2008–09 New York Rangers season

The 2008–09 New York Rangers season was the National Hockey League franchise's 82nd season of play and their 83rd season overall. It saw the Rangers qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The Rangers started the season in Europe. First, as part of the inaugural Victoria Cup being held in Switzerland, the Rangers played an exhibition game against SC Bern on September 30, and then the main game against the 2008 European Champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk on October 1 (the first game between a Russian club and an NHL team since 1991). They won both games, and were awarded the first Victoria Cup. The Rangers battled from a 3–0 deficit in the Victoria Cup to win the game by a score of 4–3. Ryan Callahan scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left.^[1]

On October 3, 2008 Chris Drury was named the 25th captain in Rangers history. The Rangers opened the NHL regular season against the Tampa Bay Lightning with two games in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 4 and 5.^[2] Alexei Cherepanov, a former first-round draft pick of the Rangers, died suddenly on October 13 during a Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) game in Moscow.^[3] The Rangers tied the 1983–84 Rangers for the best start in franchise history with a 5–0 record. The quest for the greatest start in franchise history was put to a halt on October 15, 2008, with a 3–1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.^[4] The Rangers set the franchise record for best start in a season by going 10–2–1 for 21 points in the first 13 games. The 10 wins and 21 points both marked franchise records.^[5] On January 24, 2009, the festivities for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game began in Montreal with Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal playing for the Sophomore Team in the YoungStars Game. Staal scored two goals in the game, but the Rookie Team won 9–5. Henrik Lundqvist was the Rangers' only All-Star selection, and stopped 12 of 16 shots in the Elimination Shootout during the SuperSkills Competition.^[6] On January 25, 2009, Lundqvist stopped 15 of the 21 shots he faced in the second period of the All-Star Game, helping the East beat the West 12–11 in a shootout.^[7] On February 3, 2009, the New York Rangers retired Adam Graves' number 9 jersey before a game against the Atlanta Thrashers, joining fellow 1994 Stanley Cup champion teammates Brian Leetch, Mark Messier and Mike Richter, as well as Ranger greats Rod Gilbert and Eddie Giacomin, in the rafters of Madison Square Garden.^[8] On February 22, the Rangers retired Andy Bathgate's number 9 and Harry Howell's number 3 jerseys before a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[9] A day later, Head Coach Tom Renney was fired after five seasons with the Rangers. Former Rangers assistant coach and coach of the 2004 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, John Tortorella, was hired later that same day to replace Renney. Rangers Assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld was given the interim assistant coaching position.^[10] Shortly after that, Sean Avery made his return to the Rangers, claimed off waivers from the Dallas Stars.^[11] Head Coach John Tortorella was suspended for Game 6 of the Rangers–Washington Capitals playoff series after an altercation with a fan towards the end of the Rangers' 4–0 loss in Washington, D.C., during Game 5.^[12] On May 4, 2009, Markus Naslund announced that he would be retiring after one season with the Rangers.^[13]

Pre-season[]

Regular season[]

The Rangers finished the regular season with the League's best penalty-kill percentage, at 87.84%.^[14]

Divisional standings[]

Conference standings[]

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results[]

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs[]

The New York Rangers ended the 2008–09 regular season as the Eastern Conference's seventh seed. They were defeated in the first round by the Washington Capitals in seven games.

Key:   Win   Loss

Player statistics[]

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

^[15]

Awards and records[]

Milestones[]

Transactions[]

The Rangers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2008–09 season.

Trades[] Date Details July 2, 2008[16] To Columbus Blue Jackets Fedor Tyutin Christian Backman To New York Rangers Nikolay Zherdev Dan Fritsche July 14, 2008[17] To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hollweg To New York Rangers 5th-round pick in 2009 October 30, 2008[18] To Nashville Predators Hugh Jessiman To New York Rangers Future considerations January 29, 2009[19] To Minnesota Wild Dan Fritsche To New York Rangers Erik Reitz March 4, 2009[20] To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd-round pick in 2009 Conditional pick in 2010[a] To New York Rangers Nik Antropov March 4, 2009[20] To Phoenix Coyotes Nigel Dawes Dmitri Kalinin Petr Prucha To New York Rangers Derek Morris

^ Condition not satisfied. Free agents acquired[] Player Former team Contract terms Aaron Voros Minnesota Wild 3 years, $3 million Patrick Rissmiller San Jose Sharks 1 year, $1 million Wade Redden[21] Ottawa Senators 6 years, $39 million Markus Naslund Vancouver Canucks 2 years, $8 million Dmitri Kalinin Buffalo Sabres 1 year, $2.1 million Andreas Jamtin HV71 (Elitserien) Undisclosed Vladimir Denisov Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) Undisclosed Brian Fahey Chicago Wolves (AHL) Undisclosed

Free agents lost[] Player New team Contract terms Sean Avery Dallas Stars 4 years, $15.5 million Jaromir Jagr Avangard Omsk (KHL) 2 years, $20 million Martin Straka HC Lasselsberger Plzen (Czech Extraliga) 1 year Jason Strudwick Edmonton Oilers 1 year, $650,000 Andrew Hutchinson Tampa Bay Lightning 2 years, $1 million Marek Malik Tampa Bay Lightning 1 year, $1.2 million Brendan Shanahan New Jersey Devils 1 year, $800,000

Claimed from waivers[] Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Mark Bell Toronto Maple Leafs February 25, 2009 Sean Avery Dallas Stars March 3, 2009

Lost via waivers[] Player New team Date claimed off waivers Erik Reitz Toronto Maple Leafs March 4, 2009

Player signings[] Player Contract terms Michal Rozsival 4 years, $20 million Steve Valiquette 1 year, $725,000 Paul Mara 1 year, $1.95 million Dan Fritsche 1 year, $875,000 Nigel Dawes 1 year, $587,500 Greg Moore 1 year, $578,000 Fredrik Sjostrom 1 year, $840,000

Roster[]

Updated April 28, 2009.^[22]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
42		Artem Anisimov	C	L	33	2006	Yaroslavl, Soviet Union
80		Nik Antropov	RW	L	41	2009	Ust-Kamenogorsk, Soviet Union
16		Sean Avery	LW	L	41	2009	North York, Ontario
15		Blair Betts	C	L	41	2004	Edmonton, Alberta
24		Ryan Callahan	RW	R	36	2004	Rochester, New York
23		Chris Drury (C)	C	R	45	2007	Trumbull, Connecticut
17		Brandon Dubinsky	C	L	35	2004	Anchorage, Alaska
5		Dan Girardi	D	R	37	2006	Welland, Ontario
19		Scott Gomez (A)	C	L	41	2007	Anchorage, Alaska
29		Lauri Korpikoski	LW	L	35	2004	Turku, Finland
30		Henrik Lundqvist	G	L	39	2000	Åre, Sweden
27		Paul Mara	D	L	41	2007	Ridgewood, New Jersey
53		Derek Morris	D	R	43	2009	Edmonton, Alberta
91		Markus Naslund (A)	LW	L	48	2008	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
28		Colton Orr	RW	R	39	2005	Winnipeg, Manitoba
6		Wade Redden	D	L	44	2008	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
33		Michal Rozsival	D	R	43	2005	Vlašim, Czechoslovakia
20		Fredrik Sjostrom	LW	L	38	2008	Färgelanda, Sweden
18		Marc Staal	D	L	34	2005	Thunder Bay, Ontario
40		Steve Valiquette	G	L	44	2003	Etobicoke, Ontario
34		Aaron Voros	LW	L	40	2008	Vancouver, British Columbia
13		Nikolay Zherdev	RW	R	36	2008	Kiev, Soviet Union

Staff[]

Executive Operations Ownership - Madison Square Garden, L.P. Chairman - James L. Dolan Vice chairman - Hank J. Ratner President/general manager/Alternate Governor - Glen Sather

Hockey Operations Assistant general manager, Player Personnel - Jim Schoenfeld Assistant general manager, Hockey Administration - Senior advisor; Director of U.S. Scouting - Mike Barnett Director, Player Personnel - Gordie Clark Head coach - John Tortorella Assistant coaches - Jim Schoenfeld, Mike Pelino Goaltending coach - Strength & conditioning - Reg Grant

Draft picks[]

New York's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario:

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	20	Michael Del Zotto	D	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
2	51	Derek Stepan	C	United States	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN)
3	75	Evgeny Grachev	C	Russia	Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl (Russia)
3	90	Tomas Kundratek	D	Czech Republic	Ocelari Trinec (Czech Extraliga)
4	111	Dale Weise	RW	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
5	141	Chris Doyle	C	Canada	P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
6	171		D	Canada	Erie Otters (OHL)

See also[]

• 2008–09 NHL season

Farm teams[]

Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)[]

The 2008–09 season will be the 12th season of American Hockey League (AHL) hockey for the franchise.

Charlotte Checkers (ECHL)[]

The 2008–09 season will be the 16th season of ECHL hockey for the franchise.

References[]

• Game log: New York Rangers game log on espn.com
• Player stats: New York Rangers statistics on espn.com

1. ^ IIHF Top 100 Hockey Stories of All Time, Szymon Szemberg and Andrew Podnieks, p. 173, Fenn Publishing, Bolton, Ontario, Canada, 2008, ISBN 978-1-55168-358-4
2. ^ NHL's European plans finalized
3. ^ Ralph, Dan. Rangers draft pick dies, Canadian Online Explorer, October 13, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
4. ^ Obernauer, Michael. "Rangers tie mark for best start with 4-1 win over Devils at Garden" Archived 2008-10-17 at the Wayback Machine, New York Daily News, October 13, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
5. ^ Zherdev, Lundqvist pace Rangers to fourth straight win, Associated Press, ESPN, October 30, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
6. ^ "Rangers shine in SuperSkills competition". Archived from the original on 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
7. ^ "Lundqvist helps East win NHL All-Star Game". Archived from the original on 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
8. ^ "Graves joins Rangers legends in MSG rafters". Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
9. ^ Bathgate, Howell come home to the rafters Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ "Tortorella expected to add more 'fire' to bench". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
11. ^ "Rangers claim Avery off re-entry waivers". Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
12. ^ "Rangers' Tortorella banned one game for altercation with fan". Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
13. ^ "Rangers' Naslund announces retirement at age 35". Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
14. ^ https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2009.html
15. ^ "2008-09 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
16. ^ Columbus Sends Zherdev To The Rangers", The Sports Network, July 2, 2008, accessed on July 2, 2008.
17. ^ Hollweg traded to Toronto for fifth-rounder Archived 2008-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, New York Rangers, July 14, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
18. ^ Rangers trade Jessiman to Predators Archived 2009-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, New York Rangers, October 30, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
19. ^ Rangers obtain Reitz from Wild Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, New York Rangers, January 29, 2009, accessed on January 29, 2009.
20. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Rangers add power in a hurry at deadline Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, New York Rangers, March 4, 2009, accessed on March 4, 2009.
21. ^ Rangers sign Redden to six-year deal, The Canadian Press, Canadian Online Explorer, July 1, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2009.
22. ^ "New York Rangers - Team - Roster". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-04-28.