New York Rangers: No goalie announcement until the last minute

The New York Rangers will not tell anyone who the starting goalie will be until just before game time.

The New York Rangers may know who the starting goaltender will be in game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifier, but they won’t be telling anyone for a while.   In his press availability after practice, Quinn was definitive about the time frame for a public announcement.

He  hinted that he hasn’t decided, saying “I didn’t know what to expect from all three of these guys.  So this really is and will continue to be an open evaluation….we’re not going to name a starting goaltender until the day of, or the day before the game we play.”  He added “So there are  a lot of things that go into how we’re doing this.  I get jumping to conclusions and reading into things…so we’ve got eight, nine more days until we play…those nine days are gonna matter.”

That has to be good news for Henrik Lundqvist who has been relatively quiet, not taking part in the post-practice press conferences.  All signs are still that Igor Shesterkin will get the nod as Blue Line Station reported earlier, but with the series just around the corner, the mind games have already begun.  There’s no reason to tell the Carolina Hurricanes who will be starting and the longer Quinn can keep them guessing, the better.

in Quinn’s post practice availability he discussed the power play, Vitali Kravtsov, Brendan Smith as well as the goalie situation.

Dougie Hamilton injured?

There was some news out of the Carolina Hurricanes practice on Thursday.  The team’s best defenseman, Dougie Hamilton, did not take part in the practice after leaving the prior session in some discomfort.   He missed the last 21 games of the season after breaking his left fibula and undergoing surgery.   The January injury was supposed to keep him out of the playoffs, but with the pause, the Hurricanes were happy to see him back on the ice.

In his Zoom call after practice, Hurricanes coach Ron Brind’Amour said ““He’s a talented player and very unique on the offensive side of things.  He was certainly missed when he was out for a large portion of the year and he’s a huge part of the offense of our team, so obviously we’re hoping that this isn’t something that’s long term.”

Although teams are not allowed to discuss injuries or health issues as part of the Phase Three protocols in the NHL Return to Play, the fact that Brind’Amour mentioned “long term” implications could be significant.

Hamilton was having a Norris Trophy quality season when he went down and if he cannot play in the series against the Rangers, that would be significant.  The Canes do have some depth on defense, with Sami Vatanen recovered from his injury.  Vatanen was picked up at the trade deadline from the Devils.

Defenseman Brett Pesce will probably not be available for the series after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder.  The Canes have to decide if they want to keep him on their roster in case they make a deep run into the playoffs.

Off to Toronto

As for the Rangers roster, Quinn said that all of the players at training camp will make the trip to Toronto except K’Andre Miller who is not eligible to play in the postseason.  That includes Adam Huska and the rest of the “Black Aces.’

Quinn said that the Rangers will practice every day in Toronto after they travel there on Sunday and will probably have one day off after the Islander game on Wednesday.   That’s only if Quinn feels that they can afford to take a day off.  He said “We’ll take it day by day because of the unique circumstances.”   The Blueshirts will have Saturday off before they travel to Toronto.

Some details are beginning to emerge about the Toronto venue and the telecasts.  NBC will be producing the telecasts in Toronto while Sportsnet will do the same in Edmonton.  Both networks will have additional cameras and the ice will be miked.  There are some hot rumors that they will be adding some crowd noise to the telecast with the Columbus Blue Jackets cannon (it fires when they score)  the favorite topic of discussion.

That has to mean that there is still hope for the Rangers goal song when they score during home games and even an occasional “Potvin sucks” chant.  The odd thing about the Hurricanes is that there are so many transplanted New Yorkers in North Carolina that when the Blueshirts play in Raleigh, it often sounds like a home game.  No word if NBC would  try to replicate that!

The Kraken

New Yorkers know Gary Sanchez by that nickname. but in case you missed it, the new Seattle HL team will be called the Kraken as well.

You have to give the folks in Seattle an “A” for creativity.  Nicely done.  It’s a great name,but the fact is a Kraken is basically a giant squid.

We are six days away from the clash with the Islanders and Blue Line Station will be back with our live chat during the game so you can weigh in with observations, snarky comments or just get reacquainted with your fellow Rangers faithful.