Goal Line Report
Valiquette to Start
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/22/08 at 02:00 PM ET
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According to Sam Weinman of The Journal News, the New York Rangers have elected to start Stephen Valiquette this afternoon against the Ottawa Senators.
Valiquette played half the game on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks and stopped all 15 shots he faced after Henrik Lundqvist was pulled by Rangers’ head coach Tom Renney (five goals allowed).
However, according to Weinman, Valiquette had been penciled in for this game for a long time and it’s not just a coincidence that he is starting after Lundqvist’s struggles on Wednesday night.
In four appearances thus far, Vally is 2-1-0 with a 2.21 goals-against average, .919 save percentage and one shutout, proving to the team that he does deserve to start more games this season.
“I have a much higher comfort level this season with Vally, so that is why we have used him more early in the season,” Rangers’ head coach Tom Renney told the team’s website. “And I believe getting Vally in there early has helped Henrik get off to the great start that he has because now he is more fresh.”
Hopefully, Vally will respond well and give his team a chance to get back into first place in the Eastern Conference.
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Tags: eastern+conference,
henrik+lundqvist,
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stephen+valiquette,
the+journal+news,
tom+renney,
vancouver+canucks
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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla's Korner, you can also find Patrick's work over at Sportsnet.ca, The Red Light District Hockey Blog, NHL Home Ice, and Liam Maguire's Ultimate Hockey web site.
Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick's musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, TheFourthPeriod.com, Spector's Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.
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