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See it is an addiction that has followed the Rangers since the 1950's as Glen Sather isn't the first Ranger GM to try to put today ahead of tomorrow. Every decade the Rangers go through this almost cruel cycle where the GM at the time restocks the prospect pool and says that he doesn't mortgage the future just to win today.
But they do and each time they just add to the frustration that being a Ranger fan is. It is almost a badge of honor in a twisted sort of way. We will rant, scream, curse and swear that we will never be fooled again only to come back for still more torture Ranger's style.
If you think Ryan Clowe is going to give the Rangers a chance at winning the Stanley Cup then trust me Ranger's history says no it won't. I can promise you that this trade will come back to bite the Rangers in the rear end this year and down the road.
Why? Because that is what Ranger's tradition demands.
But if you think your angry comments are going to get any kind of reaction from me then sorry to disappoint you because nobody is more upset with me than I am. I fell for this hook, line and sinker despite all the warning signs that I thought I was smart enough to read.
Glen Sather is going to turn 70 this September and he wants to go out in style with a cup ring so he can thumb his nose at the Ranger fans who disliked him over the years. Old Glen he saw that loss in the conference finals and thought he was thisclose to a Stanley Cup after all those years as a GM in Edmonton and New York without one.
Glen Sather the guy who swore that he didn't trade young prospects for older players did exactly that in this trade. With that Glen Sather has earned himself a spot in the Ranger GM "selling their souls for a cup" club
Ryan Clowe is the kind of player that Emile Francis, Fred Shero, Phil Esposito, Neil Smith and other former Ranger GMs would have pulled to trigger on so Glen Sather is not alone in making this bad trade. The Ranger's history is full of players who were either past their prime or quite simply the wrong part.
Sorry it may be nice that Ryan Clowe will drop the gloves and fight someone but the Rangers badly needed offense in order to be competitive in the push for a playoff spot. If not someone who could score goals then a defenseman because Roman Hamrlik is going to get another Ranger's defenseman hurt because he is being used past the point of exhaustion.
Hamrlik was used for all of 4:30 against the Winnipeg Jets which begs the question why is this guy even on the roster? If Hamrlik isn't trusted by John Tortorella then one has to really wonder what he thinks of Matt Gilroy?
Clowe would not have been a bad addition if the Rangers were getting offense from Marian Gaborik or Brad Richards. I am sorry to break this to people who think the Rangers can find someone to take either player off their hands on deadline day but Bob Gainey isn't the GM of an NHL team anymore.
Gaborik has a no trade clause and Richards is even worse with his no movement clause; the Rangers will be able to shed the Richards contract with their remaining "I was dumb enough to give him a huge contract please save me from me" buyout but Gaborik they will have to hope wants out either this year or next year at the trade deadline.
In the meantime when the Rangers don't win the Cup this year, they will get to watch Columbus and San Jose use the picks they got from the Rangers to restock their team. The 2013 NHL Entry Draft is going to be one of the better drafts in years with a deep enough first round that even the worst GM can find a solid prospect from.
Me, I was sitting here thinking Sather was going to catch Vancouver GM Mike Gillis with his back against the wall. See Gillis isn't exactly doing much better than Glen Sather in handling his salary cap situation.
For some reason Gillis thinks giving Chris Higgins yes that Chris Higgins a 4 year extension worth 10 million is a good idea. Higgins is 30 and is 9-5-14 -5 so that made him worth a new deal. Now Raymond is a guy who flies under most folk's radar but he is having the kind of year that will get him an overpaid contract of his own during the off-season.
Raymond is just 27 and having a 9 goal season which means he has more goals than Ryan Clowe, Brian Boyle, Arron Asham, Darroll Powe, and Taylor Pyatt combined do. Not to mention that he carries a lower cap number than Clowe and is more entertaining in the shootout too.
It is just gravy that Raymond did that to the Columbus Bluejackets but for a rental who would open up cap space for the Canucks then you could have had him for less than 3 draft picks. But that wouldn't be the Ranger way now would it?
Since the Rangers are continuing the tradition of selling tomorrow for a shot at today then they should introduce the Ranger fans of today to an even more tortured tradition. They should introduce to the heartbreak of falling in the finals; a tradition not seen since the 1979 Stanley Cup final.
If you think losing a conference final is hard then try a Stanley Cup final where you think that this is the year only to watch someone break your heart. Ask any Ranger fan of the 1970's there was nothing more cruel then watching the Boston Bruins steal the cup you thought was yours.
Or in 1979 when John Davidson would get the Rangers past the Islanders in the semifinals only to hide a groin injury as the Rangers lost to the Canadians. Now that is a Ranger's tradition you don't want to try on.
So thank you Glen Sather for keeping with tradition and selling tomorrow off. It wouldn't be the Rangers if you didn't.
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