2007–08 New York Rangers season

2007–08 New York Rangers
Division 3rd Atlantic
Conference 5th Eastern
2007–08 record 42–27–13
Home record 25–13–3
Road record 17–14–10
Goals for 213
Goals against 199
Team information
General Manager Glen Sather
Coach Tom Renney
Captain Jaromir Jagr
Alternate captains Brendan Shanahan
Martin Straka
Arena Madison Square Garden
Average attendance 18,200 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals Chris Drury (25)
Jaromir Jagr (25)
Assists Scott Gomez (54)
Points Jaromir Jagr (71)
Penalties in minutes Colton Orr (159)
Plus/minus Nigel Dawes (+11)
Wins Henrik Lundqvist (37)
Goals against average Henrik Lundqvist (2.23)
<2006–07 2008–09>

The 2007–08 New York Rangers season was the National Hockey League franchise's 81st season of play and their 82nd season overall. In 2006–07, an impressive late season run brought the team from 12th to 6th place in the Eastern Conference, but the team ran out of steam in the Conference semi-finals before losing in six games to the Buffalo Sabres.

The off-season began in late June with the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio. The Rangers had the 17th overall pick in the first round, yet came away with a steal as Russian superstar Alexei Cherepanov fell for the taking, despite being considered by many rankings to be a top five prospect, and the top European available in the draft. A variety of reasons have been postulated for Cherepanov's drop, most notably, the lack of a new transfer agreement between the National Hockey League and the International Ice Hockey Federation concerning players from Russia.[1] In the second round, the Rangers selected goaltender Antoine Lafleur from the P.E.I. Rocket of the QMJHL.[2] Lafleur was ranked #3 among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting.

The Rangers made a tremendous splash on July 1, the first day of free agency. Within a 30-minute span on that Sunday evening, the Rangers announced the signings of the two most coveted centers available: Scott Gomez from the rival New Jersey Devils and Chris Drury from the Buffalo Sabres.[3] As both players had worn number 23 with their previous teams, General Manager Glen Sather flipped a puck at their introductory press conference to determine who would wear number 23 on the Rangers; the winner was Drury.[4]

After these signings, left out of the picture was center Michael Nylander, who had reportedly signed with the Edmonton Oilers,[5] but then actually signed with the Washington Capitals.[6] In addition, the Rangers also lost Jed Ortmeyer,[7] Brad Isbister,[8] Karel Rachunek[9] and Kevin Weekes[10] to the free agency market, the latter two signing with the rival New Jersey Devils.

The Rangers re-signed a number of their own free agents, including Jason Strudwick,[11] Petr Prucha[12] and Brendan Shanahan.[13] Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and forward Marcel Hossa had been designated for salary arbitration, but both signed contracts before reaching their respective hearings.[14][15] Sean Avery did go through arbitration and was awarded a one-year deal worth $1.9 million.[16]

The multitude of high profile free agent signings in July left the Rangers dangerously close to the league's $50.3 million salary cap. This effectively forced the Rangers to deal Matt Cullen and his $2.875 million per year cap number back to the Carolina Hurricanes.[17] At the start of the season, the Rangers total cap number was over the league maximum, but player bonuses can be deferred to the next season if it causes a team to exceed the upper limit of the salary cap, so the Rangers were in compliance.[18]

On April 3, 2008, the New York Rangers clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season in a 3–0 win against the rival Islanders.

Regular season

The Rangers had the most shutouts of all 30 teams in the League, with 12.[19][20]

Divisional standings

Atlantic Division
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 y – Pittsburgh Penguins 82 47 27 8 247 216 102
2 New Jersey Devils 82 46 29 7 206 197 99
3 New York Rangers 82 42 27 13 213 199 97
4 Philadelphia Flyers 82 42 29 11 248 233 95
5 New York Islanders 82 35 38 9 194 243 79

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 z – Montreal Canadiens NE 82 47 25 10 262 222 104
2 y – Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 47 27 8 247 216 102
3 y – Washington Capitals SE 82 43 31 8 242 231 94
4 New Jersey Devils AT 82 46 29 7 206 197 99
5 New York Rangers AT 82 42 27 13 213 199 97
6 Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 42 29 11 248 233 95
7 Ottawa Senators NE 82 43 31 8 261 247 94
8 Boston Bruins NE 82 41 29 12 212 222 94
8.5
9 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 43 33 6 252 249 92
10 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 39 31 12 255 242 90
11 Florida Panthers SE 82 38 35 9 216 226 85
12 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 36 35 11 231 260 83
13 New York Islanders AT 82 35 38 9 194 243 79
14 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 34 40 8 216 272 76
15 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 31 42 9 223 267 71

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

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

Schedule and results

Action of a January 2008 game in Calgary against the Flames
2007–08 Game log

Playoffs

The New York Rangers ended the 2007–08 regular season as the Eastern Conference's fifth seed.

The Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals in five games. This was the fifth playoff meeting between the two clubs, with the Rangers having won four of those series.[21] They were eventually eliminated in the Eastern Conference semi-finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.

2008 Stanley Cup playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr 82 25 46 71 8 58
Gomez, ScottScott Gomez 81 16 54 70 3 36
Drury, ChrisChris Drury 82 25 33 58 −3 45
Shanahan, BrendanBrendan Shanahan 73 23 23 46 −2 35
Straka, MartinMartin Straka 65 14 27 41 5 22
Dubinsky, BrandonBrandon Dubinsky 82 14 26 40 8 79
Roszival, MichalMichal Roszival 80 13 25 38 0 80
Avery, SeanSean Avery 57 15 18 33 6 154
Dawes, NigelNigel Dawes 61 14 15 29 11 10
Girardi, DanDan Girardi 82 10 18 28 0 14
Tyutin, FedorFedor Tyutin 82 5 15 20 5 43
Mara, PaulPaul Mara 61 1 16 17 1 52
Prucha, PetrPetr Prucha 62 7 10 17 3 22
Callahan, RyanRyan Callahan 52 8 5 13 7 31
Malik, MarekMarek Malik 42 2 8 10 7 48
Staal, MarcMarc Staal 80 2 8 10 2 42
Hossa, MarcelMarcel Hossa‡ 36 1 7 8 8 24
Backman, ChristianChristian Backman† 18 2 6 8 2 20
Betts, BlairBlair Betts 75 2 5 7 −4 20
Hollweg, RyanRyan Hollweg 70 2 2 4 −12 96
Strudwick, JasonJason Strudwick 52 1 1 2 0 40
Sjostrom, FredrikFredrik Sjostrom† 18 2 0 2 0 8
Orr, ColtonColton Orr 74 1 1 2 −13 159
Baranka, IvanIvan Baranka 1 0 1 1 1 0
Pock, ThomasThomas Pock 1 0 0 0 −2 0
Byers, DaneDane Byers 1 0 0 0 −1 0
Moore, GregGreg Moore 6 0 0 0 −2 0
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr 10 5 10 15 3 12
Gomez, ScottScott Gomez 10 4 7 11 5 8
Straka, MartinMartin Straka 10 3 7 10 2 16
Dubinsky, BrandonBrandon Dubinsky 10 4 4 8 2 12
Avery, SeanSean Avery 8 4 3 7 3 6
Drury, ChrisChris Drury 10 3 3 6 3 8
Rozsival, MichalMichal Rozsival 10 1 5 6 4 10
Shanahan, BrendanBrendan Shanahan 10 1 4 5 0 8
Dawes, NigelNigel Dawes 10 2 2 4 3 0
Callahan, RyanRyan Callahan 10 2 2 4 3 10
Tyutin, FedorFedor Tyutin 10 0 3 3 −1 4
Staal, MarcMarc Staal 10 1 2 3 4 8
Girardi, DanDan Girardi 10 0 3 3 1 6
Mara, PaulPaul Mara 10 0 1 1 3 20
Sjostrom, FredrikFredrik Sjostrom 10 0 1 1 0 2
Korpikoski, LauriLauri Korpikoski 1 1 0 1 1 0
Strudwick, JasonJason Strudwick 2 0 0 0 0 0
Backman, ChristianChristian Backman 8 0 0 0 3 12
Betts, BlairBlair Betts 8 0 0 0 −4 2
Orr, ColtonColton Orr 2 0 0 0 0 0
Hollweg, RyanRyan Hollweg 8 0 0 0 −2 2
Prucha, PetrPetr Prucha 3 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders
Regular season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Lundqvist, HenrikHenrik Lundqvist 72 4305 37 24 10 160 2.23 1823 .912 10 0 0 2
Valiquette, SteveSteve Valiquette 13 686 5 3 3 25 2.19 296 .916 2 0 0 2
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO
Lundqvist, HenrikHenrik Lundqvist 10 608 5 5 26 2.57 287 .909 1

†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.

[22]

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular season
Player Milestone Reached
Marc Staal 1st NHL game October 4, 2007
Michal Roszival 400th NHL game October 4, 2007
Colton Orr 200th NHL PIM October 6, 2007
Paul Mara 500th NHL PIM October 12, 2007
Dan Girardi 1st NHL goal October 18, 2007
Jaromir Jagr 1200th NHL game October 25, 2007
Brandon Dubinsky 1st NHL assist
1st NHL point 		October 25, 2007
Colton Orr 100th NHL game October 29, 2007
Brendan Shanahan 1300th NHL point October 29, 2007
Marc Staal 1st NHL assist
1st NHL point 		November 1, 2007
Nigel Dawes 1st NHL assist November 8, 2007
Brandon Dubinsky 1st NHL goal November 8, 2007
Tom Renney 100th Rangers win November 10, 2007
Blair Betts
Marcel Hossa 		200th NHL game November 10, 2007
Marc Staal 1st NHL goal November 14, 2007
Ivan Baranka 1st NHL game
1st NHL assist
1st NHL point 		November 21, 2007
Greg Moore 1st NHL game November 21, 2007
Martin Straka 900th NHL game December 6, 2007
Chris Drury 200th NHL goal December 7, 2007
Petr Prucha 100th NHL point January 16, 2008
Stephen Valiquette 1st NHL shutout January 31, 2008
Scott Gomez 500th NHL point February 1, 2008
Chris Drury 500th NHL point February 1, 2008
Dane Byers 1st NHL game February 5, 2008
Martin Straka 700th NHL point February 16, 2008
Dan Girardi 100th NHL game March 4, 2008
Sean Avery 100th NHL assist March 14, 2008
Chris Drury 700th NHL game March 15, 2008
Henrik Lundqvist 100th NHL win March 18, 2008
Chris Drury 300th NHL assist March 27, 2008
Ryan Hollweg 200th NHL game April 4, 2008
Playoffs
Player Milestone Reached
Brandon Dubinsky
Marc Staal
Fredrik Sjostrom 		1st NHL playoff game April 9, 2008
Nigel Dawes 1st NHL playoff goal April 9, 2008
Brandon Dubinsky 1st NHL playoff goal April 13, 2008
Scott Gomez 100th NHL playoff game April 13, 2008
Marc Staal 1st NHL playoff goal April 16, 2008
Lauri Korpikoski 1st NHL playoff game
1st NHL playoff goal
1st NHL playoff point 		May 4, 2008

Transactions

The Rangers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

May 31, 2007[23]
 To Montreal Canadiens
Ryan Russell		 To New York Rangers
7th-round pick in 2007
(David Skokan)
July 4, 2007[24]
 To Tampa Bay Lightning
Bryce Lampman		 To New York Rangers
Mitch Fritz
July 17, 2007[17]
 To Carolina Hurricanes
Matt Cullen		 To New York Rangers
Andrew Hutchinson
Joe Barnes
3rd-round pick in 2008
October 11, 2007[25]
 To Chicago Blackhawks
Conditional 7th-round pick in 2008.		 To New York Rangers
P. A. Parenteau
February 26, 2008[26]
 To St. Louis Blues
4th-round pick in 2008		 To New York Rangers
Christian Backman
February 26, 2008[27]
 To Phoenix Coyotes
Al Montoya
Marcel Hossa		 To New York Rangers
David LeNeveu
Fredrik Sjostrom
Josh Gratton
5th-round pick in 2009

Free agents acquired

Player Former team Contract terms
Scott Gomez[3] New Jersey Devils seven years, $51.5 million
Chris Drury[3] Buffalo Sabres five years, $35.25 million

Free agents lost

Player New team Contract terms
Jed Ortmeyer[7] Nashville Predators two years, $1.5 million
Michael Nylander[6] Washington Capitals four years, $19.5 million
Brad Isbister[8] Vancouver Canucks one year, $525,000
Karel Rachunek[9] New Jersey Devils one year, $1.4 million
Kevin Weekes[10] New Jersey Devils two years, $1.375 million

Player signings

Player Contract terms
Jason Strudwick[11] one year, $500,000
Petr Prucha[12] two years, $3.2 million
Brendan Shanahan[13] one year, $2.5 million
Henrik Lundqvist[14] one year, $4.25 million
Marcel Hossa[15] one year, $780,000
Sean Avery[16] one year, $1.9 million*
Henrik Lundqvist[28] six years, $41.25 million
Daniel Girardi[29] two years, $3.1 million
Fedor Tyutin[30] four years, $11.4 million

* Sean Avery re-signed through salary arbitration.

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio, at the Nationwide Arena.[2]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team (league)
1 17 Alexei Cherepanov RW  Russia Avangard Omsk (RSL)
2 48 Antoine Lafleur G  Canada P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
5 138 Max Campbell C  Canada Strathroy Rockets (WOHL)
6 168 Carl Hagelin LW  Sweden Sodertalje SK (J20 SuperElit)
7 193 David Skokan C  Slovakia Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
7 198 Danny Hobbs F  Canada Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)

Farm teams

Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)

The 2007–08 season was the 11th season of AHL hockey for the franchise. The team's status as the Rangers' highest-level minor-league affiliate became questionable when Northland AEG LLC purchased the Hartford Civic Center from Madison Square Garden, L.P.; however, on May 29, 2007, it was announced that the franchise will remain in Hartford and will remain affiliated with the Rangers.[31]

Hartford finished the regular season with a record of 50–20–2–8 for a total of 110 points, a franchise high. P. A. Parenteau led the team with 81 points in 75 games, and team captain Andrew Hutchinson won the Eddie Shore Award as the league's top defenseman.

Portland eliminated Hartford from the playoffs in 5 games, marking two consecutive season's that the Wolf Pack failed to advance past the 1st round.

Charlotte Checkers (ECHL)

The 2007–08 season was the 15th season of ECHL hockey for the franchise.

Charlotte finished the regular season with a record of 34–31–1–6 for a total of 75 points. Gwinnett eliminated the Checkers from the playoffs in 3 games.

Roster

2007–08 New York Rangers Roster
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rangers Official Site. "Rangers Get Cherepanov with First-Round Pick," June 22, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  2. 1 2 Rangers Official Site. "Rangers 2007 Draft Picks," June 23, 2007 – accessed July 4, 2007. Archived July 28, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 Roarke, Shawn P. "Rangers Double Up with Gomez, Drury," NHL.com, July 1, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  4. ↑ Rangers Official Site. "New Rangers Drury, Gomez Get Heroes' Welcome," July 2, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Report: Oilers Sign Michael Nylander," TSN.ca, July 2, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  6. 1 2 "Capitals Sign Michael Nylander," TSN.ca, July 2, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Ortmeyer Signs Two-Year Deal with Preds," TSN.ca, July 2, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  8. 1 2 "Canucks Ink Isbister, Ritchie, Schneider," TSN.ca, July 3, 2007 – accessed July 3, 2007.
  9. 1 2 "Devils Sign Zubrus, Rachunek," TSN.ca, July 3, 2007 – accessed July 4, 2007.
  10. 1 2 "Devils Sign Weekes to Back Up Brodeur," TSN.ca, July 5, 2007 – accessed July 5, 2007.
  11. 1 2 Rangers Official Site. "Strudwick Returning to Rangers for 2007–08," July 2, 2007 – accessed July 9, 2007.
  12. 1 2 "Rangers Re-Sign Forward Prucha," TSN.ca, July 5, 2007 – accessed July 5, 2007.
  13. 1 2 "Rangers Agree to Terms with Shanahan," TSN.ca, July 10, 2007 – accessed July 10, 2007.
  14. 1 2 "Rangers, Lundqvist Agree to Terms," TSN.ca, July 11, 2007 – accessed July 11, 2007.
  15. 1 2 Rangers Avoid Arbitration with Hossa," TSN.ca, July 31, 2007 – accessed July 31, 2007.
  16. 1 2 "Arbitrator Awards Avery $1.9–Million," TSN.ca, August 1, 2007 – accessed August 1, 2007.
  17. 1 2 "Hurricanes Acquire Cullen from Rangers," TSN.ca, July 17, 2007 – accessed July 17, 2007.
  18. ↑ "NHL Team Salaries: New York Rangers," nhlnumbers.com – accessed November 13, 2007. Archived November 11, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/NYR/2008.html
  20. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2008_games.html
  21. ↑ The lone Devils series win was in 2006. "Lundqvist stops penalty shot, Rangers hold on to eliminate Devils". Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  22. ↑ "2007–08 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  23. ↑ Rangers Official Site. "Rangers Obtain Seventh Round Pick from Habs," May 31, 2007 – accessed July 2, 2007.
  24. ↑ "Lightning Acquire D Lampman from Rangers," TSN.ca, July 4, 2007 – accessed July 4, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Rangers Acquire Parenteau From Chicago," October 11, 2007 – accessed July 23, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Blues trade Backman to Rangers," BND.com, February 26, 2008 – accessed February 26, 2008.
  27. ↑ "Rangers obtain three players from Coyotes," February 26, 2008 – accessed February 26, 2008.
  28. ↑ "Lundqvist inks 6-year deal with Rangers". The Sports Network. 2008-02-16. Archived from the original on 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  29. ↑ "Rangers, Girardi agree on extension". The Sports Network. 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  30. ↑ "Rangers re-sign defenceman Tyutin". The Sports Network. 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  31. ↑ "AEG Press Release: Wolf Pack to Remain in Hartford," AEGworldwide.com, May 29, 2007 – accessed August 5, 2007. Archived September 27, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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