Cause For Celebration & Exasperation

Oh Donald.

The times we had with you. We cried, we laughed, we cheered.

We cried when you were signed.

We laughed when you got your ass handed to you by Colton Orr.

We cheered when you were demoted to Hartford.

And again now that you are gone. Don't let the door hitcha where yer momma splitcha pal.

Yet another of Glen Sather's free agent failures, Brashear was a disasterpiece from the second he was signed. There is no need to rehash the hatred here, only cause for celebration as ding-dong, Brashear is finally gone. It is remarkable how good ole Glen can be so completely inept when it comes to signing players and so deftly skilled trading them.

While people are fretting over the cap concerns of adding Todd White, they need to realize that numbers can always be massaged. The Blueshirts improved the organization by bringing in a friend of Gabby and by removing the blight of Brashear.

It is odd how the Rangers got rid of the younger, stronger, better Orr and replaced him with Brashear by using the rationale that Brash would stand up for his teammates more and could skate better. When he didn't do either, they picked up Jody Shelley, who actually could skate better. Then they turned around and replaced Shelley with Boogaard, who barely fights and can't skate. And Colt stands as the reigning top fighter in the NHL.

I digress, let's get back to this deal. After letting the People's Champ go, Sather replaces him with another Wild forward, one who should push Erik Christensen for the first line center slot alongside Gabby. Should the claims of Arty getting a top-six slot be true, we could very well have another Isbister situation on our hands where White or Christy either plays on the first line or is out of the lineup. I know you guys are quick to get Brian Boyle out - as am I - but his size and penalty killing could be too tempting to scratch or demote for Torts.

We will just have to wait and see how that pans out. But it is clear as always that Glen Sather's idea of improving the team does not include patience. The so-called rebuilding and promises of playing time is limited to the Hartford Wolf Pack. The goal in New York is not to build a Stanley Cup winner - or even a contender. The goal is simply to make the playoffs and earn the extra revenue. I said it before and surely will say it again, setting the bar at eighth place is simply infuriating. All we can do is all we have been doing: ride this out and hope for an end to the Dolan/Sather era.

I don't know about you, but I'm not holding my breath.