Why is Glen Sather like a hockey bulimic? 

Because he’s binged and purged more players then any other GM in Ranger history!

After today’s dealings, Sather has managed to purge the Rangers of every post lockout veteran except Henrik Lundqvist. While today’s signing of Ales Kotalik for 3 years at $3 million per year doesn’t exactly constitute a binge, Sather has most assuredly purged Nik Zherdev from next season’s roster. Frankly, I think Sather made the right decision. I have grown weary of having players on the Rangers who are oft described as “enigmatic”.

In an attempt to garner more players for John Tortorella’s run and gun scoring style of play, Sather has disassembled what was one of the best penalty killing units in the NHL. Gone are Sjostrom and Orr. With the signing of Brashear, one can only assume that free agent Blair Betts will not be made an offer to return. Now the question remains whether all the new additions to the Rangers can score enough goals on the powerplay to make up for what might be a much diminished penalty kill.

I suppose it makes life more interesting getting to know all the new boys, their styles of play, their personalities. I wonder if any other team has experienced such a total turnover of personal in the last four years. I remember being at the Nassau Mausoleum and phoning in the player numbers to the HockeyRodent so he could keep the fans informed about the 2005-2006 Rangers. Now, I’ll have to memorize a whole bunch of new numbers but this time I can text them to his Rodentness.

Let’s pretend today is the first day of the preseason. Who could we be seeing in September?

Ales Kotalik RW
Marian Gaborik RW
23 Chris Drury LW
Chris Higgins C
16 Sean Avery LW
Matthew Gilroy C
Donald Brashear LW
34 Aaron Voros LW
Artem Anisimov C
Nikolai Zherdev RW RFA*
29 Lauri Korpikoski LW RFA
17 Brandon Dubinsky C RFA
24 Ryan Callahan RW RFA*

6 Wade Redden D
3 Michal Rozsival D
5 Dan Girardi D
Bobby Sanguinetti D
Michael Sauer D
18 Marc Staal D

30 Lundqvist G
40 Valliquette G

Save for Chris Higgins, that’s a whole lot of right wings and centers and not many left wings. Dany Heatley is still out there but I doubt Sather has enough cap space to make that happen without unloading Rozsival and sacrificing youth. Sather has used restraint and held on to the youths. Let’s hope he can add more finesse to the top left and keep the kids, too.

Who knows how many more moves Sather will make before training camp opens?  At least it’s comforting to know that Sather isn’t in a river somewhere casting a line. He might finally be earning his keep.

Posted under New York Rangers

For ever since I can remember, and that’s about 50 years worth of memories, Ranger fans have bemoaned the fact the their teams have been soft. They weren’t willing to stick up for each other.

The classic case in point was the Dave Schultz/Dale Rolfe “incident” back at the Spectrum during the 1974 Playoffs.  For those of you too young to remember, Dave “the Hammer” Schultz, one of the biggest goons and greatest enforcers of all time, beat the snot out of Dale Rolfe while the rest of Rolfe’s Ranger teammates watch Dale take the beat down.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/1996/11/03/1996-11-03_beaten_rolfe_not_sore.html

It was one of the darkest and most embarrassing days in Ranger History. It cemented the idea,  for the next twenty years, that the Rangers were the pussiest team in the NHL. It signaled to other teams that they could run Ranger skill players at will. The Rangers notoriously would not stand up for each other. Until Messier, Kocur and Graves and the rest of what became the ‘94 Cup team came along, this indictment proved true.

After the gradual demise of the 94 team (the exit of  Messier to Vancouver), the mercenaries brought in by Sather failed to stand up for themselves, no less anyone else. The Rangers went seven season without making the playoffs. After the lockout, players like Kaparaitis and Strudwick brought a little heart and snarl back to the team. But, you didn’t see  any Ranger deliberately retaliate against goonery until Brendan Shanahan’s main bout at center ice with, of all people, Donald Brashear (who was then a Cap but once was a Philadelphia Flyer).

In a move that stunned and angered the fan base, Glen Sather sign a two year, $1.4  million dollar contract with free agent Donald Brashear on July 1. Fan favorite Colton Orr signed for four years with Toronto at $1 million per year.  How could Sather sign the player that hit Blair Betts during the playoff, breaking his orbital bone.

Brashear was suspended for 6 games and Betts was gone for the rest of the playoffs.  Why hire the biggest goon in hockey when we had a perfectly adequate enforcer in Orr?  Apparently, Orr did not inspire fear in Brashear, otherwise Brashear would have thought twice about running Betts. 

In today’s New York Post, Larry Brooks skewers Glen Sather and Ranger management over the recent acquisition of Donald Brashear.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052009/sports/rangers/rangersbroke_bond_by_signing_thug_brash_177650.htm

RANGERS BROKE BOND BY SIGNING THUG BRASHEAR

“represents an indelible stain on the family concept preached by head coach John Tortorella. “

“Brashear is no better player than Colton Orr, the enforcer he replaces, despite the propaganda disseminated by the front office. He’s an oafish fourth-liner who will get approximately eight minutes a night and will be expected to inflict serious damage on the opposition. He’ll no doubt be suspended during the season. “

I don’t believe Larry Brooks doubts that Brashear will be just the deterrent the Rangers need to keep tough guys like Pronger (now a Flyer) from taking a run at their talent ( ie, the fragile Marian Gaborik). And, I don’t doubt “the Donald” might be suspended this coming season. I felt the same way about Tortorella when Sather hired him. Sure enough, it came to pass during the playoffs that Tortorella threw the bottle and got suspended. Larry, once again, needed to fill column inches and saw the signing of Brashear as a perfect opportunity to take shots at two people he dislikes,  Sather and Dolan.

To Larry Brooks and those angry Ranger Fans out there I ask, how was what Brashear did to Betts any worse then what Stevens did to Lindros or Kariya? I don’t know Steven’s personal story. Did he have as horrendous a childhood and upbringing as Brashear? Mark Messier wasn’t adverse to putting a well timed elbow into someones noggin. But, Stevens and Messier had skills. Brashear doesn’t. So I guess that made it okay

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/01/AR2009050104147.html?sid=ST2009050104383

Brashear hits people and intimidates them. If you are going to try this man in the hockey court of public opiniion, how do Brashear’s offenses stack up against other perps (aforementioned or not)?  Has Brashear ever deliberately and with malice aforethought done to another player what a Bertuzzi or Simon did? Has he done to another player what McSorley did to Brashear himself?

Brashear throws high hits. He intimidates. So have lots of other players over the history of the NHL. But at some points in time, many fans would loved to have had a Stevens or a Bertuzzi or a Messier on their team.

Some Ranger fans are now indignant about Brashear. Other teams players and  fans may not like or respect Brashear but they’ll know when he’s out on the ice. Maybe, for once in a very long time, skill players on the Rangers can breathe a bit easier knowing that Brashear can checkmate other teams goons.

As for Dale Rolfe, the last paragraph of that linked article is very telling:

Rolfe said he has never had a conversation with Schultz in his life, except to say good luck during the handshake after the game. What would he do if he met Schultz now?

“I’d probably have a beer with him,” he said. Asked if there were any hard feelings, Rolfe said, “How could there be hard feelings? The man was doing his job. I was doing my job. It was a game.”

Posted under New York Rangers

In spite of a third period where the officials swallowed their whistles, the Rangers showed they were  the equal of the Sharks last night. Were it not for the 5 on 3 the Zebrae awarded the Sharks in period one, the Rangers could easily have taken a point, maybe two from the Sharks. 

The Rangers weren’t exactly the chum the Sharks thought they were going to be feed.  Can’t really fault the Rangers powerplay for this loss because they only had two opportunities. No team in the NHL is 50% on the powerplay.

The Rangers showed tremendous work ethic and fortitude to come back and score two goals. They took the game to the Sharks in the third period, out shooting them 17 to 7. They did every thing but put the biscuit in the barrel.

You can’t take anything from Nabakov. He was great in net for the Sharks. Some are saying that Henrik should have had the third Shark goal.  Nabokov>Lundqvist. Maybe this game is just the dose of humility Henrik needs to keep him on the straight and narrow. Maybe he won’t go to the bench and complain to Renney when the defense falls apart in front of him. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even the King.

Naslund left the ice after Setoguchi brought his stick up into Naslund arm/shoulder and left his team down a man. If this were the playoffs, I would crucify Naslund for not sucking it up and staying out there. Blair Betts wouldn’t do that. Redden chasses over and watches Girardi with two Sharks around him. Redden doesn’t hustle to take out Setoguchi and maybe block Marleau’s shot. Zherdev just floats around between the circles and does nothing to help out down low either. Win as a team lose as a team, eh? 

The Rangers took 4 out of a possible 6 points from this road trip. Their record against Western Conference teams so far this season is 5-4-2. That’s a whole lot better then last year. Guess this means it’s time to fire Renney, she says sarcastically.

PS. Glad Tom got my memo about judiciously taking time outs. Last night was a perfect illustration.

Posted under New York Rangers

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room…

Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion?

When I got up to Section 409 tonight, I encouraged some of the Faithful to take a deep, cleansing breath and let it out. I went on to suggest that everyone should put the prior night’s fiasco behind us and to view tonight’s game with a positive attitude. I had no idea that it would actually work.

The Rangers won in a shoot out but not before letting Carolina come back to tie the game twice.  I thought Blair Betts shorthanded goal would have stood up as the game winner but the Rangers couldn’t get another goal on the powerplay or any other way.

After Friday’s track meet in New Jersey, the Rangers taking this game  to the shoot out was indeed miraculous, especially when you consider that the Rangers shut down Carolina’s powerplay.  By the time the two minute five on three was over, Blair Betts could barely skate off the ice.

But, the Rangers stayed in the game and won it in a shoot out. Another two points are in the win column. They didn’t dominate the weaker team. There was no run and gun. No fancy plays. Just fundamental and defensive hockey. It wasn’t exciting but a win is a win. Take it and move on.

The Rangers leave home on a high note for the Western road trip. Let’s hope they treat all these road games like playoff games.

Could someone please tell me why Tom Renney didn’t call time out when he had 1:28 seconds of powerplay time at 18:32 of the final frame? What is he doing, saving time outs to trade for Green Stamps?

Posted under New York Rangers