Theoren Fleury> NHL Career > 1999/2000

Rangers' Top Line Finds Its Offense 

By JASON DIAMOS

To Ranger fans, it was beginning to seem like an eternity. To Theo Fleury, it was just a three-game drought. 

Fleury, the 5-foot-6-inch sparkplug who spent last season with Calgary and Colorado and scored 40 goals, was confident he would score more this season. Plenty more. 

But through his first three games as a Ranger, Fleury did not even have a point. Friday night at Madison Square Garden, Fleury not only scored his first goal as a Ranger but also had two assists. And the Rangers defeated Carolina, 3-1, for their first victory of the season. 

"Like I told you guys, it was just a matter of time," said Fleury, who was referring to his line. "We probably could have had more than three goals. But three was enough tonight." 

At the very least, it was a start, albeit a belated one for a revamped offense that had produced just three goals in its first three games. 

Last night Fleury scored the Rangers' final goal at 10 minutes 43 seconds of the final period. 

Petr Nedved had three assists and Adam Graves had a power-play goal and an assist. Their line combined for 8 points as the Rangers outshot the Hurricanes, 37-17. 

The Rangers (1-2-1), who have allowed just six goals in their first four games, dominated Carolina. They did this with goaltender Kirk McLean, who while subbing for the injured Mike Richter turned in his second consecutive solid performance as a Ranger. 

But most encouraging news was the performance of the Rangers' top line. A bit discouraging was an apparent injury to Nedved, who injured his right heel when it was hit by a Mathieu Schneider slap shot with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. 

But X-rays showed no fracture. And Nedved, though sore, said he would play tomorrow afternoon at the Garden against the Phoenix Coyotes. 

That was good news for a team that has some injuries. 

The Rangers are missing Richter (slightly protruding disk, lower back), left wing Valery Kamensky (stress fracture, right forearm) and Tim Taylor (concussion). Their offense is fragile. They are desperately thin at center. And without Nedved, the Rangers' attack might have become even more punchless than it was the first three games of the season. 

However, some might argue that the Rangers should always have a chance to win with Fleury on the ice. 

"I don't know how many times Theo dished the puck out," Coach John Muckler said. 

"He really saw everybody on the ice. He opened the ice for everybody. He made some great plays." 

For an encore, Fleury chopped a loose puck over Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe for a 3-0 lead. And he loosened a rather large weight off his 178-pound frame. 

"I probably put a little too much pressure on myself the first three games," Fleury said. 

Last night all the pressure was on Carolina, as the Rangers repeatedly broke its trap. 

The Hurricanes like to counterpunch, but on this night they rarely punched back. Glen Wesley scored for the Hurricanes at 14:29 of the final period. 

Carolina, which was playing without left wing Gary Roberts (strained left shoulder) and center Keith Primeau (unsigned), employed a trapping strategy, which had worked for the Hurricanes this season. They came into the Garden 2-0-0 after shutting out Philadelphia, 2-0, on Thursday night. 

But the Rangers, who never stopped working, played like the much hungrier team against Carolina, which clogged the neutral zone. 

The Hurricanes recorded their first shot on goal five and a half minutes into the game. By the end of the first period, the Rangers had an 18-4 advantage in shots. Halfway through the period, the Rangers' top line began to click. 

The drought ended at 17:28 of the first period, when Fleury and Nedved set up defenseman Stéphane Quintal for the game's first goal, a wrist shot from the right-wing face-off circle off a perfect cross-ice feed from Fleury. 

The second period was more of the same. Even the Rangers' dormant power play contributed something, with Fleury the catalyst. 

Less than a minute into Marek Malik's double minor penalty for high-sticking John MacLean, Fleury took a pass from Nedved and skated down the right wing before firing a pass through the right circle to Graves, who was cruising down the slot. 

Graves knocked a modified one-timer past a helpless Irbe at 13:36 of the second. The Rangers had scored more than one goal for the first time this season. And, after outshooting the overmatched Hurricanes by 31-10 over the first two periods, they had a 2-0 lead. 

"Theo just sees the ice extremely well," Graves said. "He made three unbelievable passes tonight. The one to Q. The one to me. And the one to me on a two-on-one, where I found Petr and he got to the rebound." 

That one resulted in Fleury's first goal as a Ranger. 

Fleury (not) shooting self in foot

By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun

NEW YORK -- Theoren Fleury is a westerner born and bred. 

But New York is about as far east as the National Hockey League goes. 

So far, the twain have yet to meet. 

"Every team (plays the trap) out here," Fleury said. "It's unbelievable. I never noticed it before I came here, but in the west, the game is way more open. 

"I think it makes it difficult on a lot of our guys. Look at the guys we brought in over the summer. Four of us (Fleury, Stephane Quintal, Sylvain Lefebvre and Valeri Kamensky) played in the Western Conference almost all our careers. 

"I don't know if that's the adjustment that we have to make or what, but to me, it's unbelievable how conservative teams play out here." 

Fleury was the consensus pick as the best Group 3 free agent on the market last summer and the Rangers outbid everyone for his services. But there's no doubt that so far, he has not played well. That's an evaluation comes from an impeccable source -- himself. 

"I would love to be playing better than I have been," he said. "I haven't been playing well. I've had unbelievable opportunities, but I just can't put the puck in the net. I think I'm passing as well as I ever have, but I'm not scoring." 

But as veteran Fleury watchers know, good passing is one of the signs that he's in a slump. When he's at his most productive, he's shooting at every opportunity, so it's impossible to tell whether his passing game is on or not. Lately, Fleury has been trying to be a playmaker and has forsaken shooting. But that's not how he became a great player. 

"When I've had great opportunities, the goalies have made some incredible saves," Fleury said, "so maybe I'm a little gun-shy. I do have to shoot the puck more". 

Another sign of a Fleury slump is what Rangers coach John Muckler calls "surfing". He stops moving his feet in the offensive zone. Instead, he widens his stance and tries to deke opponents by moving his upper body. 

It was the sure sign of a Fleury slump in the west and that continues in the east. 

"Muck's on me every day about that," Fleury said. 

But the other traits Fleury showed in the west -- grit, passion and determination -- made him a star. Eventually, they'll get him back on form in the east. 

New York Rangers Fed Ex Super Skills

Theoren Fleury's Results from the New York Rangers FedEx SuperSkills Competition:

Hardest Shot: 81.7 mph (Tied: 8th) 
Rapid Fire: 3 goals on Milan Hnilcka (Tied: 1st) 
Shooting Accuracy: 2/8, passing: Langdon & Lefebvre (Tied: 3rd) 

Fleury's Obscene Gestures adds to Rangers Fan's Woes

By LARRY BROOKS 

Theo Fleury said he used his "hockey sense" on a late first-period breakaway move that was foiled by Patrick Roy.

That may be, but the winger used no sense at all in directing an obscene gesture toward a portion of the Garden crowd three minutes into the third period of last night's 4-2 Ranger loss to the Avalanche.

Fleury, who has scored two goals in his last 17 games, three in his last 23 and 13 overall in what thus far has been the worst season of his 12-year NHL career, had been subjected to intermittent cat-calls from the stands during the match. At the end of a particularly poor shift in which he finally lost the puck to Roy's right side, Fleury circled back toward the offensive right wing boards on his way to the bench for a line change as play developed in the Ranger zone.

On his way, he made a slow, deliberate, universally understood gesture, using both of his arms to send a message to the very expensive seats.

"It was to whoever," he told The Post when asked about the gesture. "To whoever saw it."

Neil Smith, who didn't see the signal, shook his head when informed of it following the match. "Obviously if that's what happened it's nothing we condone," the GM said. "I can't really say anything else because I wasn't aware of it until this moment."

Fleury's frustration is palpable. After being turned away by Roy with 3 seconds to go in the first in what was at the time a 1-1 game, he smashed his stick-blade into the ice, breaking it. He broke two sticks in Tampa Tuesday when denied on golden chances by Dan Cloutier. It's become silly.

"I'm as disappointed and frustrated as anybody," he said. "I know why I'm here, and it's not happening. I guess that's why it's eating me up inside.

"Thirteen goals is not good enough. It's not good enough."

On a night when the Rangers actually did play reasonably well, and against a formidable opponent, that wasn't good enough to get a desperately needed win and the desperately needed two points in the standings. The Blueshirts received a major game from the Tim Taylor-Eric Lacroix-Mike Knuble unit, matched throughout against Joe Sakic's line, and dominated down low. That was especially the case in the first 13 minutes of the third period in which the Rangers outshot Colorado 13-2.

But while the Rangers dominated down low, while they played a stiff, physical match, they were stifled throughout on the rush. Petr Nedved, matched for two periods against Peter Forsberg, had an average game while Czechmates Jan Hlavac and Radek Dvorak each provided less than that. The Mike York-Adam Graves-Fleury combination was only so-so, York playing with the flu.

And while Alexandre Daigle, restored to duty, and linemates John MacLean and Valeri Kamensky were very impressive in the third, they spent most of the first two periods on the bench after being found guilty on Colorado's first goal of the night.

What's more, Mike Richter had his first sub-standard game in weeks and weeks, failing to make the necessary important saves he's been delivering.

And so, while the Rangers kept both Forsberg and Sakic off the board, they managed to surrender four goals to Colorado's checking line -- a hat trick to Shjon Podein and one to Dave Reid. A team on a roll finds ways to win; a team on a skid finds ways to lose. That's what the Rangers did in a game they led 1-0 and in which they were tied 2-2 until late in the second.

The winless streak is now four (0-3-1). The Rangers have won just one of their last seven (1-4-2) and three of 12 (3-7-2) since their seven-game winning streak was halted on Jan. 25. They are still holding a playoff berth, but with 22 games to go, Dominik Hasek back in the Buffalo nets, and the schedule a fairly murderous one, the hold gets shakier.

"We look at the standings every day, but we haven't moved much in the last 10 days," said Brian Leetch. "We're not in danger from a confidence standpoint, we're in danger point-wise."

As of this morning the eighth-place Rangers have a three-point lead on the Sabres. "It's a critical point in the season," said Taylor. "We have to stop it now."

As Fleury has to stop his critical pointing into the stands.

Fleury can't explain offensive dropoff

PITTSBURGH (CP) -- Theo Fleury had only 14 goals this season going into New York's game against the Penguins on Saturday night. 

He netted 40 last season, and the Rangers agreed to pay him $8.5 million US because they figured on him doing it again. 

"It's just ridiculous," Fleury told the New York Times. "I don't understand. I just don't understand." 

Fleury has scored at least 30 goals in a season seven times in his career. He's been asked countless times if he's every experienced the drought he's suffering through now. 

"Never," he says. "Never ever, ever, ever, ever, never. It's totally a mystery. The net looks about as big as a lacrosse stick right now."