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

Every year about this time most ladies are changing over their closets from winter to spring and summer wear. Now is the time when we gals re-evaluate what we have and whether to  keep or toss what no longer works in our wardrobes. The five year old espadrilles that have seen their day, the yellowing white pants that defy bleach and hot water, the skirt you bought on sale that never fit because you never lost those ten pounds all need to go. You need that space in your closet for a few new pieces. So too, the New York Rangers.

They say a gal can never have too many black tee shirts. Well, in my opinion the Rangers currently have too many black tee shirts in their drawers.  Among the  men in black  for the New York Rangers this season were Drury, Gomez, Nasland, Redden, Rozsival and Voros. Too bad Glen Sather paid Donna Karan prices for these guys and got Old Navy quality.

Color Avery, Callahan, Dubinsky, Girardi, Korpikoski, Lundqvist, Sjostrom, Staal, Zherdev and Valiquette blue. They are all worthy of  hangers in my Rangers armoire.  As unresricted free agents Antropov, Betts, Mara, Morris and Orr are in that red danger zone and may or may not be here come September.

Shopping requires money and in today’s economy one should pay in cash. Sather has proven that Jim Dolan has plenty of cash but the League won’t let him spend it. The Rangers have precious little cap space. They got lucky today when Marcus Nasland retired, thus saving the Rangers around $4 million in salary for next season. He’s off the books. In order to acquire the players needed to move this team forward and to re-sign their restricted free agents, the Rangers need to move a couple of big contracts. If you have a ceiling on what you can spend, it goes without saying that one must shop wisely.

I would not go after Kovalchuk now and trade away the farm for a guy that will be an unrestricted free agent next July. While it would be nice to get rid a big contract like Gomez or Rozsival, I would not be willing to sacrifice the additional players and picks that Waddell would want to accomplish such a trade.

Bringing in Brian Gionta to complement Gomez is like buying yet another overpriced black tee shirt. Gomez hasn’t really fit well with anyone since he arrived. Why continue to pound a square peg? At $7.25 million ridiculous dollars for the next four years Gomez clearly needs to be moved, even if it’s for little in return. Just getting his contract off the books will be worth it. If we can trade Gomez without losing too much as the sweetener, Sather should be all over it.

Wade Redden at $6.2 million for the next 4 years must be bought out. If Dolan’s money is no object, getting rid of Redden is truly addition by subtraction. Rozsival would be an easier move at $4 million. The Rangers might get something of value in return but I’m not so sure losing Rozsival is a good idea until we see if any of the kids in the system are ready to make the jump to the NHL. It might be smarter to keep Rozsival, at least until next year’s trade deadline.

Shopping the clearance racks isn’t always the wisest thing to do. Better to work with what you already have then to break the bank on a flashy new item. As I deduced two off seasons ago, Glen Sather is no woman. He failed to match his shoes and handbags back then when he acquired both Drury and Gomez. Let’s hope he doesn’t make that mistake again.

If Sather can clear the cap space, and that’s a really big  “if”, there are a lot of great unrestricted free agents out there. The question is how much will they want and who will be willing  to join the circus that is the “Tortorella and Avery Show” currently playing at Madison Square Garden. Stay tuned for “Shop ’til You Drop, Glen”.

Posted under New York Rangers

While the NHL  celebrates it’s big weekend freezing in Montreal, I took my  “all star break”  on a cruise to sunny, warm Mexico. Taking a winter vacation around this time insures that I miss fewer Ranger home games. In fact, I missed just the one against the Ducks but I got to see whales and dolphins instead.

I got my hockey fix in LA before the cruise. We scored two tickets 15 rows behind the Kings goal at the Staple Center on January 15th. The tickets were $75 a piece. The Red Wings spanked the Kings 4-0 with grinders Maltby and Draper each scoring goals. Swedes Franzen and Samuelson potted the other two. Ty Conklin pitched the shut out. It was like a home game for Detroit. There seemed to be more Red Wings fans in attendance then Kings fans.

The Staple Center is a beautiful venue. We saw Pat Sajek sitting in the second row of our section. The cheap seats at the Staple Center are as nosebleed as those at the Belle Centre in Montreal. They make the blue seats at the Garden seem a bargain. If the planned renovations to Madison Square Garden render it even close to the amenities offered by the Staple Center, it will be worth the price.

In the time I was gone, the Rangers took six out of a possible 8 points. Not to shabby. I am just watching the games I missed. Except for the stinker in Pittsburgh, the boys played well. Nice to see Redden and Kalinin starting to turn it around a bit. The powerplay is looking better and Chris Drury is showing what has been missing for the last season and a half.

I picked up a copy of the NY Post yesterday at LAX and now I understand why Larry Brookes was gushing about the Rangers penalty kill (especially Betts and Sjostrom). Hasenfratz and Morton should be criminally prosecuted for the game they destroyed in Chicago with their atrocious officiating. Even Tom Renney, looking as dapper as ever in  that brown suit, was steaming and spouting off like one of the humpback whales I saw off Cabo San Lucas.

I can’t wait to show off  my tan to everyone in Section 409 on Tuesday. I just hope no one tries to harpoon me. I need to drop some of the gross tonnage I put on whilst at sea. Cruising is diet suicide.

Posted under New York Rangers

According to Steve Zipay’s blog today, rumor has it that if Mats Sundin doesn’t declare his intention to Ranger management by Tuesday, Brendan Shanahan will most assuredly be back for another year. He will more then like be Captain of the Rangers. He was the de facto Captain regardless of Jagr having worn the C. While the HockeyRodent may have cajoled his readers  “Don’t You Leadership Me” regarding the comeback of Brendan Shanahan, it seems (based on the leadership he brings), Shanny’s return is a fait accompli.

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.

Posted under New York Rangers