Previewing the New York Rangers Season Using NHL 12 (Part 1)
The New York Rangers will open the season today in Sweden against the Los Angeles Kings and I thought a fun way to look at the season would be to use NHL 12 by EA Sports to predict the season for the Rangers.
This will be a two-part article to coincide with the two games in Europe, part two will be released tomorrow.
The Rangers kick off the season in Sweden with two wins beating the Kings 5-1 and the Anaheim Ducks 2-1. When the Rangers came back to the States they dropped their first three in the four game road trip before the home opener. The home opener saw the Rangers face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brad Richards scored two-goals and Dan Giradi notched three assists in a 6-1 drubbing of the Leafs.
The Blueshirts would finish October 5-5-0, November 5-5-1, and finally have a good month in December going 10-5-0. That would bring us the 2012 Bridgestone Winter Classic against the hated Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers were 20-15-1 (3rd Atlantic Division, 7th Eastern Conference) and the Flyers were 17-16-3 (4th Atlantic Division, 8th Eastern Conference). The Battle of Broadway vs Broad Street saw the Flyers win 3-2, with the game-winning goal coming from former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr 19:04 into the second period.
The Rangers would come to the All-Star Break at 26-20-1 (3rd Atlantic Division, 7th Eastern Conference), sitting 11 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Atlantic. The team leaders for the Rangers were Marian Gaborik in goals with 23 (tied-ninth in the league), assists Richards 37 (tied-seventh in the league, and points Gaborik again with 55 (tied-ninth in the league). Also, Gaborik was the only all-star for the Blueshirts.
Tune-in tomorrow for the second part of the Rangers season. Will the miss the playoffs? Will they make a second-half surge and get a high-seed? Read tomorrow’s piece to find out
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