|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Reactions
Rangers fans remember the heartbreakersCNNSI.com looked at a few of the transactions that made Rangers fans shout, "Say It Ain't So." Then we opened the mailbag and let users vent on those and other dirty deals from over the years.Here is a sampling of your reactions:
Great job, guys. Gartner outscored Anderson in the playoffs in half as many games, and got screwed out of getting his name on the Stanley Cup. Too bad he never won one.
I was intrigued to see the "Say it Ain't So" series as it related to past Ranger trade fiascoes. I have often reflected on three of the four episodes chronicled. The Phil Esposito link to these three disasters (Park-Ratelle, Middleton, and Carpenter) is almost too much to bear. Could this be the "Reverse of the Bambino Curse" inflicted upon New York sports fans as retribution for past and continuing Red Sox blunders? And to think, after inflicting much of this damage, we were treated to several years of his color commentary on MSG.
Now don't get me wrong, there were a lot of great trades that the Rangers made that were needed to win the Stanley Cup in 1994. I am not here to knock them. There is one trade that never gets mentioned and turned out to be terrible, and I felt it as soon as it was done. Petr Nedved and Sergei Zubov to Pittsburgh for Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson. What a disaster! The Rangers' power play was unreal with Leetch and Zubov at the point. Teams only wished that they had either, and we had both. Zubov was young and talented, and sure he got abused by the physical Flyers in the playoffs but in no way, shape or form did this trade solve that problem. Zubov has been incredible for Pittsburgh and Dallas and can play for many more years at a high level. In fact the Rangers defense has struggled moving the puck out of their own zone since that trade.
Nedved was in a war with Messier at the time and needed to be moved. So he went on to score 99 points for the Penguins. Great. So we get Robitaille who was nothing but terrible as a Ranger. He could not stick handle, skate, or score. After watching his stint with New York, I can't believe he has scored this many goals in his career. And we got Samuelsson, who was solid for a few years, but alone couldn't help battle the Flyers. The trade just did not work. We got older, much much slower, and less talented.
As far as I'm concerned, the Rangers have made a number of moves that have failed in the long run. The trade that sent Tony Amonte to Chicago for Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan, and the rights to Matt Oates. Matteau's postseason heroics may have been his crowning achievement with the Rangers, but both he and Noonan never did much after the Stanley Cup victory and were dealt away within a few seasons. They were brought over just because Mike Keenan had liked them.
Amonte, who had the better upside altogether, is a frequent All-Star and one of few top players the 'Hawks haven't traded in the last 7 years. Imagine what he could have done with the Rangers in the last few years.
By far the saddest day for this franchise was the day they sent goaltender Eddie Giacomin to the hated Detroit Red Wings. Eddie's first game back in Madison Square Garden had the crowd chanting it's familiar "Eddie, Eddie!" chant. As Giacomin stood in the goal crease, head bowed, the crowd let him know that New York Rangers hockey would never be the same again. There have been other great goalies to wear the Ranger sweater since then. Mike Richter won a Stanley Cup, John Vanbiesbrook had some great years too but Eddie Giacomin revolutionized the game of hockey and his flamboyant style and amazing stick handling ability are the stuff of legend. I'll always love the New York Rangers and I'll always remember that sad night at Madison Square Garden.
As any true Ranger fan would tell you, the worst day was when Mark Messier left N.Y. for Vancouver only one year removed from bringing the Cup back to the Garden. Not only did this rip the heart out of the organization (look at how many playoff appearances since then), but it also denied us the ability to watch him and Gretzky playing together again in a Rangers' jersey (one year was not nearly enough). Now he's back, but it's not nearly the same (check out the standings).
As a kid growing up in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., I began my love of hockey while a [then] faithful follower of the N.Y. Rangers. The Villemure/Giacomin tandem, Glen Sather (as a player), the G-A-G line, Park, Neilson, Seiling, Rolfe, McGregor, Fairbairn, Tkaczuk, Rousseau, Stemkowski, Vickers, Carr (tee-hee), Nevin .... the list of names and memories goes on. But my allegiance came to a crashing halt the day Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais came to the Rangers for Brad Park and Jean Ratelle (trivia buffs know Joe Zanussi was the extra throw-in player). Park was an extraordinary D-Man, but he would always (deservedly) play in the shadow of Orr; but his perseverance to try and catch Orr won't be forgotten. But Park's loss wasn't my turn-off to the Rangers. The trade of Jean Ratelle was. One of the classiest players ever, trading him seemed like the team had completely forgotten the glories of the G-A-G line (with Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield) and dissed their own soul by sending him to Beantown.
Espo and Vadnais were creditable talents to receive in return, but I simply could never root for the Blueshirts again. And I never have.
|
Mike Gartner played 1,432 games without winning a Stanley Cup.