Trade Deadline...

Ah, the NHL Trade Deadline, the time of year Ranger fans hold their breath, hoping for a big upgrade that will send them over the edge.

Please, Mr. Sather, not this year. Save the players. Save the draft pics. History is not on your side

In 2005-06, the Rangers got Sandis Ozolinsh for Ville Nieminen. Technically, Nieminen was moved for a draft pick, and that pick was then traded to Anaheim for Ozolinsh. Sather saw Ozolinsh as a puck-moving defenseman with playoff experience (Finals 3 times, Stanley Cup once). What actually happened was that he was a disaster and cost the Ranger 2 games in the playoffs that year. He was also a drain on the team the next year until they got rid of him.

In 2006-07, they traded Aaron Ward for Paul Mara. Great move. They also traded away Pascal Dupuis, who eventually landed on the Penguins and won the Cup with them.

In 2007-08, needing help on the blueline (once again), they traded a 4th-round pick for Christian Backman. Backman was atrocious offensively as well as defensively, leading many to question why he even started playing hockey in the first place, let alone why someone would draft him or trade for him. The 4th-round pick would have been better being wasted on a player who would never make the NHL.

So far, nothing horrible. However, I see them doing this year what they did last year.

Last year, they traded a 2nd-round pick to Toronto for Nik Antropov, an impending free agent who played decently for them but in reality didn't add much to the team. The team squeaked into the playoffs where he had a goal and 2 assists in 7 games, they got eliminated, and he signed a big deal in Atlanta in the offseason.

They also acquired Derek Morris for fan-favorite Petr Prucha, workhorse Nigel Dawes, and utter disappointment Dmitri Kalinin. Trading Kalinin was great, he was awful and cost more games than he contributed in. However, giving up Prucha and Dawes, both homegrown talent who played hard every game (or for Prucha, every 4th game, when he would dress), was awful to receive a defenseman who was let go after the season.

To be sure, Morris played good and had a great shot from the point, but the Rangers never had intentions of signing him.

Last year, they gave up a 2nd-round pick and two good roster players for rentals that gave them nothing. A 7th place finish in the Eastern Conference, a 3-1 lead on Washington, and losing the last 3 games of the playoffs were the reward.

This year, the Rangers already did a good move. By somehow traded Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins for Brandon Prust and Olli Jokinen, they freed up cap space and improved on offense and in toughness.

Please, stop there.

If Glen Sather must make a move, and we all know he must, please just make an even swap, like Mara-for-Ward. I'm not reacting to rumors, but a good even swap would be Sheldon Souray for Michal Rozsival. An even trade of money and an upgrade of talent. Of course, it's not this easy and would require a sweetened deal, either a pick or a play. Then don't.

It wouldn't even hurt to be a seller at the deadline.

What's going to happen, the same as last year? Trade picks for a rental like Dennis Seidenberg, who isn't going to put the team over the edge? Not good enough.

I'm not saying the Rangers should miss the playoffs. Hell, I want them to make the playoffs. But they're probably going to fizzle out in the first round if they make it. More realistically, they'll end up in 9th or 10th place, miss the playoffs, and get another mid-level pick.

How many draft picks in the 12-18 range can one team accumulate? Even when they were bad, they weren't that bad that they got Top 5 picks, like Washington and Pittsburgh. They were just bad enough to miss the playoffs and get to draft in the middle of the first round. You can't build a team like that, especially when most of your picks get traded at the deadline.

Today and tomorrow, it would be much better to accumulate draft picks and cap space than mid-level players who won't help this team.

Nik Antropov...

Patrick Kaleta is a punk, we know that. Paul Mara broke his eye socket and cheek bone in a collision last year with him, and in their first meeting this year on October 15, he left his feet for a hit then taunted Mara about his face.

Last time the Rangers played the Sabres, in Ryan Miller's last game, he was doing the same stuff. He ran amok, hit dirty, got under their skin, and tried injuring players. In my post-game wrap that night, aside from calling the Rangers awful (as they most certainly were in the dead of February), I called out Colton Orr for not teaching Kaleta a lesson. Why have someone like Orr, who doesn't contribute offensively or defensively, on the team if he isn't going to punish the players taking runs at his teammates? Tie Domi or Bob Probert would've pummelled Kaleta into the hash marks.

Well, tonight, one of the sweetest things my eyes ever have seen was Nik Antropov using his 6'6" body to crush Kaleta, then seeing him dazed on the bench. I normally don't root for people to be injured, but when you intentionally attempt to injure someone, I'm all for you getting rocked hard.

For example, Domi never tried to hurt people. Trent Hunter is irritating to play against, but he's clean. Darcy Tucker takes runs at players (or at least did when he was relevant). Sean Avery, like him or not, will get under your skin, but he won't try to take you out of the game. Matt Barnaby and Ville Nieminen played the same way, just not as good. Gary Roberts, Chris Pronger, Chris Simon, and Jarkko Ruutu try to injure opponents, so when someone like them gets absolutely nailed, I smile.

Antropov creaming Kaleta fits that bill. It was awesome, and worth the 2nd round pick just to have him do it. (And yes, worth next year's conditional pick as well.)

Don't Buy!...

As we all know, the NHL Deadline will be here Wednesday at 3, formerly Tuesday at 3 p.m. but since there was a big slate of games on Tuesday, they pushed it back to a more open day.

The Rangers, by and large, always buy, with the rare exception of 2004, when they had to get rid of contracts because of the upcoming salary cap. That year, they dumped Petr Nedved, Greg de Vries, Vladimir Malakhov, Brian Leetch, Chris Simon, Jussi Markkanen, Matthew Barnaby, and Martin Rucinsky for prospects, picks, Blair Betts, and Steve Valiquette. (I will have a post on this later in the week).

In 2006, they traded Ville Nieminen for a draft pick, then used that pick to get Sandis Ozolinsh, who, during the first round against New Jersey, did more damage to the Rangers than Jaromir Jagr's shoulder or Henrik Lundqvist's teeth-grinding-induced headaches did.

In 2007, Aaron Ward got shipped off for Paul Mara. They also traded Pascal Dupuis (formerlly Adam Hall) to Atlanta for Alex Bourret (since traded away). A pick also exchanged hands in the Atlanta trade, but I don't know who received it. I think it was a 3rd rounder.

Last year, Christian Backman came to the club for a 4th-round pick. No, he wasn't good, but he did add depth and it was cheap.

This year, the team needs more than a mediocre defenseman. They already have Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Eric Reitz, and Dmitri Kalinin playing that role.

Yet, what they do need will be expensive, and to be honest, won't work. 

With the exception of Carolina picking up Doug Weight and Mark Recchi in the months leading up to the 2006 playoffs, trade deadline deals don't always equal a sip from the Cup. (Carolina also never should've won the Cup. They got lucky against Buffalo, who was tired from a grueling series against Ottawa, and if Dwayne Roloson didn't go down in Game 1 vs. Edmonton, the Oilers would have won easily.)

What the Rangers SHOULD do is more like what they did in 2007. Trade money-for-money, as in ditching Aaron Voros for someone cheaper (maybe even an expiring contract), or trading a big name player like Redden for someone young and cheap. Of course, Redden won't be going anywhere. Other GMs aren't going to fall for him like Glen Sather unfortunately did. 

I like Nigel Dawes, but he is going to be a RFA, so maybe he can be moved to a team looking for forward depth for a pick or a young prospect, like Dupuis was. 

The Rangers probably will try to make a big splash, maybe moving pieces around to try to get Jay Bouwmeester. Bad move. Don't trade the future to have him for a month. Trade the present to try to get him in the summer for nothing but money.

I hope the Rangers don't deplete themselves like they did in the late-90s until 2003 at the deadline. Reason says they will not win the Cup this year. They might make the playoffs (probably will), may even eek out a win in the first round and be competitive in the 2nd, but their collection of 2nd line centers and 2nd pairing defensemen won't win them any silver in June.

Glen Sather doesn't read this blog, that's for sure. If he did, we wouldn't be suffering with Wade "I scored a goal!" Redden for the next 5 years. But let's hope he uses common sense, realizes the reasonable expectations for this team he assembled, and looks towards the future.

Is Tom Renney's Time Up?...

I was discussing Tom Renney with a native of the Czech Republic the other day (the one man from there I have ever met who was not on the Rangers in 2005-06).

He said that Renney's time is up and he should be replaced. I said that we should give him to the end of the season, partly based on past performances. 

I don't think you should replace a coach mid-season when they do happen to have a good record (thanks to an early hot streak, a great goalie, and the addition of the shootout to the NHL), and I also think that Renney is on a good level with the team. They respect him and trust him.

Plus, honestly, I don't think GM Glen Sather is going to pull the trigger this early. However, if Renney and the Rangers fizzle in the 2nd round of the playoffs again, I think an unceremonious firing might happen. What's the point of keeping a coach around if he cannot bring his squad past the 2nd round of the playoffs in 4 full seasons (not counting when he took over from Sather in 2004).

As for past performances, what he did with the team the past few seasons can't be disputed. He took a Jaromir Jagr who was seemingly past his prime, got him on board with a new system, and got 123 points out of him. He took a team of misfits (Steve Rucchin, Jay Ward, Blair Betts, Ville Nieminen, Jason Strudwick) and Czechs and made them part of a dream season in his first full year behind the bench at MSG. He has made the playoffs in every season he's had, and truthfully, they could've beaten both Pittsburgh last year and Buffalo two years ago. 

 

If it does happen, though, I can't entirely say I disagree with it. At some point, the coach has to accept responsibility for what is happening with this team. (And remember, they didn't beat the Penguins and Sabres.)

Now, as for this year, it is his fault that the power play isn't working. What's that, you say? He doesn't play on the PP or even really coach it? That's true, but doesn't he tap the players on their oversized shoulder pads to go out on the ice?

What justification does he have to keep sending Michal Rozsival out on the ice. The man doesn't shoot (probably for a reason, as when he does it goes wide) and has more shorthanded goals against than he has power play points this season. Renney puts too much trust in Wade Redden, also responsible for shorthanded goals, while not scoring a goal himself since very early in October. 

Is it stubbornness or does he think these broken parts will actually work if he uses them enough?

Petr Prucha is another example. Nigel Dawes gets Prucha's spot in the lineup after Prucha scored a goal in his three-game audition. Dawes has 6 points this year in 23 games, on par for a huge 21-point season spread out over 82 games. Yes, I know Prucha's numbers are even worse, but he is viciously under-utilized. No power play time, 4th line minutes. And did I spot Renney call Prucha a "Jack@$$" when Prucha stood up for himself and his teammates in Montreal?

There are probably more examples, but I'm tired now and I think I've typed enough. For the record, I'm in favor of sticking with him for the remainder of the season, but if Renney can't lead this team to the 3rd round or later, than it's time for a fresh face back there.

Sean Avery Suspended for Free Speech...

Last year, Chris Pronger stomped - yes, stomped - on Ryan Kesler's face. The dirty player, glorified by the NHL Network and nearly every hockey pundit out there, received 8 games as a punishment. 

It was his 8th time being suspended.

Today, Sean Avery referred to all-around nice guy (is my sarcasm evident online?) Dion Phaneuf's girlfriend as "my sloppy seconds." He was suspended "indefinitely" because of conduct "detrimental to the League or game of hockey." My guess is it will be a 5-game suspension and he will be fined.

Uh, it's true, isn't it? Kim Bauer went to Phaneuf right after she broke up with Avery. One Canadian hockey player to the next. Sounds like sloppy seconds to me. She went from Avery to Long Island native Mike Komisarek to Phaneuf with barely enough time for a shower.

Here's the full text, said in Canada, where apparently they don't have freedom of speech like the States do...

"I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the game tonight."

Suspended indefinitely for speaking his mind and neither cursing nor threatening a player. Apparently, it would have been less dangerous for him to step on someone's face with a skate blade (8 games), or elbow Dean McAmmond's head (1 game) after he was suspended for elbowing Thomas Holmstrom's head from behind (1), or kick Ville Nieminen with his skate (also 1 game), or cross-check Brendan Morrow in the face (2), or swing a stick at Jeremy Roenick's helmet (4 games). Maybe he should have fractured Pat Peake's thyroid cartilige when he swung his stick at his neck (Pronger received 4 games).

Oh, but calling the star of The Girl Next Door sloppy seconds is a heinous act.

Maybe the NHL was too busy reviewing Mike Mottau's vicious hit on Frans Nielsen and the subsequent 2-game suspension to actually hear what Avery heard. 

In-Game Blogging...

Jarkko Ruutu is like Ville Nieminen without the skill.

Now that Freddy Sjostrom has a permanent spot on the team, I wonder if I can peel off the "KROG" on the back of my #20 jersey and put "SJOSTROM" on it. (Okay, that's a lie, "RUCCHIN" is on my #20 Liberty jersey.)