A fish is rotten from the head down. So are the Mets and the Rangers.  Wilpons/Dolans, Minaya/Sather, Manuel/Tortorella, the comparisons are downright scary. While I doubt that the Wilpons are  disinterested and inept as is Dolan, their failure to shore up the team by forking over cash for better pitching makes them just as bad owners.

Minaya and Sather thought/think the answer to their poor signings and team construction is to fire two perfectly good coaches, Randolph/Renney, when things inevitably started to slide because of  their malfeasance. Their answers were to bring in other coaches who have even less of a clue what to do and then proceeded to get worse results. They sign players for big money like Jason Bay and Wade Redden only to watch  those players tank.  

Sitting in the delightful Citifield and basking in its splendor, I came to the realization that you can put a pig in a brand new, beautifully appointed sty but at the end of the day it’s still going to behave like  a pig . Witness the whole K-Rod situation. And no matter how many diversions Citifield has, if the product on the ice, oops, I mean field, isn’t entertaining what’s the point of watching.

Lastly, I was sitting in Promenade box seats. In the upper deck behind me there had to be the six busloads of Phillie fans I saw in the parking lot. Some of them are probably Flyer fans that come to the Garden, sit up in the Blues and get in our faces. That just adds insult to injury.

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!
Caught in a bad romance

He gets a quid pro quo cap hit trade with Atlanta while unloading the despised Donald Brashear and the peripatetic Patrick Rissmiller. No matter that Todd White, the  player coming the other way, is only a slight improvement on Brian Boyle. Sather excises two bad contracts a get more back fill in return. If White proves himself and regains some of his former, um, form, he may by a delightful surprise.

When I first heard that this “trade” went down, I thought that there had to be more of a pot sweetener provided by Sather to get two more of his albatross contracts off the books. I was waiting to here that The Rangers laid some cash or a draft pick on Waddell to make this happen. That, or Sather had some compromising photos of an Atlanta suit he was using as an arm twister. Guess not.

All I know is that there are many happy Ranger fans out there who have two less reasons to hate Sather today. No matter that Sather has 6+ centers signed to NHL contracts and not a first line center among them. Unless, unless Sather has couple of tricks left up his sleeve before training camp starts.

And the rebuild continuuuuuues….

Sather could have had Demitra for a year or two at a much lower cap hit. The mind boggles. One wonders where the cap space is coming from to sign Marc Staal. The boy won’t come cheap and the $3 million Sather is paying  Frolov will not help alleviate his cap issues.

So now we have Frolov, who by reports is just slightly less enigmatic then was Zherdev. While he hasn’t got a terrible track record, the dope on Frolov is that he sometimes doesn’t try hard enough. Hmmm. I can see that going over big with Tortorella. Tortorella saw that trait in Enver Lisin and we all know what happened there.

Oh, but Frolov likes to go to the net. Frolov has good hands. Frolov has scored on average 20 goals and 50s point in each of his seven NHL seasons. Frolov will be good for Anisimov. Yada. Yada. Yada.

I read on a message board that Frolov should get along well with Avery as they were teammates in LA. That’s just what the Rangers need, another party boy to replace Voros in the Sean Avery Social Whirl. Yeah, Tortorella will love that.

Color me skeptical.

The Answer: Signing llya Kovalchuk may prove to be his “Water-Lou”.

Sather: Who is Lamoriello?

After signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17 year/$102 million dollar contract, Lou Lamoriello may have finally made the faux pas Ranger fans have all been waiting for. This deal may finally be his undoing. Six million dollars a year until Kovalchuk is 44 year of age and Lou is, well, dead or at least retired.

Granted the Devils need to increase scoring but what good will that do them if they don’t have the goaltending to go with it. Last time I looked Marty “Fatso” Brodeur was 38 and fading. Somehow I don’t think Hedberg will be the new Marty. Marty was abysmal in the playoffs this year and one can only hope that will be the future trend for the “greatest goaltender of all time”.

Speaking of “Fatso”, well looky here. The Rangers have the secret weapon against both Marty and Kolvy in Sean Avery. Avery’s here for at least for two more years until McIlrath is ready. Avery managed to undo both Ilya and Marty in playoffs past. The Rangers must make the playoffs this year to see if the Avery effect is still in effect.

Lou has only 20 players currently signed but he is over the cap to the tune of $1.8+ million dollars. One wonders how he’ll white wash this one with the league. I’m sure he’ll finagle his way around the cap somehow. He always does. It’s just that signing any player for 17 years is ridiculous. If Kovalchuk makes it to 10 years, Lou will be lucky. Production decreases with age. See Hockeyrodent’s rant called “The Out Years” http://www.hockeyrodent.com/R2336.HTM.

One of the reasons Mike Milbury earned his nickname “Mad” was because of the precendent setting deal he struck with the Islanders “nevercomingback” net minder. Lamoriello seems to be following in Mibury’s footstep.

Hey Lou, we’ve got two words for you: Rick DiPietro.

Sather has signed some atrocious contracts that still drag the Rangers franchise down to this day but at least he didn’t pull the trigger on a ridiculous deal like Lamoriello’s with Kovalchuk. Will wonders never cease? Truth be told, I was more upset to see Gagne go to the Bolts.

And the rebuild continuuuuues….

While nothing short of signing Kovalchuk could rival last years 11th hour trade with Montreal (getting Gomez off the books), Sather made a few moves that will assure  the Rangers will at best finish 9th or 10th again next season. Yawn.

Marty Biron

Sather’s a day late and a few dollars short on this one. I begged for a better back up to be signed last off season and Biron was one of my choices. Instead Sather, wanting to save money, relied on Valiquette who didn’t get the job done. Biron and Dwayne Roloson were snapped up by the Islanders to hold the fort for the never returning Rick DiPietro. While Roloson did a credible job going 23-18-7, the same cannot be said of Biron who went 9-14-4. 

Biron might have been a victim of the Icelander team in front of him. In his two seasons in Philadelphia, he did fairly well going 29-19-5 in 2008-09 and  30-20-8 in 2007-2008. Although drafted 16th by Buffalo in the 1995 draft, Biron has proven to be hit and miss over the course of his career, not quite filling the bill as a No. 1 Goaltender. Sather finally decided to pull the trigger on a better backup for Henrik and I think Biron will fill the bill.

Derek Boogaard

Sather lets Shelley walk for cheaper then he signs Boogaard? This signing has the fan base grumbling and shaking their heads. Sather basically said that, considering Shelley’s age, he didn’t want to resign him for the three years he was looking for. Instead Sather signs Gaborik’s former protector from the Wild. So he’s paying him $500 grand more for Boogy then Shelley for four years, not three. I got no problem with that except to say that Boogaard has absolutely no offensive upside. That’s an understatement.

Vaclav (Vinnie) Prospal

I like Vinnie in the way I liked Kaspar. Great team guy and a heart and soul player who knows the the team and the coach. What makes the Prospal resign better is that it’s for low money, unlike Kasparaitis. Vinnie can play wing or center. If Sather doesn’t get a first line center for Gaborik, Vinnie can do platoon duty with Dubinsky, maybe even Christensen.

Eric Christensen

Christensen comported himself well last season with 8 goals, 18 assists and +14 in 49 games. Christensen at  $975,000 for two years adds depth at center/wing. I just wonder if he’ll still be a scoring machine without Shelley.:) 

Sather signed Derek Stephan to a contract today. The most important thing on Sather’s agenda should be signing his RFAs, especially Staal and Gerardi and waiving Redden and Rozsival.

As evening falls on day one of free agency I grudgingly give Sather a B.

I don’t understand all of the ramifications of Pat Quinn being “bumped up” to the Oilers Front Office and have no particular thoughts on the subject. Suffice it to say that after the raw deal Tom Renney got with the Rangers (Glenn Sather), it’s nice to see him return as the head coach of a great franchise like Edmonton.

Tom is living proof that Leo Durocher was wrong. Nice guys don’t always finish last. The last time I had a smile on my face all day about hockey was when the Rangers signed Brendan Shanahan. Tom will always be beloved by fans here in New York. His accomplishments with the Rangers won’t soon be forgotten.

Good Luck to Tom and the Oil. Can’t wait to see them at the Garden on November 14th.

While I am happy to see the Cup go to an Original Six team, I also congratulate the Philadelphia Flyers on an amazing performance this post season. I don’t understand all the vitriol among Ranger fans regarding the Flyer’s run. 

The Broad Street Bully days are long behind the Flyers and the Penguins, Devils and Islanders are more a natural enemy to the Rangers then the Flyers. Maybe those Ranger fans are envious that the Flyers have a decent management and coaching staff  in  place?

Whatever. Both teams deserve congratulations on their post season runs. Time for me to concentrate on the Mets. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Sound bites like this would lead any Ranger fan to think it’s a distress signal, an SOS.

Glen Sather: 

To think the Flyers were within one point of elimination at the hands of the New York Rangers. Seriously, how far would the Rangers have gone had they bested the Flyers in the final game of the season. Washington would have chewed them up and spit them out. Warriors they were not.

The Flyers knocked off the great Marty Brodeur in five games. Without Sean Avery, the Rangers wouldn’t have dispatched Uncle Daddy so easily. The Flyers then went on to take out the big bad Bruins after going down to them three games to none. They made  history with their comeback.

The Canadiens took out both the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Penguins and the President’s Trophy winning Caps. Because the Flyers have now taken out the Habs, they deserve their shot at the Cup. Let’s just hope that Campbell and Bettman’s official don’t try to determine the outcome of the games by tilting the ice.

Good Luck to Blair Betts and the Flyers. Here’s to an honorable Cup final. May the best team win.

Since we’ve already seen the ice tilting required to achieve both A and B in the past maybe we will see a game called fair and square for a change. But I wouldn’t count on it. I think Gary and Collie are salivating over an original six matchup for the Eastern Conference Final between Boston and Montreal. Think of the TV ratings in the Canadian and US markets.

Think even further ahead to an Original Six Match Up for the Stanley Cup Final.  Boston or Montreal against Chicago, should they make it through, would be a ratings wet dream for Gary and NBC. When put in those terms, I’ll put my money on the calls going in favor of Montreal tonight.

Crosby has his name on the Cup. He’s got his ring. Now the powers that be  should be thinking ahead. They need to draw as big an audience as they can in the lower 48. It should be interesting to see how it all goes down. If Halak is “on”, we could see Blu, Blanc et Rouge with the smiling faces in the handshake line tonight.

Go Habs Go!