Update, 11:44 a.m.:
Staal tells reporters he's ready to play tonight.

Original Post:
Andrew Gross tweets that every Ranger is participating in practice today including Marc Staal who is skating with Dan Girardi.

...this is great news. I was growing concerned with Torts' lack of info on Staal. Will be nice to have him back in there tonight vs. Sens.

Defensive pairs are Staal-Girardi, McDonagh-Sauer, McCabe-Eminger. Gilroy spare.

Forward lines:
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Wolski-Stepan-Zuccarello
Prospal-Christensen-Gaborik

Avery spare.

During practice Staal one-timed a puck off Henrik Lundqvist's mask. Jesse Spector said he looked rattled but is ok.

Also seen at practice was Torts having an animated chat with Wolski.

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For those of you who have been reading TheNYRBlog for awhile know that I held a banner contest for the blog last summer. At the outset of the contest I made it known that I did not have a prize for the winner, however, their creation would be on display everyday for everyone too see. Apparently that was good enough incentive as I received an insane amount of entrants.

In the end, the winner was Joe L. who did an outstanding job coming up with the above banner in this post.

When I made the move to Bloguin just two months later I was told I needed to change Joe's banner because I couldn't use the Rangers logo due to trademark issues. Bloguin had their own artist I could have used to come up with a new banner, but I didn't feel that would be fair to Joe and asked him if he wanted to come up with a new banner for the new blog.

And man did Joe come through. I feel the current banner on the blog rivals any one out there.

For that reason I always felt I needed to get Joe a prize, but unfortunately I wasn't able to.

Enter reader Todd W. who you might remember from this picture of him and his two daughters. Todd works in the jersey business and recently sent me four Rangers jerseys (Staal & Boogaard Heritage and Stepan & Dubinsky home blue) to use for blog contests as a thank you for all the work I've done on the blog. Yes, be very thankful for Todd.

When I received the jerseys the first order of business was repaying Joe. Which Todd agreed was a great idea. So I'm happy to report, that yesterday a Marc Staal Heritage jersey was sent to Joe as a thank you for one of the, if not the best blog banner on the net.

And obviously a big thank you also goes out to Todd for hooking TheNYRBlog readers up with some awesome contest prizes.

Be on the the lookout for contests coming soon.

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According to Page Six at the New York Post, Brandon Prust has been caught red-lipped while getting cozy with "Gossip Girl" star Michelle Trachtenberg causing his girlfriend Marie-Pier Morin to burst into tears.

"He makes out with other girls all the time, like all the time," said a different source who's seen him lock lips with women at Gold Bar and 1Oak.

...who knew Prust was such a heart breaker? Ladies you better watch yourself when out on the town in Manhattan.

...h/t to reader BBeck.

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Section 300 tickets for tonight's big Rangers/Senators game at MSG are selling for 20% below face value right now.

The ticket program TiqIQ that I have a widget for on the right hand side has found these tickets at StubHub, Ebay and other ticketing sites.

I'm also seeing fans getting ridiculously low prices through EBay auctions. A word of caution on the EBay auctions, please make sure you research the seller. There are a lot of scam artists out there and the last thing you guys need is to be taken for a ride.

Just another service provided by The New York Rangers Blog.

To check out all the deals click here.

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In this week's installment of Fox Sports "Tough Guy Tracker" both Michael Sauer and Brandon Prust make an appearance....

9. Brandon Prust vs. Travis Moen
The Rangers' Brandon Prust and Montreal's Travis Moen got the Garden party started quickly Friday night in New York when they dropped the gloves on the game's opening faceoff.

Here's video of the fight...



...to me this could be the best fight of the year because of the momentum it gave the team in such a crucial game.

4. Matt Martin vs. Michael Sauer
While the Rangers rocked the Islanders last Tuesday night on the scoreboard, the Isles' Matt Martin took care of business on the Broadway ice, rocking Michael Sauer's world in the closing minutes of the third period.

Here's video...



...hopefully Torts has talked to Sauer about fighting. It's really doing no one good at this point.

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Bergen Record - Rangers hope to stay hot against Ottawa

New York Post - If Drury returns, he could help Rangers on draws

Daily News - Blueshirts closing in on Swedish opener

...nice call by reader Random_Ranger on the Swedish opener. For info on talks breaking down with Russia see the previous post below.

Newsday - Rangers resist urge to look too far ahead

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Update, 4:21 p.m.:
As Random_Ranger points out in the comments section no Russia doesn't necessarily mean no overseas for the Rangers. There have been rumors that Sweden could be an option. Assume Rangers would still be a front runner due to necessity with MSG renovations.

Original Post:
Dmitry Chesnokov at Puck Daddy reports that a deal that would have brought the Rangers and Capitals to Russia to open the 2011-12 is now dead...

"KHL sources said the reason there will be no NHL teams in Russia this season was the League's revenue guarantee request. We were told the NHL asked for a guarantee of $2-$3 million for the trip to happen. The KHL saw it as unreasonable because of simple economics — the Russian league would not be able to break even due to Russian hockey economic streams."

According to Chesnokov, at one point the optimism was so high for a deal that a Rangers representative traveled to Russia to discuss the plans.

Puck Daddy's sources inside the KHL also confirmed that the Capitals and Rangers were the only two teams the KHL wanted to invite to Russia. The plan was to have the teams play exhibition games against KHL clubs, and then open the NHL season with two games against each other — one in Moscow and another one in St. Petersburg.

...wonder how this will affect the Rangers schedule with the MSG renovations to the bottom bowl not expected to be finished by the beginning of the season. Maybe they could start the season in Phoenix then hit every NHL team up the coast of California, then into Vancouver and finally across through Calgary & Edmonton. How's that for a road trip to start the season?

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Adam Proteau at The Hockey News takes a look at the top 10 most hated players in the NHL and look who falls at #3...

3. Sean Avery, Rangers
Avery has cut back on his dastardly ways this season - and he's having a tough time staying in the good books of Rangers coach John Tortorella - but he's always good to turtle after a borderline hit, or commit some other unsportsmanlike act. Players have extensive memories and even if Avery never ran afoul of another opponent, he'd be on this list as long as he plays.

...not sure how Avery can still be a hated player when, if he actually does play, he's only getting eight unproductive minutes a night. Hoping that Wolski's uninspired play of late will open the door again for Avery. And if it does open he needs to step up his game and prove he deserves to be out there.

...also love that Proteau gives specific reasons for the other nine to be hated and for Avery it's pretty much that he's Avery.

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Over at the Hockey's Future, Leslie Treff ranks the Rangers top 20 prospects with Chris Kreider placed at #1...

1. (1) Chris Kreider, LW, 8.5C
Acquired: 1st round, 19th overall, 2009

Chris Kreider recently added Most Valuable Player at the 2011 Beanpot to his many accolades over the last two years. The 19-year-old Boston College sophomore represented the United States for the second year in a row at the World Junior Championships, posting six points (four goals, two assists) in as many games in Buffalo this winter. Kreider's regular season statistics at Boston College (23 points--11 goals, 12 assists--in 31 games), were not dominating nor was he named either to the Hockey East Conference all-star teams or honorable mentions.

Last week, during the final game of the regular season, Kreider sustained a broken jaw, which required surgery and is expected to keep him out of the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. It is very possible that Kreider will sign a professional contract with the Rangers by the end of the summer. However, the fleet forward was extremely raw when he was drafted by the Rangers in the summer of 2009, and while he continues to develop, it might not yet be sufficient enough for him to see time in the NHL. If he does decide to leave college, Kreider will begin next season in the AHL.

The rest of the top 10 includes: 2. Ryan McDonagh 3. Christian Thomas 4. Evgeny Grachev 5. Mats Zuccarello 6. Dylan McIlrath 7. Carl Hagelin 8. Ryan Bourque 9. Ethan Werek 10. Chad Johnson.

...the two biggest surprises for me on this list is how high Grachev is and how low Hagelin is. Maybe it's because Grachev is already playing in the AHL, while it's hard to predict how well a player will assimilate to the NHL from the college ranks in the case of Hagelin.

...make sure you click the above link to check out the rest of the list which includes Pavel Valentenko and Tomas Kundratek among others.

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For anyone who missed my appearance on the Hockey This Week podcast live from The Beach House in Long Beach last night can check it out below (I'm on at the 7:30 mark)....



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