Where's the optimism?

I dont believe ANY of us really expected for Zherdev to be on the NY Rangers next season; however, we ALL expected something in return. THAT wouldve been the professional way to handle his departure. Every agent knows that, and nearly every player knows that.
When you are traded from team to team, its no bed of roses unless its what you requested. Zherdev was traded to NY where he could acclomate well with the large Russian populus in the Tri-state area. He would also be considered the number one scoring threat on the NYR’s.
SO, to lose him after giving up Fedor and the throw in Backman, is a bit disappointing.
Couple that emotion with the way he left the NYR’s….empty handed. If had been receptive and professional enough to realize that he wouldnt fit into the NYR plans any longer, he shouldve been happy to be awarded the sum he was awarded, but to know he was heading for greener pastures. That is not the way he and his agent decided to handle the situation. There is always retribution paid to players of this type. I only hope for his well being that he doesnt sign on with another NHL team.

Smurf, Im not any hate Sather wagon at all. I actually like the job his done with the exception of the prices paid, but we are in the NY Money Market….I especially like the depth we have added lately…but, thats not his doing exactly.
I may have misunderstood your blog, but I was retorting your blog in regards to Zherdev and Zherdevs moves alone…not Sathers. I am optimistic with the team as it stands. I would like them to add a D-man that adds a snarl and possibly a forward like Bertuzzi.

Sorry you may have mistaken my anger at Z for something other….Peace brother…..

PS…I KNOW Sather tried to trade, or at least I suspect it….I know for sure that the Gomez deal at the Draft ( aquiring McDonagh ) was not for the betterment of the NYR but it was a piece in the Heatley deal that never came to fruition. THAT I AM CERTAIN OF! Thats all I can say about that aquisition. But, to be stuck with McDonagh is a WONDERFUL Dilemma. He is a Blue Chip Prospect!!!!

ohh, and by trading Gomez.. we also landed Gaborik….Now lets Party…I cant wait for the season to start….if your at a game…come by Section 411, row F and G, Seats 1 + 2…you’ll see a guy in a wheel chair….Kick him in the nuts and tell him its from ME…..

Summer heat makes people cranky. Let’s all sit back, let the team break from camp, and wait til October 3rd to start bitching that the team stinks.

this couldnt be more true. im king of the cranky pants.

to be optimistic, i cant wait to see the young talent we have unfold. Im just nervous that it might be a couple jamie lundmarks and pavel brendls we have been dealt. But my pants would get real tight if the rangers prospects came up and were actual studs.(this is coming off a little homoerotic… not that there’s anything wrong with that).

For years ive been crying to see some prospects grow and be AWESOME with the rangers, so i guess im starting to get what i asked for. This is just how the Rangers have to rebuild, they cant do what the islanders did, and just give up for a couple years. They actually want to TRY TO WIN, instead of rolling over and letting Jim, RangerSmurf, myself, and a couple other readers play for them like it seems the islanders did last year.

So moving on from seeing Zherev go, Bitching about Redden and his ridiculous salary, and sathers annoying tactics, we go towards resigning Duby, The prospect tourny, and training camp.

and in response to the wheelchair guy kicking… why not? its not like hes going to feel it.

nice post and it is great to finally hear something in a happy tone from a ranger fan. everyone i talk to only wants to complain. It’s easier to complain but it’s more fun to be optimistic.

We have 4 starting Dman why not break up one pair and let them play with rokies that way the can mentor and hopefuly correct the mistakes that are bound to happen eventually due to the inexperience playing in the NHL.

because he used to always get paired up with the youngins and it seemed to suit him just fine. only thing that sucks about breaking up pairs is that in my mind it would have to be R&R because i coudlnt bring myself to breaking up staal and girardi.

i hope sather has something stewing in terms of getting a center. if we could swindle a top 2 line C then we could have drury slide over to wing and still have anisimov center the 3rd line . we have been stockpiling prospects and u cant bring them all up so i suspect hes up to something

Great article smurf.

Don’t understand Sather’s thinking on Betts and Sjostrom. Understand the need to shake things up but now we’ve lost our three leading scorers-gomez, naslund and zherdev. Where’s the second goal coming from next year?

because honestly as good as the king is betts was the star of that PK. he blocked shots dove to get the puck out of the zone and intercepted non-telegraphed passes. penalty kill dynamo, and a great face-off guy. im sad to see him leave. and i believe he had nine goals one year. see how many goals anyone can score when they are out there between sjostrom and orr

I know the tagline is optimism here but there does seem to be a bit of the “island of misfit toys” about this team. I’ll be curious to see the move they make with the Zherdev space. I like betts/freddy, they were fan favorites and really ignited the team with great kills. think of how many stupid penalties this team drew last year.

On your tagline, you need to keep the Avery to…. and change it to zubov or zedved. It’s too good to give up and the replacements are all lame.