Blueshirt Bulletin

"I Am Spartacus"

Ivan Baranka has signed a contract to play in Russia next season with Spartak Moscow (Spartak is Russian for Spartacus, the legendary Roman figure being a hero in the Soviet Union for leading a slave revolt). The initial report, which has been propagated from Europe to North America, appeared at hokej.cz, a Czech web site -- even Slovakia's premier hockey site, hokej.sk, has referred to hokej.cz's report, and Baranka is Slovakian. So far, there has been no announcement on the Spartacus web site nor confirmation from the Rangers.

The move by Baranka might not exclude him from consideration for the NHL, as these types of contracts often have "out" clauses, but it does mean that he does not want to consider a return to Hartford for a fourth season in the AHL. The Rangers' second round pick (50th overall) in the 2003 draft played on game in the NHL last season at a pro-rated NHL salary of $521,667 and registered one assist. A series of injuries have limited the defenseman to no more than 62 games in any one season (last season). He turns 23 this coming Monday and is a restricted free agent.

Read more at Howlings and Blue Notes. Not much by way of other news -- Brandon Dubinsky's hat trick in the World Championship is the big story at USA Hockey, NYR.com, and the AP wire. Prospect Park continues its draft preview.

Between a Rock and a Hard Cap

As the Rangers' management team gets ready to convene for their organizational meetings this week, they have three major holes on the team they have to figure out how to fill -- the first line, their top offensive and physical defensemen, and their depth positions. And it won't be easy, as they will have about $20 million of cap space to work with, with at least three and maybe four expensive positions to fill on their top unit, and some potentially costly returning veterans as depth players. Here is a breakdown of what they will be looking at:

First Line Wingers
Plan A: Bring the Boys Back Home -- Re-signing Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery has got to be at the top of the Rangers' list. At 36 and having proven in March and April what he is still capable of doing, signing Jagr to a bonus-laden contract that can be partially deferred into the 2009-10 cap calculation seems almost imperative in order to properly fill other holes, especially on defense. Avery is not traditional first line material, but his chemistry with Jagr when they skated together got both players restarted offensively after inconsistent seasons up to that point. But no matter where he skates, there is no denying his impact on the team -- the Rangers are 60-28-15 with him in the line-up, 35-38-8 over the past two full seasons without him. If Jagr is re-signed but Avery is not, Martin Straka remains an inexpensive possibility for one more season, though he looked like he was close to be through last season.

Plan B: Hired Guns -- A look at the list of potential free agents demonstrates just how vital it is for the Rangers to re-sign Jagr and Avery. Marian Hossa is the top name, maybe even the only name, but he will want more than the $7 million he made last season -- a lot more, especially after a so-far successful post-season, the one knock against him. Though the Rangers have already been linked to him, there is just no way they will be able to afford him and still fill their other holes. Plus there is the fact that he is not going to shake the label of being soft, which is the case with most of the other viable high-scoring UFA candidates -- Markus Naslund, Pavol Demitra, Miro Satan, and Cory Stillman are all aging and far removed from their best days, while Kristian Huselius and Michael Ryder, also soft, are not going to make anyone forget Jagr. The only possible replacement for Avery is Pittsburgh's Ryan Malone, but why replace an overachieving sparkplug with a career underachiever?

Plan C: Home Cooking -- There was a lack of candidates to begin with, and no one is ready -- the only draftee projected to be a first-liner is Alexei Cherepanov, and he has already decided to stay in Russia another season because he's not ready for the NHL.

First Pair Defenseman
Plan A: Bring the Boys Back Home -- No, not Marek Malik. But Michal Rozsival remains a viable candidate to reprise his role as number on Ranger defenseman despite fans turning on him in the playoffs. He has the skill set to play both ends of the ice -- not to the level of perfection Ranger fans demand, but certainly to the requirements of team management and the standards the NHL allows in this era. He will also not require the kind of money needed to sign the true top-pair minute-munching two-way all-star defenseman the Rangers really need -- and some don't believe Wade Redden is really that player anyway.

Plan B: Hired Guns -- Plenty of candidates here, unlike the situation on the wing, but there is no perfect candidate. Redden is the ideal two-way defender the Rangers most need, but will he be two to three million dollars better than Rozsival? Probably not for a team that will be cap-strapped and may need a power play quarterback more than his type of player. Brian Campbell is the best candidate for the power play, but once Ranger fans see his defensive play on a regular basis, they will not be able to distinguish him from Tom Poti, except by his humongous cap hit. John-Michael Liles and Ron Hainsey will be lower-cost options in this mold. On the physical side, Brooks Orpik is the obvious choice, but don't overlook Dmitri Kalinin (though he is injury prone) and Mike Commodore.

Plan C: Home Cooking -- One reason not to commit to someone like Campbell or Redden for a long term is the potential of Bobby Sanguinetti and Marc Staal as the first pair of the future. Staal is already here and has lots of time and room to grow. But it would be unwise to hope to capture lightning in a bottle twice in a row and have Sanguinetti step right into a top-pair role as a rookie -- he may ultimately prove to be great, but he's not an out-of-the box can't-miss candidate like a Staal. He and the Rangers can only benefit from patience -- a year of seasoning in the AHL and at least a year of low-expectation development in the NHL before anointing him the next Brian Leetch.

Depth Positions
The Rangers' current $35 million cap commitment that we're operating under includes what we might expect Nigel Dawes and Fred Sjostrom to get as restricted free agents and it includes a modest allotment for a back-up goalie, whether it be Steve Valiquette, Miika Wiikman, or David Leneveu. It also includes Thomas Pock as the sixth or seventh defenseman, plus the entire fourth line as constituted last season, all three already signed for next year. But there are still three depth spots to fill to complete the roster, and that will take up some cap space too.

Plan A: Bring the Boys Back Home -- There is no reason to expect or even want Blair Betts and Colton Orr to be replaced, both having proved their value last season (when was the last time you saw someone run a Ranger with Orr in the line-up?). Ryan Hollweg should be up for challenge, but even if he loses his starting job, he will likely remain as a depth player for his hitting and locker room popularity, an intangible factor not to be overlooked. On defense, Pock will get his last chance to make the Rangers, but has to be considered a longshot. You could do worse than bring back Paul Mara at the deep discount he is now worth. But the big issue in this area is the status of Brendan Shanahan -- he said he'd be willing to return as a depth player, but will he be too expensive in that role, or is his leadership worth it?

Plan B: Hired Guns -- Branislav Mezei might be a good cheap option with potential upside as a depth defenseman if Mara is not signed. Or maybe even if Mara is re-signed and the Rangers do the right thing and cut Christian Backman, freeing up some salary for more important players -- a soft, porous defenseman like Backman can be obtained for a lot less than he makes, or can better yet be removed from your game plan altogether. There is no need to sign any free agent forwards for depth.

Plan C: Home Cooking -- There are two options up front: One is to open up a third line role for a player with offensive upside like Lauri Korpikoski and let him compete for that job in training camp, leaving Sjostrom on the fourth line with Betts and Orr. The more likely option is to let a number of young players compete for one or two openings on the fourth line -- Korpikoski and Greg Moore as potential upside players cutting their teeth in the NHL, or Josh Gratton and Dane Byers as permanent replacements for Hollweg. On defense, Corey Potter is the dark horse Girardi-du-jour candidate as depth defenseman. Paging Ivan Baranka -- last chance to show something in training camp.

Our opinion, taking the salary cap into consideration: Re-sign Jagr, Avery, Rozsival, and maybe Mara, waive Backman, and sign a mid-level defenseman if salaries don't escalate too high -- Liles, Hainsey, or Marc Streit for the power play or Orpik as a hitter -- or a cheaper physical alternative (Kalinin or Mezei). Let Shanahan and Straka go. Malik obviously already gone. Give Korpikoski, Moore, Gratton, Byers, Potter, and Baranka first shot at the depth positions. Hard to imagine any good fall-back positions if these things don't happen -- gotta just say nyet to big-ticket UFAs Hossa, Redden, and Campbell, and an even bigger nyet to the aging wingers or younger candidates who are either soft or underachievers.

Catching up on links from over the weekend: Larry Brooks takes on the Avery situation in the Post, as does Stan Fischler at MSG.com -- Stan also looks at Rozsival at MSG.com. Also in the Post (but in a blog), Jay Greenberg looks at Jagr alternatives. The Boston Herald mentions the Rangers among candidates for Hossa. Prospect Park finishes up its review of the Rangers and previews the upcoming draft. NYR.com has stories on Rangers in the World Championships here and here. And this just in -- updates from Rangers Report and Blue Notes with no news, and Cablevision just bought Newsday, a newspaper that covers the Rangers and Islanders. Brandon Dubinsky had a hat trick in Team USA's 9-1 win over Norway.

Thanks to all the readers for their kind words about this web site and about Blueshirt Bulletin's print publication as we face a summer of potential change. Thanks also for those who sent in for subscriptions -- not the 500-1000 that we really need, but your support is appreciated and your first issue is on its way to you.

Now Is a Good Time to Subscribe

The May issue of Blueshirt Bulletin went out into the mail today for subscribers and should be arriving in mailboxes in the New York area within the next two or three days, a little longer for other destinations around the U.S. and the world. As is so often the case, events outpaced our abiility to prepare stories -- most of the articles were written after the elimination of the Devils, but the issue went to press after the Rangers themselves were eliminated in the next round. Nevertheless, we feel confident that we have come up with some good reading that is fresh regardless of the results.

Here is what we have: two pages on Sean Avery (pre-injury), including John Dellapina of the Daily News on how Avery helps promote hockey; two pages on the impact of the Rangers' rookies, one page specifically on Marc Staal and another by Dan Rosen of NHL.com on the group as a whole; two pages on what worked for the Rangers this season, which will be same next season -- Andrew Gross of the Record on Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist, Sam Weinman of the Journal News on how team's off-ice chemistry translates onto the ice; a two-page review of both playoff rounds; and Bruce Berlet's two-page review of Hartford's season.

That's ten pages of wall to wall information from some of the great sportswriters in the New York area who cover the Rangers. But that's not all, far from it. Jess Rubenstein has a player by player review of Ranger prospects as well as Prospect Park's year-end awards, Scoop Malinowski has Biofiles on Michal Rozsival and Steve Valiquette, John Halligan skates Around the Rink With the Rangers, and Ron Boesgaard has his popular Views From the Blues. There are the usual three pages of Rangers news and notes, the Rangers timeline, and Blueshirt Bulletin reader Bill Cummings lauding the Rangers' version of the Flying Frenchmen.

All of this is illustrated by great photography, some of it exclusive to Blueshirt Bulletin thanks to David Perlmutter (including a series of shots of the Rangers and Avery running Martin Brodeur), and beautifully put together by our art director, John Coutihno -- David and John bring more than their artistry to the project, they also bring the eye of the Ranger fan, being fans themselves. You can see the combination of their work along with a sampling of some of this month's writing in the collage at the upper left -- but you'll have to subscribe to actually be able to read it and see it close up in all its glory.

It's not too late to subscribe and get this issue. And in the process, you also help make sure that we get a reporter on site at the upcoming draft in Ottawa. We are going to need several hundred new subscribers to fund live coverage from the draft of the type that we have provided the past couple of years, coverage that included a rare exclusive interview with Glen Sather by Jess Rubenstein as well as exclusive interviews with Ranger draftees and scouts and one with Jim Schoenfeld, in addition to coverage of press conferences by the top draftees and Rangers' staff members like Sather and Tom Renney.

Subscription will soon become the only way to access our premium content, including our coverage of Prospect Development Camp and Ranger training camp. This summer, we will migrate the site to one where premium coverage will only be available to magazine subscribers (there may also be an option to subscribe separately to premium online content for those who don't get the magazine). So get a head start and subscribe now to get the current issue of Blueshirt Bulletin and get the June issue, which will preview the draft and summer free agent season. Click here for information on how to subscribe.

Just some light reading on the Rangers today -- Henrik Lundqvist backstopped Sweden to an easy win (recap here -- NYR.com has the lowdown on all Rangers in the World Championship), Perry Pearn has thrown his name into the hat for the Florida head coaching job (report here), Kenny Albert looks ahead at MSG.com, and Prospect Park has part IV of its look at the Rangers.

Yin and Yang for Jagr an Co.

They all say they want to come back to New York next season. But there's a hitch to each and every one. Four of the Rangers' five high-profile free agents in waiting swore allegiance to the Rangers, but there's more to each of their stories than just that. In some cases it's money, in some cases it's happiness, in some cases it even boils down to whether the Rangers want them back or have the cap room for them.

"I bleed blue and red," Sean Avery said, swearing up and down and left and right that he wants to remain a Ranger. "I feel like walking into Madison Square Garden is a privilege and I think it's an honor to play for Mr. Dolan and to put the Ranger jersey on. I love the city and I love the fans. I'd be lying if I didn't say that that wasn't the case. New York is a place I want to play. I love the team, the fans and the organizations, so I want to come back."

But for Avery it will boil down to money. He knows what he wants and he knows he can probably get it somewhere, so it's a matter of whether GM Glen Sather is willing to give it to him. "My side has an idea what my value is," he said, as he has in the past. "Of course I want to resolve it. [But] I'm not the guy who signs players. I wish I could be on both ends, but I don’t think the league would allow that. They won’t allow T-shirts, so they won’t allow a player [to be] a GM. It's always unexpected what can happen when you wait and the door gets open. That’s the interesting idea as well.”

Brendan Shanahan said he knows he can keep playing. "The first thing you have to decide is, can you, are you physically able to," he said. "That part, to me, has been answered. It's about knowing that number one you can do it and knowing number two that the team that you play for is going to be a better team because you're on it. I definitely feel today that at this point, I definitely know that I can still be a productive player in the NHL and certainly somebody who contributes to a team's wins in a variety of ways. If I didn't feel confident, I would make my decision to stop playing today."

But he recognizes that it might have to be in a lesser role that in the past. "Sometimes the biggest thing you can do for your team is step back," he said. "It’s happened to me this year. Whatever they’ve ever asked me to do I have always done with great determination. I’ve never been a player to complain. I've always done what the coaches have asked me to do. I’ve always tried to set that example. I feel the eyes of our younger players on me, I feel a great responsibility in being a professional with all things that come toward me in an NHL season." There was, however, some question during the season whether Shanahan defied Tom Renney in continuing to play through injuries, which are now being blamed for his decline in the playoffs.

The Rangers remain his first choice. "If I decided to play, this would be my first choice," he said. But that's a far cry from the note sounded a year ago when he said he would only play for the Rangers or else choose to retire. Last year, he knew the Rangers wanted him back in his usual capacity, he knew it was his own decision to keep playing or retire, and his concussion was the biggest factor in that decision. This time, he cannot be as sure that the Rangers will want him back in a lesser role -- or perhaps more saliently, will be able to pay him what he would want to be in that lesser role when there are young guys making the league minimum who could do it too.

Then there is Jaromir Jagr. "First I am going to talk to the Rangers, that's the number one option for me," Jagr said after keeping mum on the subject all season long -- and one still has to wonder why he would have to keep that a secret. "I don't like to change. I feel very comfortable here, with all the people around this organization who are nice to me. They gave me a chance to show everybody I still can play hockey. Everybody doubted me when I was playing in Washington, for whatever reason. The Rangers gave me a chance and believed in me."

But there are promises he has to keep, and maybe that's what he was keeping under his belt. His promise to return to Omsk has been rehashed already, and it didn't come up again after the season's end. But perhaps Jagr's big secret was his promise to his father to return to Czech to help open his new arena two years hence. "I don't think I would sign longer than two years just because of my dad," he said. "He asked me to come home. He did. In two years. He wants me to come back. He's helping to build a new arena there and he wants me to be there. But you never know. I believe, if I would say I'm coming a little later, he wouldn't mind. But he wants me to be there."

The two-year window wouldn't hurt his chances to return to New York, it can only help -- because of CBA considerations, Sather has been loathe to sign over-35 players for more than one-year, and an incentive-laden one-year contract would help the Rangers manage the salary cap. But Jagr hinted that he might want to test the waters anyway. "I’ve never been a free agent in my life," he said. "Maybe I would like to find out what’s my price. Just to find out. All I hear from all the media is, 'He’s done.' Maybe the hockey world has a different opinion." He cracked wise about it too: "I don’t know if I want to find out. Maybe I would find out something I don’t want to know. It could work both ways." But as we know, Jagr's jokes are sometimes just a smokescreen.

Finally, there is Martin Straka. Although still showing flashes of his speed and skill, Straka had trouble completing plays in the playoffs and all season long. So he, maybe even more than Shanahan, falls into the category of perhaps not being needed or wanted, or perhaps not capable of being fit under the salary cap even if he was needed and wanted. For him, it depends on whether his friend Jagr returns. "Obviously I'm going to want to talk to him," Straka said. "It's going to be a big decision on my mind whether he's going to be here or not. I don't know if he wants to talk to me, but I'm going to want to talk to him."

Stan Fischler continues his series of looking at who should be brought back at MSG.com, analyzing Jagr today after having taken on Shanahan yesterday. The Daily News has been running a poll to see who fans want back (or not). Newsday takes a closer look at Jagr, Slap Shot has more on Shanny. Prospect Park continues its series on the Rangers too. NHL.com talks to Mark Messier. And Rod Gilbert talks on camera about the Rangers to ReelSportsFan.com.

Upon Further Review, Rangers May Not Look All That Different Next Season [Links Added]

On break-up day, every Ranger pretty much said he wanted to come back, but each had a caveat. Jaromir Jagr said the Rangers were his "number one option" for next season, but promises to Avangard Omsk in Russia and his father in Czech could pull him back to Europe sooner rather than later. Sean Avery reiterated how much he loves New York, but he said his fate was in GM Glen Sather's hands and that he'd be happy playing for fans anywhere. Brendan Shanahan said his body was telling he could still play, but he wasn't sure at what level and whether that would be in New York again. Martin Straka said he has one more season in him, and he'd like for that season to be in New York if Jagr returns.

But unless some of these players are willing to give Sather a big hometown discount, there simply is no room for all of them on a roster that is becoming increasingly filled with players of the future. A quick look at everyone's contract status and at the salary cap shows that the Rangers could easily be the same team next season that they are now. All four center positions are already filled by Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, and Blair Betts. Assuming the Rangers easily re-sign restricted free agents Nigel Dawes and Freddie Sjostrom to economical contracts, six of nine wingers will return (Ryan Callahan, Petr Prucha, Colton Orr, and Ryan Hollweg are the others).

On defense, five players are already under contract -- Marc Staal, Fedor Tyutin, Dan Girardi, Christian Backman, and Thomas Pock. The Rangers will likely try to re-sign Michal Rozsival and may even want to keep Paul Mara if he is willing accept a salary commensurate with his role here. Henrik Lundqvist is under contract for a long time, and Miika Wiikman is already inked, so he's an option if the Rangers decide not to sign Steve Valiquette. Down in Hartford, nine forwards and four defenseman are already signed, eight more RFAs can easily be brought back should the Rangers choose to keep them, and two unrestricted free agents are highly likely to stay (David Leneveu and Hugh Jessiman). So there will be no shortage of young players knocking on the door, with Lauri Korpikoski, Greg Moore, Dane Byers, Ivan Baranka, and Bobby Sanguinetti sure to get long looks in training camp.

Right now, that all adds up to around $36 million, including upwards of $1.5 million in bonus payments from last season deferred to next season's cap calculation. With next season's cap likely to be in the $55 million range, that leaves $19 million to re-sign Avery, re-sign or replace Jagr, re-sign or replace Rozsival, re-sign Dawes and Sjostrom, and fill out three depth positions with rookies or veterans returning on the cheap. The early line is that it will take $6-8 million to fill Jagr's position, $3.5-4 million for Avery, and $4-6 million for Rozsival's spot. It will be impossible to go to the high end on all three positions and still have anything left over for the five other positions that need to be filled. Which makes it that much more imperative to re-sign Jagr, since part of his salary can be deferred into the following season.

The big conundrum will be on defense. If you re-sign Jagr, Avery, and Rozsival at the low end of the scale, you have precious little left for the type of power play quarterback or crease clearer the team really needs. And if one or two manage to get more than the low end, there is no room at all -- unless you forego Rozsival and target Wade Redden, the one free agent who combines both elements the Rangers need, although he will obviously cost more, or go for a cheaper option like John-Michael Liles or Marc Streit as your QB or Brooks Orpik as you banger, along with a second defenseman from the low-cost end of the list. None of which leaves you with any room to maneuvre during the season -- which means the best option of all might very well be a trade rather than a free agent.

But no matter how you cut it, it's hard to see where there can be any room for Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, or Paul Mara -- unless they are willing to work for peanuts as depth players. You'd want your young players to cut their teeth in those roles, but veterans like these would be great depth players if the team ran into a rash of injuries or young players unexpectedly hitting walls or ceilings.

We're not going to repeat the prime quotes from yesterday's exit interviews since they have already been much-repeated in the press -- see the Daily News here and here, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record here and here, Star-Ledger, Blue Notes, Rangers Report here and here, Slap Shot, Prospect Park, AP, MSG.com here and here, NY Sports Day, and NYR.com. Rangers going to the World Championship -- Lundqvist to Sweden, Dubinsky to U.S.A., Tyutin to Russia, and Rozsival to Czech (NYR.com).

WWJJD: What Will Jagr Do?

Will Jaromir Jagr be back in New York next season? That is the first question that must be answered before the Rangers can begin to conceive a plan for building their 2008-09 roster -- if Jagr comes back, that plan will center upon him, maybe not as much as in the past, but still... But if he decides to play elsewhere, the Rangers will need to consider Plan B -- acquiring another player as their centerpiece -- or even Plan C -- that's the one where fans have to be patient through a losing season while we wait for homegrown centerpieces to arrive and develop. Whatever plan they choose, let's just hope we don't end up with Plan 9 From Outer Space.

But back to Jagr. We know he had his worst season statistically since his sophomore season as Mario Lemieux's protege. We know he could have personally done more -- especially on the power play -- to score the 13 additional points he needed to automatically extend his $8.36 million a year contract. But what matters is not what we know, it's what he knows. Jagr knows he cannot get that much money next year, not from any team in creation, not at his age after the season he just had, though the way he finished the regular season and performed in the playoffs demonstrated that he's not finished as a team-carrier.

Presumably, the Rangers will be willing to pay him the $4.94 million they would have been thrilled to pay him yet again had his contract extension kicked in. They may even be willing to pay him more than that, especially since they know that at his age they can fashion a contract that can defer easily achievable bonuses into the following year's cap calculation. But will that be enough to keep him here, or will another team break the bank for him? If Michael Nylander commanded $4.875 for four years as Jagr's sidekick, how much will Jagr himself command with the cap bumped up to $55 million? If Brendan Shanahan was worth $5.3, how can one expect Jagr to settle for anything less than, say, $6 million -- or more?

But it's more than just money for Jagr. All other things being equal (i.e. the money), will Jagr choose to come back and play Tom Renney's defensive scheme and Perry Pearn's power play for another year? From his point of view (though some fans may think differently), sacrificing his numbers -- and his automatic contract extension -- to play dump and chase and to play defense and to mentor a rookie center was something Jagr was obviously willing to do this past season (he no doubt thought he could hit his target anyway), but it would be hard to imagine him being willing to do it again next season, especially if he doesn't get a long term contract.

Would Renney be flexible enough to alter his game plan for Jagr if Jagr demanded it? That would no doubt mean giving him more power play time, which he kind of complained about this season -- his time went down from 1:10 per power play in his first two full seasons as a Ranger to 55 seconds per power play this season. It would also no doubt mean letting Jagr resume control the of power play the way he likes to control it. Would that even be a good thing for the team overall, given the tepid power play results over the past two season? And to allow a player to dictate his preferences, if such was the case?

Finally, there is the issue of the dwindling Czech contingent on the team. One would be shocked if Martin Straka did not hang them up after the season he had -- one may be even more shocked if the Rangers bring him back for another season after the season he had, which could only be as a concession to Jagr should he re-sign. Marek Malik is gone for sure. Petr Prucha might as well be gone, having fallen off the depth chart -- he'd be worth more to the Rangers now as trade bait than anything else.

That leaves Michal Rozsival, who had a poor playoff showing against Pittsburgh -- it makes no sense to re-sign Rozsival, not at the price he will probably command, if Jagr is not around, since his success is tied to Jagr's presence. Conversely, if the Rangers value Rozsival that much, they have to consider that he is as likely to sign elsewhere if Jagr leaves as he is to re-sign here. Some may consider that a good thing, but replacing Rozsival will be no easy feat under the salary cap.

Finally, there is Jagr's public presence. Jagr knows that the media goes to Brendan Shanahan, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Henrik Lundqvist, and even Brandon Dubinsky and Dan Girardi for the easy interviews, and that they come to him only to ask the tough questions on the tough nights. He never shied away from that, but the strain was evident for all to see. That could weigh into his decision. He has often said that he loves playing in New York and that it is his top choice in the NHL, but the pressures of playing in New York may very well have gotten to him over this three-plus seasons here.

And no pressure is greater than that of a fan base that is very demanding. Jagr knows that his name was not chanted by the Garden crowd until Game 4 of the playoffs while others were lauded all season long -- and he knows he got a smattering of boos too when the team was at its lowest point. It cannot be lost on him that some still refuse to accept him as team captain, and he wouldn't be certifiable to wonder if his nationality figured into some of these equations. He is not so vain as to not realize that that was a reflection of his scoring slumps this season. But he may just decide that if he has worn out his welcome, there will be a line of other teams ready to snap him up.

When I add it all up, I don't see Jagr returning next season. He'll get his money somewhere, and he'll get it with assurances that he will get prime playing time in the kind of system he enjoys, and he may even get it with a team that will be closer to a Stanley Cup than the Rangers will probably be next season as they slide back necessarily into at least partial rebuilding mode. He said a while back that he knew what he wanted to do next season but he wouldn't tell -- if that decision was to return to New York, there was no reason not to tell (unless it was a return conditional on style of play and ice time).

Personally, I hope I'm wrong, because I love what Jagr has brought to the Rangers, on and off the ice, both as a fan and as someone who covers the team. And I can't see the Rangers replacing him without spending too many cap dollars, cap dollars already heavily committed to Gomez, Drury, and Lundqvist. He is the best option for New York for at least the next season or two. But is New York the best option for Jagr? I don't see how it can look that way to him at this point.

Sean Avery spoke to Larry Brooks of the New York Post by phone and reported that he is nearly back to full health, was injured when he tried to hit Brooks Orpik early in Game 3, and wants to return to the Rangers next season. Elsewhere, the local papers and whatnot have begun taking stock of the Rangers while still looking back a bit at the playoffs and season -- see the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Record here and here, Blueshirts Blog, Blue Notes, Prospect Park, Stan Fischler at Game On!, Spector at FoxSports, and NY Sports Day. Oh, and did we mention how bad the officiating was?

A Stick to the Head, A Kick to the Gut

The Big Picture: The Rangers were all but run out of town in the second period, with no shots on goal over a span of nearly fifteen minutes and with not one single hit to their credit. That helped the Pens take a 2-0 lead, scoring another power play goal (natch) and another Evgeni Malkin goal (natch). But the Rangers roared back with two goals by two rookies within a span of less than 90 seconds early in the third period, Lauri Korpikoski scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on his fourth NHL shift on a blistering shot to the top corner.

But the Rangers ended up losing the game and series on Marian Hossa’s overtime goal. The power play failed them again, as it has much of the season, and Jaromir Jagr did not follow through on the faith he asked us to have in him after his monster games in the Garden. If not for Henrik Lundqvist's heroic goaltending, this game would never have gotten to overtime. At that point, the Rangers should have won it for him if for no other reason. But as has been the case in virtually every game the Rangers have played, there was a higher power at work -- not the one Jagr hoped to rely on, but the one Gary Bettman relies on.

The Deciding Factor: As in all previous cases, the Rangers have no one else to blame but themselves -- especially their power play -- for the predicament they always seemed to find themselves in. But in every case, that predicament was still a tie score that was ultimately influenced by an official call. And except for the boarding call on Ryan Hollweg in Game 3, the call in question left Ranger fans scratching their heads at best, or fuming at worst.

Today, the Rangers' momentum was blunted with less than 90 seconds left in regulation when Chris Drury was called for a double-minor for high-sticking Ryan Malone. A good call, without question. But it stood in stark counterpoint to an unpenalized Malone high stick that bloodied Drury early in the second period and sent him off for stitches — a horrendous non-call that jump-started the Penguins’ domination of that period, especially since Malone drew the marginal hooking call on Jagr that turned the tide when he should have been in the penalty box. That the deciding goal was scored off a rush that the Rangers believed to be offside entering the zone was just the icing on the cake.

What They Said: “Yes,” said Renney when asked if he thought the winnng play was offside. No more, no less. Later, when asked about the high stick Drury took that was not penalized, he said, “If there’s been one thing that’s been consistent, night after night, different coaches, different teams are wondering about calls or non-calls. Maybe it’s a backhanded testimony to the speed of the game and the talent of the people playing it.” Maybe that's a backhanded way of saying that the officials are too visible influencing the outcomes of games.

“It seems that, especially in this building, it was a constant parade to the penalty box,” said Brendan Shanahan. “It was a great job by the guys to kill off the penalty,” Drury said of his penalty. “I hoped that would give us some life, a little bit of an edge like we had in the third.” “Giving up those games early came back to bite us,” said Shanahan. “We had an opportunity in Game 1. It would’ve been key if we held onto that 3-0 lead and put them behind the eight ball.” “Even when we had the 3-0 [series] lead, every game could have gone either way,” said Crosby.

“You come in September with one thing in your mind, and when you don’t get it, it’s disappointing,” Drury said. “I’m sure fans are disappointed, as are we. The only thing that would be worse than losing would be not learning from it.”

Game reports: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, NY Sun, AP, National Post, NYR.com, and the last report from Pittsburgh on Rangers-Penguins by Inside Hockey's Angela Carducci, a Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber, at FoxSports. On Jagr's future: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday here and here, Post, Record, Ledger, AP, PA Sports Ticker, Toronto Sun, Globe & Mail, ESPN, Tribune-Review. Additional notes: Daily News, Newsday, Inside Shots. From the reporters' blogs: Blueshirts Blog, Rangers Report, Blue Notes here and here, Slap Shot, Blue Seats, and Prospect Park. From Pittsburgh (Ranger-related content only): here, here, here.

Here are our immediate and long-term plans at Blueshirt Bulletin: We're going to wait until tomorrow to start looking ahead, and we will start with how we project Jagr's future. Tomorrow afternoon is break-up day for the Rangers, and there are always a ton of interesting stories to come out of that which will probably take two or three days to present. On Friday, the May issue of Blueshirt Bulletin goes in the mail -- we'll let you know more about that at that time.

From then on, we'll keep tabs on everything that is going on in Rangerland, from the draft to free agent season to prospect development camp. We'll have links for you on a daily or near-daily basis as we find them. And we hope to continue to get reports from the Czech Republic and Russia. Come September, we will be at training camp as we have for the past three years, and we might even go to Europe for the pre-season festivities there. So stay with Blueshirt Bulletin, even in the off-season, for complete Ranger coverage.

Jag Gotta Believe!

UPDATE: Korpikoski will make his NHL debut today in place of Colton Orr; Avery has been released from the hospital. For more see Blushirts Blog, Rangers Report and Blue Notes reporting live from Pittsburgh.

When Jaromir Jagr says "Ya gotta believe!" there is more to it than just sports. Jagr has always been deeply religious, and he believes there is more at work than just athletics. You may not share his belief that a higher spiritual power is focused on an hockey game, but that's not the point -- the point is that Jagr himself believes, and that drives him even beyond the innate world class talent he already possesses.

The last time Jagr invoked his beliefs in public was during the All-Star break in 2007 when everyone had already written the Rangers off as another flop. With the help of a true godsend -- the arrival of Sean Avery -- Jagr helped carry the Rangers to the playoffs, as promised. While there was little margin for error during that playoff run, there is now zero margin for error after the Rangers let three winnable games slip away and grow into a 3-0 series deficit before finally closing one out last Thursday to stay alive. So Jagr and the Rangers will have to be perfect in Pittsburgh this afternoon if they want to extend the series to a sixth game in New York tomorrow evening.

Jagr is the leading subject in some of the news reports today -- see the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, TSN, and Tribune-Review. Additional notes and game previews, including Avery being released from ICU, can be found the Daily News, Post, Record, Toronto Sun here and here, Vancouver Sun, National Post, Globe & Mail, AP, ESPN, NYR.com, Rangerland, Slap Shot, and Prospect Park. The Daily News pans NBC's playoff coverage. Classy: Jagr telling Brooks Orpik his hit was clean, according to this note in a Pittsburgh paper; classless: Pens' coach Michel Therrien dismissing Malkin's slew-foot while taking a gratuitous potshot at Avery. We've developed a tic in our left hand typing "here" for all the Pittsbugh area reports, especially since the e and r are neighbors on the keyboard, so we're going to take a pass on links from there today.

It's ironic that Tom Renney is again considering giving Lauri Korpikoski his first NHL start today in Pittsburgh. That's because the Rangers drafted the 21-year-old Finn with the 19th overall draft pick in 2004 that they got in part by trading the second round draft pick they received as compensation for being unable to sign R.J. Umberger to an entry level contract that June. Yes, that's the same R.J. Umberger who scored eight goals in five games to lead the Flyers to a five-game upset of top-seeded Montreal last night -- on Umberger's 26th birthday.

Fans who remember that the Rangers owned the rights to the Pittsburgh native point to him now with some regret that we missed out on him. But most fail to recall why he didn't sign with the Rangers. There are lingering notions that he had a bad attitude or that he didn't want to sign with the Rangers. The truth is that after sitting out the entire season due to a contract dispute with Vancouver, the team that drafted him 16th overall in 2001, and being acquired by the Rangers during the great purge of March 2004, the Rangers, after having Umberger work out with the team in practice, offered him a $250,000 contract or thereabouts -- he wanted something closer to the entry-level cap of $1.2 million.

So that was his bad attitude and his refusal to consider the Rangers' offer -- he was lowballed. So the Rangers instead got a compensatory draft pick, which they packaged with the first round pick they got from Toronto as part of the Brian Leetch deal to move up from #24 to #19 to nab Korpikoski. So we have a prospect who may have a marginal chance to be a depth player in the NHL instead of Umberger and one of the players drafted in the next ten picks in 2004 -- Mike Green, Wojtek Wolski, Andrej Meszaros, or Travis Zajak.

That was also the year we drafted Al Montoya sixth overall. Ranger fans can point to the Pens getting the benefit of all those high draft picks, with Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, and Staal all taken first or second overall. While the Rangers never had any single pick that high, let alone four of them, they did have seven straight top twelve picks and have exactly zero NHL players to show for those picks, four of them busts (Brendl, Lundmark, Jessiman, and so far Montoya), one a useful but marginal NHL player for another team (Malhotra), one lost early to injury (Blackburn), and one traded away for a player lost quickly to injury (Bure).

Butt-Push Trumps Slew-Foot

In the bass-ackwards Orwellian world of the NHL, one player can do a strange, probably unsportsmanlike, but at that time legal dance in front of a goalie and in the process be speared in the groin by that goalie, and the league ignores the dangerous, definitely unsportsmanlike, and highly illegal spear while creating a new rule to avoid a recurrence of the strange dance routine. And in the bass-ackwards Orwellian world of the NHL, one player can run around the ice in the final minute of a frustrating loss and twice commit the dangerous, definitely unsportsmanlike, and highly illegal act of slew-footing an opponent (and for good measure target the ailing ribs of an opponent, albeit with a legal check), but the only thing the league has to consider the next day is how to explain why a legal push by a defenseman led to a penalty shot (because the referee on the ice never explained what the infraction was).

So Martin Brodeur is allowed to freely spear Sean Avery and Evgeni Malkin is allowed to freely slew-foot Paul Mara (not once, but twice), but new rulings have to be created to keep Avery out of Brodeur's face and to give Malkin a penalty shot when no discernable infraction was committed. And on top of that, Penguin coach Michel Therrien, who was whining to the officials even before the series began and whined some more after last game when an apparent Malkin was disallowed because he slid into Henrik Lundqvist (a bad call, by the way, if Girardi was in fact guilty of something in taking Malkin down), thinks it's OK to dismiss Malkin's slew-footing as being competitive.

Therrien, adding to the Penguins' classy image, also thinks it's OK to kick a man when he's down. In excusing Malkin's acts, which Mara called "classless", Therrien takes a potshot at Avery, who is lying in intensive care due to internal bleeding from a lacerated spleen, saying that Malkin's pair of slew-foots was nothing compared to Avery's slash to the back of Marc-Andre Fleury's leg at the end of Game 2. Of course, in the bass-ackwards Orwellian world of the NHL, all that will be remembered of that incident is Avery's slash, not Fleury's spear to Avery's groin -- courageously, from behind -- or George Laraque courageously being third man in on Avery after Hal Gill already began exacting a pound of flesh from Avery.

But unless the NHL creates a new rule to rationalize the erroneous call against Girardi, all of that is water under the bridge -- no harm, no foul after Malkin's "competitive" penalty shot was stopped in his sleep by Lundqvist -- heading into tomorrow afternoon's Game 5 in Pittsburgh. The Pens are still in a playoff series, but the Rangers have just one game to play. And that game has to be a repeat of Thursday, when they hounded Malkin and Sidney Crosby into frustration and Marian Hossa into his annual playoff invisible man disappearing act.

In the news today, Larry Brooks writes in the Post that the refs must allow the Rangers to play that game as long as they do it legally, which to the credit of the officials was the case in Game 4. Blueshirts Blog and Newsday address the forthcoming new "Girardi Rule", the Record, THN, and NHL.com take a closer look at the Beast, Jaromir Jagr, the Daily News has a brief update on Avery, and Stan Fischler describes how the Rangers can win Game 5 here and here. More on the series: Daily News, Journal News, Times, Post, Star-Ledger, Rangers Report, Blue Notes, Prospect Park, ESPN, Vancouver Sun, and AP. Penguin point of view here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Howlings has an update on Thomas Pock.

Recipe For Success

UPDATE: The Rangers have asked the NHL to clarify the infraction that led to the penalty shot, but have not asked the league to review Malkin's slew-foots (no suspension), all according to Rangers Report.

You take one part power play, two parts Jagr, and three parts Lundqvist. Mix them in a very large bowl shaped like a perfect circle, sprinkle in a healthy does of timely penalty killing, a pinch of gutty play by injured players and players replacing injured players, and a dash of frustration on the other side, and you have a recipe for winning that keeps the Rangers alive for one more game in their second round series -- not only keeps them alive, but gives them something to build on while sowing seeds of doubt in Pittsburgh to go along with those sprouts of frustration.

This was the Rangers' recipe for success even before losing Sean Avery and Blair Betts, along with some of Chris Drury's effectiveness, to injury -- we'd already gotten an article ready for the upcoming May issue of Blueshirt Bulletin that outlined just how important it was for the Rangers to have Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist, their two most important players, carry them through the playoffs, with the power play chipping in the goals that win games. Against the Devils, it all clicked, even if the power play wasn't there for the first two games and Lundqvist had a couple of games he'd like to have back.

But against the Penguins, there was always something missing. The power play got a huge goal early in Game 1 with Lundqvist keeping the Rangers afloat, but everything went AWOL in blowing a 3-0 lead. Lundqvist sparkled in Game 2, but Jagr and the offense were blanked, with the power play denied the goal that would have sent the game into overtime by a quick whistle. In Game 3, Jagr was a beast, but Lundqvist could not make a game-saving stop and the power play was once again blanked and humiliated, as was the penalty killing for a third straight game. The Pens are to be credited for taking an essential ingredient or two out of the Ranger attack for all or part of those games.

But this time, it all came together for the Rangers. Lundqvist kept the Rangers in a scoreless tie through the first half of the game (31 minutes, actually) when the Pens outshot the Rangers 15-10, including a pair of stops on Evgeni Malkin that had him banging his stick in frustration. But as valiantly as he was playing, the depleted Rangers didn't appear as if they had what it took to score a goal, especially with Scott Gomez having an off game skating with Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan, Drury clearly hampered centering Brendan Shanahan and a dynamic Petr Prucha, and Martin Straka losing the handle every time he had a play on his stick (including a breakaway) despite having a good game otherwise.

Jagr took over at the exact moment one would think that it was going to be up to him to do it himself. Surely everyone at the Garden believed just that as he streaked up the left wing on a solo rush, cut to the middle, and whipped a whistler past Marc-Andre Fleury to break the scoreless tie. He lay on the ice for a long time afterwards, unable to celebrate his goal after being laid out with a hit to the head by Brooks Orpik -- he was lying there wishing he could do the celebration scene from "Jerry Maguire", he told reporters later. But he got back up and assisted on Brandon Dubinsky's goal early in the third period and scored the empty netter to seal the deal late in the game -- both of them power play goals, the special team finally coming through after an 0-for-15 streak of futility.

But it wouldn't have held up without Lundqvist's continued heroics. In addition to some flurries around his net and help from one crossbar, Lundqvist stopped a pair of breakaways and a penalty shot -- a shorthanded breakaway by Ryan Malone and one by Malkin that led to his penalty shot. He had help from his defense, with the Rangers outshootiing the Pens 21-8 between the middle of the second period and the last five minutes of the game -- Paul Mara had his best game as a Ranger, aided by some timely plays by Jason Strudwick, playing in place of the Chirstain Backman turn-it-over machine. But the saves on Malkin and Malone were huge, keeping the Pens from striking at the Rangers the way they had in the first three games even when the Rangers were outplaying them.

The penalty shot call was a mystery. Dan Girardi, chasing Malkin without a stick, pushed him lightly in the back with his hands. Somehow, Malkin's legs went out from under him feet-first, defying the laws of physics for a check from behind, but not the dynamics of diving. It was a check from behind, but that penalty is a major penalty designed for dangerous plays where a player can be injured, not the kind of light pushes from behind designed to separate a player from the puck that one sees all game long -- one would think that a major penalty, if warranted, would supersede a penalty shot. Curiously, even though he was not called for diving, an apparent goal was denied Malkin on the continuation of the play because he pushed Lundqvist into the net after the save was made -- but if he went into Lundqvist because of a penalty, it shouldn't have been considered a push. All in all, a series of calls and non-calls that were all wrong.

The game got ugly once the Penguins fell behind 2-0. Apparently believing it their birthright to win every game, to not get hit, and to not have any calls go against them, the Pens lost their cool, beginning with Sidney Crosby, who went after Girardi after a clean check to Marian Hossa, with Malkin, a sore loser after being sportsmanlike in victory, joining in. Both Penguin stars sat in the box together as the Rangers went on the power play, certainly not a recipe for success for Pittsburgh. Then, at the end of the game, as Jagr scored an empty netter, Malkin slew-footed Mara twice, the second time touching off a melee. Drury may have been slew-footed too. Malkin was not penalized for his acts, even after being the beneficiary of the phantom penalty shot call.

But one win does not negate the hole the Rangers are still in. They cannot lose a single game more in this series. Can they recreate their recipe for success again three times in a row, beginning Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh? On the Rangers side of the ledger, Jagr and Lundqvist will have the biggest say, along with the special teams. The Penguins will have something to say about it too, but if their say is no more than the frustration they showed in losing this game, the Rangers will have a good chance to extend the series one game at a time, which is all they're looking for at this point.

Game reports: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, Vancouver Sun, AP, Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, National Post, FoxSports, Yahoo! Sports, CBC, NY Sports Day, NYR.com. More on Jagr's heroic game: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Post, Record, SI.com, ESPN, CBS Sports, TSN, Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review, Beaver County Times. More on Lundqvist's heroic goalkeeping: Newsday, Times, Post, Record, ESPN, NHL.com. More on Malkin's heroic slew-foots: Daily News, Record, Star-Ledger, Toronto Sun, Tribune-Review.

Avery, the internal bleeding stopped, has been released from intensive care, but is unable to eat. See Daily News, Newsday, Blueshirts Blog, AP, Toronto Sun, ESPN. Post-game from reporters' blogs: Rangers Report, Blue Notes, Slap Shot, Blue Seats, and Prospect Park. Live game blog: Blue Notes. Pre-game from reporters' blogs, with Lauri Korpikoski not getting into his first NHL game: Blueshirts Blog, Rangers Report, Blue Notes, Slap Shot. A few other late pre-game entries from yesterday from the Post here and here and the Globe and Mail. From Pittsburgh here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.