While discussing why the Rangers traded Rupp away, John Tortorella said, “Rupper, I don’t have a bad word to say about him. (I have) a tremendous amount of respect for him. I had a tough time getting him on the ice as much as I really wanted to. I’m just worried about the speed of the game. He certainly brings some jam and has been a really good teammate but it’s a situation where I am concerned about the middle of our lineup and the versatility that we do not have right there. The biggest thing for me with Rupper was just the pace of the game and we do add some depth.”
Thanks to all the unbelievable wishes from the NYR fans. Truly an honor to put that sweater on, with the opportunity to play for you all!— Mike Rupp (@Rupper17) February 05, 2013
The Rangers have acquired Darroll Powe and Nick Palmieri from the Wild for Mike Rupp.
Powe, 27, is signed for one more season after this at $1.06 million.
He has played eight games for the Wild this season and is averaging 10:13 per game and 1:22 on the PK.
In 11-12 with Minnesota, Powe had six goals, seven assists, 151 hits, 91 blocked shots, averaged 13:59 per game and 2:27 on the PK.
In 10-11 with the Flyers, Powe had 7 goals and 10 assists, 196 hits, 12:17 per game and 3:10 on the PK.
In 09-10 with the Flyers, Powe had nine goals and six assists, 183 hits, 40 blocked shots and 12:05 per game with 1:09 on the OK.
In 08-09 with the Flyers, Powe had six goals, five assists, 124 hits, 31 blocked shots and 10:32 per game with 1:00 on the PK.
He is a graduate of Princeton and a former Flyer.
On Powe, my buddy Josh who is a Flyers fan tells me, “He is a good checking line player that can play wing or center. Quick skater, not offensively gifted but has the ability to put pucks in the net.”
On Powe last season, Hockey Wilderness wrote “He was touted as a guy who would play on the PK, hit hard, and make it a tough night for the top lines. By all accounts, he did that more often than he didn’t. The lack of success of the team is tough to pin on the guys who do the tough work. It’s not Powe’s job to score goals, so when the team loses 2-1, he still did his job, even if the team didn’t.”
Rangers acquisition of Powe and Palmieri an excellent move for the Blueshirts.— Leslie Treff (@HFNYRangers) February 04, 2013
On the work stoppage, “talking is a good thing. It’s unfortunate we are at where we are at.”
On 04-05 comparing to now, “being informed and contributing and staying informed is a lot easier.”
On the NHLPA, “the meeting we had in NY a few weeks ago, guys are involved. They want to know what is going on. Everyone’s ideas are valuable to the process. Last time I was two years into my career and right now there is a feeling of we are all in this together.”
On former players talking about the 04-05 lockout, “first of all, no one wants to do that. I’m disappointed that games have been cancelled already. Up to this point I feel that this has been a one-sided negotiations. We don’t want to miss time or miss games but at the end we need a dancing partner and up to this time we haven’t gotten that. Things will start moving along when we have some conversations.”
“you try not to look at it as us vs them. We know that we have been trying to make contact and get in a room together. I just feel like we never got answers as to why our proposal didn’t work. We as players made concessions in our proposal. I don’t consider concessions on their side to be what the number is to claw back player salaries.”
On a rollback, “Most people were pretty surprised by the first offer from the league. We want to negotiate and get a deal done. I don’t feel like the other side wants to negotiate in good faith. We need to get to the table and have some traction with what we are talking about. I feel like the NHL is saying ‘we will listen to you when you see it our way.’”
“we just want to move forward with negotiations and create a solution. It’s just unnecessary to have this lockout. There is definitely hockey that should be played this year.”
“our goal is to not have this happen again in five years.”
On his future for this season, “right now we are in NY and the kids are going to school. As a family we need to go on with our everyday life. I’m rehabbing an injury from last year and I don’t plan on playing anywhere at least for now.
Two summers ago, as part of a group with teammate Max Talbot, Mike Rupp took a trip to Haiti to see an orphanage that Penguins team Chaplain Brad Henderson started in the late 1990′s.
Rupp, one of the more charitable Penguins at the time, said “This is kind of an opportunity to go down there and see what is going on. My wife and I have been wanting to get involved with something like this for a while now, so I will have the chance to go down and see if this is something we want to get involved with in the future.”
He added “It’s really neat when you get the paperwork and my wife will go to the store to pick out stickers and things like that to send down to the kids. They send you pictures back with the stickers and it blows you away and makes you feel great.”
Tortorella told Stan Fischler at MSG.com that he thinks Rupp will be an important player for the Rangers this season “Rupp will have a much better year. He needs to be on the ice for nine, ten, eleven minutes a game and I’ve got to find him that playing time.”
Two seasons ago in Pittsburgh Arron Asham and Mike Rupp played on the same line and Rupp put up 9 goals and 8 assists in 81 games.
Last season for the Rangers, Rupp had four goals and one assist.
Rupp told Blueshirts United that he thinks playing with Asham again could get him on the score sheet more “if that’s the way the lines shake out this year, then I think we can have a fourth line that could add a little more production than we had last year.”
In a Q&A session on twitter, Mike Rupp said that he is planning to switch his number from 71 to 17 this season.
Rupp said “Yeah, I think so. That’s been a number that’s been with me for a while., and I really enjoy that number! Hopefully if I can get (No. 17) then another little part of me being entrenched here is in place!”
Rupp wore 17 with the Devils and Penguins before coming to the Rangers.
Since he signed with the Rangers, Mike Rupp has been a favorite of John Tortorella for being a glue guy and a big positive presence in the locker room.
The Rangers have acquired Darroll Powe and Nick Palmieri from the Wild for Mike Rupp.
Two summers ago, as part of a group with teammate Max Talbot, 
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