Posted: 3:44 am
July 6, 2008
WHILE wondering if Michal Rozsival and Petr Prucha were quite who the NHL had in mind when imposing upon the Blueshirts to open their 2008-09 season in Prague:
The Rangers didn't clinch a playoff spot until Game 80 this season after going to Game 81 the previous year. And so Glen Sather, Tom Renney and the hockey department are correct about the need for transformation into a more typically evolved post-lockout attack team.
Renney, indeed, laid out his vision not more than 10 minutes after the Pittsburgh series had ended, saying, "We're going to have to play the type of hockey that suggests pressure, skating and physical energy if we want to go forward."
The execution is going to be the tough part. Ronald Reagan would ask, "Where is the rest of me?" if he were around to amble into the Rangers' room on the first day of training camp. The departures of Jaromir Jagr, Sean Avery, Martin Straka - and who knows about Brendan Shanahan? - will leave a huge void in the club's collective personality.
Without Jagr to both blame and lean on all at once, everyone will come under more scrutiny; the coaching staff and the players, alike. For all of his imperfections, Jagr was kind of like that cereal, Captain and Crutch. Now, Jagr can't be anyone's excuse. Avery's absence will be felt on the ice, even if the Rangers are sure he won't be missed anywhere else.
There will be a gust of fresh air in the room next season that might enter with the Rangers billed as The King and His Court. Henrik Lundqvist, who always has shared the greatest part of the burden with Jagr, will be held to the Brodeur Standard, one that has nothing to do with exchanging salutations or shaking hands.
There will be a gust of fresh air next season but it's impossible to immediately judge what the wind blew in this week. Wade Redden had a bad year in a deteriorating environment in Ottawa and Markus Naslund had a disappointing season in Vancouver. The Rangers, who gave Redden a six-year deal at $6.5M per and Naslund a two-year deal at $4M per, are heavily invested in the theory that a change of scenery will revitalize careers that went stale.
And who knows about Nikolai Zherdev, about as unpredictable as they come? Will Zherdev shine in the spotlight or will he melt? Will New York ignite him or overwhelm him after knowing only Columbus? Will he be an all-for-one, one-for-all guy here, and if not, will the Rangers have the presence in the room to correct or cope with that?
