Thoughts prior to the home-and-home with Columbus

(Chris Russell/Dispatch Photo)

Isn’t everyone in a much better mood now that hockey is back? It doesn’t hurt that the Rangers won their opener against the defending champs and rained on their obnoxious banner-raising ceremony. Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the Blackhawks organization, but my god, that was a little much. The Blueshirts are back at it tonight against Columbus, so I figured I would share some thoughts on game day…

In the interest of keeping this in some semblance of order, I’m going to try and compartmentalize these bullets into ‘Hawks thoughts and then Blue Jackets thoughts.

1. Even though the Blackhawks woke up and really pressed the Rangers after the first, you couldn’t ask for a much better road game against a team like Chicago. The speed factor against a very talented group was a little surprising, but if it was this effective against Chicago, I feel bad for the rest of the league.
2. I know this drum has been beaten quite a bit thus far, but that middle-six depth is really something. When Nash, Zuccarello and Brassard are facing the Brent Seabrook/Duncan Keith’s of the world, Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider and JT Miller can feast on the soft underbelly of the bottom four defenders.
3. I was very impressed with Viktor Stalberg’s speed and positional awareness, especially in the offensive zone. I don’t think he will be quite an Anton Stralman-level find, but he could be a really valuable bargain pick up.
4. Vision isn’t necessarily a JT Miller calling card, but he just looks so much more comfortable out there and it really shows in his passing and offensive zone movement. There is still some work to do on the other side of the puck, but he is really coming along.
5. Hank looked locked in against Chicago. His positioning was so good it was very difficult to even notice just how tough some of those saves he had to make were.
6. I wanted to talk about the non-goal for a minute. As a fan, the rule is infuriating. It is so subjective and we have to rely solely on the referee’s “intent”. Either way, some definitive clarification is needed on plays like that. Maybe we morph it into a goalie interference-type analysis. A player should not have free reign to just poke, jab and push a puck through the goalie’s equipment to try and jar it loose prior to the whistle. No matter what the resolution, I don’t think the “intent of the referee” thing makes much sense.
7. I know Dan Girardi has been everyone’s favorite whipping boy after that game, but geez. That completely unforced turnover along the side wall on Chicago’s second goal was borderline unforgivable. Additionally, it seems like he either doesn’t watch video, or just simply doesn’t learn from it. Girardi is around my age, and when I was playing growing up, many of my defenseman adopted a “hey I got beat, so I’m going to make a dive for it” mentality, so maybe he just can’t break that instinct to try and put his body in front of a puck when he is out of position. Either way, it doesn’t work and creates nightmares for in-zone coverage.
8. Not really 2015-2016 related, but I will be very interested to see how the Player’s Association interprets NMC’s for a potential Expansion Draft. Makes you wonder if an expansion team would be interested in a player like Girardi, which would free up a big chunk of cap space.
9. AV would have to be a blind man not to see what the difference was between the fourth line from Wednesday night and one with Tanner Glass on it. That cap space needs to be cleared, and with a quickness.
10. There was a lot of speculation that Raanta would get the start tonight, while Hank will get the home opener on Saturday. The Rangers confirmed it will be Hank tonight, and I feel that is the right call. You have an opportunity to take four points from a division rival this early into the year (the Jackets haven’t played yet) and get a jump on the field. Hank is the guy you want in there. You can easily work Raanta in up in the Bell Centre or against any of the Western Conference teams toward the end of the month.
11. I will be interested to see how AV will try and work in Etem, Glass and McIlrath in the coming games. I could see Boyle coming out for McIlrath, especially against a team like the Flyers. Etem and Glass are tougher to peg, since there is some really nice synergy amongst the forward group right now. Aside from Stoll (who I thought played pretty well), there is no logical subtraction. Etem doesn’t really fit in a shut down role, and Glass is no upgrade. If it were me, I would keep it status-quo this weekend, but we all know AV likes to tinker.

Well that’s it for me this week, everyone enjoy the home-and-home and keep it locked right here for all the breaking Rangers coverage as the season gets underway.