Although there was not too much to love about the first half of the season, the New York Rangers will turn it around. They have too much talent to miss the playoffs. In the meantime, here are the midseason awards for the Rangers.

Rookie of the Half Year: Brandon Dubinsky. Dubie and Marc Staal have pretty much been the only consistent rookies in the lineup as Nigel Dawes is finally starting to play every night. Nevertheless, Dubinsky has held his own through the first half the season by playing in every Ranger game so far, even getting the chance to center Jaromir Jagr for a good amount of time. Now centering a line with Dawes and another 600 goal scorer Brendan Shanahan, Dubinsky should continue his recent strong play in the second half.
Stats: 51 GP, 7 Goals, 12 Assists, Even, 39 PIM. 

Defenseman of the Half Year: Michal Rozsival. No argument here as Rozsival is among the league leaders in goals for defensemen in the NHL. The Rangers number one defenseman has surely lived up to that label as he has carried the load on offense and of course defense in front of Henrik Lundqvist. Rozsival’s heavy shot from the point should get the Ranger power play back to the front end of the league as he needs to continue scoring for the Rangers to win games.
Stats: 50 GP, 12 Goals, 17 Assists, -2, 52 PIM.

Most Improved Player of the Half Year: Dan Girardi. What’s not to love about this guy? Not even drafted out of Juniors, Girardi surprised many last year when he showed the league he can play at this level. This year however, Girardi has proved he can stay here and play at a very high level. There are of course mishaps every once in a while but Girardi is rapidly improving and will be here for a long time. Paired with Fedor Tyutin, they form the Rangers most consistent defensive tandem. Girardi is also scoring some timely goals while also making the necessary plays.
Stats: 51 GP, 8 Goals, 10 Assists, -9, 12 PIM.

Biggest Disappointment of the Half Year: Chris Drury. After signing a lucrative 5 year, 35 million dollar contract on July 1, Drury was expected to live up to his reputation as the leagues’ most clutch player. Although he has scored some timely goals for New York, he has also been a major bust so far. His numbers are horrendous compared to last year and he is the player that the Rangers need to step up the most. Knowing the way Chris Drury is I think he will sooner rather than later.
Stats: 51 GP, 12 Goals, 20 Assists, -13, 30 PIM.

Offensive Player of the Year: Scott Gomez. After his customary slow start, Gomer has picked it up since being put back Jaromir Jagr’s line. Gomez has made some fantastic plays so far but also has made some questionable ones. His experience and leadership ability will mix nicely with his unbelievable talent and he will continue to put up points in the second half. Look for Gomez to rack up a bunch of assists courtesy of Jaromir Jagr.
Stats: 51 GP. 11 Goals, 36 Assists, +2, 20 PIM.

 MVP of the Half Year: Henrik Lundqvist. He is considered the King of New York for a reason. King Henrik has literally carried the Rangers through a ridiculously inconsistent first part of the 2007-2008 season. Henrik has single handedly won more than a handful of games because of the Rangers lack of offense. Vying for another Vezina finalist pick, Henrik could very will win the award if he keeps up his insane goaltending and adds to his seven shutouts which place him one behind the league leader. If the Rangers can get themselves on track offensively and take some of the pressure of him then start listening closely to the Hen-rik! chants coming down from the Garden faithful again.
Stats: 45 GP, 22 Wins, 18 Losses, 5 OTL, 2.29 GAA, .908 SV%, 7 Shutouts.

Starting tonight, the New York Rangers will have no choice but to begin digging themselves out of the deep hole that they put themselves in. Stuck in a last place tie with their arch rivals from Long Island, the Rangers begin a four game road trip which includes three games in four days. All of these games are against Eastern Conference powerhouses with two of the games against divisional rivals, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

New York needs to break away from their inconsistency and go on a roll like they did last year around this time. They do not need to make a trade; they just need their marquee players to earn their money, starting tonight in Raleigh against the Southeast leading Hurricanes.

A few players, Chris Drury and Petr Prucha in particular need to pick their individual game up from here on in. Drury and Prucha have no question been underachieving up to this point but have had some stretches of brilliance in the first half. The Rangers need these two to provide some secondary scoring for the Jagr line so that opposing teams have to defend all three scoring lines, instead of just the top line.

Look for Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez to not only keep up their recent strong play but also watch for them to start dominating games routinely. Ever since being reunited on the top line, these two along with Marty Straka (who was replaced by Sean Avery last week on the first line) have been providing the majority of the offense for New York. Jagr will have more room to work now that Avery will be in front of the net drawing at least one defenseman at all times. That means Gomez will be finding Jagr often and Jagr will be finding the back of the net.

In the past couple of weeks the line of Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes and Brendan Shanahan have been working well together and providing the secondary scoring support that has plagued the Rangers in the first half of the season. Hopefully they can continue to keep this pace up and since they give 100% effort on each shift success should continue to come for them.

Henrik Lundqvist is the only reason the Rangers are in playoff contention. Without his stellar goaltending in the first half New York would be looking ahead to the entry draft instead of preparing for a stretch run to make the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Sure, Hank has had a few iffy games but the guy plays virtually every game and gets very little offensive support. The King will continue his monster season and get the Rangers back to the playoffs and has a good chance to win the Vezina trophy this year.

If you happened to catch today’s New York Times article by Lynn Zinser on the opening of Rangers’ training camp, perhaps, like me, you had to catch your breath at the trenchant and challenging reporting that Zinser once again displayed in carrying out her journalistic duties as the Times’ NYR beat writer.

An excerpt from the NYT article:

“Gomez and Drury certainly came with price tags that brought flashbacks to the era before the salary cap, more than $7 million each. Between them, they have won three Stanley Cup titles. They were accustomed to being offensive stars on their previous teams: Gomez with the Devils and Drury with the Sabres. Drury was Buffalo’s captain. But they also arrived saying the right things about fitting into a team with a dynamic captain, and a vocal assistant captain in Shanahan.”

Yes, and a new hockey season arrives with the Times’ dismally dull articles, penned by Ms. Zinser, who at the very least could get her facts right —Drury was actually a co-captain with Buffalo. In one of the more interesting arrangements, he was the Sabres’ road captain, while Daniel Briere held that responsibility for the team’s home games.

On top of that, and it would seem if only for the sake of a pretty, but ambiguous and ill-chosen adjective, Zinser describes Henrik Lunquist as “the ascendant goalie Henrik Lundqvist.” Ascendant? — a word whose primary meaning connotes rising or moving upward. Babe, the guy is a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, an Olympic gold medalist with Sweden and the cornerstone of the Ranger team’s success for the past two seasons running. Next time, Dictionary.com.

Granted, the Times has never been known to be a bastion of NHL coverage, much less an entertaining or insightful read about Rangers’ hockey. No Brooks or Dellapina to be found there. But still, for a paper that distinguishes itself in so many other areas of domestic and international reporting, historically and contemporaneously, is this really the best they can do?

A few years ago, Kristin Huckshorn, the New York Times deputy sports editor, stated in an interview about Zinszer, “Lynn is so curious and has such a broad, smart view. If the pack goes right, she goes left. She always says, `if a story is going to bore me, it’s going to bore the readers.’”

Uh-huh, and on what oxygen-deprived planet do you get your news, hockey, or otherwise?

Lynn might do well to apply that journalistic quality control Huckshorn refers to —”Huckshorn” ? — to her next Rangers article. At least before the season opener when one would realistically expect her to have something newsworthy to write about.

In his August 27th post, esteemed New York Rangers’ blogger, The Hockey Rodent, made some distressingly dire prognostications regarding the expectations of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury for the coming season.

Once again, let it be said by the Iceman that the Rodent more than knows his stuff, offers unique and original statistics and forecasts not found anywhere else, and is an entertaining and thought-provoking read. And as concerns any sports media firing up neuronal activity - especially outlets and persons covering hockey - there’s not many sites, shows, journalists, publications, color commentators or bloggers about which you’d easily make that declaration. Are you listening Bill Clement?

Actually, Brett Hull, when he was featured on NBC, did fire up brain activity in the right hemisphere of the cerebrum in a region which caused many viewers to spontaneously exclaim, “WTF did he just say?!” every time Hull opened his mouth.

Getting back to the Rodent’s predictions for Gomez and Drury…

After marshaling impressive ad-hoc stats regarding the failure of unrestricted free agents to perform at levels equal to or exceeding their offensive output with their former clubs, including several former Rangers, here is what the Rodent had to say about the expectations regarding Gomez and Drury.

“All I’m saying is that there is sufficient precedent for Ranger fans to consider the possibility that either (or both) of these UFAs will be a bust by Thanksgiving. And it may not even be the result of complacency. Indeed, there is enormous pressure upon the pair to deliver goods commensurate with their take-home.”

The Iceman, for one, does consider the possibility that either or both of these pivots will not immediately make marquee contributions consistent with their reputation, former jerseys or pay stubs. But that’s where it ends - in possibility.

The reality is that both Gomez and Drury have been big game contributors unfazed by playoff pressure or transitory regular season scoring droughts their entire career. The probability - which Rodent puts at only 50-50 - is that Gomez and Drury will continue to step up and perform at, or beyond, expected levels, even as they wear the blue shirt away from and on Garden ice.

That’s why Slather went out and got them, Rodent. Gomez and Drury are the dominant closers, or “Mariano Riveras,” which Jagr, in an interview last season, so astutely recognized that the Rangers need to take their game to the next level and bring Stanley home to momz.

As for Rodent’s valid question of on-ice, on-line, chemistry, Coach Renney has never hesitated or failed to shuffle lines, combinations or assignments when necessary. That’s the insurance the team enjoys at the top of the workflow. The deep squad of character players, young gun aspirants and other forwards who know where the net is located, are the core provisions this Ranger team will carry into the new season.

North-South, East-West, the Rangers City Skaters brought their unique style of play to the Garden every night.

Come on, admit it. You miss them, too…

New York Rangers blogger,”The Hockey Rodent,” seen here busy at work on his blog, must have inadvertently gotten into some rat poison while visiting his local KFC.

Typically insightful and on top of his game, in a July 18th post, the Hockey Rodent claimed Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, both, were not among the premier centers in the league.

Sayeth the Rodent, “Yet the Gotham bench boss is expected to reach the conference finals this coming spring with second-tier centers as his #1 and #2 quarterbacks.”

Scott Gomez, second-tier?

Given that the Hockey Rodent is a valued and esteemed member of the New York Rangers hockey community and warrants our concern and attention…

Can someone treat the Hockey Rodent to lunch tomorrow at Blimpie’s or Subway, so that his cognitive abilities might repair from obvious injury?