Paul Mara is officially off-Broadway, as he signed a deal today with the Montreal Canadiens.
Mara never lived up to expectations but proved himself a capable, consistent defenseman during his time in New York. While he wasted a ton of power play time - much like every other defenseman on the roster - Mara was good at getting the puck out of the zone, always willing to stand up for teammates and had one legendary beard.
There were good moments and bad; when he stood up for himself and got his revenge on Patrick Kaleta (and his subsequent goal against Buffalo the next game after that), and when Michael Sauer took the fall for him and was banished back to the AHL for Mara's mistakes. While the lumberjack may have set back Sauer's progress a bit, the impact that he had on Marc Staal will pay dividends for us for years to come. Mara helped show Staal the ropes and got him through his rookie season, turning the kid into a professional and (hopefully) a future Norris winner.Mara never found chemistry with his old buddy Morris and was certain to see the door with the fresh crop of Blueshirt blueliners ready for harvest. Now the Boston-bred Mara is headed for Montreal so let's just wish him good luck with that ...
5 comments:
always thought mara deserved an A on his jersey.....good luck paul...but not too much since i hate the habs
I hoped that the Rangers could deal Rozi/Redden for a forward and resign Mara. Half because of his beard and half because, aside from Drury (who's lead-by-example style doesn't really work with young guys), I wonder where the leadership will come next season.
Nevertheless, good luck.
Deal Redden, hahahahaha. I don't think there are any GMs that stupid out there...
As for the leadership, that is for a post later this summer, once the roster is set. =op
mara was the man
will definitely miss his in-game commentary
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