Avery To Zherdev: The New Rangers, A To Z

The New York Rangers have turned into a Cinderella team and that means many more hockey fans will be following them as they finish the regular season and head for the playoffs. So, for new fans and old, here's an ABC of the new Rangers, telling their story from A to Z.

A is for Avery, Aves, The Animal, the King of Agitators, and The Avery Rule. Sean Avery was a spark plug for the Rangers when he arrived from the L.A. Kings, where he led the league in penalties for two years. He's changed, again, but the Rangers hope the Superpest will keep things stirred up, bring a lot o energy and inspire the Rangers again.

And that's just what he has done. He plays left wing on the Rangers third line.

A is also for Antropov. Big Nik, 6'6", is now the Rangers leading scorer, as he had 21 with the Toronto Maple Leafs before joining the Rangers at the NHL Trade Deadline. Antropov recorded his first goal in a Ranger uniform, and added an assist, in the Rangers' 4-3 win over Boston.

B is for Blair Betts, who is s currently centering the 4th line with Colton Orr and Fredrik Sjostrom. TSN analyst Pierre McGuire called Blair Betts the most underrated player in the league. Larry Brooks of The New York Post says Betts and Sjostrom are the best penalty killing pair in Rangers history, with a franchise high of 87.6 percent.

C is for Callahan. Ryan Callahan, born in Rochester, New York, scored the game winning goal with 20 seconds remaining to help clinch the Victoria Cup for the Rangers during an exhibition game in Switzerland.

C should also be for Alexei Cherepanov, R.I.P., a 19-year-old Russian hockey player from Avangard Omsk in the KHL, who lost his consciousness in the middle of a game in the Moscow region amd subsequently died in the intensive care unit of the local hospital. Jaromir Jagr, his teammate and mentor, went with him into the dressing room area and they revived him for some time but he didn't make it. The Rangers drafted Cherepanov with their first selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The Rangers are seeking a compensatory selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft for the loss of Alexei Cherepanov.

D is for Drury. Chris Drury, the Rangers captain, was born in Trumbull, Connecticut. Drury is only the second American-born captain in team history. He also captained the Buffalo Sabres. Drury was the1998-99 Rookie of the Year.

He won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, a silver medal for the USA at the 2002 Olympics, and was named the Best Defensive Forward (Hockey East 25th Anniversary Celebration) this year.

D is also for Dubinsky. Brandon Dubinsky was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Dubinsky centered the Rangers' first offensive line with Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery, last year. Dubinsky was voted "Rookie of the year" by his teammates for the 2007-2008 New York Rangers. On May 12, 2008, Dubinsky scored a hat trick in his first World Championships, playing for Team USA.

E is for energy. The Rangers didn't have much in the middle of the season but they got a few jolts around the time of the NHL Trade Deadline, at the start of March.

G is for Giardi and Gomez. Dan Girardi is a defenceman who was a member of the team that won the 2005 OHL Championship and the 2005 Memorial Cup. He has ten goals this year with the Rangers.

Scott Gomez an American of both Mexican and Colombian descent. He was a first round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils. In his rookie NHL season he scored 51 assists and 70 points for the Devils and was the Rookie of the Year.

Gomez recorded his 500th career point by assisting on a Chris Drury goal earlier this year. He was named an alternate captain of the New York Rangers this year.

H is for the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers affiliate team in the AHL, where many Rangers players got some seasoning before jumping to the NHL.

I? There is no 'I' in Rangers or in 'team'. Despite the fact the Rangers team has a lot of former captains and first round draft picks, not to mention Sean Avery, it is not a team where egos get in the way.

I is also for the international flavor of the Rangers. The team features players from eight countries, reflecting the diversity of New York City, the home of the United Nations.

J is for Jagr. Jaromir Jagr is the missing Ranger. Many Rangers fans are missing him. He is "the face of the Continental Hockey League" or KHL, playing somewhere in Russia. Omsk or Minsk or Pinsk or someplace.

K is for Korpikoski. Lauri Korpikoski, from Finland, was drafted in the first round in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. After scoring points in every preseason game in which he played, Korpikoski survived cuts to make the Rangers' 23-man roster for the start of the 2008–09 season. He was the only Rangers rookie to make the team.

L is for Lundqvist. Henrik Lundqvist, from Sweden, is called "King Henrik" by Rangers fans. During the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, he led the Sweden national men's ice hockey team to their second Olympic Gold Medal.

Lundqvist is considered a butterfly style goalie,and is best known for his quickness and athleticism as well as strong positional play. In 2004 he was awarded Best Dressed in Sweden and in 2006 he was named one of People's World's 100 Most Beautiful People.

He was named one of Page Six Magazine's Top 25 Best Dressed in 2008.

M is for Mara and Morris. Paul Mara, from Ridgewood, New Jersey was raised in Belmont, Massachusetts and is a defenseman  who was a first round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1997. He was traded to the Boston Bruins and then to the New York Rangers.

Derek Morris Derek Morris (born August 24, 1978 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman Morris was drafted 13th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. As of 2008, Morris has played in 718 career NHL games with Calgary, Colorado, and Phoenix.

N is for Naslund. Markus Naslund, from Sweden, spent twelve years with the Vancouver Canucks, including seven as team captain. Originally drafted in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Näslund is a three-time First Team All-Star, chosen in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

He was named team MVP five times and led the team in scoring for seven consecutive seasons—both team records. Näslund has represented Sweden on many occasions, winning two bronze medals and a silver at the World Championships

O is for Orr. Colton Orr, from Canada, is known as the Rangers' enforcer.

Q is for Quebec. Oddly, the Rangers have no hockey players from Quebec. French Canada supplies the NHL with a lot of talent and the Rangers have a great deal of diversity but no francophones.

R is for Redden and Rozsival. Wade Redden was the New York Islanders first pick in the 1995 NHL Entry draft, selected second overall, but they traded him to the Ottawa Senators. He joined the Rangers from there and was the winner of the 20006 NHL Plus/Minus Award.

Michal Rozsíval is Czech. Rozsival recently gave up his number 3 and switched to 33 when former Rangers' player Harry Howell had his number retired. He was the 2006 NHL Plus/Minus Award winner.

S is for Sather and Staal and Sjostrom. Rangers GM Glen Sather selected this year's team, fired coach Tom Renney, hired coach John Tortorella, brought back Avery, and traded for Antropov and Morris. Sather was the coach of the Edmonton Oilers team that won five Stanley Cups in seven years. He later brought former Oilers Gretzky and Messier to the Rangers.

Fredrik Sjostrom is Swedish. He is a big, speedy forward who plays an intensive physical game. He plays on the Rangers' fourth line.

Marc Staal Staal, from Canada, is the younger brother of Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes, and older brother of Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jared Staal, who was drafted in 2008 by the Phoenix Coyotes.

Staal was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2005 NHL Entry Draft in the 1st round. Staal played for Team Canada in the 2006 and 2007 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships bringing home gold both times.

He was named the tournament's top defenceman in the 2006 Championships.Staal was one of sixteen rookies selected to participate in the 2008 YoungStars competition at the 56th NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta, where he scored a goal and had an assist.

T is for Tortorella. John Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and new he's coaching the Rangers. And Tortorella rhymes with Cinderella.

U is for the UN. The Rangers have been called the UN team because they have hockey players from all over the hockey playing world, including Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czeck Republic, Kazakhstan, and Canada, as well as the U.S.A. They say the diversity of nationalities on the team reflects the multicultural make-up of New York City.

V is for Valiquette and Voros. Stephen Valiquette is a 6'5" Canadian goaltender and plays back-up to Lundqvist.

Aaron Voros is a Canadian who played college hockey at University of Alaska in Fairbanks. He came to the Rangers from the Minnesota Wild. His quick start to the 2008-2009 season helped his popularity among Ranger fans during the beginning of his first year in New York.

Z is for Zherdev. Nikolai Zherdev, originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, holds Russian citizenship. He played for the Red Army Club of Moscow until he was drafted in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, when he left for the NHL half way through the 2003–04 season.

He was named captain of Team Russia for the 2004 World Juniors, but did not play after departing for the NHL.