Injury Report: 2013-2014 Injury News Pt. II (2/25: Staal still dealing with back spasms)

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

That no look pass you're referring to is all Callahan ever does anymore. And he sucks at it.

I don't think that's true. The Hagelin-Stepan-Callahan line did very well for it self most of last year, and even looked good in the playoffs. While both wingers had a busted shoulder no less.

I really loved the way that line played. But, you know, they didn't have 3 no-look back-passes a shift, so AV is NEVER going to let that happen again.

 

[Callagraves]

Probably because your username is Callagraves and causes your opinion to have some bias regarding the fact that Callahan doesn't actually bring anything to this team going forward if the idea is to get bigger, faster and more skilled.

He's still a good player, but will be a better fit elsewhere if the vision here going forward is not what it has been in the past.

We don't know that at the moment, but if they trade Callahan that will be the thinking, rather than an admission that Callahan is not an effective hockey player.

Edit: That's without even considering health concerns and his big payday on the horizon.

I mean, it's not that Cally is my favorite player because of my username. It's kinda the inverse.

I won't pretend that I'm not biased towards Callahan; The play I've seen from him has been downright inspiring at times. The hard-nose go to the net, forecheck down (I know, every cliche under the sun) type of hockey that he, Dubinsky, and several others brought to the team was the reason I started getting so interested in hockey again.

I felt they were playing the right way.

I think trading Cally will be the last step into creating a new "dark-age" Ranger team. They honestly might as well do away with the extra effort award, since nobody will put in more than the bare minimum anyhow

 

[Callagraves]

That no look pass you're referring to is all Callahan ever does anymore. And he sucks at it.

No, Callahan loves to pull the no look pass into the slot. Which gets old quick, I'll admit.

The pass I'm referring to is the no look drop pass at the blue line. You know, the one that Nash used to give the puck up every shift last night.

 

[Callagraves]

Last year is over with man

Yeah, because this year has gone so well.

Honestly, I'll be ok if they trade Callahan.

So long as they buy out Richards, trade Nash, waive Pyatt, fire AV, and get this joke of an abomination back on the right track.

Blow it up or don't. Don't give me halfway.

 

[RangersHank*]

Yeah, because this year has gone so well.

Honestly, I'll be ok if they trade Callahan.

So long as they buy out Richards, trade Nash, waive Pyatt, fire AV, and get this joke of an abomination back on the right track.

Blow it up or don't. Don't give me halfway.

Youre asking for too much. I doubt Nash gets moved and i doubt AV gets fired. Callahan should get traded tho

 

[Leonardo87]

Callahan forgot how to hit and forecheck, he hasnt been an effective player.

Before he got hurt again in the Nashville game he had 4 points in the last 5 games, and 11 hits in the last two games. He has not been effective? ok lets go over what a less than 100 percent Callahan has done for this team so far this season...

1.) Earlier in the season he had tied the game against St.Louis, and also scored another cluth goal in that game.

2.)Next game he had a highlight goal against Washington.


3.) He made a play saving a goal for Lundqvist to truly keep the momentum on the Rangers side. Pittsburgh scores first, totally different game. Oh he also scored in that game.

4.) Had the only goal against Montreal which broke a string of shut out losses in Montreal. No biggie there.

5.) Fed a great pass to Nash who scored the first goal against Dallas.

6.) Had a goal and assist against Columbus, earning the 3rd star of the game.

7.) He tied the game against Winnipeg with a strong effort goal while on the ground, if that was Nash he would be holding his head running for cover.

8.) Before he took a rare dumb careless penalty against NJ he had two primary assists, one of those assisted on the game tying goal.

No one is saying he is 100 percent here, but he has not been bad, far from it as some people have been claiming. Nash has been bad, Lundqvist has been bad, Richards and Stepan are just average, and really the only guys on the team playing at or above their expectations are Zucc, Kreider, and McD.


Callahan has 7 goals in 24 games, well really 23 games, since he missed most of the game against Nashvile. Plus had had reduced offensive time due to injuries yet, he still has the highest GPG average on the team next to Hagelin who had scored a goal last night.

Also, more fun facts..The team has a winning record with Callahan, and a losing record without him.

He is the heart and soul of this team, and puts forth effort. You really want to make another trade cutting more out of the heart of this team? Which btw Dubinsky is having a great season 24 points in 32 games.

Yeah lets trade him!

 

[RangersHank*]

Before he got hurt again in the Nashville game he had 4 points in the last 5 games, and 11 hits in the last two games. He has not been effective? ok lets go over what a less than 100 percent Callahan has done for this team so far this season...

1.) Earlier in the season he had tied the game against St.Louis, and also scored another cluth goal in that game.

2.)Next game he had a highlight goal against Washington.


3.) He made a play saving a goal for Lundqvist to truly keep the momentum on the Rangers side. Pittsburgh scores first, totally different game. Oh he also scored in that game.

4.) Had the only goal against Montreal which broke a string of shut out losses in Montreal. No biggie there.

5.) Fed a great pass to Nash who scored the first goal against Dallas.

6.) Had a goal and assist against Columbus, earning the 3rd star of the game.

7.) He tied the game against Winnipeg with a strong effort goal while on the ground, if that was Nash he would be holding his head running for cover.

8.) Before he took a rare dumb careless penalty against NJ he had two primary assists, one of those assisted on the game tying goal.

No one is saying he is 100 percent here, but he has not been bad, far from it as some people have been claiming. Nash has been bad, Lundqvist has been bad, Richards and Stepan are just average, and really the only guys on the team playing at or above their expectations are Zucc, Kreider, and McD.


Callahan has 7 goals in 24 games, well really 23 games, since he missed most of the game against Nashvile. Plus had had reduced offensive time due to injuries yet, he still has the highest GPG average on the team next to Hagelin who had scored a goal last night.

Also, more fun facts..The team has a winning record with Callahan, and a losing record without him.

He is the heart and soul of this team, and puts forth effort. You really want to make another trade cutting more out of the heart of this team? Which btw Dubinsky is having a great season 24 points in 32 games.

Yeah lets trade him!

We already cut the damn heart out of the team last year and now we have a new coach who Callahan really doesnt thrive with. Do you want Callahan on the 2nd line on an AV team? I dont because he drags down any line he is on. He hasnt done **** this year, post any stat you want because if he was that effective, 75% of the board wouldnt wanna trade him. Callahan is good but not 5-6 mil for 7 years good, that kind of contract is what messes teams up in the future. Keep Callahan if its is 4 mil or less, and even 4 mil is alot. Send him to Vancouver and get Tanev and a pick back or something because i dont see Callahan being a top 6 RW on this team.

 

[RangersHank*]

And the team also has a winning record with Avery, doesnt mean anything. What is our win/loss record with/without him this year? Probably not a big difference.

 

[Callagraves]

We already cut the damn heart out of the team last year and now we have a new coach who Callahan really doesnt thrive with. Do you want Callahan on the 2nd line on an AV team? I dont because he drags down any line he is on. He hasnt done **** this year, post any stat you want because if he was that effective, 75% of the board wouldnt wanna trade him. Callahan is good but not 5-6 mil for 7 years good, that kind of contract is what messes teams up in the future. Keep Callahan if its is 4 mil or less, and even 4 mil is alot. Send him to Vancouver and get Tanev and a pick back or something because i dont see Callahan being a top 6 RW on this team.

Here's a huge problem. What you just said could be applied to over 75 percent of our forward this year.

Nash
Richards
Stepan
Hags
Brassard
(for arguments sake) Callahan

OH LOOK AT THAT. With the exception of the 2 breakout players in Zucc and CK, I just named EVERY OFFENSIVE PLAYER ON THE TEAM.

When so many players have seen such a dire drop in effectiveness seemingly over-night, it isolates your real problem.

This team wasn't a coach away from winning it all, but now they appear to be a coach away from even making playoffs.

As far as what this board wants, give me a break. This board is short-sighted, bi-polar, emotional and weak. Don't ask me why I love it. I can't seem to leave.

And the team also has a winning record with Avery, doesnt mean anything. What is our win/loss record with/without him this year? Probably not a big difference.

Don't you dare bring up the Avery effect. You're inviting the idiots from the worst corners of the board to come tell me that we should trade Cally for picks and re-sign Avery.

 

[Callagraves]

Regardless of trades and all, If i don't see a Hagelin-Miller-Callahan line when he gets back, I'm going to beat AV to death with his own shoes.

 

[Kakko]

New York Rangers ‏@NYRangers 37m
Following #NYR practice Marc Staal says he is ready to play tomorrow against Panthers

New York Rangers ‏@NYRangers 33m
"Today was a step forward, it felt better..we'll see about tomorrow and hopefully it will be even better"-Anton Stralman on sore wrist

New York Rangers ‏@NYRangers 31m
With Staal returning and Stralman questionable, AV says he is unsure of exact lineup tomorrow against Panthers

 

[Leonardo87]

We already cut the damn heart out of the team last year and now we have a new coach who Callahan really doesnt thrive with. Do you want Callahan on the 2nd line on an AV team? I dont because he drags down any line he is on. He hasnt done **** this year, post any stat you want because if he was that effective, 75% of the board wouldnt wanna trade him. Callahan is good but not 5-6 mil for 7 years good, that kind of contract is what messes teams up in the future. Keep Callahan if its is 4 mil or less, and even 4 mil is alot. Send him to Vancouver and get Tanev and a pick back or something because i dont see Callahan being a top 6 RW on this team.

A few things here. 75% of this forum makes up a hair fraction of the fans, and out of that 75% a lot of them want to see him return but with a reasonable contract. I am on the boat with that one, and paying him 5 to 5.5 Million for 5 years is not a risky move.

Also, they are going to look at what he has done over the last several seasons not just this one, since he is still in his prime and could put up even better numbers. He has done this over the last 3 seasons...

60 GP - 23 Goals and 48 Points
76 GP - 29 Goals and 54 Points
45 GP - 16 Goals and 31 points (Half season)


That is 133 points in 181 Games, which is a .74 PPG Average, no one on the team currently has that now, everyone is on pace to be below 60 points this season.

Yeah Callahan has had an up and down season, no one argues that, but you are not giving a fair assessment under AV when he has only played 20 something games, and in those games had 7 Goals which was tied leading the team for a good several weeks.

If anything AV's system will be better for Cally because of the less shot blocking demand from the coach, he still wants guys to check hard, and play an offensive game, and Callahan has proven to be a solid goal scorer on this team, but can play three zones on the ice which even was defended by AV himself said when he is not scoring he is doing other things to help win games.

Did Callahan not sign something for you and you dont like him? I want to see the Rangers win a cup like everyone else here, but I feel Callahan is a core piece to the success of that happening.

 

[Garv23]

Callahan is going to have to do a lot worse than have a slow start for me to bad mouth him on a whiney-ass message board. This guy is the epitome of blood and guts that any team would die to have. I could care less about stats. I hope he retires a Ranger.

 

[Fanned On It]

We already cut the damn heart out of the team last year and now we have a new coach who Callahan really doesnt thrive with. Do you want Callahan on the 2nd line on an AV team? I dont because he drags down any line he is on. He hasnt done **** this year, post any stat you want because if he was that effective, 75% of the board wouldnt wanna trade him. Callahan is good but not 5-6 mil for 7 years good, that kind of contract is what messes teams up in the future. Keep Callahan if its is 4 mil or less, and even 4 mil is alot. Send him to Vancouver and get Tanev and a pick back or something because i dont see Callahan being a top 6 RW on this team.

It should be noted that 75% of the board has probably never even played a game of ice-hockey before so just because they want someone traded does not mean that it's a good idea. And also, to say that Callahan hasn't done **** this year is kind of jumping the gun. The dude has been adjusting from injury the entire year and hasn't really been given a chance to find his groove. Just as he was STARTING to do so he got injured again.

Callahan when healthy is the heart and soul of this team. What has this team been missing? A 100% Ryan "'Merica" Callahan. He pisses blood and excretes human souls.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Staal playing tonight? Excuse me I'm just tingling with goosebumps right now

 

[eco's bones]

Not in a hurry to get rid of Callahan or Girardi. If a great deal came along for either of them that's another thing. Personally I think the plan is going to be to sign Callahan before he hits free agency.

Things change if the Rangers are not going to the playoffs. That's still a ways off. Holding on to either of them towards the deadline and then putting them on the market IMO would create a bidding war and the Rangers should get a lot better offers than they probably would now. Same for Staal by the way--though I don't think at the moment I'd want to trade both Staal and Girardi. Stralman would be another too. Teams try to stock up on good d-men going into the playoffs. You're not going to win without them. All of Girardi, Staal and Stralman are playoff tested.

In any case there's no point in rushing this. If they're going to move anyway--the price will go up by the trade deadline. A bit of patience. It's not about fair value to the legit contenders. It's about feeding their SC dreams. It's like a luxury tax. You have to pay for that.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Am I the only one that has absolutely no positive feelings over Staal playing? He's a shell of his former self.

 

[nyr2k2]

Am I the only one that has absolutely no positive feelings over Staal playing? He's a shell of his former self.

Unless you think he's permanently "ruined" (and I don't know why you would), then it's a good thing that he's coming back. It's obviously going to take some time for him to return to form. Any step forward is a good step.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Unless you think he's permanently "ruined" (and I don't know why you would), then it's a good thing that he's coming back. It's obviously going to take some time for him to return to form. Any step forward is a good step.

Dude has had 2 concussions and a puck to the eye, I don't know why it's ridiculous to think he's permanently ruined.

 

[nyr2k2]

Dude has had 2 concussions and a puck to the eye, I don't know why it's ridiculous to think he's permanently ruined.

I didn't say it was ridiculous. Just premature. The concussions--how many players have suffered multiple concussions and returned to form? I'd venture to say far more players than those that have had their careers ruined. Obviously each case is unique, but I think the odds are in his favor.

The eye injury? I don't know. There's limited case history to compare to. He says he's fine, right? I don't know why I wouldn't take him at his word, as he's been pretty honest about the whole thing.

The guy has missed a ton of hockey in the past two seasons. I wouldn't expect him to look like his old self just yet. Can he stay healthy and return to form in the next year or so? I know you're extremely negative about everything all the time, but I'm a little more optimistic.

Anyway, my point was this: unless you've decided in your own mind that he's unequivocally done as a productive player, then his return is a good thing. And I don't know how anyone could be so certain that he's done. Not at this point anyway.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I didn't say it was ridiculous. Just premature. The concussions--how many players have suffered multiple concussions and returned to form? I'd venture to say far more players than those that have had their careers ruined. Obviously each case is unique, but I think the odds are in his favor.

The eye injury? I don't know. There's limited case history to compare to. He says he's fine, right? I don't know why I wouldn't take him at his word, as he's been pretty honest about the whole thing.

The guy has missed a ton of hockey in the past two seasons. I wouldn't expect him to look like his old self just yet. Can he stay healthy and return to form in the next year or so? I know you're extremely negative about everything all the time, but I'm a little more optimistic.

Anyway, my point was this: unless you've decided in your own mind that he's unequivocally done as a productive player, then his return is a good thing. And I don't know how anyone could be so certain that he's done. Not at this point anyway.

I'm not negative about everything all the time. I'm mostly negative during games when we play like **** and if the team has a longish stretch of bad play. I have been positive about a number of things lately (read the post game against Washington), but because I'm harder on Lundqvist than most people think I'm always negative. There are a few posters like that, I'm not it.

And I'm more disappointed than anything. It's painful watching one of the best defensive D-men look like half the player he was just last year. He's still better than half our D corps so it's good news. I just remember feeling last year that if we got Staal back we'd get back a dominant player. This year he's been nothing close to that.

 

[nyr2k2]

Well yeah, if you're expecting to get a dominant player back, then you're going to be disappointed and I guess it's not really "good news." Thinking long term, though, it's good to get the guy back and playing. If he's going to get back to being a dominant defenseman, he's going to need to play games. Having him injured and out of action is bad for him in general and bad for us in the future.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

It's really a shame because I thought Staal was playing the best hockey of his career leading up to the eye injury.

But it will be great to see him back on the ice. It always is.

 

[RangersHank*]

It should be noted that 75% of the board has probably never even played a game of ice-hockey before so just because they want someone traded does not mean that it's a good idea. And also, to say that Callahan hasn't done **** this year is kind of jumping the gun. The dude has been adjusting from injury the entire year and hasn't really been given a chance to find his groove. Just as he was STARTING to do so he got injured again.

Callahan when healthy is the heart and soul of this team. What has this team been missing? A 100% Ryan "'Merica" Callahan. He pisses blood and excretes human souls.

When you said 75% of the board never played hockey before, i stopped reading. No thanks

 

[RangersHank*]

A few things here. 75% of this forum makes up a hair fraction of the fans, and out of that 75% a lot of them want to see him return but with a reasonable contract. I am on the boat with that one, and paying him 5 to 5.5 Million for 5 years is not a risky move.

Also, they are going to look at what he has done over the last several seasons not just this one, since he is still in his prime and could put up even better numbers. He has done this over the last 3 seasons...

60 GP - 23 Goals and 48 Points
76 GP - 29 Goals and 54 Points
45 GP - 16 Goals and 31 points (Half season)


That is 133 points in 181 Games, which is a .74 PPG Average, no one on the team currently has that now, everyone is on pace to be below 60 points this season.

Yeah Callahan has had an up and down season, no one argues that, but you are not giving a fair assessment under AV when he has only played 20 something games, and in those games had 7 Goals which was tied leading the team for a good several weeks.

If anything AV's system will be better for Cally because of the less shot blocking demand from the coach, he still wants guys to check hard, and play an offensive game, and Callahan has proven to be a solid goal scorer on this team, but can play three zones on the ice which even was defended by AV himself said when he is not scoring he is doing other things to help win games.

Did Callahan not sign something for you and you dont like him? I want to see the Rangers win a cup like everyone else here, but I feel Callahan is a core piece to the success of that happening.

I would like to see Callahan traded for a pick and a prospect. I dont think he will get a reasonable contract and i dont think he will take a discount. Injuries play a big part of it.