The NYR Facts Of Life: #87 Donald Brashear

For each player who suited up in a Blueshirt this season we will take the good, we will take the bad and take them both and see what we have. It's taken a while but we are up to one of Glen Sather's worst signings - and that is saying something - #87, Donald Brashear.

#87's #s: 36 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, -9, 73 PIM.

Take the good: Brashear answered the bell when Colton Orr came calling early in the season and accepted his bus ticket to Hartford when John Tortorella finally came to his senses and banished him.

Take the bad: Getting past the fact that signing Brashear in the first place was a slap in the face to the Ranger fanbase, the goon never lived up to the expectations. During preseason Jim Schoenfeld said that I would be cheering for Brash once he started standing up for teammates. That didn't happen; Brash fought nine times for the sake of fighting, not once because a teammate was under duress or because his team needed a change of luck. The folks over at HockeyFights (generously) decided Brash went 3-4-2 over those tilts - not exactly an intimidating record. And where Sather/Tortorella wanted Brash for his ability to play few minutes and still contribute offensively (something they thought Colton couldn't do), Brash was slower than molasses and added nothing to the Ranger attack.

Take them both and then we have: A horrible signing by Glen Sather and a player - to me at least - that would be best forgetting ever wore a Blueshirt. Betts aside, from the moment he called Ranger season subscribers out at a forum before the season, then ignored the three or four of us who piped up, he was a loathsome Ranger. He contributed nothing positive to the franchise, one that will (likely, unless he is bought out) be forced to pay him $1.3 million dollars (with a $1.4 cap hit) next season not to play in New York.