on the game-winning goal, in 15:26 of ice time to earn third star honors. He has now tallied six points (one goal, five assists) in the last six games.

- Ryan McDonagh notched the eventual game-winning goal, and registered four shots in 18:07 of ice time. He has now recorded two points (one goal, one assist) and a plus-three rating in the last two games. The Rangers improved to 8-1-1 in games when he registers a point.

- John Moore tallied a goal and logged 14:09 of ice time while making his Rangers debut. He was acquired from Columbus, along with Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, and a sixth round pick in 2014, earlier today in exchange for Marian Gaborik, Steven Delisle, and Blake Parlett.

- Derek Stepan recorded an assist, three shots on goal, was credited with two blocked shots, and won a game-high, 12-21 faceoffs (57%) in 20:58 of ice time while skating in his 200th career NHL game. He has now tallied a point in 13 of the last 18 games, registering 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) over the span.

- Dan Girardi tallied a power play assist and tied for the team-high with four hits in 24:31 of ice time.

- Carl Hagelin registered two shots on goal and was credited with two takeaways in 11:59 of ice time while skating in his 100th career NHL contest.

Post-Game Quotes:

- John Tortorella on the team’s trade deadline acquisitions… “(Ryane) Clowe’s first shift is what he is. He’s going to bang and he’s going to create scoring changes. He had a big hit on (Deryk) Engelland and gets a scoring chance. You can see (Derick) Brassard’s skill and he has pretty good awareness. He passed the puck and scored a goal. He was good on face-offs. (John) Moore is the one I am really interested in because I know the least about him out of all of them. He’s a terrific skater and I thought he did a really good job defending and made some really good reads.”

- Ryane Clowe on making his Rangers debut… “Exactly what I was talking about with Brassard, sometimes you just play. We went over some system stuff before the game and I talked to Torts a little bit and he said ‘don’t worry about it too much tonight, just go out and play and that’s all you have to do’. And I said to myself I just have to worry about skating and moving my feet and driving my legs, get some chances, and work down low. All that stuff that I think makes me a good player I tried to do tonight. I thought for the first game, I gelled pretty well with that line.”

- Derick Brassard on playing for the Rangers… “I’ve known Rick (Nash) for a while. They obviously have a great team and great players. When we were coming in on the plane today we were excited. It’s a great chance for us to show what we have, and for us, we just want to help in the push towards the playoffs.”

Team Schedule:

- The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, Apr. 4, is 12:00 p.m. at MSG Training Center.

- The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, Apr. 5, at CONSOL Energy Center (7:00 p.m. – TV: MSG Plus; Radio: Bloomberg Radio), to complete their home-and-home set.

Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 04.04.2013

667868 NHL

Ben Bishop traded for Cory Conacher: Senators goaltender ‘sad’ to leave playoff team

Sean Fitz-Gerald | 13/04/03 | Last Updated: 13/04/03 2:36 PM ET

Senators goaltender Ben Bishop was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday before the NHL trade deadline.

Ben Bishop heard about it three minutes before he went to air.

The 26-year-old had just been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning from the Ottawa Senators, where he had won in eight of his 13 appearances, posting a save-percentage of .922 — seventh in the NHL.

Leafs are ‘not close to anything’ before NHL trade deadline

“It’s going to be a good opportunity,” he told TSN host James Duthie moments after the trade on Wednesday. “Obviously, it’s bittersweet: Made a lot of friendships and have a playoff team here in Ottawa, and I feel like I helped the team get to where it is. So it’s sad on that part.”

According to TSN, the Senators received forward Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft in return. Conacher has 24 points in 35 games (nine goals, 15 assists) with the Lightning, and that means he is now the leading scorer in Ottawa, where Kyle Turris held the team lead, with 22 points.

Ottawa sits sixth in the Eastern Conference, heading toward a playoff berth despite a rash of deadlines that has swept across the roster. The Tampa Bay Lightning hold 14th spot, seven points adrift of the eighth and final post-season berth.

Obviously, it’s bittersweet: Made a lot of friendships and have a playoff team here in Ottawa

“Obviously, you always want to make the playoffs,” Bishop told TSN. “So that’s going to be tough. But the season’s not over ’til it’s over. So you gotta go down there and expect to make the playoffs, and try to win as many games as possible.”

National Post LOADED: 04.04.2013

667869 NHL

Five reasons the NHL trade deadline could be a dud

National Post Staff | 13/04/03 | Last Updated: 13/04/03 8:27 AM ET

A lot of the excitement took place before the deadline, with Jarome Iginla heading to the Penguins.

With each deal made before the actual day of the National Hockey League trade deadline, the likelihood that Wednesday will pass without a move of any real significance rises. In fact, it seems pretty likely that the non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage provided by TSN and Sportsnet will, like last season, be given over to incisive analysis of fourth-line centres and fourth-round draft picks. The parade will have come and gone. Here are five reasons we think Wednesday could land with a dull thud.

1. Not enough sellers

Heading into Tuesday’s games, eighth place in the East was at 37 points and at 38 points in the West. That put six teams within six points of the Nos. 7 and 8 spots in the East and 11 teams on either side of the cut line in the West. That effectively leaves five teams as sellers: Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Florida, Calgary and Colorado. Buffalo and Calgary have already been active, and Florida’s best asset is injured (Stephen Weiss). Tampa Bay and Colorado are teams with lots of younger players and may not be looking to remake their rosters. That leaves a parking lot full of rental contracts on future free agents, for which the market may be limited.

2. Steep drop in the salary cap next season

Teams can spend up to a pro-rated US$70.2-million this season. But the cap is scheduled to fall to US$64.3-million in 2013-14, the same level it was in 2011-12. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Vancouver appear to have looming cap problems. Others who look to have plenty of cap space for next season may not want to give it away now before getting a look at trades available at the draft in June and at the July free-agent crop.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

3. The players left on the block are complicated

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo is the biggest name out there with the potential to help any team with goalie trouble. Vancouver also really needs to move him. It makes perfect sense that he is in play this week. But his legacy contract — a legacy of the ridiculous idea that GMs had about long-term deals and a legacy to how quickly most players fade in and out of relevance — has nine more years left and it makes Luongo the last player who will move on Wednesday. Martin St. Louis’s name was tossed around early and Tampa Bay will likely need some cap relief next season. But it’s difficult to make the decision to trade the heart of your club. It took Calgary three years to come to grips with moving Jarome Iginla. Calgary also has Miikka Kiprusoff to deal with, who has said he would rather retire than be traded.

4. Prices too high

With not enough sellers in the market, prices go up. Analyst Glenn Healy made this point on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday and repeated it on a Toronto radio station on Monday. He compares the 2009 trade of Bill Guerin, for whom the Islanders were to get a third-round pick from Pittsburgh, to the two second-round picks Pittsburgh needed to acquire Douglas Murray from San Jose last week. On Monday night, Anaheim paid the same price to Buffalo for Robyn Regehr. As the artificial pressure of the deadline ramps up in a sellers’ market, prices will only get higher.

5. The best options are gone

Pittsburgh made all its moves last week, picking up Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Murray. Calgary has jettisoned Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester. Heck, Edmonton acted on getting gritty forward Mike Brown on March 4. Unless some general managers are hiding a creative streak, there doesn’t look to be very many interesing pieces in play. In 2010, there were 31 deals made on deadline day, a record. The six seasons before that all had at least 20 deadline-day trades, with 25 each in 2006, 2007 and 2008. But in the last two years there have been only 16 deals each year. None of the deals made on the day last season amounted to much. The deal that sent Jeff Carter to Los Angeles, where he won a Stanley Cup with the Kings, was made four days before the deadline. The deadline is no longer a day, it’s a season.

National Post LOADED 04.04.2013

667870 NHL

The Ones Not Traded: Goalies Luongo and Kiprusoff

By DHIREN MAHIBAN

A total of 30 players were involved in 17 trades before Wednesday’s N.H.L. trade deadline, but it was a pair of goaltenders who didn’t find new a home who dominated the post-deadline conversation.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff were involved in many rumors over the last few days. Toronto was a popular floated destination for both.

In the end, each will finish this season with the team he started with, and now rumors and speculation will continue into the summer.

In Vancouver, Luongo lost his starting job to Cory Schneider during last spring’s brief playoff appearance by the Canucks. Vancouver’s brass made it clear in the off-season that Schneider, 27, was the future in net and that the team planned to deal Luongo, 34.

But it has been nearly 11 months since Vancouver made the decision to move Luongo and he still occupies a roster spot with the Canucks.

Luongo said of his contract, “That’s what the problem is, and unfortunately it’s a big factor in trading me and probably why I’m still here.”

After the trade deadline, Luongo, who was made available to the news media, said his contract, with an annual cap hit of $5.3 million, is a difficult one to deal.

“I’d scrap it if I could right now,” said Luongo, who has nine years and $40.6 million remaining on his deal.

Luongo, a former Islanders first-round selection at the 1997 entry draft, said the term agreed to by both sides had its pros and cons: “That’s a decision me and management made a few years ago when we signed it, and we’re going to find a way to get a solution.”

The Canucks’ president and general manager, Mike Gillis, defended the deal, saying that at the time the contract was agreed to, under the previous collective bargaining agreement, it was favorable for both sides.

Gillis also defended the parameters of Luongo’s contract, which in total is 12 years for $64 million and runs through the 2021-22 season.

“The top teams in the league that were competing for Stanley Cups did contracts like” that for franchise players, Gillis said. “Since that’s occurred, there’s been a number of changes; this is a fluid industry, and things do change.”

Gillis went on to say that he had discussions with as many as five teams over the past six months regarding Luongo, but he wasn’t able to come to terms on a deal. It is believed Toronto and Florida were among the five teams the Canucks talked to.

Luongo said that despite the interest, “nothing ever really materialized to the point where I had to give a decision whether I was going to waive” a no-trade clause.

In Calgary, General Manager Jay Feaster, who had already dealt Jarome Iginla and defenseman Jay Boumeester, had given Kiprusoff permission to speak with the Maple Leafs regarding a possible extension on his contract, which expires after the 2013-14 season should the Flames and Leafs agree on a deal.

“I met with Kipper this morning, and Kipper indicated that he really would like to remain with the Calgary Flames,” Feaster said. “From his perspective, given the family situation and the new baby, he just doesn’t feel that he’s ready to move on, that he didn’t want to go to another organization, that he would like to finish things here.”

“I’d really like to finish the season, and after that I’m going to make my decision,” Kiprusoff said before the Flames’ 8-2 loss to the Oilers. “I’d really like to talk with the Flames before that and to go from there.”

When the wheeling and dealing begins in the off-season, you can probably expect Luongo and Kiprusoff’s names at the top of the list of most likely to be moved.

New York Times LOADED: 04.04.2013

667871 Ottawa Senators

Senators take a skate break on deadline day

by Ken Warren

BOSTON, Mass. — One by one, Ottawa Senators players walked out of a downtown Boston sports club in gym clothes late Wednesday morning, fresh from a yoga class, ready to tackle whatever Beantown had to offer on a rare day away from the ice.

Following back-to-back losses in which they’ve yielded dozens upon dozens of scoring chances — including Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins in which they were outshot 50-47 — it was a welcome change of pace.

“I find it’s really important to have a day like this, where you can do stuff other than hockey, just to change things up,” said centre Kyle Turris, acknowledging that he was checking trade chatter on twitter every few minutes. “With how tough the regular season is, with how compact this one is, it’s mentally fatiguing. Having a day to relax, kind of get your mind off things — thinking about baseball and that sort of thing — it rejuvenates you.”

Defenceman Marc Methot says it was a break “to get out of our element, away from the arena for a change,” but had made no grand plans.

“I will walk around,” he said. “I like to people watch. It’s a big city here, there are a lot of characters floating around.”

Then there was tough guy Matt Kassian, who was seriously considering a different type of entertainment, only a two-minute walk from the club’s hotel.

“This is the first time I’ve been in Boston for more than a very brief moment and I was hoping there was a ballet in the afternoon,” he said. “I probably haven’t been to a ballet since I was 11 or 12 and my grandparents took me to the Nutcracker.”

When the Senators do return to practice at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, followed by a flight to Buffalo for Friday’s game against a trade-depleted Sabres lineup, they can expect coach Paul MacLean to pay special attention to the club’s defensive zone play. The sloppiness against the Bruins came on the heels of shaky play inside their own blueline during last Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.