If you are a New York Ranger fan who was wanting to see the team sign Brad Richards when he becomes a free agent then Sunday should have been the reality check you needed to have.

Larry Brooks with his "Sources Indicate" nonsense actually does serve one very good purpose which is offering up the number one reason why the Rangers need to run not walk from any idea of signing Richards.

Of course Larry was the last one to know the Richard story as it did not take an Einstein to know what was going to happen. Richards at 31 is no fool as he knows this is his last chance at a big payday.

Richard knows very well that his production was as good as and in some cases better than several who made more in salary that he did. Richards knows full well that he does not have to take a pay cut from 7.8 million because there is going to be somebody out there who will give him the money.

And this "Dallas is out of the running" is very premature as with each passing day it gets more and more clearer that Tom Gaglardi is going to be able to purchase the Stars on his terms. The Governor's Meeting on the 21st of June leaves plenty of time to get things in order but it was a good idea by Richard to light a fire under their butts to get things going.

As soon as Gaglardi becomes the owner of the Stars then how much you want to bet that Gaglardi will ask one of his partners in the Kamloops Blazers to give Richards a call? Take your pick out of Shane Doan, Jarome Ignila, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor to make the call for Gaglardi.

For some reason we think it will be Darryl Sydor making the call to his former teammate that he won the Stanley Cup with at Tampa Bay. And when you are a billionaire like Gaglardi who knows hockey then he understands how badly he needs to rebuild credibility with the Dallas fans.

And another team not to discount will be the new Winnipeg franchise who will be coming into the game with close to 26 million in free cap space. True North could make a huge splash by convincing Richards that Winnipeg is willing to pay for free agents.

In fact if you take the time to read what Capgeek wrote then is makes a lot of sense for Winnipeg to want to make a splash by signing 1-2 key free agents. Adding a Richards to a young team that was in the playoff hunt for most of the season goes a long way to help strengthen Winnipeg's return to the NHL.

But Ranger fans the moment you see that Richards is wanting a payday then that should have been the sign that he was the wrong person for the Rangers. What you should be looking for from a free agent is not the person who says "I am signing because this was the best offer."

You want the guy who says "I picked the Rangers because they offer me a chance to win the Cup." You want the guy who is still hungry and money is not what motivates him to play.

Every year you see players who are willing to take less money because they want to win and will take less if it helps the team out. Go out and sign those players as they are the ones who will come in hungry wanting to not only win but earn a bigger paycheck.

The Rangers simply can not afford to get themselves tied up in another long term deal with an older player. There are still too many holes on the roster (only 13 signed for next season) before you get to the restricted free agents.

Why not instead break that 7 million up and use it on guys like a Kevin Bieska who at 29 will give you experience on the blueline (not to mention having a good playoff run helps) at a mid level salary.

Or a Radim Vrbata to replace the useless Frolov as Vrbata has averaged 21 goals the last 2 years. Learn the lesson that it is "Not how much you spend but rather how well you spend it."

Either that or we can establish a form to fill out every year like this:

What was Sather thinking when he signed (insert name here) to a (insert contract terms here)? You would think that after screwing up when he gave (insert second player's name) that dead weight (insert contract terms here) that he would have learned not to toss money out.

Now we are stuck with this (insert name) for another (insert number of years) years. We have got to stop giving out these contracts already.

But can we please sign (insert flavor of the year name) on July 1?

No Tweeting Allowed

Sometimes I think New York Ranger and New York Islander fans read way too much into things than maybe they should. Sure one can understand being passionate about their team but sometimes you got to wonder if perhaps a little too passionate.

Say hi to Michael Del Zotto who has a Twitter or Facebook account; not sure which one he was using to post but boy did I get a lot of emails over him.

It seems that Del Zotto was playing around with his postings and it gave off to some Ranger fans the idea that Del Zotto was not being serious, that he was not training hard or did not care. If you were one of those who did not like what Del Zotto was supposedly doing then may I suggest that you don't follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

There is a double standard at work here as it seems is it OK for the world to joke around on Twitter or Facebook but tweeting is not allowed if you are a Ranger or Islander? The other day I was on Twitter and I was trading "Moses" jokes with Russ Cohen and Chris Wassel.

I know when Russ Cohen is covering prospects that he is all work (and quite good at it) and when Chris Wassel is posting his work at "The Program" that he is all work. Sure the 3 of us are media and not athletes but it is OK for us to be joking around.

You know there is a time for work and a time to play? Because I can joke around with a Russ Cohen or Chris Wassel then it allows me to be just like anyone else; a person. Cohen and Wassel are going to understand how hard we have to work to get the stories that we do which is a giant help when you are tired or dealing with writer's block.

My first reaction to hearing that Del Zotto was having some fun was "good for him he needs it". Being a first round draft pick of the New York Rangers at times is perhaps one of the worst positions to be in.

Thanks to previous first round picks who failed to make the cut then a Del Zotto is already facing a fan base that does not have a whole lot of faith that he will make it. Sure I know that there are some of you who do not have any sympathy for Del Zotto but how he handles this pressure is also a way to judge if he will make it.

If Del Zotto was constantly tweeting or posting about his workouts then I would be really worried that the pressure was getting to him. There are times when we forget that when a Del Zotto takes off the uniform that he becomes a 20 year old male.

And ask any female of any age that 90% of 20 year old males have their moments when they can be so immature. I for one can give thanks that there are no pictures from when I was 20 or as it is best known "young and dumb"

Anyone who thinks that Del Zotto is not going to show up for training camp wanting to regain his spot then you are making a mistake. I can offer about 1,020,500 reasons why Michael Del Zotto is going to want to bust his tail.

For starters, when Del Zotto takes the ice this year it will be the 3rd year of his entry level contract. As a player on the first contract he cutting right to the chase has zero bargaining power; even less if he is not on the Ranger roster at the end of next season.

When Del Zotto was sent to the CT Whale what he was making changed drastically as with the Rangers Del Zotto had a base salary of 875,000 with bonuses that can raise it to 1,087,500. Down on the farm Del Zotto makes a base salary of 65,000 and it is very doubtful that there are any bonuses offered for playing in the AHL.

And Del Zotto does not get a "do over" as the money he lost when he was demoted to the AHL is not going to be given to him. It is gone for good and if Del Zotto does not make the Rangers again then that he will lose a whole of money once again.

We are not even counting the various perks of being on the Rangers and in the NHL but it is a guarantee that it is a whole lot better than being in the AHL. So let Del Zotto act like well a 20 year old and don't worry about him having a good time.

Let him have some fun now while he can because come the fall then Del Zotto is going to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. The Rangers would be a much better team with a Michael Del Zotto and his offensive potential than with out him.

Take a good look at this picture because it is a sight that is not going to happen again. It is a picture of Kirill Kabanov wearing his Lewiston Maineaics uniform and as of this past week the Maineaics no longer are a franchise in the QMJHL.

Citing serious losses and unwilling to take on any more debt, the QMJHL purchased the Maineaics from the owners and shut the franchise down. The players were made available to other teams in the QMJHL in a dispersal draft which was held on Friday.

Kabanov was selected 16th by the Montreal Junior but the question that is going to be on everyone's mind is "How will Kabanov handle living in Montreal?" Playing in a smaller community like Lewiston Maine was good for Kabanov as there was no glaring media spotlight and it really looked like he turned the corner as a player and person.

Before we go any further we want to stress that the Montreal Junior are one of the smarter run junior teams in the QMJHL and we like the coaching staff as teachers which is always important. For Kabanov this is a good program which will offer him a chance to be not only one of their top players but will help Kabanov become a more complete player.

Another good reason to like this move is that Joel Bouchard is one of the assistant coaches for the Junior. Bouchard's last NHL team was the Islanders where he was a teammate of current GM Garth Snow which we view as a big plus for Kabanov.

The concern is going to of course be how strong the changes that Kabanov made while with Lewiston will hold as he moves to Montreal. Lewiston as a small US city in Maine had none of the distractions that Montreal will offer Kabanov.

Kabanov grew up a lot in Lewiston and this is such a talented player that we so badly want to see him make it. But a lot of what Lewiston was able to offer Kabanov will not be there in Montreal.

The biggest loss for Kabanov is going to be not having Andrey Markov with him as the duo was very good for each other in Lewiston. Kabanov being more outgoing and people happy helped Markov adjust to playing in North America.

Markov in return gave Kabanov a chance to become more responsible to help his younger teammate. The two Russian from all accounts were just about joined at the hip which does wonders to ease things like homesickness or for Kabanov curing him of his being late for practice.

This is going to be a giant test for Kabanov as the Montreal media will be watching him as will so many of Kabanov's critics looking for any reason to pounce on him. We hope that Montreal does choose to carry a 2nd European on their roster (they only had 1 in 2010-11) as it will help Kabanov not feel out of place on the team.

We will be rooting for him to make it.

(Del Zotto/NHL Media, Kabanov/Lewiston Maineaics)

Soup Is On The Whale Menu

Covering New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects has there rewards at times that are not measured by words but by actions.

Seeing that 2007 5th round pick Max Campbell signed a contract with the CT Whale is one of the nice rewards as quite honestly it was not an expected move.

Actually it was more out of left field to see Campbell earn the contract as when the Rangers did not bring Campbell to the Whale on an ATO that spelled the end of his chances. In several posts we advocated that bringing Campbell in for a look was more than worth some expense money as well as a couple of airplane tickets.

The image of Campbell that we are showing was from the biggest goal of Campbell's career when he scored at 2:23 of overtime to knock off Ferris State 5-4 in overtime and send Western Michigan on to the CCHA semifinals for the first time in 17 years.

If there ever was a prospect worthy of being awarded "Comeback Of the Year" then it is Max Campbell. Last year when Campbell fell to 6-13-19 with 43 PIMS we said his prospect hopes were DOA.

Demoted to the 4th line, a healthy scratch, a total liability on defense and in conflict with his then coach. Campbell at that point in time was a giant disappointment to us because here was talent wasted.

Campbell was someone who last year we were expecting to have the kind of season that Hagelin and Stepan had as of this trio; Campbell is the more natural goal scorer. Despite being way too skinny when Campbell set up in the slot area he was impossible to beat.

Hard not to like someone who paid his way to the Ranger prospect camps for 2 straight years to remain NCAA eligible. When he did not show up for last year's camp, it really looked like the end for his hopes.

Enter Jeff Blashill as the new coach of Western Michigan as Max Campbell's hockey career was reborn. The 2010-11 version of Max Campbell was nothing at all like the one from the 2009-10.

Credit Campbell for busting his own butt to transform himself as a player, no longer a liability on defense and someone who was seen as a leader on his team. Max was named as one of the Bronco assistant captains and the faith shown in him by Blashill was rewarded.

Campbell was back up on the top line, there he was out killing penalties, taking face offs but most importantly he was doing what he does best he was scoring goals. Campbell scored 18 goals (career high), added 17 assists (career high) as he led Western Michigan in goals as well as overall points.

The new version of Max Campbell was playing a smarter much more discipline brand of hockey as he cut his PIMs from 43 to just 16 for the season. Campbell was part of a rebirth of the Western Michigan hockey program as for the team was the Cinderella story of the season.

An unbeaten streak of 14 games set a school record, a 4th place finish in the CCHA standings which was the highest finish since the 1994-95 season, the come from behind overtime win against Ferris State to earn a trip to the CCHA Final Four.

The shocking upset of Carl Hagelin and Michigan in the CCHA semi-finals, the first invite to the NCAA tournament for WMU since 1995-96 and despite losing to Denver in a double overtime thriller, the highest ranking in the national polls (13th).

And for Campbell perhaps the best acknowledgment of his "Rebirth" came when his own teammates voted him to be the Rob Hodge Most Valuable Player for the season. For Campbell it was the first time in his 4 seasons with Western Michigan that he had earned a post-season honor.

Think that there is no higher compliment than when your own teammates choose you as the team MVP. And some credit should go to the Rangers as like was said earlier it looked as if Campbell's hopes for a contract were gone but they did not give up on Campbell.

Is Campbell NHL material now is up to the work that he puts in but what he does have is that chance to make it happen. Yes I am going to be rooting for him to make it because of the effort he has put into turning his career around.

Nothing would sound sweeter than hearing the Ranger faithful calling for "Soup".

(Campbell courtesy of GS Photo/Western Michigan University)

A Cure For Fatwalletitis

Wow I got to feel good about the New York Rangers for all of a day when the news hit that the Dallas Stars were not going to offer Brad Richards a contract.

It is not anything against Brad Richards that makes me oppose his being signed by the Rangers other than the track record the Rangers have when it comes to Unrestricted Free Agents.

There is something about the Rangers that can take a good player and turn him into an overpaid and under-productive after he signs a free agent contract. We have actually found a disease that Ranger free agents contract when they sign that fat long term contract.

It is called "FatWalletitis" where the moment you sign your contract you start to become so weighted down that you can not produce. Chris Drury suffers from it, Wade Redden caught it and hopefully a doctor can cure Marian Gaborik before his case becomes permanent.

If a player can not be cured before he enters the 3rd year of his contract then there is no hope of curing him of this horrible disease. So the best way to prevent "FatWalletitis" is to use preventive measures.

First no contract longer than 3 years but if you want something longer then go earn those extra years. If you are able to give the same kind of performance that you had before you signed with the Rangers then you can earn more years.

Seriously no more "no trade" or "no anything" clauses in anyone's contract. If you want to remain a Ranger then give the team a reason to want to keep you.

I promise that if you are scoring 30 or more goals and 70-80 points in a season that the Rangers will want you to stay, the fans will want you to stay and you can earn those fat extra 2 years. Trust me if you are giving the Rangers the bang for their buck then there will not be any reason for them to get rid of you.

But if that is too much for you the free agent and somebody else wants to give you a 5 year 40 million dollar deal then go give them the disease. Heck take Wade Redden with you free of charge to make it a 2 for 1 special.

All kidding aside, if the Rangers really badly want to add a Brad Richards then why not make him earn the money? If Brad Richards can come to the Rangers and give them an average of 30 goals for 5 years then yes pay him the money but if he cannot then have a way out that does not handcuff the team via the buyout.

Otherwise move on to a different idea because as much as Ranger fans loved seeing the trade yesterday; it is almost universal that Ranger fans fear Glen Sather with a checkbook in his hand on July 1st.

But you know what else would make it easier to handle giving Richards a contract? Take care of the Ranger's free agents first. It is not like the Rangers do not want Dubinsky, Callahan, Boyle, Sauer or Anisimov back so why not get them signed?
 
It is annoying that the Rangers will throw tons of money at another team's free agent and then turn right around and expect current Rangers to play for less money. It would be a whole lot easier to accept a Richards being signed if the Rangers would first take care of their own free agents.

Show some loyalty to that young core foundation that the Rangers keep preaching about as how they are running the franchise. And while we are at it do the same thing as Richards by giving these young players a chance to earn those big bucks.

What good will signing Richards do if the Rangers wind up not being able to keep that "young core foundation"?  The Rangers are not deep enough that they can afford to lose any of the core that was mentioned but like Richards make them earn the money.

Tell Dubinsky that if he can repeat what he did this past season then roll over the contract with a raise. Just like Richards put the carrot on the stick and say "here earn your money."

I know. I know I am being a silly dreamer but let me please have this dream just for a little while?  And I am pretty sure that I am not the only person who feels the same way as we do want to win, yes a Brad Richards can the Ranger win. But if Richards contracts a case of "Fatwalletiitis" then once again the Rangers are stuck with a bad contract.

Please though before you go would you please drop a quarter or two in the container so we can one day find a cure for "Fatwalletitis."
 
(Ranger logo courtesy of the New York Rangers)

Giving The Devil His Due

You know if you are a New York Ranger fan and you did not like the trade that Glen Sather made today then doubt anything that Sather does other than leaving will make you happy.

Give Sather his due as taking Roman Horak (2009 5th), the Ranger's own 2nd round pick (45) as well as the 2nd round pick from the Bobby Sanguinetti trade (57) and turn it into Tim Erixon (2009 1st) and a 5th round pick (134).

This has to be a good deal for the Rangers because the fans and media of the Calgary Flames are pretty upset with what they got in this trade. For Sather it does continue a pattern of making some very good trades to help improve the franchise.

Now it is time to cross your fingers and hope that Sather finally breaks his other pattern of ruining a great move like this by handing out a big contract to a free agent. If Sather can do this then we can seriously start believing the franchise is finally headed in the right direction.

It also gives Sather a couple of good bargaining chips if he does want to add scoring or a top line center. Now for a change Sather does not have to throw a pile of money at a free agent to address team needs.

Instead Sather can use a defensive prospect or two as tradebait in order to address needs. While it does not mean that Sather can not go after a free agent but what it does say is say to the free agent that if the Rangers do not like his price tag then they can go in a different direction.

In years past, Sather was basically in no position to bargain with free agents as the world knew that the Rangers had no other options. It was free agents or do with out on the roster.

Instead Sather can look at another team that is in need of a quality defender and use it to get a quality player back. Really when trades are broken down to their core, they are moves designed for both sides to get what they are needing.

Sather has been for the most part been bargaining against his own empty shelves with previous free agents. So if Sather can remain responsible with his offers to free agents then the Rangers will be in better shape than they have been.

But really you have to be just loving the possibilities that the Rangers could send out as their top 6 defenders. Just think if the Rangers do not add another defenseman then in as little as 2 years you are looking at a blueline that boasts 5 first round draft picks.
 
Marc Staal (2005), Ryan McDonagh (2007), Michael Del Zotto (2008) Tim Erixon (2009) and Dylan McIlrath (2010) together in the same lineup. The possibilities are a lot of fun to imagine as there is so many different ways to use this lineup.

Take your pick of Dan Girardi, Michael Sauer, Tomas Kundratek, Jyri Niemi, and Mikhail Pashnin as your 6th and 7th defenders for the roster. Not a bad blueline corp at all and even better is how young this group is.

Of course the deal most likely spells the end for Matt Gilroy as the Rangers do not have to qualify him to keep his rights. It does not guarantee the end for Gilroy as it is doubtful anyone is going to offer him 2 million to get him to sign but he is not in a good bargaining position here.

Pavel Valentenko is also most likely going to not resign with the Rangers as his path to the NHL is now really blocked so he might just head back to the KHL. But the one player who really needs to understand what this move means is Michael Del Zotto.

He needs to really walk his talk of going to be super ready for training camp as while he remains the best hope for offense from the blueline, the Rangers could just decide to get a little offense from each of the others if Del Zotto does not pan out.

And for you Calgary fans who think that Jay Feaster was taken here in this deal perhaps you might want to look closer as he did pretty good for what his options were. Erixon was not going to sign with the Flames so rather than come away empty handed Feaster made the best of a bad situation.

In Horak you are gaining a good center prospect who has solid playmaking skills but will be reunited with his linemate from Chilliwack Ryan Howse. All the 2 of them did last season was combine for 77-84-161 with 34 power play goals.

The duo finished 1-2 in team scoring for the Chilliwack Bruins so you have 2 players who have clearly established chemistry as you rebuild the Flames. Toss in the 45th and 57th picks in a pretty good draft so for a franchise that really needs to rebuild here is a start.

But getting back to the Rangers; here is what has to be the most frustrating part of the Glen Sather era. When it comes to making trades, Sather has for the most part done a very good job.

It is when July 1st rolls around where Sather does the most damage to his own reputation and relationship with Ranger fans. Take a good look at today and you see a very happy bunch of Ranger fans but yet almost to a person everyone is saying the same thing.

Just do not let him sign free agents and the Rangers will be alright heading into training camp.

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So with the deadline passing for the Rangers to sign the North American prospects from the 2009 draft class then only Dan Maggio has not been signed. Maggio was the Ranger's 6th round pick from the 2009 draft.

Maggio was in a bad spot given the glut of defensive prospects that the Rangers had. It did not help his cause to suffer 2 injuries and earn a suspension during the 2010-2011 season.

Maggio though is expected to return to the Oshawa Generals who will be needing him to help replace Islander prospects Calvin de Haan and Tony Dehart. We believe if Maggio can stay healthy then he will attract interest from another NHL team.

There is a rumor that the Rangers are going to offer an AHL contract to Max Campbell (2007 5th) but as of this writing there has been no official word from anyone that this is going to happen.

It is a rumor that I hope does come true as Campbell bounced back for a truly horrible junior season at Western Michigan to becoming a key part of WMU's first NCAA appearance since the 1995-96 season.

(Sather courtesy of the New York Rangers)

The Cult Of Clark

I consider myself to be really lucky as I have had the chance to talk to and learn from some of the best minds there is in hockey.

Gordie Clark, Tom Renney, Tommie McVie and the late E. J. McGuire are among those who have opened my eyes as what to look for  out of all those tiny details when trying to evaluate talent.

It is funny how you see all these schools popping up all over the place claiming they can teach you how to scout. What they really are good at is separating you from your own money because the stuff you really truly need to know is never going to come from a classroom.

Having spent the last couple of days transcribing my phone call with Gordie Clark a couple of things stood out that you know I never really thought of until Clark mentioned it.

If I sound biased you bet I am as if there was a Cult for followers of Gordie Clark then count me in. This year's lesson was so hidden that it was very much one of the more common things that we tend to overlook.

PP: This year you have fewer picks because of trades how do you adjust your draft to that?


GC: It is not as hard, we don’t have a 3rd or 6th and 7th but listen you’re real bread and butter is your first two picks. We have 2 picks in the second and we are hoping to take advantage of them.


You can use one of those picks along with your first to move up in the draft to get a guy you really have an eye on. We did that in the Staal year so there is a lot of options you can do when you have 2 picks like that.


The options are endless as to what we can do from this position.


We can always keep them too as we got Stepan in the 2ndround, there is still some NHL players hanging around in the second. So let’s look at the 2nd pick (from the Sanguinetti trade) as our 3rd pick.


You have your 4th and 5th but when you get down to the 6th and 7th there is nobody you really had listed as higher still there. There you are looking for the one who had a bad year but you know is a lot better.


You look for a guy who had a good last 10 games and you take like a Hail Mary shot at someone. You know when the draft was 12 rounds I took Hal Gill in the 9th round and I am telling you he looked pretty goofy.


For 4 years I had people telling me that he was never going to play for me in Boston. Hal was a football quarterback and you know that no matter how bad a league you are playing in you have to make decisions as a quarterback.


You have to look to see if I am going to pass it or hand it off but you still have to make decisions. He had a bit of a learning disorder but he was very good in school and I am talking 9th round so you take a shot at him.


I had a little insider information from Mike McShane who was his coach up in Providence and you know Gill never played a game in the minors. He went right to the NHL but he also had Ray Bourque to play with and a Don Sweeny.


You know think about it as if you had guys like that to break in your kids; it is something we just did not have for Staal, Girardi, McDonagh, and Sauer. We never had that guy, that veteran guy to break these guys in.


They had to do it all on their own. Sure they may had made mistakes but people forget that when you have that veteran guy that he will make up for a lot of your deficiencies and bring the kids along a lot better so I give those 4 kids on our defense a lot of credit.

In case you are wondering the main part of the Clark interview will be in next month's Blueshirt Bulletin. It is so large that I suggested that they break the interview into 2 parts.

What also did not made the final cut was where does Clark think the state of the franchise/prospects is in.

GC: Glen is so committed to drafting properly and doing as much developing as you can. All these camps we have, the development camp we have; everyone is all on board with. 


Everyone is on deck when we hold a camp, all NHL coaches, all AHL coaches,  the scouts, the trainers, Glen, and Schonfeld. Everyone is there because it is just so important and you know they (the Rangers) had older teams in the minors back then.


Picks were being traded as were players so we are very committed to Connecticut where we play out of Hartford. When you look at it, Staal saw little time there, Girardi you know was a free agent that Rich Brown (scout) really liked.


He played there (Hartford) and then he gets sent to the ECHL but when he came back to the AHL then everything just took off for him. Stepan he never spent a day in the minors.


Callahan, Anisimov and Dubinsky that was a huge line for us when Gaborik went down early in the season. All 3 of them played there (Hartford). 


Sauer and McDonagh they went through and you know Jeff Gorton and I, we saw Boyle in Manchester (Los Angeles Kings AHL team) which is 30 miles away (from home) for the both of us so we watched him go through (development) too.


We watched Boyle with our own eyes, he was playing defense then playing offense and LA wanted him to play a rougher style and he is just not like that. We thought Boyle had more skill than what he was being credited for.


Now Del Zotto goes down there, he had a tough sophomore year which a lot of guys do so now he can go down there (to work on his game. You have Kundratek doing his thing there and now Weise he has had 2 good years there.


Grachev was just 19 in his first year in the AHL but he probably should have been in junior scoring 50 but he was down there, He had a nice year this year so that is just how important development is to us.


It is where Horak will be going next year as will most of the guys we just signed; Stajcer, Jason Wilson and others. Those are the guys who are coming into the system like Carl Hagelin of Michigan.


You know a lot of people say we got some nice kids now but more importantly I have a coach (Tortorella) who will use them. A lot of coaches they don't put them in but ours he does use them.


He is going to be hard on you but he is also hard on the older players too but he is not afraid to put them out on the ice and that is an advantage for us.


Thanks to the Rangers for setting up my chance to talk to Gordie Clark and thanks to him as well because at this time of the year he took what little free time he had and talked with us.

(Clark/New York Rangers)