How Soon We Forget

Sometimes the worst time of the year to be watching the Rangers is the days leading up to July 1st as the rumors seem to get more and more out of hand to the point where the sky is just about falling for the Rangers. Really does anyone want to go back to the days leading up to July 1 last season and what happened when free agency started?

Remember how people were arguing about which UFA to sign Gomez or Drury, nobody gave it a second thought that the Rangers would pull off signing off both players. It was going to be one or the other so we just have to ask how come with a 6.4 million raise in the cap level that people are so sure the Rangers are going to lose Jagr, lose Avery and lose out on whoever they are supposedly targeting?

If there was any argument to move Sather to figurehead Team President then it starts at this time of the year. The more people see Sather's name the more people start thinking the worst is about happen.

We have followed Sather since his days with the Oilers going back 25 years and you know something the Gomez and Drury signings; we seriously doubt those were his idea. As a GM sorry Glen Sather has not shown any kind of genius to pull off that kind of daily double during his time as Ranger GM.

Heck he never could pull off anything like that with the Oilers while with them either. We give Sather credit for hiring Tom Renney and Jim Schoenfeld and that really is where it stops.

Renney/Schoenfeld led to Clark then all the others as both of them have repeatedly shown the thought process about what it takes to fix so much with the Rangers. That the Rangers are playing a defensive system surely is not Sather at all because Sather is about offense with defense as an afterthought.

It has been our belief that going after both Gomez and Drury was the bright idea of the 3 headed monster known as Clark/Schoenfeld/Hope. Unless you are going to believe that all of a sudden Glen Sather became a daring and gutsy GM overnight.

Given how so many of you truly dislike Sather then maybe we need to stop for a second and catch our breath and stop thinking like it is Sather pulling the strings. We are willing to take that leap of faith because sorry one does not go from losing for 11 out of 12 years to a 44 win season overnight.

We look at the Rangers right now and ask so why can't they repeat what they did last year during free agency? See while we are no math experts and really are just guessing here but we see the Rangers as have close to 23 million dollars to spend on July 1.

See we forget all those cap experts because they (depending on who you like) either add every salary in the system or they are selective as to who to include. Talk to us about how much the Rangers are spending come opening night when the season starts as that is when cap number really matters.

Here is what we do know for a fact; Cameron Hope is the best contract man in the NHL as his peers all love this guy. If anyone is going to be creative when it comes to finding ways to pay for players it will be him.

All this gloom and doom is almost comical, as on one hand people are repeating just about every single rumor they are seeing but in the same breath questioning how reliable the source is. Kind of silly don't you think?

Let us see Jagr is gone because nobody loves him, Avery is going to sign with the Islanders, Sundin is coming to the Rangers, and Dubi of the Blueshirt Bulletin is going to sign a multi-million dollar deal to play center for the Knicks (that was a joke folks but with the Knicks who knows).

Why not have a bit of faith that come July 1 that the Rangers are not going to screw up royally and take us all back on a trip back to the days of dumbness? Sorry but it is just so hard to believe that the Rangers are going to screw up the last 3 years of progress fixing the franchise by making bad moves.

We simply can not accept that Tom Renney, Jim Schoenfeld, Gordie Clark and Cameron Hope are going to turn their back on the changes and improvements the Rangers have made within. We do not see the Rangers as stumbling bumbling fools anymore.

Too much has been already invested to return to the days of wasting away money. Too much has been invested to restart rebuilding either so why not think that the Rangers will do the right thing?

Here is what is really needs to be considered as well which is that it takes not one but TWO to make a deal. As much as it is easy to point the fingers at the Rangers then how come nobody wants to ask what the players are willing to do to sign with the Rangers?

Seriously is Sean Avery is asking for too much money then would it not be responsible of the Rangers to pass on the deal? Avery has to realize that his off ice dreams are best served if he remains as a Ranger so while it is understandable that Avery does not sell himself cheap at the same time Avery needs to realize his actual value and be realistic with his expectations.

The UFAs from other teams will see their salaries based upon the market but sorry but one has to wonder just how good Ryan Malone would have been if he did not have Crosby or Malkin as teammates? When one looks at the crop of potential UFAs then seriously the quality and quantity is kind of scary for how weak this overall group is.

When we see players who do not have long term track records then it becomes hard to justify some of the salaries we are expecting to see offered. The same goes to how old some of those with those track records too.

Of course with the Rangers they will be dammed if they do and dammed if they do not.

Then can we talk about Jagr as Jagr is no idiot, he realizes that despite his desire to play 2-3 more seasons that for most of last season he struggled with his game. IF Jagr is serious about wanting to return to the Rangers then accepting a 1 year deal where it can be filled with bonus money would be the way to go.

It would also be the best way for Jagr to make the most money as it does go with his "I find that I play my best hockey when there’s a pressure on me" reported statement. Do not know about the rest of you but if I was making money based upon performance goals then that is a nice amount of pressure.

Seriously so many are expecting the Rangers to mess up here but one has to ask at what price do you want to pay? Should the Rangers go after a RFA, make a trade or 2 or the one option we know they will not do which is step backwards?

In any event by 12:01 AM Tuesday we expect Ranger fans to be freaking out demanding why the Rangers have not gotten "so and so" signed.

Where have We Heard This Before?

No offense to DaTel as one does not shoot the messenger but here is another thing that we just annoys the heck out of us. Didn't we have a Jagr interview during the off-season that Jagr was reported to have said all these negative things only to have Jagr swear everything was totally taken out of context?

It is like we could swear that last off-season there was a Jagr interview or press conference in the Czech Republic where after the fact, Jagr swore up and down that everything was taken out of context.

Which is why when we have read the stuff from those who "reported" it that we are taking it with a grain of salt.

It is very hard for us to accept that Jagr feels unloved, that Sather should have called him while he was in NYC as excuse but Sather and the Rangers were preparing for the Entry Draft for most of the last month. Again Jagr is no idiot nor is he the spoiled child that several of what was supposedly said makes him out to be.

Sorry but call us strange as we want to hear all of this directly from Jagr not via a translated article or two. The Jagr we have watched over the last few years as a Ranger has not been anything like the one we are seeing in these reports.

Somewhere we do believe something really is lost in the translation.