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

So I’ll meet ‘im later on

At the place where ‘e is gone —

Where it’s always double drill and no canteen;

‘E’ll be squattin’ on the coals

Givin’ drink to poor damned souls,

An’ I’ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!

Yes, Din! Din! Din!

You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!

Though I’ve belted you and flayed you,

By the livin’ Gawd that made you,

You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din! 

After another gutless, heartless uber-embarrassment by the New York Rangers tonight, there is one person out there for whom I truly feel sorry.  The person I feel badly for is my dear friend Scott  who, at no little expense, made the trip down to Washington to support his team. Too bad he showed up and the Rangers didn’t.

I do not feel badly for John Tortorella.  What in the hell was this man thinking about?  He scratched one of the few players on this team that always goes balls to the wall. Tortorella chose the worst possible time to make a point. His castigation of Avery played right into the Caps hand.  Avery gets regularly screwed by the officials. But today, he was royally screwed by his own coach.  

I do not feel badly for Sean Avery. He made his bed by taking stupid penalties on Wednesday night.  But, I don’t think those penalties warranted being scratched in the most important game of the playoffs. Would his presence in  the lineup have changed the outcome of this game?  Based on all the stats regarding the Avery Effect, I have to believe it would have.

If there was ever a more convincing argument for Scott Gomez to be gone at the end of the season, this game stands as a testament. He lost 66% of his face offs and he has been nothing more then a turnover machine during this whole series. When he  isn’t noticed for some boneheaded play, he is invisible.  The same  can be said for  Mara, Zherdev, Redden, Morris, Voros, and Roszival tonight. Drury is playing injured but he was -3 tonight. Minus 3.

My friend Scott is always telling me I gotta believe. After tonight, I wouldn’t blame him if he stopped believing so unfailingly. I think Scott needs a healthy infusion of skepticism and I’m just the person  to do it.

I’m tired of this team. I am tired of getting sucked in only to have my hopes dashed and suffer the unending embarrassment of being a Ranger fan. Tonight’s game once again makes the Rangers the laughing stock of the league and by association, their fans.

So to all who believe in this team and that they can get it done, I say to you and Scott that

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