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Adam graves to have number retired on feb 3.

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Richter and Leetch Forevor Team USA

When the news came down a few days or weeks or however long it was ago that Mike Richter and Brian Leetch, two Legends of Broadway hockey were going to be inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame i had some strange feelings. Like…why werent they already inducted? Both were awesome NHL players, great ambassadors for hte game and o yea won the 96 World Cup and the Silver in 2002.Most definitely the best Americans at their positions.

Leetch Captained the 96 World Cup team with Richters big time goaltending to the Gold and probably the biggest USA hockey moment since 1980. Sure they were both part of hte 98 Olympic team that dissapointed but who cares since htey made that dramatic run in 02 to the Gold Medal game, where canda flexed their muscles and left Team USA in hte dust. But hey, the Silver is still pretty damn cool. Like you wouldnt take a silver medal. Please.

Onto the debate about best ever at their positions. Tom Barasso is the only other netminder who is even in the discussion with Richter. But i think Richters Team USA moments may compensate for his shortened NHL career plus Richter is so incredibly awesome and as far as i can tell Tom Barasso is not.

Leetch also only has one player in his way and that man is actually still playing. Chris Chelios. Chelios is a future HOFer as is Leetch but Chelio’s has never been hte two way force that Leetch was. Chelio’s is a great player and its a testament to how good he still is that he is still playing, at i believe 79 years old. Sure he didnt play at all in hte Cup this year but he lost his dentures, common mistake. Leetch i think has more USA experience, though that might be completely made up, and i love Brian Leetch so to me he is hte best US born D Man ever.

Not My Prucha!!!

Ever since he laced up the skates in those first games after hte lockout Petr Prucha has always been my guy. What i mean is that every few years fans develop man crushes/crushes on players or more and overly root for them to do well. Its usually a secondary player of sorts because everyone loves the star, ie Jags. Its like when a  couple of new people join the team and you pick the one you like more. Gomer over Drury in last seasons case. Its not to say you dont love the other player but if i had to choose who would score a goal i would pick Gomez over Drury.

So i chose Prucha over everyone else, Lundqvist not withstanding because he is a goalie so its different circumstances, and i have never left him. There was just something about a little kid from the Czech who was living with Jagr and scoring constantly. We all knew Prucha wasnt the type of player who you build a franchise around but i loved him nonetheless especailly his willingness to get crushed by a check and pop right back up.

So when Shanny came aboard i knew Prucha’s powerplay days were numbered. His goal total went from 30 to 20, still awesome, then fell to 7 goals. Yes that was a combo of injuries and low ice time and scratches, but the most important reason his goals were down was because he wasnt playing on the power play.

Now that Shanny is gone and so is Jags and Straks and even Avery, Prucha should get more PP time and get his numbers back up again.

That is why i hate that Prucha seems to be in every deal that would clear cap space for Mats Sundin. Though i really dont think Sundin is coming to the Rangers, giving up Prucha for a chance to win it all with Sundin doesnt sit well with me. Getting rid of Prucha isnt getting rid of Kovalev but losing Prucha as he should enter his prime isnt a  good move.

Am i biased? Yes. Do i think Prucha can hit 30 goals again? Maybe not. Is 20-30 a possibility? Only on the powerplay.

Petr Nedved!! Wait…Petr Nedved?

Yes, it seems that everyones first love of a Petr with only one E in their first name, Petr Nedved is coming to rangers training camp this year.

Petr Nedved always had a strange relationship with New York. He wasnt exactly welcome, or never felt he was, when he was an extremely talented young centerman who joined the rangers in 1995.( Mike Keenan compenstation). Then was traded with Sergei Zubov to Pitt for Ulf Samuelsam and Lucky Luc Robatille. Then of course he was traded back to broadway for Alex Kovalev.

So to recap, Nedved was dealt with Zubov and for Kovalev. Two perennial all stars who went onto become bigger stars on other teams. I think that is part of the reason that Nedved was never really welcome here was because of that. People have always regarded that Zubov trade as one of hte worst, and even though Nedved was dealt WITH him they blame him. The Kovy deal is another story.

The other thing with Nedved was that he never seemed to want the role that his talent deserves. On pure talent Nedved was probably in the top ten in the league. I still say he had the best wrist shot, especially from between the circles, in the league. It was so perfect but he never used it enough. He would always pass up the chance. With his talent Nedved should have regularly hit 30 goals instead of the 20 he normally got on Broadway. He did hit 30 with the Czech line in the 2000-2001 season. Nedved was so talented but he never seemed to want to take the torch and be the leader. Nedved seemed to want to be the 2nd or third option and when you play like that you wont reach your potential and you will be routinely booed.

I am rooting for Nedved. I always liked him and hoped he would reach that potential. Plus the number 93 jersey is badass especially when he would only tuck in one side. At 37 its a real longshot for Nedved to make the team this year though maybe he gets one of the games when they open the season in Prague and leave a kid home so that he will be well rested for the start of the “actual” season.

Rangerland Happenings

Since i havent been posting everyday here are my take on the last few bits of Rangers news.

Resigning Sjostrom

I like Shooy and do think he has upside but at that number i was a little suprised. At over 800k? I mean Dawesy who cleary has more value as an NHL player to the Rangers only got, i believe please correct me if i am wrong, two boxes of Cracker Jacks and a large Soda. Free refills though, so thats a big win. No but seriously gettings Dawes at that low number is obviously good and hopefully gives him incentive to play even better. Shooy on the other hand will probably play on either Dubinsky’s other wing or on the 4th line but has value to the team as a good forechecker and pretty good penalty killer, think he should be used more there, and does have offensive upside with his speed. I like Shooy and hope that he doesnt get the every other night treatment like a Holly or an Orr. Guys like Shooy need continuity to be productive, he needs to play every night and his impact will be felt.

Preseason schedule announced.

This is interesting since they have to go to Europe to start the season. I dont like home and homes in the preseason since i think its to close together and guys take over grudges and all hte sudden someone is hurt. I havent looked at it enough to really get a feel for it but i wonder how they are going to man it. I guess two teams and with the kids in Hartford that certainly cant be bad. It should be good for competition though i dont really know how it will go. I hope it not like baseball when in split sqaud games you get lineups like this

SS Jose Reyes

3B David Wright

Beltran

Delgado

Other Lineup

Argenis Reyes

Anderson Hernandez

Marlon Anderson

I mean that is something i dont want, though if it has to happen let it happen on the road where the games arent televised. I wanna see a prospective opening night lineup the first time i see the Blueshirts on MSG this season.

Until next time where hopefully there will be less spelling errors…..

Uh-oh: Shanny Edition

Michael Farber of SI reports that Brendan Shanahan will return to the NHL for the upcoming season. All i have to say about this is…..Good Luck Shanny! Have fun someone other than NY.

Look, i loved adding Shanny when the team did, he brought the team something that they needed in a North American veteran leader. But its time for Shanny to move on. I mean, he can barely move. Sure if he were to just skate to the slot and sit there the whole game, shift changes and off sides not withstanding, than sure. He can still rocket it with the best of them. But that is all he can do. He cant skate anymore, injury or no injury he was always slow as a Ranger, and especially with the direction the team seems to be going in, being slow doesnt seem to fit in.

Where would he even play? He never meshed well with Gomer. He and Drury are the exact same type of player, but Drury is less of a scorer but a better two way player. Dubi? Could he fit with Dubi? Its interesting because Dubi seems to play a style of adjusting to what his linemates will do. So him bringing the puck up and setting up Shanny could work. Oh wait, that was the plan with Gomer and it didnt work cause Shanny would still be crossing the red line while Gomer had the puck in the zone with no one to pass to. And of course, Shanny would not accept a spot with Betts or Fritsche on the 4th line.

So that leaves Shanny to go elsewhere. I would say that Detroit is the frontrunner just because he was there for years but Boston, where i think he lives, would be another spot But all i know is that Shanny should not be skating down brodway this season

12 Years Ago–Wayne Gretzky Signs

12 years ago today was one of the best days of my young life. The day the greatest of the greats joined hte Broadway Blues. I can still remember earlier that spring/summer when Gretzky was a guest on during intermission of a Western Conference playoff game and he said he wanted to finish his career with Mess.

I screamed and ran and told my dad that Wayne Gretzky wanted to be a New York Ranger. A short time later it happened and a short time after that i had my first Rangers Jersey.

I loved Gretzky for his entire tenure and that one season with Mess was amazing. But this anniversary, which was brought to me by an SI slide-show, has triggered my mind to compare it to today. Well sort of. More along the lines of the next season.

When Mess left following the 97 playoffs the team was left with a core of Richter, Gravey and Leetchie from 94 and Gretz. You would think that losing Mess may not be that big a deal but losing Mess set the Franchise back so far that only Jagr could bring it back. But see the problem with that 97-98 team, besides injuries and bad players, was the lack of a real captain. Mess had left and Brian Leetch, his closest friend besides Gretz, was asked to be captain or just assumed the captaincy. I have always thought that Leetch as the captain was a mistake. Leetch was the heart and soul of hte team as a soft spoken game changing defenseman. As if playing 30 minutes a night wasnt bad enough now Leetch has to replace Mess, the greatest captain in all of sports and the most important player in franchise history. How could they do that? The logical successor to Mess was not Leetch, not even Gretz but Number 9 Adam Graves.

Graves has said that besides his father Mess is the person he looks up to the most. It would have probably been harder for Graves but he would have been the better choice. He was great with the media and learned his leadership from the school of Messier in Edmonton and then of course with the Blueshirts. I will forevor think that Graves should have been captain and for all i know he was asked and turned it down basically forcing Leetch to be it. I don’t know, maybe no one ever will know.

But this is what brings me to today.

Jagr leaving is tough. He meant more to this team in certain ways that Mess did. Jagr was the one who the Rangers relied on the most to score and produce for hte team while Mess was just everything in small doses. But Jagr leaving, which i am still not completely over, leaves the team in the hands of Chris Drury and Scotty Gomez. Drury who was a co captain in Buffalo and 1st alternate Assistant Captain is the obvious front runner to succeed 68 while Gomez, at least to me, has captain written all over him. The team is theirs now and is in a different type of situation. Jagr, though a great player, was not nearly the Captain or locker room presence that Mess was. Remember, Mess won 3 years before and was still the King. Jagr resurrected hte team but the writing was on the wall when Dru and Scotty came aboard.

Sather basically said, we are preparing for the Post Jagr Era. He even said that i think. Neil Smith wasn’t prepared for the Post Messier Era. And that is the biggest difference.

If this all seems like ramblings to you and it sure felt that way by the end please bear with me. This was just something i was thinking about on my drive home and connected the two only minutes before i started typing.

Articles 7/18

Jim Dolan fires back at NHL tactics- Daily News

It’s official: Rangers will open season in Prague against Lightning

MSG asks judge to dismiss claim-Newsday

Site/Rangers Update

Since the unfortunate end to the Jagr Era in New York, posting has become few and far between. The articles are my favorite post everyday since i love to read them and then send them here like i used to on the message boards. As you can see, i have updated the header with better text thanks to a certain program and am looking to make better adjustments to the site as well as possibly taking it to a real domain name( without the wordpress address). But it will be in time and since nothing is really going on in Rangers land until the Schedule comes out and then training camp, the posting will continue to be sporadic but the site will hopefully start to have a different design to it.

The Rangers signed some Russian D Man to play in hartford. No biggie there, the pack need bodies. Pun sort of intended. I look forward to continuing with this project and the goal is to take it mainstream and hopefully get lots of readers and commenters. But as with everything that will take time.

Articles- 7/8/08

Daily News- Rangers now hoping to play game at new Yankee Stadium