"The Rangers, by the way, have made no effort to re-sign Colton Orr, who will have no trouble at all scoring a multi-year deal within hours of the opening of the market. We're told Florida is keenly interested in the heavyweight."Orr simply has to be re-signed by the Rangers. Sure John Tortorella doesn't care for fourth lines, doesn't care for fighters and wants to make the team faster. It doesn't matter: Tortorella and the Rangers need Colton Orr.
It is no coincidence that the first time that Colton Orr was scratched all season long was the only one where a Ranger was seriously injured. As I said back then, had Orr remained in the lineup Donald Brashear would have had someone to worry about on the ice. Instead he had free reign to hit whomever he liked and he did, costing the Rangers their top defensive forward and penalty killer Blair Betts. Colt missed eight games in '07-08 and the enforcer role had to be passed around; the results weren't pretty. Remember Brandan Shanahan wrestling Steve Ott? Or Dubi holding on for dear life against Mike Komisarek? Horrifying.
Orr made $550k last season with a cap hit just under that. Aaron Voros made $1.2m with a cap hit of a cool mill - exactly what it will be the next two seasons. Waive him, send him to the minors and offer Orr that much money and the tough guy should stick around. Sather was willing to realize his mistake with Fritsche and Rissmiller, it is time he finished cutting ties with the triumverate of mediocrity.
Voros proved that not only can't he skate/stickhandle/score/pass/check but he can't fight either. Dane Byers and Justin Soryal both may be able to take care of themselves but they are both kids. Byers has the tools to be a power forward and shouldn't destroy his hands fighting every Flyer, Islander and Devil goon. Soryal might be able to turn into a major league tough guy but he has to get more experience and take his damned visor off first. No matter their youthful exuberance and willingness to throw down the mitts, neither one can step into the skates of a tough guy like Orr.
Orrsie is a top-five NHL heavyweight and in the seemingly never-ending grind of the regular season, having a player like that is invaluable in keeping the skill players safe and the fans interested. Sather shouldn't let him get away.
9 comments:
please resign him. I'm so tired of being underwhelmed or disheartened by every move the Rangers make. I'd like to get excited for once...
Scotty - excellent! Couldn't agree with you more on this. If Orr is gone there is no one that they can get to replace him. He's definitely a top 5 fighter in the NHL (top 3 imo) and the best young fighter in the league. Pretty soon when Laraque & Brashear are retired, Orr will be #1.
Torts preaches team toughness, it better not be the same brand of toughness that the Red Wings use.
Every day I reload all the Ranger blogs and NHL websites hoping to see somewhere that the Rangers have re-signed Orr. It should only take about half the money you mentioned in the aricle, I think that $750k easily keeps Orr in NY. Not a big price to pay a guy to defend your best players, especially when you consider that Captain Invisble is being paid over $8M and our pylon on the blue line is cashing a yearly check for $6M+!
This is going to be so sickening to watch next season if Orr walks. I'll continue to describe it as Pathetic
Ah, finally something we agree on!!
We absolutely need him so we don't have repeats of the Betts thing in the Wash series. He'll come cheap.
That Voros beating by Janssen when we played the Blues... my god, haha. Voros, I hate you.
I'm more conscerned with Sjo and Betts. If they let those two go... Sinful.
There goes the #1 penalty kill.
yet another clueless move by deaf, dumb and blind Sather.
They still never addressed why he wasnt dressed in the playoffs in favor of Voros, when they knew Brashear was in Washington's lineup, and it was pretty obvious we needed Orr when Betts got knocked out.
Do they think they can replace him for less? I dont see how.
Sickening.
You know how I feel about Orr. We need 'em more than ever.
We should start a SAVE COLTON ORR'S BLUESHIRT campaign on Facebook.
tdr
Or a "send as many e-mails to Sather as possible" campaign :)
Colton shouldn't be that much of a stretch for Torts. He wants this team to work on their physical conditioning, right? Well, if anyone on the team proved his committment to that, it was Orr last year. They should bring Orr's speed skating coach in and make everyone do whatever Orr did last year. Maybe Gomer will go back to taking the blue line instead of holding back at it, like he was afraid to trip over it.
I just can't believe this team. Actually, I should say I can't believe its management. Take one of the only guys on the team who goes 100% every shift (even during stretches where his ice time dropped dramatically), and decide not to offer him a new contract. This is Prucha all over again.
Every team in the Atlantic division needs one guy whose job it is to drop the gloves. If Voros is that guy for the Rangers, then next year's team is going to be lacking in grit the same way its lacking in depth, scoring, conditioning, etc.
I have such a bad feeling about next season.
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