Latest news with #IgorShesterkin
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
All Things Rangers And Playoff Final
1. Athletic Pal Arthur Staple writes that the only Rangers "Untouchables" are Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox and Breadman Panarin. 2. The Maven gladly would make any one of that trio "Touchable.." Advertisement 3. Shesterkin has so far displayed no inclination to play up to his ridiculously bloated contract. I'd take low-cost-in-the-Final Stu Skinner over Iggy any day. 4. Blueshirt fans have seen up close and personal how Fox's game has deteriorated. But some sleepy GMs may not and a crafty return could be available. 5. Panarin has passed his peak but he'll attract plenty from a GM who can't spell backchecking. 6. Then again, some NHLers never peak. Exhibit A=Corey Perry; Exhibit B=Brad Marchand. 7. Back to the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons who wonders why the successful Knicks fire their coach and Non-Playoff Drury still has a job. "Do lousy," writes Simmons, "and get an extension." Advertisement 8. With the stirring Cup Final Round tied at one win apiece, there's an easy way to figure the winner of Game Three. FLIP A COIN! 9. One way for the Oilers to keep Connor McDavid in Edmonton would be to put him on the ballot for Canadian Prime Minister. 10. The only Ranger whose play is evenly remotely – I said "remotely" – like Brad Marchand's is Will Cuylle.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Igor Shesterkin Going Up, Down Or Sideways?
Mike Sullivan has a lot to think about; the question is whether he's focusing on the most important challenge – Igor Shesterkin. As Arthur (The Athletic) Staple's extensive interview with nine prominent hockey people pointed out, virtually everyone figured that the least of the Blueshirts worries going forward was Igor Shesterkin. That would have been a fair assumption in October 2024 but it wasn't in the final half of the season after the Staples' story ran. Instead, Iggy went backward. Strange But True Rangers Tales: The Greatest One-Punch Win in Blueshirts History The greatest fight in Rangers history? A veteran writer with no ties whatsoever to the Rangers put it bluntly and objectively this way: "Shesterkin has become the Rangers' biggest problem. And he'll regress further now that he has his big money contract," the reporter declares. It was all there to see in the second half of the season when the Rangers seemed capable of making a successful playoff run. But Igor got in the way. Time and again when the club needed him to steal a game, he turned Comrade Ordinary. "There was – and is – something off with him," the reporter continued, "and there's no accountability when they (he) lose. And he never seems happy when they win. He says some weird stuff when he decides to talk." Shesterkin will be Sullivan's workhorse next season. He has to be with the dough he's making. But, if he's going to be the Igor of the Rangers last 40 games, there's gonna be trouble in River City, even Hoboken. However, there's so much else going on in the hockey lives of Chris Drury and his new coach that the Shesterkin situation is not on anyone's minds – but The Maven's. Then again, come 2025-26, it could – mind you, COULD – become front and center the biggest Blueshirt issue of all. Until Iggy's performance comes close to matching his contract, you may be seeing more of Jonathan Quick than ever before!
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Key takeaways from Rangers break-up day, including ‘love' for fired coach Peter Laviolette
In the words of New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, 'something broke.' That is perhaps the most succinct way to explain what went wrong this season for the Rangers, who became just the fourth team in NHL history to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs the season after winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the League. This season, they fell short of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference by six points, a campaign marked by drama, controversy, and underperformance. The Rangers held exit interviews at their training facility on Monday, and many players used the opportunity to stress the need for accountability as a key to be better next season Advertisement 'Everyone really has to look in the mirror,' star defenseman Adam Fox explained. 'This year was unrecognizable from the team that made the conference finals two of the past three years. A lot of those characteristics and traits that led to that success, they weren't there this year.' The Rangers were 39-36-7, and their 85 points were 29 shy from 2023-24 when they set franchise records with 114 points and 55 wins. And while last season's squad developed a reputation for fighting back from deficits, it didn't seem to translate over to the 2024-25 team. 'It just seemed like there was a missing sense of cohesion,' Fox continued. 'That resilience that we have come to make our identity — 20-something comeback wins and then we don't get really any this year — I think that's something that we gotta figure out why that was.' 'Obviously, we didn't play up to expectations so that's first and foremost,' center Vincent Trocheck added. 'The way we come out on the ice and how we perform is the first thing that we need to address.' Advertisement Late-season trade acquisition Calvin De Haan shared similar opinions about something missing from New York's on-ice play. 'There's definitely some times I saw that it was just not cohesive on the ice.' Meanwhile, Alexis Lafreniere pointed out a big reason why the Rangers were unable to right the ship. 'We couldn't really find any consistency in our game.' The former first-overall pick certainly has a point. The Rangers recorded a three-game winning streak twice this season and failed to do so at any point after November 19. They were edged out by the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot, in part, because Montreal strung together a six-game winning streak down the stretch Advertisement 'At the end of the day, we don't get up to the level of play that we should with this team,' said Mika Zibanejad, who spoke openly about his disappointing 2024-25 campaign. 'I know this wasn't the season that I wanted, and that's on me. I've got some months here now to make sure that I take advantage of and get ready for next season.' Zibanejad finished the season with 20 goals and 62 points, despite playing all 82 games. Like many of his teammates, he experienced a major drop-off in production, which helped caused team-wide failure. The Rangers entered the season with expectations of competing for the Stanley Cup, and pressure to do so after falling in Game 6 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three seasons. 'Pressure is gonna happen. Everyone has pressure on them. We're the New York Rangers,' Trocheck said bluntly. 'In a city like New York, we're gonna have pressure every year, so it's on us to harness that pressure and use it for good. Advertisement 'Individually, I think we're all gonna look ourselves in the mirror and reflect on the year and think of things we need to do better. There's a lot of things that are more for internal talks. I have some things in mind, and hopefully, we can all work together this summer to figure it out.' Related: New York Rangers injury updates: Braden Schneider surgery; Adam Edstrom skating again Rangers react to coach Peter Laviolette being fired: 'I love Lavi' Danny Wild-Imagn Images The terribly disappointing season ultimate cost coach Peter Laviolette his job. He was fired Saturday after two seasons with the Rangers — one really good, the other not so much. 'I don't think us players at any point didn't like 'Lavi' or thought his message wasn't getting through. It just seemed the execution was not there,' Fox explained. Advertisement Added Matt Rempe, who made his NHL debut under Laviolette last season, 'The players on the ice, we didn't perform well enough, and then the coach takes the fall. That stings, it's tough. I'm gonna miss seeing him.' Laviolette's firing wasn't a big shock, given how steeply the Rangers declined from his first season on Broadway into his second. 'Obviously, in a place like New York, you know what our expectations are and after a season like last year, to come in here and not perform the way we needed to and make another run. Coaches are often looked at and blamed,' Trocheck explained. 'I love 'Lavi' and 'Howie' (associate coach Phil Housley), so another coaching change is always hard.' For some of the longer-tenured members of the Rangers' core, it marks their third head coach in five seasons. Advertisement 'We wanna be able to come here with a coach that's here for as long as we're all here,' Fox said. 'Even outlast us as players cause that means we're having a lot of success.' Fox debuted under David Quinn before playing two seasons respectively under Gerard Gallant and Laviolette. Zibanejad was acquired from the Ottawa Senators during Alain Vigneault's tenure; and Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller are the only two roster players to overlap with John Tortorella, more than a decade ago. 'I think you look around the League, whenever a coach gets fired, players kinda wear that pretty hard because if we did our jobs, those coaches would still be here,' Fox elaborated. 'Whoever the next coach is, obviously it's on us to make sure there's sustained success.' Related: NHL insider believes Rangers will 'make a call' to highly sought-after NCAA coach Rangers players call for improved communication James Guillory-Imagn Images While many players were quick to take accountability, it's likely that the Rangers' issues go beyond their performance on the ice. As the front office looks for ways to turn the ship around, improved communication was one of the talking points coming from their players. Advertisement 'Us players, we have to take ownership of what we do and how we go about things, but it has to be cohesive with everyone,' noted Zibanejad. 'This organization doesn't work without the players. The organization for us players doesn't work without the people that work above us. I heard a lot about open and honesty and communication — we have to communicate about things.' Zibanejad spoke most intensely about his frustrations with the communication between players and front office, but he was far from the only player to highlight it during exit day. Minds jump quickly to the offseason when Barclay Goodrow was placed on waivers without being notified in advance by general manager Chris Drury, who was trying to find a way to circumvent the veteran's no-trade clause. Goodrow was subsequently claimed by the San Jose Sharks. Goodrow was open about his frustration with how the situation was handled, and reports indicated that it did not sit well inside the Rangers locker room. The drama only continued when captain Jacob Trouba had a drawn-out ending to his Rangers tenure, before he was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks early in December. Advertisement 'We don't know what's going on, we don't have control over that kind of stuff, but it's still something that we talk about or we have to go through,' Zibanejad continued. 'And it's two of our leaders, our captain and our assistant captain, and big parts of our locker room, so of course it shakes things around a bit.' Chris Kreider was swept up in drama when reports surfaced that Drury was shopping the longest-tenured Ranger as a trade chip, part of a memo sent to the 31 other GMs. 'It's part of professional sports, but obviously at a certain point, it becomes somewhat of a distraction,' Kreider said. 'Those two guys were massive leaders for us and a big part of our room. I think anytime there's changes or projected changes, an element of it is going to be a distraction.' 'It was a lot of noise around our team this year,' Zibanejad remarked. 'I'm not saying that it is the cause of it, but it wasn't the calmness we had the year before.' Advertisement A more recent grievance was made public by de Haan, whose passing remark about his playing time to reporters after the Rangers had been eliminated from the playoffs caused a stir. De Haan spoke with media on Monday and was open about some of his frustrations regarding communication, though in far less colorful terms than the week prior in Florida. 'I mean I think it could have been better. I never really was given a direct answer as to why [I wasn't playing]. I think it can always be better. I'm not blaming the coaches, I'm not blaming anyone, I think it can just be better in general.' De Haan was acquired on March 1 from the Colorado Avalanche in the Ryan Lindgren trade, appearing in just three games before he was scratched for the remainder of the season. De Haan's outburst last week was one of many distractions revolving the Rangers locker room this season. But Trocheck doesn't want that to become an excuse. Advertisement 'There's always outside noise, right. There's always trades that happen,' the 31-year-old explained. 'I think it's on us inside this room in order to make sure that the outside noise doesn't get to us. Whether that's talking to somebody individually or just sticking together as a team or as a family. I think we can get better at that, lifting guys up instead of bringing them down.' Rangers still 'believe in the group of guys we have here' Danny Wild-Imagn Images Despite a difficult and challenging season, belief within the Rangers room remains high that this current group of players can bounce back. 'We saw what we were capable of last year. We've got a lot of time this summer to go back and look at what we can do better,' Trocheck said. 'I really believe in this locker room, I believe in everybody, I obviously believe in the talent we have, and I just think it's a matter of us as a team sticking together and figuring out the right way to go about things. Once we have that team belief, then it all starts to snowball in a positive direction.' Advertisement Kreider expressed a desire to remain in New York and continue to play with this current core. 'This is where I want to be, and this is the group I want to help, in whatever fashion, win hockey games.' Even de Haan, who'll exit as an unrestricted free agent his offseason, was complimentary of the Rangers and their potential moving forward. 'It's a good bunch of guys here, so I don't think that's a pressing issue to blow everything up,' he remarked. 'Going into next year, I think the bar will still be set high for this organization and it should be — there's good players here.' 'I still believe in the group of guys that we have here,' Zibanejad affirmed. 'I think we just have to come together, and I'm hoping that we get a chance to do so.' Advertisement Whether or not they get that chance will depend on what Drury elects to do this offseason. The Rangers have plenty of questions they need to answer and problems they need to fix as they attempt to return to playoff contention next season. Related Headlines
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Sullivan makes sure to speak with 'every player on the roster' as he starts anew as Rangers coach
For Mike Sullivan, the latest coach of the New York Rangers, there will be many priorities in taking over a team that missed the playoffs a season after winning the Presidents' Trophy. Foremost will be communication. 'I have spoken to every player on the roster over the last three days,'' Sullivan said Thursday at his introductory press conference. 'I think there is a fair amount of leadership in that room. There's a lot of character in that room.' Sullivan, the 38th coach in franchise history and fifth since 2018, agreed to lead the Rangers on May 2 after parting ways with Pittsburgh, where he won the Stanley Cup twice. He replaces Peter Laviolette, who was fired April 19 after the Rangers slid 29 points to miss the postseason despite their raft of talent. It will be up to Sullivan to resuscitate a power play that fell from the league's top echelon to 28th overall in 2024-25 and help the defense improve in front of elite goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is coming off his worst NHL season. Sullivan spent four seasons as a Rangers assistant under then-coach John Tortorella from 2009-13. He also coached current Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury during that time. They also worked together through USA Hockey at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February and will be part of the U.S. contingent for the 2026 Milan Olympics. Sullivan will have top scorers Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox on his side after years guiding Penguins stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in Pittsburgh, where he won the Cup in 2016 and 2017. 'I've grown so much respect over the years for the talent that the Rangers have,'' said Sullivan, who lost a seven-game first-round playoff series to the Rangers in 2022. 'I look forward to the opportunity to get to know these guys on a more personal level. I look forward to the opportunity to work with them, both on the ice and off the ice, to try to become the most competitive team that we can become.' Also pressing for the 57-year-old Sullivan — who was drafted by the Rangers in 1987 and later played 709 NHL games for four other franchises — is how he will handle younger Rangers such as 22-year-old Brennan Othmann and 20-year-old Gabe Perreault, a first-round pick in 2023 who joined the team briefly at the end of last season. 'Part of coaching or the art of coaching, I guess, is trying to figure out what that daily recipe is that's best for the player,'' Sullivan said. 'Sometimes it's time in the American League as a young player, sometimes it's time in the National League depending on the types of minutes that that player can play. What I will tell you is that I think it's important that every player earns their opportunities, that no one's entitled to an opportunity.' Sullivan was joined Thursday by Drury, who was awarded a contract extension last month. Drury's previous two coaching hires — Laviolette and Gerard Gallant — each lasted two seasons. The 48-year-old executive expressed enthusiasm for the addition of Sullivan, the only U.S.-born coach with multiple Stanley Cup wins. 'The second Mike was available, we quickly and aggressively pursued him,'' Drury said. 'We are certainly thrilled that pursuit led us to this moment today. There's a lot of work to be done.' ___ AP NHL:
New York Post
22-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Igor Shesterkin laments Rangers' inability to bounce back after ‘something broke during season'
One by one at MSG Training Center on Monday, the Rangers who were at the center of the past two seasons tried to explain what happened from the first to the second that led to the dismissal of their head coach and associate coach. They attempted to identify what was to blame before dispersing for a playoff-less summer. Advertisement 'In my mind, something broke during the season, and [went] the other way,' Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin said. 'We couldn't handle it. It was our job to try to find a way to get back.' The star Russian netminder, who the organization committed to for the next eight years at $92 million, couldn't say exactly what broke. Maybe they lost some luck, he said, or weren't playing with as much confidence as they did last season. Shesterkin noted that even when the Blueshirts fell behind by three last season, they knew they could come back. Advertisement He said he didn't feel that this season. Capping the season with his sixth shutout in a 4-0 win over the Lightning, Shesterkin has 21 over the course of his career and is tied with Lorne Chabot for eighth place on the franchise's all-time list. Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers looks on following a 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on April 17, 2025. NHLI via Getty Images Advertisement The 29-year-old finished with a 27-29-5 record with a career-high goals-against average of 2.89 and a career-low save percentage of .905. Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes a save against the New York Islanders during the third period at UBS Arena on April 10. NHLI via Getty Images 'I look at this team on paper and it'd be crazy not to think that [this team should be in the playoffs], especially starting with the goalie,' defenseman Calvin de Haan said of Shesterkin. 'He's probably the best player on the team. F–k, he's good. I think we pissed away good goaltending [this season], which is not good. 'That's the most important position and if that starts going to the wayside, it's not good.'
