Alain Vigneault’s team seems to be nearing full health with both Jesper Fast and Dan Girardi closing in on returns to the lineup. The coach said Fast, sidelined for seven straight games since suffering a shoulder separation on a blow from Alex Ovechkin with 8:35 remaining in third period of the Blueshirts’ Feb. 28 defeat […]
Read MoreThe name Jaroslav Halak hasn’t been mentioned a lot around the Islanders lately, but it will be now. The possible call-up of the veteran goalie, exiled in AHL Bridgeport since clearing waivers on New Year’s Eve, was set to be at least a topic of discussion for the team’s front office as they licked their […]
Read MoreIt would take a significant shift in the standings over the Rangers’ final 12 games of the season for them to be anywhere but the first wild-card spot when the Eastern Conference playoffs begin. Surely they could go on a run, with a schedule that takes them to the three California teams the final weekend […]
Read MoreRALEIGH, N.C. — The Islanders were in danger of losing what their interim coach called a must-win game — until they came up with two rapid-fire goals, then set up their captain for the winner. John Tavares scored 34 seconds into overtime, and the Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Tuesday night. Josh Ho-Sang […]
Read MoreThe US women’s hockey team is threatening to boycott the upcoming world championships on home ice over a wage dispute with USA Hockey. The team announced Wednesday they will not participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation tournament that begins March 31 in Plymouth, Mich., in which they are the defending champions. Players say they […]
Read MoreRangers coach Alain Vigneault will make a decision this weekend that, at the very least, will be the beginning of a late-season experiment. Jesper Fast, the do-it-all forward for whom Vigneault has an unabashed affinity, will return to practice when the team finally gets back on the ice Thursday following a Sunday-Monday back-to-back and a […]
Read MoreMOSCOW — Mike Keenan is taking charge of a Chinese hockey team. The longtime NHL coach has been hired to lead Chinese club Kunlun Red Star, which competes in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League. Kunlun’s aim is to develop Chinese players as the country builds a national team to compete at its first home Winter […]
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again when ambiguous phrases like “compete level” start being thrown around hockey locker rooms across North America, while the importance of a player’s “intangibles” is made absolutely paramount. So there was Rangers coach Alain Vigneault getting quiet, almost reverent, when he was describing what type of effort he gets from […]
Read MoreThe Rangers don’t play enough of a hard-edged game, I’ve been clear on my thoughts about that all year, but please, sitting Pavel Buchnevich at this stage of the season to save room for Tanner Glass just doesn’t make sense. Yet that appears the plan for Friday’s match at the Garden when the Blueshirts meet […]
Read MoreThere are seldom meaningless NHL games in March, but for the Islanders every recent game has felt like a life-or-death affair. Following a franchise-record nine-game road trip, an eight-goal meltdown against the Hurricanes on Monday and the redemptive heroics the following night in Raleigh, the Islanders needed an easy win. What better opponent for that […]
Read More