Blue Notes

Thank you for you perspective.

Nice to see other good teams earning good fans.

Steve--Orr needs to sit. He has no skill and is no more than a decent/good fighter. He doesnt intimidate anyone. We need to groom a real 4th line for the long haul of the playoffs.

Steve -I would be surprised that Pock would have any value in a trade being that all teams passed on him via waivers. I do see the Rangers making a deadline deal for either or both of a dman and rental center to play with JJ in the playoffs.

Agreed on Orr sitting--hes useless.
I dont want to sell the future for a possible long playoff run...i really think we could be set for years if we keep out young guys.

Pierre Parenteau is Isbister-like.. great in the AHL, but amounts to nothing in the NHL. I think the Rangers just made this trade for some AHL scoring depth, since at the time Dawes, Callahan, Dubinsky were all up. I doubt Parenteau will see any time up.

Lets put Orr down in Hartford and let some real talent jel on the the line.
I would be fine with trading jagr btw.

they should bring Moore back up & sit Hossa. The centers need to switch lines. Either Gomez or Dubinsky should be with Prucha & Callihan.Drury can go with Jagr or Shanahan. The easiest switch would be Drury & Dubinsky, but putting Gomez in Cullen's old spot would create a speed line. It should have been tried in the last game, instead Renney sat on his hands along with his players.He needed to shake things up but didn't.

Really it's time to use the roster to our advantage. I games where the other team has a few too many goons, like the islanders, both Hollweg and Orr are needed. But when playing the Pens, or Toronto Avery and Hollweg should be plenty of muscle.
Grooming 1 or 2 4th line players and a top 6 rookie forward is really just smart hockey. Call up players for 2 weeks at a time to practice with the big club.

You have to put Prucha on the list to be traded as well. He brings the most value and is easily replaced by Dawes. Prucha is a 3 yr player who could land us a substantial defensmen. Bye bye PRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

NEED TO SIGN JAGR NEXT YEAR, WE HAVE A GOOD THING GOING IN THAT LOCKER ROOM.....

HES STILL BETTER THAN MOST OUT THERE..
HOPEFULLY WE BRING JAGR BACK...

Anonymous they have a call up limit for the year. They seem to have wasted a few while keeping only 20 when guys are injured. They seem to be very cap worried.

LI Joe,
Other teams passed on Pock because if the Rangers find themselves in a bind with D-men they will be handcuffed by the cap because coming back up, he WILL be picked up at the Rangers cap expense. I think it was discussed before but clearing waivers on the way down was easy. Nobody wants the hit for an up and down player. The claiming team would have to pay him and his salary would hit their cap space. No brainer here. Leave him down until he is a free agent or shop him around at the end of his contract...or, shop him to teams that might need a defensemen with playoff experience. I don't think moving him down was a mistake. They may have tried to move him first but early in the season I don't think anyone would want him. Other players that were vying for a spot in camp have proven to be more play-valuable, Staal, Strud, and Mara. He performed very well during the playoffs last season so he may come up with a fair trade value near the deadline.

John,
I'm doubtful on Jags. He is commanding a HUGE salary and only half of that is hitting the blushirts cap. Next season, it won't be the same. Will he take a 3 million dollar cut out of the goodness of his heart to stay on Broadway? I highly doubt it. Shanny took a cut to stay but the difference is being made up in a bonus that will hit the blushirts cap next season, plus Hanks impending jump in salary, and if you want to keep Avery away from the Cryers, you have a real problem trying to pay 68 his 6 million plus ANY raise he may want. Chereponov is a little Jagr clone. I think they maybe looking to him to replace Jags but I really don't see any prospect being that good that quickly...maybe those two kids out in Chicago but they aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Steve,
Do you think the Rangers care how Hartford does? The only thing they care about in Hartford is how their prospects play, that they stay healthy, and learn the system so that when they are called upon they can perform. It's all about depth. The people that care about Hartford are Hartford management, players there, and Ranger and Pack fans. Past the prospects, Glen probably doesn't give a hoot.

blklnblue,
Hossa is so strong on the puck. If he could develop his handling, passing and shooting skills a little more, he could be one of the better players in the league. His defensive play seems impeccable to me, which is probably why they keep him around.

Shanny, Jim, Annonymous, and Kevin,
Betts, Orr, Hollweg line is there for a reason. They have a role besides fighting or scoring points. The line is there to wear down the other team, and if they get the odd point great, but the bottom line is the fourth line isn't there to score points, and isn't really on ANY NHL team there to score points. Right now it seems their function is to establish a good forecheck and wear the other teams top line and change on the fly with the top line to generate some scoring. It seems to have worked in most of the games with the exception of the game against the Canes. What you should really look at is what is their plus minus. Or, even better, goals against. If they are close to 0, or have fewer goals against than any other line, they are in great shape and doing their job.

I keep a roster spot open for someone to take on the other teams "heavyweight" - I think it makes a differnce to have Orr go up against, say, Mcgrattan, rather than than Hollweg, from a team psyche perspective - maybe scratach Orr periodically, but keep him here. Besides that line isn't the problem - does Prucha and/or Hossa and/or Malik (eating some cash) get a one-way D-man to move the puck on the PP? I like Prucha, but he just hasn't shown the ability to finish. btw, for better or worse, they do seem to play better w/ Avery in there (Ottawa aside).

I really want Drury, Straka and Jagr on a line. Drury can win the face offs and move to wing (then he can crash the net and get rebounds), while Straka and Jagr control the play.

I'm sorry, but Dubi is not good enough to play with Jagr.. not yet. Put the Callahan, Dubi and Prucha together and let the young guys get used to each other since they'll be a top line when the vets retire.

DAN Hossa's ship has sailed.He has no heart. Let Sather try to trade him, he'll get what he got for Pock. No offers.

OAVEL that's why Drury was signed, but was changed way too fast . Their system is a prevent offense on both sides.

Dan - my point is why would a team trade for Pock when they could have him for the cost of a claim and no players or draft picks given up. he still has another yr on his contract as well. so my point is he has very little if any trade value. I agree that he's more likely to be picked up on the way up for 1/2 the cost to the claiming team. maybe at beginning of next yr they'll try him again since he does not have to clear reentry waivers at beginning of season - if he's still here that is. but the majotr point is he is not worth much to other teams if they all passed on him - and at a relatively low salary. Also the team cares a bit about how Hartford does. It does the prospects little good to be losing all their games. so if a career AHL'er can help get some wins they might do it. That's why they grabbed Isbister last yr.

Bourret is a TOTAL WASH-OUT, when it comes to even-strength, on-ice goals for/ goals against, at the AHL level. He should be sent to Charlotte, or canned. The Rangers should trade him for a stale bagel.

Hossa is a corners mucker who makes things happen for his more lazy-ass, me first - team last linemates. He is the hardest working, most unselfish, and under-appreciated member of the team.

Betts gets my vote as the WORST member of The Skunk Line, but the other two glorified AHL journeymen on that line are close to his incompetence. This putrid line - all of them - has to go! They wear their own team down with the holes they put the team in, via goals allowed, plus, they do not score, unless the net is empty. They are as useful as three mules running in the Kentucky Derby = outclassed!

RB,
are you kidding. Betts is by far more useful than orr and hollweg (although i do like that line alot) do you weven watch games? Try it youll make more sense next time you talk hockey.

Why is snoozeday censoring hockey fans?
I guess somebody has to much time on their hands.

The only thing different about this blog now is that you have to wait an hour to read the moronic posts that come out.

We still have an imposter Jim from Woodbury and we still have no nothing RB making little sense.

How come we have one of the best penalty killing units in the league, yet no one ever give Betts any credit to what what he provides to that?

I've been posting here for a long time. I use different names from time to time. And these last few posts are really why!
Most of you are looking for complete perfection from this team. Whenever something goes wrong, you guys are calling for heads to roll. I say, hold on, wait a second. Did someone just call the Rangers best face off taker a skunk? Is someone so totally removed from regular Rangers games that they can;t see what Prucha, Hollweg and Orr bring to the "everyday" style of play? Now granted I don't believe the team needs both Orr and Hollweg in every single game, but common sense should tell you that they're there for a reason.
Am I the only one here now a days that is happy we're completing for a top spot in the league? Has everyone already forgotten the hell we've "paid good money" for in the last decade?
Here's the deal, except Hossa, every other player has earned his right to play with this team in the last 3 years! Opinion.
Compairing Hossa to Prucha is just crazy talk. Crazy! Honestly there isn't anything to compair other than Hossa was given a top line position and Prucha has never been give 24 games to make his case. Umm, yeah! there goes that arguement! 54 goals in 2 1/2 seasons vs 30 goals in 4 1/2 seasons. The poor kid is a PP specialist, until 2 games ago, he wasn't playing on the PPvery much this year. Fact! Umm, that's strange huh?
And please don't fire back with that crap about Hossa playing in the corners and working out the puck, because it didn't work (and isn't) and Dubi does it SOOOOO much better!
There will be losing streaks. There will be games that the team can't win. No team has gone undefeated. Careful what you wish for when asking for a trade. History does not favor us in this department. Need not mention those names... (coughing, DALLAS, Montreal, Philly)
So lay off. Easy up. Take a deep breathe and have a drink. Cause most of you need it.
NOW, 2 games in 2 nights and well be closer to the 40 at this time of year than we've been since '97.

Anonymously
Slick Willy

I'm just going to say "Here, Here" to Slick Willy.

You saved me alot of typing my friend.

The fourth line isn't scoring goals!!!!

Imagine that....

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/rangers/2007/12/cullen-trade-was-right-move-fo.html

There will be a future after Jagr and Shanny are long gone.
To follow up the last post, Our first line center is a rookie playing with Jagr, Straka, Hossa and Drury. Professors meet your only student.
Not too shabby for a 1st year kid huh?

This only goes out to the mo-mo that said Parenteau was worthless.
You need to read some more boy. You also need to learn to read some stat sheets too kid. Now sharpen up your game or get lost.
I will help you with this link.

http://stats.theahl.com/stats/player.php?id=64

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