Hart Trophy (MVP): Eric Staal, Hurricanes
Art Ross (Top Scorer): Alex Ovechkin, Capitals
Rocket Richard (Most Goals): Marian Gaborik, Rangers
Norris (Top Defenseman): Drew Doughty, Kings
Vezina (Top Goalie): Jimmy Howard, Red Wings
Calder (Top Rookie): Jeff Skinner, Hurricanes
Adams (Top Coach): Lindy Ruff, Sabres

I want to know what you think…Leave a comment and tell us your picks.

Brian Leetch breaks down the loss on MSG Network.

John Tortorella speaks to reporters following the Rangers third straight loss.

On a busy day for Glen Sather and Co., Stephen Valiquette’s career as a Ranger may have come to an end as the team waived the backup netminder for the purpose of sending him to Hartford for conditioning. If Valiquette clears waivers he will remain with the organization but chances are good that another team will take a flier on the veteran goalie. Impressive youngster Chad Johnson, whom the Rangers acquired at this year’s draft in a trade with Pittsburgh, was recalled from Hartford to replace Valiquette as the team’s primary backup to Henrik Lundqvist. Johnson has performed well this season posting a 10-6-1 record with a 2.10 GAA.

The Rangers followed these moves with a waiver claim, picking up veteran center Erik Christensen from the Anaheim Ducks. Christensen, 25, was a third round pick of the Penguins in 2002. He has 42 goals and 56 assists in 226 career games. This season for Anaheim, he had zero points in nine games. The 6-1, 203 lb. pivot had 18 goals for the Pens during the 2006-07 campaign. Christensen will give the Rangers added depth at the center position until Brandon Dubinsky returns from his injury.

Donald Brashear missed practice today and according to Coach Tortorella is “injured” and could be “out for a while”. Better news is the staus of Wade Redden whom Torts believes “is likely to play Saturday” when the Rangers return to action vs. the Sabres.

In Juniors news, Rangers prospects Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque were all selected to the Team USA preliminary roster for the 2010 World Junior Championships. Rangers prospect Evgeny Grachev was expected to play for Russia at the WJC but reports are stating that the Blueshirts have told Russian officials that they are not prepared to let Grachev participate at this time. The Russians will file an appeal with the IIHF and I’m sure we will hear more about this situation over the coming days.

The biggest issue for this team so far during these recent struggles is not it’s lack of scoring past it’s top line but the disappointing play of an underperforming unrecognizable Henrik Lundqvist in goal. It seems as if Henrik has not fixed his problems of last postseason and continues to go down way too early giving the opponents the top corner on a consistent basis. Tonight, he was beat again up high by Mike Rupp (an enforcer with very little offensive skill) on a shot Henrik would routinely stop in the past. Coach Benoit Allaire has to do something to help Henrik fix this flaw or it won’t matter how many goals the Blueshirts (Gaborik) score, this season will slip away faster than that series with the Caps in last year’s postseason.

Thumbs Up- Gaborik, Gaborik, Gaborik! Sean Avery joined the top line with Gaborik and Vinny Prospal and had another energetic performance. Matt Gilroy was buzzing throughout the first two periods. Donald Brashear (Who?) probably had his best game as a Ranger. P.A. Parenteau continues to be among the hardest workers on this team every night.

Thumbs Down- Michal Roszival followed an o.k. performance on Saturday with a downright horrible one tonight. He is just about done here in New York if he can’t find a way to fix his myriad of problems. He can’t join the offense, he no longer plays a physical game at all and his defensive zone coverage is just plain atrocious. Bobby Sanguinetti is not ready to play major minutes at this level. Has anyone seen Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan or Ales Kotalik lately?

Three Stars- 3- Dan Girardi- Strong game at both ends. Continues to be physical force in his own end even as his teammates continue to shy away from contact on a regular basis.

2- Artem Anisimov- While the goals haven’t come yet for the strong, talented youngster, everything else has. He controls the puck and uses his body to shield off defenders like a veteran. He plays a heads up style and is defensively responsible. He never seems to take a shift off (like fellow impressive youngster Parenteau) and is playing major minutes for this club.

1- Marian Gaborik- Who Else? Another typical night for Gabs. 2 Goals. Takes a beating in front and stands up to any and all comers. This guy is a complete player and right now might be the best player in the NHL this season.

The Rangers next game is Saturday against a very hot Sabres club in Buffalo. Let’s hope they can work on fixing these problems before they travel upstate or they will be in for more of the same butt kickings they have been experiencing as of late.

Torts talks to reporters following the loss. It seems Enver Lisin and Ales Kotalik (who I believe is still giving 110% on every shift even though his results leave something to be desired) are in the doghouse with the coach. Maybe it’s time for Torts, Sather & Co. to send down some vets and bring up some kids (Evgeny Grachev, Dane Byers) who are hungry to get a chance with the big club. It seems to have worked with Parenteau, who should no doubt stay with the club once Brandon Dubinsky returns (but probably won’t as Sather will go with the bigger name and contract number).

The Rangers have a chance to put a stop to this tailspin and exact some revenge on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins when Pittsburgh visits the Garden on Monday night. Let’s hope for the good of the season and the future of this club and their coach, they show much more fire and fight than they have the last two nights.

 Anyone who thought the new faces on both sides would lead to a kinder, gentler rivalry between the Rangers and Devils was in for a rude awakening last night as the two teams treated fans to a battle full of physical play, post whistle animosity and as expected, exciting moments on both ends.

In a game that began with the Blueshirts looking like they were still on cloud nine from their impressive spanking of Ottawa saturday night at home, The Devils controlled play early, running the Rangers all over the Prudential Center ice and quickly grabbing a 1-0 lead on a goal by Rob Neidermayer. Coach Torts looked like his head was about to explode when he called a timeout less than a minute later and let his team know that this kind of effort was unacceptable on this or any night. The Rangers and rookie Michael Del Zotto heard Torts loud and clear and tied the score shortly thereafter on the power play (no that’s not a typo…the power play actually scored a goal). The Rangers would get another power play tally from Ales Kotalik late in the first that evened the score at 2-2 following an earlier goal by Devils’ emerging star Travis Zajac.

The second period was pretty even in terms of carrying the play and scoring chances for both teams until the other rookie on the Rangers’ blueline Matt Gilroy scored his first career goal off a pass from Marian Gaborik and gave the Rangers a lead they would not relinquish,  thanks to the stellar play of Henrik Lundqvist in the third period.

Both Del Zotto and Gilroy acquitted themselves well in this contest and while both have some things to work on defensively, they have shown that the offensive skills they bring to the team will make an impact often throughout this season. It’s still too early to know whether Del Zotto will remain with the team past his 9 game deadline but with each performance like last night’s his chances of sticking around improve.

Once again, the line of Brandon Dubinsky, Vinny Prospal and Gaborik was the best on the ice for both teams and Prospal stepped up with two assists including one on Gilroy’s game winner. The biggest question is which of the other lines will be affected once Sean Avery returns. The most likely to see a change is the third line as Enver Lisin might be the odd man out due to his defensive shortcomings. We will have to wait and see how that situation shakes out.

The Rangers got the victory in what was an uneven performance and hopefully learned a lesson about how this team can not afford to be overconfident at all during this season. The Eastern Conference and especially the Atlantic Division (Pittsburgh and the Flyers have been very impressive so far) look very strong early on and no team can afford to give away points by laying an egg in a division game. Let’s hope coach Torts’ message during his early timeout last night is something the Rangers’ players, from top to bottom, do not forget anytime soon.

Defensive zone lapses, an ineffective power play and the inability to get shots through to the goal. The Rangers first game playing their new up tempo attacking style sure looked alot like the games last season in former coach Tom Renney’s defense first system.  The Penguins took advantage of the miscues and the Rangers’ aggressiveness to pull out a victory on an emotional night in Pittsburgh.

The Rangers, especially captain Chris Drury, came out strong early in the game establishing a forecheck and keeping the puck in the Penguins zone for long stretches but could not capitalize as most of the play was to the outside. After the Pens got a power play on a tough call against Drury, the Rangers showed once again why they need a crease clearing defenseman as Evgeni Malkin was allowed to camp in front and re-direct a shot from the point past Henrik Lundqvist for the first goal of the contest. Some strong work on the boards by Christopher Higgins led to the Rangers tying the score on a tip in by Chris Drury.

The second period was just a disaster for the Rangers as they couldn’t find any flow to their game. Missed passes, blocked shots and more play on the perimeter allowed the Pens to sit back and wait for the Rangers to make a mistake and when they did it seemed to lead to a parade of odd man rushes for the opposition. Another coverage lapse in front left Sidney Crosby alone to tap in a rebound without even being touched by a Ranger and only moments later Tyler Kennedy deflected Alex Goligoski’s wrister from the point to give the Pens a 2 goal cushion.

The Rangers showed some kick in the third period but once again squandered opportunities on the man advantage and would have been blown out if not for some fantastic saves by Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers power play looked skittish and never really threatened other than a couple of blasts from point man Ales Kotalik that Marc Andre Fleury handled well. Marian Gaborik got the Rangers within a goal by following up the play and ripping one past Fleury but the Rangers would never really threaten again and couldn’t even get the puck near the net late after pulling Lundqvist for the extra attacker. After Wade Redden (who with Michal Roszival did nothing to prove tonight that they have improved over last season) flubbed a keep in attempt with about a minute left , the Pens were able to keep the Rangers at bay and get the victory.

Positives for the Rangers were Chris Drury, who played a strong game and was active on both ends. Henrik Lundqvist surrendered 3 goals but didn’t get much help in front and really kept the team in the game with a great third period. Brandon Dubinsky seemed to click with Gaborik and their line was the Rangers strongest tonight and Marc Staal was solid in his own zone.

Michael Del Zotto had some good moments but for the most part looked timid when going back for the puck in his end and committed a few turnovers. He didn’t fare much better on the power play as the Pens didn’t give him much time or space when he had the puck. Enver Lisin needs to be more agressive when the puck finds his blade and not just spin his wheels waiting for help to come in the offensive zone and Bryan Boyle was pretty much invisible in his first game with the club.

I know it’s only one game but this team didn’t look like it scared the Penguins with it’s offense. Even with the addition of Gaborik, they do not possess a player who can take over the game and draw coverage, giving space to others, like Jaromir Jagr did. They will have to be more agressive and take the puck to the net instead of playing on the perimeter and looking for the perfect opportunity (which led to 23 blocked shots for the Pens tonight). It is a quick turnaround for tomorrow night’s home opener against the Senators but let’s hope Coach Tortorella gets in their ears on the plane ride home and imparts to his team that you can’t play an “up-tempo  attacking style” if you don’t attack.

-Sean Avery has been ruled out of tomorrow night’s season opener in Pittsburgh by coach Tortorella. Avery will still make the trip and be with the team.

-Alexei Semenov was in danger of not making the trip as “conflicts” arose with his newly signed contract earlier today but it seems all has been worked out and Semenov has boarded a plane to be with his teammates. The chance of Semenov being in the lineup tomorrow night is slim as the Rangers will want to see how Michael Del Zotto handles his new power play quarterback role.

- Tortorella says the Rangers will be on the bench tomorrow night during the Pens’ championship banner ceremony because it is “respectful” and “the right thing to do”. Torts also said he has another reason for wanting his team to witness the celebration. “I think it’s good. I’ve been on the end of these, a couple the other way, and I’ve been on one the right way, and I think it’s a great thing, especially for some of the youth on our team. I think it’s good for them to see it, as far as a culmination thing.”

- Michael Del Zotto has been assigned No.4 , which he wore in the minors as a tribute to the great Bobby Orr.

-Tortorella also told reporters that the assistant captains had already been chosen and would be announced at tomorrow’s morning skate. He said the players were chosen by himself and GM Glen Sather without any help from Captain Chris Drury. “Chris is our captain. I’m not a big believer in votes by the team. … It’s our responsibility a we’ve watched a lot of new faces and some guys who have been here, how they’ve handled themselves through camp and exihibition and the coached and (general) manager, we’ve had discussions and we’re going to make that decision.”

-Former Rangers penalty kill specialist Blair Betts has signed a one year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. Let’s hope this move doesn’t come back to haunt us.