A Cynical Summer Night

It's Monday night, the temperature is way too warm for me so I figured I would go to my happy place and think about hockey. Yay. What better way than to take a pre-Wednesday look at the 2009-10 New York Ranger roster? This is based on what-seems-to-be the certainties that Antropov, Betts, Sjostrom, Orr, Mara and Morris are all gone for good. I will be around for much of Wednesday and will bring my usual commentary, but I must offer a warning - I don't see Sather doing too much. There simply isn't the money or the talent out there worth wasting what cap space there is. That space will be worth so much more come the trade deadline and next season's free agent crop. So, without a big trade or signing, here's the roster as I see it:

Offense
Drury-Gomez-Zherdev
Avery-Dubinsky-Callahan
Byers-Anisimov-Korpikoski
Voros-Boyle-Owens/Ambuhl

Defense
Staal-Girardi
Redden-Rozsival
Gilroy/Potter/Sauer-Heikkinen/Sanguinetti/Del Zotto

Goal
Hank
Valley

Looks grim, huh? I mean, it's nice that a half dozen or so new youngsters will get spots but this team looks like one in transition - maybe by the time the MSG renovations are done in 2012, it will have some firepower and be one helluva a team to watch (the building blocks are there). For now, notsomuch.

I was having a chat with Mr. X of the Blue Seats who laid Tortorella's plan out thusly: "As was his M.O. in Tampa,the extra players have no roles and the high end players will eat every available minute." I happen to agree with him, no matter what Mr. U.S. Assistant Coach claims in the press. If he didn't say the kids would get a look, they wouldn't work hard. If he didn't say they had just as much opportunity as the vets, then us season ticket holders would be outraged and not re-up. When the shined up p.r. drivel loses it's luster, it is almost certain that we will see the desperate coach go back to his old ways and means. That means, with the roster as is, we can look forward to another season where Gomez gets 24+ minutes to circle incessantly before going offsides. Wade Redden eating up power play minutes and giving up shorthanded goals. Hank being ran with no repercussions. Few goals and fewer fans in the seats.

Sather told Newsday that "I thought [Redden] played very well in the playoffs. When we signed all these guys, everybody was excited about them, you guys included." I'm sorry, I don't think I know a single person who was excited about signing Redden. I know plenty of folks who were pumped for Drury and Gomez but, at the same time, I wasn't one of them and I know a good number of others who agreed. But if Sather thinks that Redden and company are worth playing, you can be sure that his coach will play them. Being fired sucks.

Now, all of this could change - Sather could shock the world, blow up the roster, get some big-name bodies that are worth the jersey he puts on them and Tortorella may shock us all and be true to his word. We could see big budget players getting the minuscule minutes they deserve and accountability for folks not named Avery and all of that other heart-warming rhetoric Torts has spewed. But, call me a cynic, but I just have a hard time buying any of it.

Yankee Stadium? No Thanks ...

I like John Dellapina. I think he does a very good job as a Rangers beat writer for the Daily News. I read his blog regularly. But I have to say that I think his story yesterday was a little crazy. Granted, it was just good reporting, but it again broaches the idea of an outdoor game in New York - specifically at Yankee Stadium between the Rangers and the Islanders.

Frankly, its a bad idea.

Simply said, Yankee Stadium would suck as a venue. The Daily News tried to give people an idea of what the rink would look like with what BMR called the Worst. Photoshop. Ever. BMR also gave some venues just as ridiculous as Yankee Stadium, you know, like the moon.

You may laugh but the House that Ruth built is really not suited for an outdoor hockey game between the Rangers and Islanders, no matter how badly Bettman would love to market it. Having been to the Stadium, and having gone to the Winter Classic in Buffalo, I feel safe saying that this is a really bad idea. It's one thing to have Buffalo and Pittsburgh, it's another to get the Rangers and Islanders. The Sabres and the Penguins have little bad blood between them; the Blueshirts and Fishermen certainly do as one of the biggest rivalries in the game. Could you imagine the PR fiasco that would result if another Chris Simon incident happened before a national audience on New Years? Or even another brawl? The league is clearly not in favour of fighting, just think of what Bettman would do if this happened again ...

That isn't to say that the fans wouldn't love it, but they -- we -- are another problem. I don't think I have ever been to a single game against the Islanders where a fight in the stands didn't break out. Now, in recent years they have been small in scale and not very damaging but in the mid 80's, the tussles were legendary. Now move them to the Bronx, where its almost impossible to move around. I went to a Yanks/Sawx game last season and watched as security struggled to run single file along the upper deck to get to a drunken fight near the top. That game (strangely) wasn't even sold out but a Rangers/Isles game would be a packed house of 57,545 hockey fans. Not necessarily a recipe for disaster, but certainly one that would need large amounts of crowd control.

Another factor would definitely be the weather. Everyone raved about the snow in Buffalo, but at the same time back in the city it was in the 40s and a week later, the mid-60s. That doesn't bode well for good ice conditions. Granted, the NHL's ice gurus would have more than a week to set up (likely three months since the Yankees won't make the postseason without some pitching), but for as much magic as they can whip up, if Mother Nature is not cooperative, it could make for an awful game.

And that's another thing - the Winter Classic was an amazing experience, but even I can admit that the quality of hockey was really quite poor. Do we want to waste what could be an important divisional battle on what should be an exhibition game?

You know I would be right there if the league did set this game up, but I truly think that the league should explore other options first: primarily the idea of moving the All Star Game outdoors. As I've said several times, it would bring the league's brightest stars out under the sky and into millions of homes on New Years Day. It also would not demean a regular season game that could eventually have playoff implications. What happens if Buffalo misses the playoffs by one point this season? Or what about the Rangers? If Buffalo makes it by one point over the Blueshirts, fans should be outraged because the two Winter Classic teams clearly did not put forth their best effort and still earned points in the standings.

I know I would be furious, and you should be too. And that is the main reason why the NHL should not place a regular season outdoors at all, and certainly not in Yankee Stadium.