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.”

Congratulations to Brian Leetch upon his election to the Hall of Fame. 

Tomorrow the NHL will announce the players it has chosen to enter the Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Three of the four players that are in their first year of eligibility are almost shoe-ins to make it on the first ballot. Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, in my mind, are a lock. Brian Leetch is a question mark.

What can you say about Steve Yzerman? Fans in Detroit would have you believe that Yzerman is the all time greatest Captain and leader in NHL history. Ranger fans might beg to differ but Yzerman was a career long Red Wing who never left his team and town for more money. Yzerman played on one leg for the entire Stanley Cup series in 2002.  There is no question that No. 19 would make it in on the first ballot.

Love him or hate him, Brett Hull is in that elite group of  +700 goal scorers and is a hockey legacy. He’ll take his rightful place along side the Golden Jet in the Hall. Thank goodness he’ll make it in as a player because, after suggesting Dallas sign Avery, he won’t get in for his executive skills.

What can you say about Lucky Luc? He’s the highest scoring left wing of all time and the reason Brendan Shanahan was still in the game and chasing that elusive 668 this season. While Robitaille may never have been a powerforward, a winner of three Cup rings and the ringleader of the New Rules Summit, Luc is the face of the LA franchise in a way that Marcel Dionne and Wayne Gretzsky weren’t.  I will be shocked if his name isn’t announced tomorrow.

That leaves Brian Leetch as the fourth name that might get the nod tomorrow. Leetch, a two time Norris winner, the 1994 Conn Smythe recipient (first American) and the greatest American defenseman of his era has to duke it out with a host of others still waiting for their call to the hall, including friend and teammate Mike Richter. 

Among other eligibles still waiting are Eric Desjardins, Andrew Cassels, Scott Young, Shawn McEachern, Trevor Kidd, Doug Gilmour, Pavel Bure, Adam Oates, Dino Ciccarelli, Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk and Tom Barrasso. Doug Gilmour, just honored by the Leafs might get the nod before Rangers Richter or Leetch.

John Davidson will be given the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a broadcaster. Having watched and listened to hockey for in excess of 50 years, I can honestly say that JD was the best. I’m happy he has found a less stressful job and taken his place with the younger breed of GM’s in their 50’s like Donny Maloney. Some older general managers just don’t know when it’s time to go…  

This year’s induction ceremony will be held on Nov. 9.  I would like to see all these handsome men dressed formally and with a sense of occassion.  Let’s hope they have a dignified ceremony in Toronto, not Las Vegas and that Chaka Khan isn’t the guest entertainer.

Was there ever a possibility that Sundin would come to New York for the paltry sum Sather would have been able to offer him? Fill in that number here ____.

Frankly,  I’m glad this chapter of Ranger history is over. I could never see the upside of mortgaging the future to buy an aging marque player. No. Wait. The only aging veteran that has recently passed through New York Ranger locker room that was worth his price was Brendan Shanahan.

Since the Rangers are overloaded with centers and have a plethora of wingers, acquiring Sundin made no sense for the current team. Happily, Mats will make his cents from the Canucks and not us.  While Vancouver has the space under their cap now, the Rangers had no such luxury given the fact that the CBA is set to expire and bonuses can not be deferred for future payment. 

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Cap number for next season goes down and it puts Vancouver in an untenable position. Did these Owners and General Managers learn anything from the lockout? Did the fans miss a whole season for naught?

So, the whole Sundin Saga has becomes a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. To Mats Sundin I say, enjoy those longer flights from Vancouver to Stockholm. You could have gone nonstop from Newark on SAS.

Some fans are wholeheartedly in favor of bringing back Brendan. They feel Shanny brings experience, skill and the leadership needed to move past the second round of the playoffs. They attribute Shanny’s lack of production in the second half of last season and in the playoffs to injury. When healthy last season Brendan did score 23 goals. With Jagr and Straka gone, Shanny’s goal scoring capability takes on more importance.

Others, considering Brendan’s age and slowness, are dead set against Shanny taking a roster spot away from up and coming youngsters like Prucha and Korpikoski at left wing. They feel there is no place for the future first ballot Hall of Famer on the Rangers anymore.  They want to move on with the youth movement and leave the leading to Drury, Gomez or Redden.

Where and how Tom Renney deploys Brendan is the key to Shanahan’s success. If Shanny is lightly used for the lionshare of the regular season, he should have something left for the playoff run and beyond. “If” he is lightly used. “If”. If Shanny is going to play, it shouldn’t be on the checking line with Betts and Orr. He’d be fried by November. If Renney reserves Shanny for the powerplay and shootouts and gives him the occasional game off, he’ll be in better shape and more effective in March.

There is a little wiggle room on the left side if the Rangers go with six defenseman. They look much more solid on D then last season so it’s possible they’ll go with six. They are overloaded at center and right wing. Gomez, Drury and Dubinsky are basically a lock at center. Betts is fighting with Anisimov and Fritsche for fourth spot. We may not see either Anisimov or Fritsche season. They’ll be headed to Hartford. That’s too bad. Anisimov looked so good in preseason last year. On the right side, Parenteau and Jamtin will probably stay in Hartford, leaving Moore and Orr to fight for the fourth spot.

Naslund Gomez Zherdev
Prucha Dubinsky Callahan
Shanahan Drury Sjostrom
Dawes Betts Orr

Orr and Sjostrom will have to stay up or clear waivers to come back. Of all the other forwards looking for the last spot, I would say Korpedo and Anisimov have the best shot. Korpikowski or Dawes can replace Shanny on third line and can be flipped with each other on the fourth line. Betts is really going to have to fight for his job. He is a good defensive fourth line center for face offs and penalty kill. Anisimov is a much more skilled player who can bring scoring to the fourth line. The question is, how is Anisimov defensively? Will he be as good as Blair on face offs? Will he block shots? I have no doubt of Artem’s desire but his effectiveness as a fourth line grinder and checker is what counts.

So, I’ve drawn my lines. Now let’s see how close I’ve come come October.