Well what did you expect him to say?

I wear #9

Okay people can we back away from the ledge now that Zach Parise says he won't consider the New York Rangers if on July 1st he becomes a free agent? What exactly did you expect him to say, considering the circumstances of where and when he was asked about the Rangers?

Man, I got to quote John Tortorella here and say one word "idiots" because that entire situation goes a long way in making John Tortorella's argument about the media.

Holy cow, it's breakup day for the New Jersey Devils, they are cleaning out their lockers and Parise is still the captain of the New Jersey Devils. You could've asked him about any team and he would've given the exact same answer.

If anything, give Parise some credit for not disrespecting the Devils and their fans while the pain of losing in the Stanley Cup finals is still raw. If you want to talk about other teams or free agency then catch him away from New Jersey Devil headquarters.

What kind of person would Parise be if he in the middle of the Devils locker room opens up his mouth and says "I look forward to talking to Glen Sather and hearing what he has to say"?

It's June 13 and for the next 17 days, Zach Parise is under contract to the New Jersey Devils. It's no big deal that he said he wouldn't consider the New York Rangers today.

And to be blunt, if on July 1 that Zach Parise says the same thing about the Rangers then it's still no big deal. Not everybody wants to play for the Rangers, it might be a shock to some of you but it's the reality.

Why wouldn't he want to be a Ranger? Who knows but there could be a ton of reasons why not.

Just like us, players grow up liking and disliking NHL teams so it should not be a surprise that the son of a former Islander doesn't want to play for the Rangers.

Quite honestly, I want to see the Rangers sign players not because they can throw boatloads of cash at them but rather because the players want to be a part of bringing the Stanley Cup to New York. That's the moves I want to see them make because if it is just the money go elsewhere.

To me it's one of the best reasons to cover the Ranger prospects because when they become Ranger draft picks; they all talk the same thing about playing for the Rangers and their fans.

They talk about the traditions of being on an original six team and the thought of being in New York. That is the kind of stuff you want to hear from a player not "the Rangers offered me the best contract, so I jumped on it."

Still, it's gonna be interesting come July 1 when Jeff Gorton goes knocking on Zach Parise's door with a 'knock your socks off" contract offer. The Rangers are in a position where they can make an offer even Parise will have to consider.

One last thing to remember is that New Jersey has always gone after players who put the team first. Like them or not, New Jersey's been able to keep several of their top stars at a discounted price out of a loyalty to their franchise.

Report Cards

Forgive me but if I see another report card grading either the Rangers or the Islanders I think I'm going to barf. Report cards should be called what they really are and that is the "I like these guys better than I do those guys" lists.

I would kill for somebody to start off their "report cards" by first stating how they graded players the way they did. Make it fair and as objective as you possibly can otherwise how can you call your report card a fair evaluation?

Part of the reason I really am not a fan of report cards is that it's so hard to grade players on the team individually. Everybody has their own role to play on each team. So would you grade Mike Rupp based upon how well he scores goals or how effective he is as a deterrent/enforcer?

Here's what got me the most and that was all the Dubinsky grades, which started with the fact that he failed to produce. But even John Tortorella said Dubinsky was an important part of the team because of what contributions he made elsewhere.

I didn't see anybody punish Artem Anisimov for having a very inconsistent season and his salary basically doubled. What about Brian Boyle as he scored half the number of goals then he did in 2010-2011 after he got a fat raise too?

I seriously believe that people went by how much of a raise Dubinsky got in how they graded him. That's a little unfair but we are human and as humans our objectivity can be clouded.

Now, who wants to call Rick Nash and ask him if he wants to become a Ranger?

I would pay to see this happen at a Ranger game

A huge stick tap to my friend Neate Sager of Yahoo!'s Buzzing The Net. This actually happened, so check it out.



What is kind of scary is that at the level I tend to attend games at. I am surprised that this does not happen more than it did here. I am just so trying to picture John Tortorella dealing with "Little League mommy or daddy."

It would be probably the most hilarious thing I've ever seen