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Drury, Gomez agree to deals with Rangers



This is unbelievably big - they were two of the top three free agents available, and the Rangers got them both. But it's a LOT of freakin' money, and long freakin' contracts. I think I'm happy about it, but the Rangers have gone this route in the past with terrible results (Eric Lindros / Theo Fleury / Valery Kamenski etc., etc.) They have to sign Lundqvist, and I really want them to sign Shanahan and Avery, so I have some concerns that they've picked up two guys and ignored the rest.



What's also up in the air is Jagr's desire to play with either Drury or Gomez. He played well with Nylander (who I am sure is now gone), and he can be tremendously temperamental. If the pouty, whiny Jagr shows up instead of the committed player of the last two years, it's two steps forward, one step back.



I'm pleased with the signings, but concerned. Thus a word to the lunatics - let's not award ourselves the Stanley Cup just yet. Buffalo's performance in this most recent season should serve as a warning - unbelievable regular season, followed by a disappointing post-season. When Drury and Gomez help the Rangers win the whole shooting match, I will happily apologize for being an unbeliever at the start of this.

Whew

Some times you catch a break, and the Rangers did last night. They played, on the whole, a wonderful game. Attacking offense, stifling defense, great goaltending.



Until. Until.



King Henrik, their otherwise outstanding goaltender, made a purely boneheaded move by going behind the net with about 20 seconds left when the Sabres had an extra man on. More importantly, he had a defenseman already headed towards the puck. I love Lundqvist, but he's done this a couple of times and it nearly bit them last night. Drury made a smart play, and probably had a goal. Thanks to replay, which was inconclusive, no goal for Buffalo and the Rangers get a win that I think they deserved on the whole.



Other comments? Poor choices by the rest of the Rangers in the last minute - they had more than one opportunity to clear the puck properly - get to center ice and fire towards the empty net. Either you get the goal, or you force them to go the length of the ice to attack again. Instead two players (Avery was one and I forget the other) ice the puck the length of the rink and force two faceoffs right in their own end. C'mon fellas, think - each faceoff creates more trouble, and it nearly cost them.



Buffalo looks average. Best team in the league all season, most goals, yadda yadda yadda. I said this about their series with the Islanders - they didn't look like a team that could steamroll an 8th seed, they looked ordinary. Certainly they won in 5, but they gave the Islanders every chance to stay in that series, but happily the Islanders suck and didn't take advantage of it. The Rangers have taken advantage twice, and I think if Buffalo doesn't get some urgency they're going to find themselves in a tough spot, and I still believe they can lose this series.



I certainly hope that's the case.

And, if I may

crow a bit, my beloved NY Rangers are in the second round of the playoffs, while certain other people's teams (::cough cough Jim cough cough::) are well into reducing their golf handicaps.



Yesterday's game nearly killed me, but despite poor officiating they pulled it out. I have high hopes for tomorrow's contest, and some hope they'll be able to win this series. Time will tell, but it's nice to be able to watch hockey I care deeply about in May.

Let me say this

about Canadians. They seem to better understand the need for tradition and memory than we do here in America. Case in point - the Edmonton Oilers are planning two days of celebrations as they retire Mark Messier's jersey sweater.

I happen to think Messier's impact on New York was far greater, overall. The psychological issues with no cups in 54 years were immense for the team and the fans, and regardless of all the other great players that won the Cup in '94, that was Messier's team. He taught them how to win, and carried them when he needed to.

His impact in Edmonton was lessened to my mind by a number of factors: they hadn't been around as long by the time they won it all; it was a team full of other phenomenal players; and of course, Gretzky was King (well, he became a King later, but you know what I mean.) Don't get me wrong - I think he meant an enormous amount to the Oilers, but I think Messier owned New York for a while in a way he never quite did Edmonton, if only for the fact that NY is a different level of stage.

I don't think the Rangers have shortchanged Messier in any way. I watched his retirement ceremony, and it was a wonder to behold. Yet leave it to the Oilers to take two days to do it right, and to make sure the Coyotes are in town so Gretzky doesn't have to make any special arrangements to be there. Moose's jersey joins some of the greats of the game in the building where he honed his craft (Rexall Palace indeed - Northlands Coliseum as it used to be before they had to name everything after a corporation, including I imagine the urinals) and they do him the honor he deserves.

Good on ya, eh?

So

I'm home today, given that other people in the family have been laid low by some kind of bug or the other. Well, one other person, who made the mistake of checking with WebMD about her condition. The good doc suggested that her aches & other symptoms were signs she was suffering from Neoplastispoziphlebomitisosia. And to find a local practitioner and give him all our money.

So I stayed home to nurse her through her illness. And drive carpool for youngest in about ten minutes.

On a far more salubrious note, I have a Very Important Piece of Advice. Always. ALWAYS. Make friends with the secretaries/Admin assistants. They can make your life outstandingly wonderful, or they can make it a living hell. In my case the former comes true tonight. The CEO's assistant slipped me four seats to a local hockey contest, gratis. And the good seats, not the nosebleeds. (I did drop a hint about getting the skybox, but that is nearly impossible to pull off.)

So, despite the fact that it's an Islanders game, and that they're playing Chicago, I will be sitting front (though not center - the seats are to the right of one of the goals) at the game tonight. We'll have to see if Mrs. will join us - call it a gametime decision.

More Guessing!

Know what else I did? I yanked the living ^%$#@ out of a muscle in my sacrum. That would be the buttbone to the uninitiated. The pain is mostly in my hip, as I believe the offended bit of gristle connects hip to pelvis.

I was bending over to clean something off the floor, and with barely a move in the wrong direction I was in a world of pain. I literally had to crawl my way over to my bed and figure out a way to get in it. Which I did eventually, but it was not pleasant.

So no hockey, and not much movement last night. I managed to wedge a heating pad under my butt, and by about 9:30 I was feeling well enough (despite a craptastic finish to the Ranger game on TV) to head downstairs and get some dinner. I called in sick today, but I'm feeling much more human. Changing positions is the biggest problem. Once I'm there it's not awful.

And no, sadly, I did not injure myself in the company of Scarlett Johanssen.

And to answer

Jim's question, the season begins this coming Thursday, October 5th. The Rangers open at home against Alex Ovechkin and the assorted scrubs calling themselves the Washington Capitals. It's a pity, but typical, for a great player like Ovechkin to spend a lot of his early years surrounded by a terrible club - lousy team = high draft pick, after all. If there's some patience and shrewdness in Caps management, they'll build him something to work with before he gets fed up and demands a trade.

I expect Jim's Cup-champion 'Canes are in for the usual post-Cup hangover. They also lost some key character guys, so we'll see about their chances of a repeat. I'd expect them to be competitive and make the playoffs easily, but I don't think they'll pull it off again. I don't see the kind of strength to them that previous dynasties had - Detroit, the Devils, etc.

My beloved Rangers are probably in for a rougher road this season. They surprised a lot of people last year, and I think other teams will be geared up more for them this season. Everything hinges on Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist - as they go, so go the Rangers. If Jagr's shoulder is not up to snuff, their already worrisome Power Play is in deep trouble. My guess for them is a 5-6th place spot in the playoffs (i.e. 2nd in their division), and I expect a much better playoff performance from them this year.

Consider this my NHL Season Preview.

Talk about

Team Turmoil. As a Ranger fan, this sort of thing warms my heart. I'm delighted to see the Icelanders totally, utterly confused and inept.

As a hockey fan, I cannot imagine what is possessing Charles Wang. GM by committee is a ridiculous idea, and Smith's abilities as Rangers GM were mostly his own. He drafted well, mostly traded & signed free agents well (with the notable exception of letting Messier go in 1997, which was horrendous). He was clearly a guy determined to be the man in charge, which is why Mike Keenan was fired right after the cup win.

I think Smith is a tough guy to work with, but I think he did his job well. Hiring your own backup goalie as GM strikes me as odd, and asking him to negotiate with his own teammates is going to get weird. Whatever - nice for hockey to make the back cover of the paper in the summertime.