The Russian Rocket’s new launching pad will be in Manhattan.
Now fans at Madison Square Garden need to hope Pavel Bure has enough rocket fuel left to help propel the Rangers into the postseason.
Glen Sather needed to make a last-ditch move to get the Rangers into the postseason. It’s New York. You can’t do things on a small scale. A “piece of the puzzle” player like Cliff Ronning would’ve helped the roster. Even bigger names like Bill Guerin or Tony Amonte would’ve been great. But in Manhattan, you can’t settle for second best. So the Rangers had to go out and make the biggest splash of the season, bigger even than their deal for Eric Lindros or the Caps’ trade for Jaromir Jagr.
After a great start, Lindros has stagnated. Theo Fleury can’t be counted on for much except taking a silly penalty. Even Brian Leetch and Vladimir Malakhov on the blue line have faded after playing well early in the season. The Rangers have lost three in a row (their sixth three-game losing skid of the season) and a big shakeup was needed to get the team turned around for a playoff push. Should New York sneak into the playoffs, a roster loaded with Lindros, Bure, Fleury, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter would offer plenty of resistance against even the top teams in the East. But if the Rangers don’t secure a playoff spot, will fans give Bure a second chance next season or might he be blamed for this year’s playoff failure?
Even with Bure, the Blueshirts may miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, the first time they would’ve “accomplished” that in nearly 50 years. The minor league system is barren of sure-fire stars, yet New York is always in the middle of trade discussions for superstars like Lindros, Jagr and Bure. And when they are, it’s always young potential stars they dangle in return. Though fans were disappointed when Sather couldn’t close a deal for Jagr, Slats as he is known has now dealt for two of the biggest names in hockey in a seven-month span.
Igor Ulanov became public enemy No. 1 in Madison Square Garden, mostly for his transgressions with the puck in his own end. It never quite reached the level that Tom Poti-hating did in Edmonton, but that may be because Ron Low offered a mercy-killing and didn’t played Ulanov much over the past two months.
In giving up Novak, the Rangers surrender a player who could turn into a dominant power-play-leading defenseman along the lines of Sergei Gonchar. Or he may turn out to be a disappointment like other recent Ranger draft picks like Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark. Novak has 12 goals, 45 assists and 127 penalty minutes in 60 games with the WHL's Regina Pats this season, but the 19-year-old must agree to a contract with the Panthers before May 31 or he will go back into the draft.
As with any deal, the risks abound on both sides. But for a marquee market like The Big Apple, getting a potential 60-goal scorer for two guys who aren’t in your regular rotation and three picks -- first- and second-round selections in this June's draft, and a fourth-round pick next year --has to be viewed as a rousing success.
Beastly East The battle for the top spot in the Eastern Conference looks like it could have a legendary finish. While the battle for the top spot in the Western Conference was over before it started. Four teams in the East all could take the top seed, with Philly, Boston, Ottawa and Toronto separated by a point. The battle will be especially tight in the Northeast Division, where the Bruins, Sens and Leafs are all fighting for the division title, which will be crucial because the two losers will be relegated to the four and five seeds due to the Southeast champ (likely Carolina) getting the three seed. This scenario could play out where all three of these teams finish within a point or two of each other, yet one of them will be going on the road in the first round, possibly despite having finished with more than 100 points.
Buying or selling? Being an NHL general manager near the trading deadline in a tightly packed race is similar to being a stock trader in an uncertain market. As Kenny Rogers would appreciate, you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. Borderline playoff teams like the Habs, Sabres, Caps and Pens could all still make the postseason with a nice run to end the regular season. But they would be better served dealing away a player or two and playing for next year. There’s no shame in punting on the last month of the regular season if you realize your playoff stay may be a short one. That’s called being a realist versus being a dreamer.
Vancouver @ N.Y. Rangers -- Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST Pavel Bure’s debut comes against one of his former teams. The Rangers did well not to have to give up Mike York in the Bure deal, but for a team that doesn’t have a deep system, trading away draft picks could hurt them in the long run.
St. Louis @ Dallas -- Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST Last offseason the Blues and Stars were two of the most active teams and it wouldn’t have been farfetched to mention this as a possible Western Conference finals matchup. Well, not many of their moves panned out and now these two teams are just struggling to stay in the race.
N.Y. Rangers @ Ottawa -- Thursday, 7 p.m. EST The Rangers-Senators matchup is the best of the four Thursday night games involving the top teams in the East. The series is tied 1-1-1 this year as the teams meet for the fourth and final time. Ottawa has 16 points in its past 12 games while New York has just seven points in its past dozen outings.
Detroit @ Colorado -- Saturday, 3 p.m. EST The NHL’s best rivalry for six years running now has its final regular-season meeting at the Pepsi Center this weekend. But don’t expect it to be the last team these hated foes see each other this year. Unless something weird happens in the Western playoffs, the Avs and Wings may meet seven more times in May for the right to battle for Lord Stanley’s tin cup.
Plus: Dan Cloutier This week’s Player of the Week had a 3-0-0 record, a 1.00 GAA, .955 save percentage and a shutout as Vancouver won four in a row on the road to continue its push for a playoff spot. Cloutier has six shutouts this season, tying the team record, and can steal a game (or blow a game) like few others. In fact, Cloutier and Florida’s Roberto Luongo are the top candidates for the Jon Casey Memorial Great One Night, Suck the Next Award. Fortunately for the Canucks, Cloutier has been stellar of late and has Vancouver thinking about making postseason plans.
Minus: Chris Osgood Once upon a time this season, Ozzie was 9-1-1 and the Isles were the toast of the league. Now the boys on the Island are in a three-way tie for fifth in the East and fading fast. Osgood is 2-5 in his past seven starts and has allowed 16 goals in those give losses.
Plus: St. Louis Blues The Blues are just 2-6-2 in their past 10 games, but help is on the way. Keith Tkachuk returned to action on Sunday which will help the recently anemic offense. St. Louis is currently seventh in the West, battling it out with five other teams for the final four spots.
Minus: Nashville Predators Nashville has a league-high four-game losing streak and became the first team to officially wave the white flag on its season by sending captain Tom Fitzgerald to Chicago and by dealing leading-scorer Cliff Ronning to Los Angeles. The Preds made a bold move by offering fans a money-back guarantee on their season-ticket price increase if they don’t make the playoffs next season. This begs the questions -- how the hell do they think they are going to score?
Plus: Martin Brodeur Curtis Joseph’s Olympic struggles revived Brodeur’s season and could end up helping the Devils make the playoffs. Since returning from his gold-medal winning performance in Salt Lake, Brodeur is 5-3 with a brilliant 1.66 GAA and a tidy .915 save percentage. Though steady play is his hallmark, Brodeur made perhaps the most spectacular play of the season last Wednesday, robbing the Islanders’ Mariusz Czerkawski from his belly with his right skate in the air behind him to preserve a 3-2 win.
”I saw it on replay. He was down and out. He did a hamstring curl. That was one of the best saves I've seen. That's why he is getting paid $8 million bucks."
-- Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko, reacting to Brodeur’s sprawling foot save.
"I'll have a lot of memories. I'll miss friends and relationships my family has made. There's no one like Bill Houlder, and I'll miss guys like Greg Johnson and Cliff Ronning. If it wasn't for (Predators general manager) David Poile, I wouldn't have been the captain that I am. And doing things like the radio show here, or having people in the media come to me for my opinion are things I wouldn't have thought of for me."
-- Predators captain Tom Fitzgerald after getting traded to the Blackhawks.
With just four weeks left in the season, the playoff push is on in fantasy leagues as well. In this week’s Puck Amok column Dave Wallace advises to play guys with the most games remaining in an attempt to win your league.
Eric Lindros missed two games last week due to a bruised foot and the Rangers were outscored 8-4 in the two games he did play in last week, with Lindros going minus-3. The Big E’s lone point of the week was in Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Wings, as Lindros scored on the power play to tie the game at 3 late in the second.
The Rangers play host to Vancouver on Tuesday, travel to Ottawa on Thursday and then return home to MSG to face Atlanta on Friday. The Rangers are 3-6-0-1 in their past 10 games and need to bust a move soon if they want to make the postseason for the first time since 1997.
Follow Lindros' progress this season here in the Head Games section of the Glance every week.
Last week's topic: Who is the best penalty-killer in the NHL?
The best penalty killer on a team always needs to be the goalie. Colorado has the best penalty-killing unit in the league, so Patrick Roy has to be the choice. Manny, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Michael Peca is the best penalty killer in the NHL these days. Not only can he kill penalties, but he can score and is the best hitter pound-for-pound. He proved it in the Olympics Jay Calafiore, Toronto
Mike Keane, because he will go to the corners to get the puck and will lay down on the ice to block shots as he did against Al McInnis twice this week. Gary Stapleton, Niceville, Fla.
Kerry "even-em-up-at-any-cost" Fraser John Trottier, Vancouver
The best penalty killer in the NHL is Evgeni Nabokov. He is not only athletic and durable, but is technically perfect between the pipes. A penalty kill is only as good as your goalie. Jon Hall, Pinole, Calif.
Rob Blake. He not only cuts off the shooters better than anyone, but also delivers his patented hits -- which most players are hesitant to do when shorthanded. Blake takes the fire out of entire PP units with his checks. Michael Axelrad, Denver
This week's topic: Who would you take with the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft?
Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com. "Week at a Glance" appears each Monday during the season.
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