In the past four seasons since the lockout, I have had mostly nice things to say about how the organization has treated the subscribers. That ended today. I just found the renewal information in my mail box and to say I am angry would be an understatement.

It’s not so much the increase in the ticket prices that has me pissed off.  I do think they have a colossal nerve to ask us for more money to watch a team that barely made the playoffs (and yet again failed to make it past the second round). What really irks me is that fact that they want a commitment before June 22.  They want the subscribers to re-up before free agency on July 1. For a subscriber to commit before July 1 is like buying a pig in a poke.

They are asking the fans that support this team to pony up a lot cash on blind faith. How can the subscribers make a decision about renewing if we are unable to see what the Sather BrainTrust intends to do to rectify the piss poor product we watched last season? Yeah, that’s right. Piss poor. Drury and Gomez tank on Renney and get the rest of the team to buy into it. Now Sather and Dolan expect the fans to buy in to next season without finding out if we will still have to endure both these Skating Judases for another season.

Getting Avery on the cheap and hiring Tortorella are not the whole solution. In fact, it remains to be seen if they may yet become part of the problem, ie the Tortorella bottle throwing incident.  And then, there is the issue of Wade Redden. Like Ranger season ticketholders really want to shell out over 8% more to watch that inept excuse of an NHL defensemen get paid on average $7 million for the next 4 years.  Yeah, Glen, that’s what we want to spend our money on. Not.

And, to add insult to injury, we get a sweet little letter from Sather asking for our continued patience and support. For your reading enjoyment:

“Rangers Subscribers,

Five years ago, we made it our priority to build the New York Rangers team for long-term success by developing a core foundation of young players and adding key veterans as our youngsters matured. Our philosophy remains steadfast, and this past season, six young players whose NHL careers began here in New York played major roles in taking us to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

Although we were not satisfied with this past season’s results, we believe we are on the right track. We continue to focus on the development of players and are excited about several talented prospects in our system. At the same time, we still have work to do as we strive toward our ultimate goal — to compete for the Stanley Cup each and every season.

Under the direction of our new Head Coach, John Tortorella, you will see a retooled Rangers team in 2009-10 that will feature a system that emphasizes aggressive forechecking and puck possession. This up-tempo approach has made John an accomplished winner in the NHL, earning a Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year and delivering a Stanley Cup to Tampa Bay in 2004.

The key objective for this off-season is to complement our strong defensive play and league-leading penalty-kill with more goal-scoring, stemming from this aggressive system. We are determined to add players who make significant contributions in 2009-10, enabling us to dictate the pace of the game on a regular basis.

With an All-Star goaltender, and a mix of accomplished veterans and hungry youngsters, we expect to make our fans especially proud this season. Your loyalty and enthusiasm has always made The Garden a very intimidating place for visiting teams, and you will see a team whose style of play makes it even tougher.

We remain humbled and thankful for your energetic support and look forward to seeing you at The Garden for a great season of Rangers hockey.

Sincerely,

Glen Sather, President and General Manager, New York Rangers”

And, if that weren’t enough to make you sick, Dolan is rattling his sabre again about the renovations to the Garden. I’ll believe it when I see it. Many subscribers and fans know how little Dolan cares about the Rangers. The Rangers are  just a cash cow to keep his building and his programming schedule filled and to pay off the Knick lawsuits. 

The renovations are calling for a 5000 sq ft Super Suite that can hold 300 people. Obviously, Dolan hasn’t realized that this city and country are in the depths of a deep recession. MSG had a hard time selling the Luxury Suites this season, constantly bombarding the audience with in arena advertisements for them. Witness how the overpriced Yankee tickets went unsold. Hey Jim,  put the renovations on hold and stop sticking it to the subscribers. 

Many people have lost their jobs as companies have tightened their bottom lines. How has Sather retained his job after underperforming for the last 9 years? How does Jim Dolan keep his job? Oops. I forgot.  His Daddy owns the company!!!

The unkindest cut of all is that even if  subscribers renew, they will have a harder time getting rid of the games they can’t attend. Last season, many subscribers had a hard time selling their tickets for face value. And, Ranger TicketExchange still gets their cut regardless of the selling price.  

So, thanks Jim and Glen, for making the decision to renew harder then it has to be. You may not hear from this subscriber until 11:59 pm on June 21, the longest day of the year.

Posted under New York Rangers

For what it is worth a trusted friend told me, and he got it from an insider, that getting rid of Renney was a calculated plan.

Just after the Dallas game, when the Avery speculation started to surface (when Sather agreed to let him recondition in Hartford), the “leaders” went to Sather and told him that the team was unanimously against taking Avery back. In addition, they told him that the players were tuning out Renney, felt stifled by the defensive system and wanted a change.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like heresay but this  just makes sense. I was told this information 3 weeks ago when everyone thought that Sather was going to fire Tom. More players then seemed to phone in periods and tank games. It was all very subtley done. Players totally disappeared. Go back and watch the games. The record stands for itself.

After the second post lockout season, I wanted to see Sather fore go signing big contracts for “marque” names and just bring up all the kids. So the Rangers don’t make the playoffs for a couple of years. They would have  gotten higher picks and stacked their deck like Pittsburgh and Washington had done. They would have had more time to mold their youth into better players.

We know this could never have happened because Sather was always under pressure from Dolan to put asses in seats. Sather needed to bring in money from Ranger playoff games to pay off  Dolan’s Knick debts. So Tom Renney continued the big contract juggling act. He got the team to the playoffs for three consecutive seasons when none of the media hockey minds expected him too.

At the end of the day, Dolan is really the one to blame. He has no interest in hockey other then to make money. Unfortunately, the Rangers are part of his Cablevision empire. Nothing will change because, in Sather, Dolan has found someone who puts asses in seats by hiring name players and causing controversy. Sather knows it’s all about the money.

Ron Greschner once gave me a piece of advise. When I asked him what he thought about the over-commercialization of hockey, he told me it’s all about the money. That being the case, the only way anything will ever change is if people stop giving Dolan their money. There was a backlash against Sather after he dealt Brian Leetch. Angry and bitter fans swore they wouldn’t give Dolan another dime as long as Sather was GM.

After the pre-lockout house cleaning, new subscribers came in because they wanted to be on the ground floor of the rebuild. Guess what? With Don Maloney and Tom Renney now gone, that rebuild is over. Those angry about what transpired this week may not re-up their subscriptions.  But, another group will replace them like heads cut off a Medusa.

That’s why I have followed Detroit. Sure Ilitch wants to make money. But that organization has something the Rangers will never have until Dolan and Sather are gone. The Red Wings have integrity and loyalty. They are loyal to their management and their players. In turn, their players do things like deferring salary to bring in other players to make the team better.

Players like Osgood put aside their pride to come back and play there. They reclaim guys like Darren McCarty, who was about as down and out as a hockey player can go. Too bad the Red Wings may founder because of the economic crisis in Michigan. They deserve better.

What options do Ranger fans have? In this day and age, it seems our only recourse is to blog, post on message boards and hope somehow our voices get heard. Chanting Fire Sather at games certainly hasn’t worked.

I am a Ranger season subscriber. Unfortunately, I still have to go to games and watch the Judases on this team continue to play. They turn my stomach. The only redeeming thing to watch is the kids. Hopefully they haven’t been too infected by the bad example that has been recently set for them.

Many may read this and write it off as the ravings of a bitter old woman. I have always trusted and followed my instincts about people and I usually haven’t gone too far wrong.

Posted under New York Rangers

Mats Sundin signs in Vancouver for a prorated $10 million. 

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.

Posted under New York Rangers

Recently I have been just as critical of the Rangers as any Ranger blogger. I have been angered, disappointed and downright disgusted quite a few times so far this season. I am sure that I will experience all these emotions many more times as the season progresses. But, to lambaste the Rangers for not soundly thrashing Atlanta last night is a tad unfair. 

As I previously stated in this blog and elsewhere in the Rangers blogosphere, the Rangers early success has lead to unrealistic, and might I say unwarranted, expectations. Let’s face it, the pundits over at ESPN and Fox had the Rangers pegged to be out of a playoff spot this season. All of the Rangers fire power, Jagr, Shanny, Straka and Avery,  left over the summer. The only saving grace for the Rangers was Henrik Lundqvist. One goalie cannot save a team. According to experts, the Rangers would finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division and out of a playoff berth.

The Rangers came out of the box and surprised everyone, making some pundits look foolish. So, now that the Rangers are finding their level, various and sundry naysayers are having a field day putting down the Rangers for hitting one of many speed bumps on the road to the postseason. Who do these critics think the Rangers are, the Detroit Red Wings? The San Jose Sharks?

Notwithstanding their terrible powerplay, swiss cheese defense and the highest shorthanded goals against record in the league, the Rangers have earned 40 out of a possible 62 points. It means the Rangers have 51 games left in which they can earn 58 out of a possible 102 points to secure a playoff berth. How long has it been since the Rangers were this far ahead this early in the season?

All things considered, I find it annoying that some ”fans” out there are whining about the lack of entertainment value of recent games. The Rangers are attempting to play boring, defensive hockey like their cross-river rivals. I can recall how before the lockout the mantra was that the Devils were destroying hockey by playing the “boring” trap. They may have played boring “trap” hockey but they won. They won the Stanley Cup three times since 1994. The Rangers have won once.

My question to fans is: Do you want to be entertained or do you want to be in the playoffs? Not every game will be wildly entertaining. The Rangers need to score more for sure. But, I’ll take some hitting, scoring chances and yes, fighting, where I can get it and put up with ennui occassionally.

Rangers fans sometimes remind me of the actor George Sanders. He left a multi-page suicide note saying he was killing himself because he was bored.

Posted under New York Rangers