Center on Value

In a league where every team has the same amount of money to spend on their players, it makes it imperative to approach players Contracts with the entire team in mind.

Think of building a team like building a house. You have a schematic of exactly how you want it to look. You have a budget set for how much money you can spend. And then you have variables like partnerships, outsource-able contracts, and any personal connections or tricks you may have garnered in the past (which we will get into later).

First you install the 'guts' of the house, like the framework, plumbing and electrical, walls, flooring, and roof. (These 'crucials' can be represented in hockey by low-cost 3rd and 4th line talent. I consider 3rd and 4th line players to be those that leave games having generated more for their team by having given up less. If the third/fourth lines of opposing teams cancel each other out, both teams will have had demonstrated strong foundations. These lines you will find your shut-down players, penalty killers, checkers, and defensive defensemen. Their success can be measured by penalties drawn, penalties killed, time spent in the opposing team's zone, hits delivered, and other intangibles.)

Once the foundation is laid and the guts are working cohesively, then you can think of what kind of counter tops to install, the number of diamonds to encrust on the chandelier, where you'll mount your flatscreen. (In hockey, these are represented by the scoring players, who have proven they are worth the big bucks, and should expect top-line minutes. These are investments that are supposed to shine the brightest, and be the most attractive aspects. However, they must be selected appropriately to work with the foundation -and not against it- as the best hockey teams will feed off one anothers' successes.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, their high-cost luxuries and foundation-crucials have not complimented each other well, and our investments have not lived up to their advertised potential. Our pricey players have not performed up to par, which has caused extra stress on the lower-level foundation guys who then would exhaust their efforts into covering up the top lines mistakes and scoring voids. The '08-09 Rangers were known for their top penalty killing and egregious [thanks Walt Frazier] power play - a clear sign that our blue collar guys were being overworked and our Playboys were casting down more slack to pick up then they were dishing out to their opponents.



The Rangers, possibly after their '06-07 semi-final defeat to the Buffalo Sabres, have since taken an "A-" game, and turned it into a "C+" game. We ended up selling the wide screen TV and pool table (Jagr, Shanahan, Straka, Tyutin) to make room for the bowling alley and bar (Gomez, Drury, Redden). Now we face the problems of not having a TV to watch after experiencing full-HD. Also our house already had a bar out where the pool was (Roszival), which is now struggling to find its position on the team after complimenting the pool so well. We will also need to reconstruct the basement to fit in the bowling alley, which demands a lot more money to maintain and operates a lot differently then a pool table.

The team was reconstructed after a semi-successful 06-07 campaign, and then tweaked again last summer. These changes have seen the removal of some of our foundation elements, with some big question marks being inserted into major roles. The end result was a lack of identity, lack of confidence, and absolutely a lack of scoring.



Brandon Dubinsky and Scott Gomez are fine examples for the point I am trying to make. Similar production, with perhaps a tiny bit proven scoring in Gomez [but not by much] and +/- in Dubinsky. And to whoever watched the '08-09 playoffs, a lot more intangible goodness in Dubinsky that sets the organization up for success.

Brandon Dubinsky has been a reliable foundation player, offering "more good then bad" for this team, satisfying his original purpose as a 3rd line center. Dubinsky was drafted by the Rangers, did his time in Hartford and fought for his position like his career depended on it (which it did). Dubinsky's salary was based off his draft position, and his expiring $633,000 contract will need upgrading and renewing for the coming years.

Scott Gomez was a free agent acquisition and the result of an [expected] bidding war amongst other luxury-hungry teams. Scott Gomez was handed a 7-year deal worth $7,357,000 million a year without ever having played a game for the Rangers. Gomez does not need to prove anything or fight for his spot on the roster. It is not a necessity to his future with his team. This is not a new concept, however, and has always been a cause for concern when new faces are given huge long-term contracts. Gomez's [and Drury's] lackluster performances this season are a result of a 'good player' being forced into a 'superstar' role, while the sturdy floorboards of the team have begun to disintegrate.

Dubinsky has proven value as a + (positive) player, having been nurtured by the Rangers organization, and driven by ice time - not dollar signs.

Gomez has shown signs of brightness, but has not shined like the franchise player he has been paid to be, and absolutely has not been a positive influence on the framework of the Rangers shanty.

Scott Gomez and Chris Drury signed on July 1st, 2007. Their combined $14,407,000 salary represents 15% of the roster's total payroll ($58,295,000). Lump in other big-bucks-no-lucks players Michal Roszival and Wade Redden and that combines to $25,407,000 - or 29% of the entire roster's payroll. Throw Lundqvist on there (even though his is the only contract I can actually agree with, seeing as how he earned it), and that makes it $32,282,000.

As it stands now, the total of 22 players contracted on a team, will see 5 of them receiving $32,282,000, or 80.1% of the allotted $58,295,000.

6 of these remaining 17 are already on Contract for next year also, albeit shorter term, bringing the total to $42,909,000.

This means we have 9 open roster spots for "foundation" players and one "super-star" if we are going to actually score some goals, and $15,386,000 to spend on them.

I can think of at least two franchise-born Rangers who will be looking for their first big contracts, and rightfully so, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan.

We'll have about as much cap space in the off-season as the Caps gave space to our shoulda-beens in the playoffs.

Baseball Season.

First, to the Rangers enthusiasts who read the New York Post: look at Larry Brooks’ post-game today. Sorry Larry, but I dropped the “What If” jargon one day before you!

And now onto my Game 7 reaction..

“Play the man Redden.. PLAY THE MAN REDDEN… PLAY THE—ARRRGHHH!!!!”

Maybe after seeing good defensemen (like Marc Staal and Dan Girardi - as well as tearful memories of Fedor Tyutin) take the body on opposing players challenging the fragile ice in front of the net, I had high expectations for this trend to roll rub off on $6.5 million earner Wade Redden – but he is not the reason we lost. High expectations with depressing finishes - the story of the ’05-09 Rangers, so at least we have finally found some element of consistency in their game.


What can we take away from this experience? A few of our top players faded into mediocrity in the shadow of a few our emerging young talent propelling to excellence. What does that mean? We will need to sign Contracts to our young players, but will be crippled by those long-term deals of our has-been veterans. Glen Sather is a veteran GM, but total and utter rookie to the salary cap.

Looking for authentic, autographed memorabilia? Click here!

More on this all summer. For now, back to the game.

That Avery – Dubinsky – Antropov line with the goal and the massive scoring chances we saw in the first two periods.. Wow!! I would have loved to have seen this line as our #1 all season! I would have loved to have seen a lot of things we got a taste of tonight all season. If they had played this way in Strike 1 or Strike 2 of their mid-series implosion, the Blueshirts would of surely spring-boarded into the Semi-finals by now.

I don’t think that this was a cup-winning team, even if they did route Washington. What If we had that presence in the slot that is always cocked and ready to shoot, like Marty Straka and Brendan Shanahan provided in last year’s run [and before Glen Sather pulled the plug on him – in Petr Prucha, too], we may have had that goal-scoring edge we missed all [post]season. Heck, we might have had that puck-shooting edge that a team weaving lateral passes back and forth has created an outright demand for.

A couple notes from Game 7.
The approach and shot fired by Sergei Fedorov to win it for the Capitals was identical to the goal by Eric Staal to win it for the Carolina Hurricanes over the New Jersey Devils in their Game 7. One move has advanced the Southeast over the Atlantic.

The Rangers were instantly whistled for a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty in Game 6 when they had six skaters on the ice in a botched shift. Washington had a much worse break-down in which at least eight Redshirts were on the ice in Game 7 – ignored by the zebras. (I mention this alone from the other refereeing inconsistencies, because this is a bench mistake and impossible for an official to overlook--or so we thought.)



Two interesting quotes:

"You cannot win hockey game by scoring just one goal." -Jaromir Jagr, 06-07

Grade on this statement: A+

"If Sean Avery is the Rangers best player, they don't stand a chance." - VS. Idiots

Grade on this statement: F

With Avery [Dubinsky, and Callahan] as the Rangers best skater[s], they had Alexander Ovechkin and the NHL's #1 offense on their heels and their heads spinning for the majority of Game 7. When Avery plays his "best" he is absolutely the Rangers' "best player" and they had a real good shot last night. Unfortunately, that shot clanged off the post, much like AO's power-play wrister in Game 1.

"What if" Avery was allowed to play in Game 5?

Strike Three. They're Out.
Let's Go Yankees.

Destiny in the Glove of Lundqvist, Rangers

In the previous two Ranger wins (3 and 4 games ago, respectively) of this Quarterfinal grudge-match-turned-personal, Henrik Lundqvist was the game's no. 1 star both times. Since then, the King has stepped down from his throne in the 4-0 beating and 5-3 mockery delivered by the Ovechkin-fueled Capitals, having been pulled in the third period of Games 5 and 6.

The Washington Capitals have rode the individual successes of their reigning-MVP superstar, Alexander Ovechkin, into the post-season, featuring huge individual effort and heavy scoring. The Rangers have rode the successes of their NHL-leading penalty kill unit, centered by work-a-holic Blair Betts, into the post-season. Our catalyst superstar was strategically removed from the Roster, at the cost of projected ~12:30 ice time to an easy scratch in Donald Brashear. What if, (and depending on the outcome of tonight's finale, there may be plenty of "What if's" to write about in the coming months), one of our low-minute goons returned the courtesy and eliminated the Capital's catalyst for success?

Not to suggest that the Rangers should target no. 8 with a violent Brashear-like career-ending hit, but merely "What if?"..



With the Artem Anisimov call-up (Anisimov being the sooner-expected Next Big Thing out of the Broadway), we will have exhausted the dugout and now sit staring at our loan batter goaltender with our hands grasped and eyes solemn. With an empty bullpen, a ravaged play-book, and destiny still in our heroes' hands, we sit with one last opportunity after whiffing two.

Strike 1 whizzed by the plate while the Rangers just stood there, dumbfounded.

Strike 2 was fouled into the stands (directly behind the away bench at the Verizon center).

Now it is the bottom of the ninth and we are tied up.

Last chance. Make this one count.

Brashear Sits 5. Betts Might Sit Forever.

Injury reports released across the Canadian web today, including this one, identify Blair Betts' injury, induced by known-menace Donald Brashear's hit to the head, in Sunday's Game 6 Rangers' loss to the NHL-favorited Washington Capitals, as a broken orbital bone.

We've seen players with broken orbital bones return in the past (like Todd Fedoruk's NHL return after having his face broken by Derek Boogaard) however these are long-shot returns because of the high degree of damage such an injury can entail. Sometimes they result in just cracked bone - requiring metal places to be screwed in to re-build the structure, while other times they could impede vision and effectively end the careers [such as the career of former North Stars forward Henry Boucha]

Only the surgeons and doctors surrounding Blair Betts in the next few weeks will be able to effectively forecast the realness of a professional ice hockey career for New York's most blue-collar of Blueshirts now.

Brashear's dirty career, already tainted with numerous other suspensions, will be over for the next 5 games due to this incident.

Betts' proud, hard-fought career might be over forever.

Spezza over Redden

Remember when we made that big signing for Wade Redden last summer and we all thought 'Hey, Ottawa went to the Stanley Cup Finals just in '07, they had to have been doing something right.."

We took a $6.5 million dollar guess (for each the next several years) at what they were doing right defensively by signing veteran defenseman, Wade Redden. Since joining the Rangers, Redden has had 3 goals (career lowest), 23 assists (third career lowest), for 26 points (2nd career lowest), and a -5 rating (career lowest).

We needed that defenseman, though, to fill the void we had made in releasing Fedor Tyutin to the Columbus Bluejackets in exchange for Nikolai Zherdev. What if (and on the off-day between Game 6 and Game 7 when your team is the 1000-1 underdog, I'm sure lots of people are formulating What If's), we had held onto the 4-year deal that we had just signed Fedor Tyutin, and gone after Jason Spezza out of Ottawa instead?


What if we had kept Tyutin over Redden? We'd have maintained the #1 Girardi-Tyutin pairing that we so admirably built. We'd have kept our #1 hitter and #2 shot-blocker of '07-08 in Tyutin, we'd have more contract flexibility in following years (which many are already seeing a bitter horizon), and we'd have a durable young player in our system that we birthed and nurtured to a point of number-1-defenseman value.

With Tyutin on instead of Redden, we would of been able to make a deal for Jason Spezza, who ended up being waved around for sale like a bootleg Giants Superbowl XLIII shirt after last year's embarassing failure to the Philadelphia Eagles. The difference between Redden's salary and Tyutin's salary (roughly $3.5 mil), along with the Zherdev contract ($2.5 mil) would of provided a nice paycheck for the Ottawa centre, who has proven that he can go all the way to the top at just 25, while maintaining our faster, tougher, younger defense.

The personnel decisions on the Rangers may leave you scratching your head. What if Glen Sather was a bit more like Donnie Walsh. What if our primary concern was the long-term future? What if any long-term contract we signed would only be given to players who have proven their talents for at least 1 or 2 years [on lesser Contracts] first? After '08-09, it is gonna be a long road behind Gomez, Drury, Redden, and Roszival.

Gotta mention, I'm also a huge fan of Jason Spezza's former OHL coach's training regime which has seemed to generate some real tough, high-scoring players.

Brashear Out, a little late...

So at roughly 4:00 PM, EST, or 26 hours after the Rangers latest beating, the NHL finally called the "penalty" on Donald Brashear.

NHL's article on Rangers webpage.

Although I agree that this beast-man does deserve some type of suspension, I find it laughable at how this league continues to work and enforce its rules on the ice. Citing my previous discussion, Flesh-Eating Head-Hunters, it should be understood that in these types of critical, injury-inducing situations, the culprit could very well receive game misconducts for such actions, which we saw happen to our own #17 for what many consider a 'lesser crime.'

Brandon Dubinsky was, for all intents and purposes, ejected from Game 6 due to his boarding call on NHL's beloved Mike Green. He was ejected during a time when the Rangers were, *gasp*, pressing an attack, in a period that they beat Washington in scoring. In fact, it marks only the 3rd out of 18 periods of play in which the Rangers were actually outscoring and outplaying their opponents. Dubinsky has enjoyed 3 points in 6 games so far (including a GWG and an assist on another GWG), while averaging 19:30 ice time. That means that this player has helped account for 66% of the offense that has brought the Rangers into the now 3-3 series tie that they are so desperately clinging to. Having one of our top two players in this series, the other being Ryan Callahan for his heroics all over the ice, ejected, after Dubinsky was bitten (still unaddressed by the NHL as of this post), dimmed any faint spark the Rangers may have started to build in their 5-3 loss yesterday, scoring two goals in the third.

All of this happened already, so what's the point of this post?

The point is that the referees and security personnel enforcing the NHL's rules and code of conduct have the highest impact during a game! When the emotions are on the ice, and the game-changing players are involved (Sean Avery, Blair Betts, Brandon Dubinsky..) all referees and call-making should be done in the immediate, without bias.

When a fan is screaming obscenities in the visiting coach's ear, while spitting on him and pouring beer on him, clearly there is a breech in security. Personnel should be summoned and positioned where necessary. (What are these guys getting paid for?).

When a player's head is targeted by a known-goon who sits atop of the NHL suspension and fighting list, disciplinary action should be taken at that moment. If this player is allowed to go unpenalized, it sends all the wrong messages to the opposite team and the millions of people watching, and will most likely halt any momentum that the victim's team may had been building (and cherishing at this point). Throwing a suspension at him after the fact will mean his average 2:30 ice time will have to go to another Washington player (a no-brainer trade for the opposing team's best Penalty killer on the NHL's #1 PK unit.)

Imagine if, say, Orr blind-sided Ovechkin in the head and left him twitching on the ice to watch the remainder of his team's playoffs from the press box? Obama's back yard would call for a lynching.

Vicious Flesh-Eating Head-Hunters?

Really?

Brashear, known cheap-shotter and Capital thug, intentionally blindsides Blair Betts with an elbow to the head. He serves two minutes for his following altercation with Paul Mara. 0 PIM for the attack.



Later in the game.. apparently Brandon Dubinsky was bitten during the third period by Caps defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and received a tetanus shot after the game.

Dubinsky hit NHL-leading defenseman scorer and star of sponsored NHL segments, Mike Green, behind the Capitals goal. Melee ensued after the whistle while Morrisonn latched onto Dubinsky. Morrisonn received a minor penalty for roughing, while Dubinsky was charged with two minutes for boarding, two for roughing and then a ten minute game misconduct while he attempting to show his visceral bloody bite marks to the referee.

Dubinsky's shoulda-been 2-for-boarding collection of penalties accounted for 12 more minutes then the combined total PIM of both the head-hunting Donald Brashear and the flesh-eating Shaone Morrisonn.

"Discipline"

The spotlight is on 7th and 32nd, right over-head, casting a huge shadow. It is not one player standing within this spotlight, or a couple of players. It is the merely the term "Discipline" and the drama that has ensued after the larger-then-life Sean Avery scratching, only to see his scratcher, coach John Tortorella, suspended by evil emperor Bettman for the Rangers 5-3 loss to the Capitals.

The most entertaining and enthralling story of the '08-09 Stanley Cup playoffs has not been about Ice Hockey, but about the tension between the in-your-face pest play style of Sean Avery and the take-no-shit 'tude of Coach John Tortorella, both of whom have come crashing down along with the Rangers confidence in the past two games of the season-breaking quarterfinals with the Ovie's gang of thugs.

A gang of thugs who are on the brink of back-to-back years of quarterfinal rallies.

Avery's lack of "Discipline"


Tortorella, after scratching Avery, lack of "Discipline"


What will happen on the next episode of "The Rangers!" ?

Remember Eddy Curry in '05-'06?

Remember the guy that would take that big forceful step inside and lay it in with ease, over opponents of all sizes, with either hand? And who could forget the jams..



You know, that low-post threat we took for granted? If Eddy Curry played low minutes in high intensity situations where he'd be able to get to the places in the paint that he needs to be, he could give the Knicks that extra surge in those score-drought situations that seem to be spreading throughout 7th and 32nd. I saw plenty of our deepest holes get made in the second half of the third quarter of games all season long. If, and only if, Eddy Curry can take his off-season training seriously, we may not need to draft or trade for the low-post threat we have been starving for.

Looking at the difference between NBA players and NHL players, I might suggest that Eddy Curry try out an ice hockey routine, perhaps the one of high-intensity routines that the Europeans like Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat, and Patrik Elias put their bodies through?




Core training techniques that these European hockey players employ lead to 15+ year seasons at the top of the stat sheets. Eddy Curry might have another 1-2 good years left in him, yet. Depending on if his training this summer can really prove 'european' enough for his Euro-ball savvy coach.

Strike two on crunch time..

Chalk tonight's third [embarssing] loss up on the Rangers screw-up list for this roller coaster ride of a season. The latest low was seen today when the Capitals manhandled the Rangers, forced turn-overs, and drove Lundqvist out of the net in two periods, and also in two games. (Not to mention Lundqvist was bull-rushed during Washington's goal barrage without retaliation). The Rangers looked reminiscent of the lost team we saw in utter free-fall back in February before our coaching change and injection of new players. Since that time, our previous team-leading scorer Nikolai Zherdev has had a measly 2 points, and 0 in the playoffs.

Since the Rangers extended their Quarterfinals series lead to 3-1, they have already had two major whiffs at the plate. Why Can't our heroes live up to their proven potential?

Was pulling the plug on Avery pulling the plug on the Rangers? All will make sense about this team on Tuesday.

Madison Square Garden

MSG - The birthplace of the Knicks and Rangers.

Hello, I am a new blog about your favorite MSG should-be badboys of puck and basketball. Although you may also find me glancing at and tiptoeing deeper into other topics and sports, you will find my primary concern on 7th Avenue and 32nd Street - Madison Square Garden.





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