New York Rangers Flashback Friday: 2012 Stories

Every Friday the Blue Line Station team will look at a past article from the site or happening in the team’s history. In today’s article, we look back at the stories that were featured here on January 20th, 2012.

Does Artem Anisimov Finish the Season in New York?

Ah, Artem Anisimov. What an interesting path his career has followed. Anisimov started as a touted 2nd round prospect for the New York Rangers, then earned the ire of the league by performing a massive celebration following a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After Anisimov’s goal, he fell out of favor with the coaching staff. John Tortorella has never taken well to shenanigans, and this was no different story. So, Blue Line Station took a look at Anisimov’s standing with the Rangers.

This is especially interesting because it further displays how the depth of the current roster is valuable. Anisimov had his every move examined and broken down because the rest of the team could not pick him up when he was struggling. When a team rolls four lines like the current Rangers do, players are able to go through hot streaks and rough stretches without it being the end of the world.

Anisimov would end up being traded in the ensuing off-season in the Rick Nash trade. Anisimov played well enough in Columbus to be the centerpiece in a trade that brought back Brandon Saad from Chicago. None of the three teams regret their time with Anisimov, and it appears his time in Chicago will last.

Whale Mired In Seven-Game Losing Streak

Rather than analyzing this heavily, let’s enjoy the craziness of the following blurb.

Mats Zuccarello was injured, Carl Hagelin was first being promoted to the NHL as a relative unknown, so the Rangers relied on Sean Avery and Erik Christensen to help their AHL team. The Whale. Not the Wolfpack, the Whale. We may be in a Black Mirror episode, as everything going on at that time in the AHL feels like it’s from a different universe.

If you told anyone at the time that both Johnson and Talbot would be regularly playing NHL goalies five years later, they would have called you crazy. But both Johnson and Talbot, who battled for playing time on the 2012 Whale team, are NHL goalies. Wonder which players on the current Wolfpack will work their way to unlikely, consistent NHL careers.