Just another manic Monday in cloudy LA, where the freeway is a dull roar downtown.
But I can squeeze in some responses to your comments---sarcastic and supportive:
For Robby: As a newspaper guy for 30 years, I've never been one to avoid the road not taken in the media scrum because readers may enjoy a different approach than the other publications. You can look it up. Felt that way as an editor as well.
Yet sometimes circumstances dictate that there's one timely---and intriguing---story a day. Both Dellapina and I were at the skate Sunday morning and had the same idea about Hollweg and his SoCal roots; no thievery at all; we interviewed him together when he got off the ice. The Rangers aren't scheduled to be out here for three years---who knows where we'll all be in three years, right?---and the setting was too good to pass up. So 2 writers, one story, sometimes it happens. If Renney had said "that Jagr guy just can't play anymore''-- you'd have the same piece in all the papers, too.
For Bob: More numbers.
If the Rangers go 12-46, I won't be writing "Wait until next year"
Even before that, at 12-23, it would be "Back Up the Moving Van, Housecleaning time at MSG!"
And there would be a mass arrival of "yutes" from Hartford....
As for the tired old calculation that there are only 18,000 Rangers fans, well, your abacus may be on the fritz.
There's a waiting list for season tickets, I receive emails from all over the U.S. from former New Yorkers---and yes including some expatriate Long Islanders---who follow the team on the internet and satellite, even some commentary from Canada and Europe. NBC would love nothing more than the Rangers to advance deep into the playoffs to tap that deep base, trust me.
For NIck: Trading a veteran defenseman could happen, but the salaries of Kaspar ($3 mil, with one more year), Malik, Rozsival and Rachunek (around $2 mil each) are prohibitive for many teams. Feelers are out there, I understand, and not keeping Marc Staal here instead of sending him off to Sudbury looks more and more like a miscalculation.
Tyutin, Pock and Ozo, if he continues to re-invent his game with a two-way presence, are probably the most attractive and something could happen at the trade deadline. A waiver or trade for a draft pick is more possible in the short term. They can't stick with eight D for much longer. The numbers don't lie.
Again, thanks for the positive response to this evolving forum in the ether.
Circle back here later for on-site, exclusive (and I know that word is bandied about a lot, but this is legit) pre-game and between-periods info, ruminations and critiques from the Staples Center tonight.
'Til then.....