Rangers News & YMCA Golf Outing
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
First off, I don’t want to hear about how the Rangers passed on supposedly superior talent when they selected Dylan McIlrath with the 10th overall pick. After Hall and Seguin, let’s face it… it’s a crapshoot! The Rangers went for the beef. I love this pick. McIlrath is 6 foot 4, 212 pounds and he’s only 18 years old? Give this young man some time and he will be exactly what the Rangers have been lacking on the D since the days of Jeff Beukeboom. Or even the 80-81 team with Barry Beck, Ed Hospodar, Tom Laidlaw and yes… even myself! McIlrath is a mean, nasty, and tough crease clearing bulldozer of a d-man. Oh yeah, did I mention that he sticks up for his teammates as well? What is remarkable to me and this is real important… is that he was rated as the most feared player in the 2010 NHL Draft. All this as a 17 year old in the wild and crazy Western Canadian Junior League. Like I said, I love this pick!
Also I would like to thank all of those who attended and played in the Pocono Family YMCA 2nd Annual Celebrity Golf Outing this past Sunday and Monday. The event took place at the legendary Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort. It was simply a blast! I personally want to thank my former teammates and good friends Ron Greschner, Nick Fotiu, Ron Duguay, and Ed Hospodar. I also would like to thank Stephen Baker (NYG, The Touchdown Maker), Jack Fisher (NYM), Bob Kelly (Flyers), SGT. Slaughter (WWF/WWE), Russell "Stats" Baxter (ESPN), and local celebrities John “Super Cop” Jacobsen, as well as Gary “In the Morning” Smith. Thanks a lot guys!
When the clock strikes midnight tonight, the NHL free agency period will begin. Who will go where? Who will the Rangers be pursuing? Any trades? We shall find out soon enough. Over and out!
21 comments:
Biron and Hank in Goal
MDZ - Roszy
McDonagh - Girardi
Staal - Gilroy / Sauer
Redden must not be on the Roster at any cost or for any reason
Dubi- Christensen -Gabby
Avery- Prospal -Cally
Byers- AA -Prust
Boogaard- Drury -Wiese
not bad...till the youngsters come..we will have another lottery pick next year..and thats ok..part of the growing pains...each line has bite to it with youngsters on it...i like
Leatherneck, I like your way of thinking. The youth shall be served much sooner than later.
I also believe that more move s are going to be made between now and the beginning of training camp...Just a little inside info for ya LOL.
To be honest 99.9% of the people who try and comment on Junior players have no idea what they're talking about. Only a handful of observers watch these kids enough to have an educated opinion. Only time will tell if this was a good pick and anyone who thinks they know is only fooling themselves.
Kevin Gavin - PuckLife.com
Kevin, Exactly...Most experts think they are the be all end all of the conversations(Pierre McGuire comes to mind).
It really is a unknown until you see it happen. The Rangers did the right thing though and addressed a glaring need.
Kotsty, I just read on sportsnet that the Isles are going after Kovalchuk. I'd like to have him here but we really are weak at center so far. I hope he doesn't go to the Piles.
Kotsty, I just read on sportsnet that the Isles are going after Kovalchuk. I'd like to have him here but we really are weak at center so far. I hope he doesn't go to the Piles.
Sorry for the repost. A weird error message came up.
Grassrootsconservative, Would love to have Kovalchuk as well, But not at some crazed number like 9 or 10 million a year.
Certainly one of the top players in the league. Just worried about the numbers and quite frankly scares me big time.
Chris, as much as you can try and bring in talent with big money, NY has always been and still remains a unique town to play professional sports. I think that unless the Rangers continue to build from the core, no Kovalchuks will ever help. Yes, this may take years, but a shrewd move here and there can cut off some of the journey. However, there is no Concorde to success.
Boogaard will certainly be a deterrent. He is clearly not a difference maker, but can allow players like Gaborik go out there a little freer. We will see what the new youngsters can contribute come training camp, but I would rather watch them through the growing pains than cringe at the site of Redden coughing up another one at the blue line.
What's your reaction to the news about Probert? I bet you have a few memories.
Chris, I tried posting last night, but my entry seems to have disappeared. No matter. The point I was trying to make was that the Rangers need to continue letting their youngsters play. While they may not have a Crosby or an Ovechkin in the pipeline, the collection of players may become a much more cohesive unit and greater than the sum of its parts. No one has said that winning by committee is a bad thing. The Rangers have a world-class goaltender and a world class sniper. A bit more heart, grit, determination, and perhaps brute strength (cue Boogaard and Prust) and many may be surprised. There is no need for the likes of Kovalchuk to succeed.
What are your thoughts on Probert? I bet you have quite a few memories.
Jason, I'm with you on this one. If your team is primed to win it all then and only then do you go out and add the missing ingredients. Kovalchuk's great, but not at 9 or 10 million a year.
I think the Rangers have been wise so far in not spending in a way we are used to seeing. Time for the team to develop from within and move forward from there.
Probert and I did tangle a couple of times in the latter part of my career. He was one tough SOB and arguably the best fighter ever. Very sad for those of us who played against him in that era. It's starting to happen to often for our liking.
Speaking of Probert I recall years ago seeing a tape of you with the Leafs and Probert runs your goalie and you did the honorable but thankless thing and took him on but the best part was you had this look on your face that said aw man do I really have to do this? Always found that hilarious. Then again you might not have been thinking that at all, could just be people reading into it what they would have been thinking! You always handled yourself well, but Probert was a real monster at that time and I don't think anyone looked forward to having a go with him. :)
Robert, I had no choice...3 other guys on the ice turned away before I got to him. He was by far the "Heavyweight Champ" in his prime.
Very shocking news of his passing.
You did your job and defended your goalie! Yes it's sad about Probert, I hope it wasn't connected to a relapse or anything like that. I miss hockey in the 80s and 90s. Speaking of which, and in honor of Probert and your mentioning the tough Ranger teams of the early 80s, I'd like to ask you this question: I remember as a kid going to MSG in the early 80s and the perception, possibly shaped by the MSG-PR machine, that Barry Beck was the most feared fighter in the league. But when you hear people from other cities who know about these things they said he was over rated and that Fotiu was by far the more respected Ranger. My memory was Fotiu's best days were behind him and he mostly barked at people. But now when I go on you tube and see old Beck clips I'm not that impressed with his opponent quality or his performance. What was the deal at the time, was he the feared fighter of my childhood memory or more of a grappler who fought not to get hurt?
Robert, Bubba was tough and could go with the best of them. Nicky was feared plain and simple. Not too many wanted a piece of Nicky.
Look we all won and lost fights. No one person can say they were undefeated. Sometimes you threw em and sometimes you grappled.
I will still go on record as saying the 80-81 Ranger team was the toughest team in their history.
Very cool to be able to speak to you and get the inside color. And yes looking back that was one tough team, not sure we appreciated it at the time. And all the tough guys were also good players- even Nicky in his second stint with the Rangers avgd about 10 goals a year if I recall. In today's game he'd get a 4m per year contract!
Robert, Once things start heating up again Ranger wise I'll be posting my thoughts more often. Good to have you checking my blog.
Hiya Chris, Yeah..pretty sad to see Probert passing away and I also recall that fight you had with him..lol...I preferred your time as a Ranger though...by the way Who did we get from the Whalers in that trade? Was it Blaine Stoughten? Lets talk D
We signed McDonagh, brilliant move and I know you have to be politically correct but I will say it "Redden must not be on the team"
pairings
Staal and Girardi
MDZ and Rosi (McIlrath in 2)
McDonagh and Sauer...yes Sauer
Gilroy or Valentenko as 7th D and this D will win a few Cups with Hank and Biron / Johnson in net
Wiese and Byers have a spot to lose up front and Stephan and Werek, Grachev and Krieder in 2 years...yeah..I like what see here and hey lets face it we will be a lottery pick next year and that is fine by me...look at those kids...my goodness let them develop and become contenders and say no to being pretenders with the likes of Voros, Redden and Brashear..Orr looks much better now..eh Chris...hahaha..recall my defense of Orr??...lol
a glimpse of the future
Wiese - Dubi - Gabby
Grachev - Stephan - Krieder
Byers - Anisimov - Callahan
Prust - Werek - Boogaard
Staal - Girardi
MDZ - McIlrath
McDonagh - Sauer
Hank
Johnson
notice one thing here...pay our own and build our own..no trades or FA signings necessary...there are only 3 players out there worth the possibility of a trade and they are
Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson
now...your thoughts and suggestions Chris
Leatherneck, Okay I will agree with you about Colton Orr, But I would have never in a million years thought Brashear would lose his ability to fight that quickly. After all he never lost to Orr.
It was Mike Rogers the Rangers received. McDonagh a fantastic sign who will probably make the team...Just my hunch LOL.
Voros deserves more credit from Rangers fans than they give him. He stands up for his team mates and gives you effort..Unlike others we could talk about.
It's time some of these youngsters take the bull by the horn and prove they belong. You only get so many opportunities ask Sanguinetti...
Hello Chris...I agree with you on Voros..he has heart and deserved more ice time compare to some other players until Prust and now Boogaard and Byers and Wiese coming along needing a spot on the roster, i just don't see any room for him unfortunately
Leatherneck, I'll believe it when I see it about Byers and Wiese. Seems like we've been waiting forever for these two.
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