Blueshirt Boggle

Draft Dreams

I had a dream the other night that the Rangers won the first pick in the 2005 draft and selected Sidney Crosby. Everyone cried "Fix!" Gary Bettman said that he knew that would happen if the Rangers won the first pick, but that the Rangers nevertheless had the same chance everyone else had to win that first pick and won it fair and square. Now if only that dream can become reality, regardless of whether anyone believes Bettman. In the meantime, we have to read articles like Bob MacKenzie's at TSN.ca and make contingency plans for lower selections -- Benoit Pouliot, Jack Johnson, Bobby Ryan, Gilbert Brule, or Anze Kopitar are next in line.

The Psurny twins will be reunited in Medicine Hat after one year apart. Michal [pictured at left], brother of Ranger draftee Roman Psurny (who was interviewed in the Februrary issue of Blueshirt Bulletin by Jess Rubenstein), was selected by Medicine Hat the other day in the CHL import draft. Reports Jess: "Unlike previous years where the CHL import draft would have taken place after the NHL entry draft, those selected now fall under CHL rules if they are selected by an NHL team. In other words if the Rangers draft Michal or any other European who has just been taken, he can't join Hartford until he turns 20."

Jess has also alerted us that Ranger prospect Jakub Petruzalek, who went to the Memorial Cup tournament with Ottawa, was traded by the 67s to the Barrie Colts. Barrie must have been impressed with Petruzalek, who helped Ottawa beat the Colts in the opening round of the OHL playoffs last season. He is slated to play right wing on one of their top two lines and their power play.

Jim Schoenfeld, GM of the Wolf Pack, is being considered as head coach of the team by Glen Sather, even though he told the Hartford Courant that he "didn't come to coach and it's not something I would solicit." Jack Diller, who was president of MSG in the late 80s and early 90s, right up until the eve of the Stanley Cup season, stepped down as President of the Nashville Predators. He was the only President in team history and is being replaced by a committee of three rather than an individual.

John Muckler, who was mocked as senile during his stint as Ranger head coach, which ended with him being shown the door along with GM Neil Smith after Smith was unsuccessful in earlier attempts to fire him, has found new life as Ottawa's GM, where he was recently given a three year contract extension. Muckler faces one of the toughest challenges in the NHL's new order, where he has to transition one of the most successful teams under the old CBA to the new CBA while remaining a top contender.

Celebrity

Phil Mushnick of the Post reports on a questionnaire the Garden sent season subscribers about what kind of things they'd like to see in the upcoming renovation of the arena, and if they're willing to pay up to 50% more for some of those things. One of the proposed items: "chances to see A-list celebrities who attend events at the Garden." Does our former Blackjack teammate Tim Robbins, a frequent attendee at Ranger games, rate as A-list?

Jeremy Roenick is now complaining that his incendiary obscenity-laced rant was reported out of context. Earth to JR: that's what the media does (cf. Al Gore, inventor of the internet). Either keep your mouth shut, or don't complain when the things you say become fodder for the media.

Jason Strudwick, who appears likely to be a Ranger the next time the team hits the ice, talks about his experience playing in Hungary last season at NHLPA.com. He played in the same league as the Whiskey Robber, great summer reading with a hockey twist if you're looking for something to digest (HockeyBird.com's interview with the author appears in the current issue of Blueshirt Bulletin).

Speaking of reading, Tom Benjamin threw the Book Meme at me, and I will gladly take up the challenge. A meme is a question or topic that is passed along from one blog to another, kind of like those E-mails you get that ask you to pass them on to five other poeple. Look here for a link to my entry at Ordinary Least Square as soon as it's posted -- gotta get Eklund (AKA DKK) off the OLS front page after all these months.

To Tell the Truth ... Larry Brooks halfway outs Eklund today in a postscript to his Sunday column. "Which individual with the initials DKK is about to learn that anonymity does not last forever?" You may recall that Eklund criticized Brooks harshly for leaking details of the CBA a few weeks ago -- criticism that vanished from Eklund's web site shortly thereafter. The only problem with outing Eklund is that, if he is to be believed, he is a nobody, so what good is his name going to do?

Elsewhere in his column Brooks tackles the really important issue of the day -- how are teams and players going to blow the cap? He discusses two as yet unresolved contract issues that demonstrate just how complex these things are and therefore how vulnerable they will be to exploitation. Most interesting is how contracts are pro-rated over their term for purposes of cap calculation, and what kind of games can be played by teams who restructure contracts in order to manipulate their payroll range.

Over at Newsday, Alan Hahn takes the St. Louis situation -- despite payroll "cost certainty", continued losses due to arena financing woes -- and extends it to the Islanders, who have one of the worst arena deals in the league. Add in the ongoing arena saga in Pittsburgh that is the real reason for the Penguins' financial hardships, and you'll soon see the true nature of NHL economics.

What to make of Jeremy Roenick's rant? Some are calling him a hero for speaking him mind and shoving it in the face of NHLPA leadership, others are calling him an ass (without kissing it) for his complete lack of tact. We just can't find the right words to describe someone who a) goes behind the back of his fellow players and the leaders they chose to follow, possibly weakening their cause by showing weakness in their collective resolve, b) apologizes for doing so when everyone else shows solidarity behind their collective cause, and c) cuts loose with the most in-your-face "I told you so" after it appears that the cause has crumbled (though we don't know that for sure until we see the loopholes, as Brooks demonstrated). All we know is that we wouldn't want someone like that on our team, not as long as it remains a team game.

Life Outside Hockey

Cablevision's roller-coaster ride is starting to get hairy again. Chuck Dolan's offer to buy back the company's cable assets will bury him under a mountain of debt -- and that's only if other potential bidders choose to sit back and wait for a more opportune buying time, those rival bidders led by CVC nemesis Time Warner Cable. The other half of Cablevision, Jimmy Dolan's Liberty Media, cannot yet rest easy on the apparent demise of the Jets' West Side Stadium -- CVC's appeal of the MTA's sale of the Hudson Rail Yards to the Jets was rejected yesterday, and the Jets are vowing to press on with the project even without city or state support..

Shawn Roarke has an article at FoxSports.com on life after hockey for some business-savvy players. NextShift is a multi-layered enterprise that takes NHL team concepts and applies them to business ventures run by NHLers, some retired, some still playing and planning their future. Shawn penned a related piece for the current issue of Blueshirt Bulletin that takes a Ranger-centric view of NextShift, there being quite a number of current or former Rangers involved in the business. Indvidual copies of this issue, as well as subscriptions, are available via eBay. Subscriptions are also available directly. Links to both can be found at right.

Also at right is a banner that links to information on NextShift's upcoming hockey camp, called "Pucks, Putters and Poker". The week-long event has everything -- a skills camp in which players are coached in hockey fundamentals (similar to CanAm camps that a lot of recreational players I know, including myself, have attended), a fantasy tournament with and against current and former NHL players (Billy Fairbairn will be at least one ex-Ranger among the cast), a poker tournament (Texas Hold'em, as nothing else will do, right?), and a celebrity golf tournament. If this sounds like a shameless plug for a sponsor, it is without shame and regardless of sponsorship that we plug an event that will help support a variety of charities and be a whole lot of fun for all participants.

Bye-Bye Bobby?

Bobby Holik is expecting to be bought out by the Rangers this summer. Under the expected terms of the new CBA's salary cap, teams will have a one-time opportunity this summer to buy players out and not have it count against their payroll. Holik tells the News today that he understands how sensible it would be for the Rangers to use his cap space to sign other players. Darius Kasparaitis is another candidate for buy-out, according to the report. Jaromir Jagr would remain the centerpiece of the Rangers as they reconstruct their team, eating up cap space at only half his pay rate because Washington is obligated to assume the other half of the burden.

Ever since possible terms of a new CBA started leaking out to the public, speculation about the impact on players and teams has grown. "One sure sign that the NHL lockout may be soon drawing to a close," writes Spector at FoxSports.com, "is the increase in player movement rumors." Witness even Holik speculating about his own possible movement. Spector reviews a number of specific rumors -- the one of interest to Ranger fans is his reiteration of Stan Fischler's musings about whether Brian Leetch will end up with the Rangers or Islanders (which causes us to reiterate what Brian told us in the cover story of the latest Blueshirt Bulletin, that he will wait and see how teams shape up before choosing a contender to join).

One of the more outrageous scenarios is painted by Terry Frei at ESPN.com, one in which the NHL re-launches with every player thrown into a re-entry draft. Writes Frei, imagining the announcement of the first overall pick: "With the first pick of the 2005 NHL Re-Launch draft, the New York Rangers select Jarome Iginla." It won't happen in quite as structured a manner, but with the buy-out provision and with 2004-05 contracts voided there could be such an onslaught of free agents that a re-entry draft of sorts may take place, with every team determining their own draft position by how quickly they go out and sign the top players available.

All this is good news-bad news for the Rangers, if Tom Benjamin is right about the impact of a new CBA. On one hand, it will dramatically narrow the gap between smart GMs like Pierre Lacroix, Brian Burke, and Lou Lamoriello, and the, uh, challenging GMs operating the other two New York area franchises. That's what "idiot-proof" means, right? On the other hand, he makes a strong case for why patient team-building may now be a strategy of the past -- at the exact moment the Rangers are finally employing it. We're not sure we agree with him 100%, but he does raise some interesting points.

Please read on to the next entry to see how you can help Blueshirt Bulletin stay afloat as we try to weather the end game of the NHL lockout and prepare for next season.

Individual Copies on Sale Via eBay

Blueshirt Bulletin's most recent issue, just released this week, is being offered for sale via eBay at 10% off the original newsstand price of $3.00 each. Click on this link to view the eBay listing.

Issue 124 (June 2005) features future Hall of Famer Brian Leetch on the cover, interviewed at length within the issue on a number of subjects, including his plans for next season, by John Dellapina of the Daily News.

Other notable articles -- an interview with former Ranger Matthew Barnaby [click on the image at left to see a larger exceprt of the accompanying photo spread]; articles on EuroHockey.net's European Players of the Month for May and June, Jaromir Jagr and future Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist; further coverage of Ranger prospects, this time including Jozef Balej, Lee Falardeau, and Bruce Graham; historical looks at Harry Howell, Wayne Gretzky, and the Rangers' worst first round draft picks ever; and an interview with the author of "Ballad of the Whiskey Robber".

Please inquire about subscriptions and past issues -- one- and two-year subscriptions are available directly [please E-mail or use the subscription form at right] or via additional eBay listings, we you can view here.

Cablevision Headed For Splitsville ... After the easing of an ever-widening series of brush fires (and all-out wars) that threw Cablevision into never-ending turmoil, the Rangers' parent finally had the freedom to settle back into business as usual. But the always-unpredictable Dolans fired off a bombshell yesterday that has major implications for the team. The father-son feud between Chuck and Jimmy Dolan, which Jimmy won when Cablevision shut down Chuck's pet project, the Voom satellite network, appears to have led to divorce -- the elder Dolan has offered to buy CVC's cable enterprise and return it to his private control, the remainder of the properties to be spun off into Rainbow Media, a public company under the exclusive control of Jimmy (Rainbow Media's top property is Madison Square Garden, with its sports networks and franchises). Read more in your favorite paper -- Times, Post, or Newsday -- with additional analysis from the Times, News, and Newsday.

The impact on the Rangers is the subject of Steve Zipay's analysis in Newsday, where he spells out the obvious -- the Garden and its assets (for our specific purposes, the Rangers) will no longer have the financial backing of the cash-rich cable systems, its finances will no longer be veiled under the overall company reports. Zipay quotes former Garden president Bob Gutkowski: "Cablevision won't be the Garden's bank anymore and that could impact things like player salaries. Rainbow will have to work under its own financial structure, and use its own cash flow for operations or borrow from elsewhere." On the second issue, Zipay writes, "Dolan's stewardship of high-payroll teams that have missed the playoffs regularly will be under more scrutiny. Under Cablevision, the Garden's financial performance was not required to be spelled out in full detail."

There is some speculation that this sets up a potential sale of one company or the other. That kind of speculation with respect to Jimmy's fiefdom is off base -- all indications are that these are his babies, that he thoroughly enjoys running them, and that he would never give them up. If anything, this deal solidifies his hold over his pet projects, making them immune to anything Chuck decides to do with the cable systems.

Jaromir Jagr told a Czech web site that the PA lost its battle over the CBA and should have agreed to a salary cap in the first place if it was going to agree to one in the end. If you know how to read Czech, you can read the entire article -- otherwise you have to settle for a brief AP report. We missed this tidbit earlier this month when we were on vacation -- that the NHL will honor the salary split teams have agreed to in past trades, a huge factor in Jagr's case since the Rangers will only be liable under the cap for half his rolled back salary of $8.35 million.

Incredibly, Stan Fischler led off his most recent Bluelines column with a lengthy quote he said came from Eklund's blog about how Bob Goodenow plans to sabotage the CBA, quoting an anonymous player's opinion as relayed by an anonymous rumormonger. Even more incredibly, Eklund cried foul over the quote -- he wrote on a Flyer fan message board: "Tell me where this is on my blog? Stan took a private, off the record quote from me and put it out to the world. UGH!" Add your own punchline here. Later in the column, Fischler speculates that Brian Leetch may end up with the Islanders, and then speculates that he may end up with the Rangers.

At Blueshirt Bulletin, we don't have to speculate -- Brian told us in an exclusive interview that became our cover story that his top priority is not money, but playing for a contender, and that he will wait until he sees how various teams are shaping up via other signings before making his decision. The issue has completed its press run and was delivered to the Postal Service and newsstand distributor today, so look for it in your mailbox or local news kiosk soon. Individual copies will go on sale online via eBay within a day or two (click the link at right to check it out).

Free Buy-Outs

More details on the new CBA courtesy of Larry Brooks today. The big news is a one-time exception for buyouts this summer that will allow high payroll teams to get under the cap -- the buyout, at two-thirds the contract value after the 24% rollback, will not count against the cap this one time. That throws new light against all speculation about how various teams will adjust existing contracts to the cap. Also factored into this type of speculation are a couple of other items we hadn't seen before (at least not definitively): free agency remaining at age 31 this year, and all 2004-05 contracts wiped out, as the NHL has always wanted.

Other details: payroll range between $22.5 and $39.5 million, to include salaries and benefits; the escrow mechanism the NHL needs to add teeth to its 54-55% revenue linkage; and revenue sharing meaningful enough for Brooks to characterize as "measurably greater than the league's large-revenue clubs are comfortable with." Unresolved issues remain salary arbitration and how injured players are treated under the cap. One notable detail, though not fully specified by Brooks, is that there will be a one-time exception to the new entry level salary structure for players already drafted but not yet signed, presumably a tactic to keep top prospects like Alexander Ovechkin from finding more lucrative rewards outside the NHL.

The impact of the one-time buyout provision on the Rangers, according to Brooks, could look something like this: "The Rangers have interesting calls to make on Bobby Holik ($6.726M each of the next two seasons) and Darius Kasparaitis ($3.344M this year, $3.268 next, and $3.116M for 2007-08), and even on 2004 summer signee Michael Nylander ($2.28M each of the next three seasons). An immediate Garden investment of $19.99M would cut the Rangers' cap obligations to essentially the $4.18M they're going to be charged for Jaromir Jagr and allow the team to start all over."

What the game looks like on the ice when the NHL resumes has been a hot topic the past few weeks, what with all the possible new rules that have been under discussion and under experimentation. Two changes are a lock -- shootouts and tag-up offsides. We still don't get these, either one. Although shootouts will undoubtedly be exciting, Alan Hahn of Newsday (in an article in favor of shootouts) notes that they will take place "after five minutes of numbing, defensive-oriented four-on-four." And here we thought four on four overtime was one of the most exciting new additions to the game. We just don't understand why they don't try extending OT to ten minutes before trying something as unconventional as shootouts.

On tag-up offsides, we thought we were a minority of one to oppose what everyone else thinks is a no-brainer. But now USA Hockey has come down against it as well. Not for the same reason -- they believe the game will be better off with players forced to handle the puck in the neutral zone while their teammates clear the zone rather than be given free dump-ins. While we agree 100% with that, we have a more convincing reason to oppose the rule -- the trap. The defense dumps the puck in, essentially giving up possession while their team clears the zone and regroups in the neutral zone. With the opposition given some free time to set up a break-out play, there is no choice but to set up a trap in the neutral zone -- going in on the forecheck while the other team is already countering would be a terrible decision.

Poor Little Rich Girl

As the NHL and PA wrapped another week of slow but productive talks that are expected to lead to a new CBA later this month or early next month, one team's sale became official while another team was put on the block. Disney's sale of the Ducks to the Samuelis was unanimously approved by the Board of Governors, with Brian Burke named GM and the team name placed in doubt -- no reason for non-Disney owners to maintain a Disney brand (can you imagine if the Devils took Wayne Gretzky's long-ago criticism to heart and re-named themselves the Mickey Mouses of the Meadowlands?).

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues will be put up for sale, their billionaire owners, Bill and Nancy Laurie, citing high taxes and lack of public subsidies as factors that will continue to cause the team and its arena to lose money, notwithstanding the concessions expected to be won in a new CBA. Spector at FoxSports.com and Tom Benjamin at his hockey blog both note the irony of this situation relative to Gary Bettman's promise that a new CBA would stabilize the league's 30 franchises (add St. Loo to Pittsburgh as two franchises now on the market who stand a reasonable chance of being moved to a new locale if sold).

We'd like to add a couple of notes of our own. Despite crying poverty, the Lauries stand to make a nice capital gain on the team and its arena -- they bought both in 1999 for $100 million, with the team alone estimated by Forbes to be worth $140 million BEFORE the lockout and AFTER deducting the team's heavy debt service on the arena. Over that same period of time, Nancy Laurie's net worth (derived from her share of the Wal-Mart fortune) increased from $1.3 billion to $2.5 billion, according to Forbes (you'd think with all those resources she could hire a good hair stylist).

The annual amount Ms. Walton-Laurie has to shell out to subsidize the Blues' losses is approximately 1% of her net worth. That would be the equivalent of an ordinary Joe with a net worth of say $100,000 shelling out $1,000 a year to maintain, oh, his car -- the same ordinary Joe who pays the taxes that the Lauries want to use to subsidize their arena and enhance their rank in Forbes's World's Richest People list after dropping from #176 to #243. Or it would be the equivalent of the wealthiest 20% of residents of Beijing -- not the poor schmoes working in the factories manufacturing the cheap goods sold in Wal-Mart [like the one pictured at right] -- spending $29 a year to fix up their apartments.

Ms. Walton-Laurie is certainly not obligated to subsidize the team and is more than entitled to cash in on her capital gains at will. But her and her husband's cries of poverty at the hands of taxpayers are disingenuous (or worse), par for the course for NHL owners.

St. Louis has one of the NHL's strangest ownership histories. The city was awarded an expansion franchise in 1967 even though no one there asked for one, and despite worthier candidates like Vancouver clamoring for one of their own, just because Art Wirtz, owner of the Blackhawks, owned the St. Louis Arena and wanted to sell it -- a condition for any ownership group who wanted to buy in at the time. In 1983, the Ralston-Purina pet food company shuttered the doors and simply abandoned its ownership of the franchise and arena rather than face bankruptcy after the NHL voided a transfer to Saskatoon. Before the franchise reaches its 40th anniversary in two years, it will have had seven owners, none more than ten years in duration (and that the original owner).

Jaromir Jagr was named EuroHockey.net's European Player of the Month for May for leading the Czechs to the World Championship, playing with a badly broken pinky that later required surgery. It was Jagr's second such honor this year -- he was Player of the Month for January as well. Combined with Henrik Lundqvist's back to back wins in March and April, Ranger players have won four of the five months this year. In other Ranger-related news, Brandon Dubinsky was invited to try out for Team USA's entry in next winter's World Junior Championships.

The Rangers' 2000 draft, Glen Sather's first, is analyzed by Hockey's Future. The results are mixed -- the Rangers have little to show for it to date, but there are still three prospects there, two with the Rangers. Lundqvist was a low-round (7th) draftee (205th overall) with a chance to be an impact player. Dominic Moore and Filip Novak (now with Florida) have a tougher road ahead of them, but may yet find themselves in the show (Moore has played five games, the sum total of that draft class so far).

Signs of the Times

Further signs that the end is near: The PA agreed to the NHL's request to adjourn hearings in British Columbia to certify the union there, allowing the sides to continue CBA talks through the dates originally scheduled for the hearing. Manufacturers are starting to make reduced-size goalie pads in anticipation of it being needed next fall for the start of the new season. And Wayne Gretzky has signed on as executive director of Canada's Olympic hockey program, vowing to take the best players in the world to Turin next February, something he probably wouldn't do if he wasn't sure he'd have NHL players at his disposal.

As a reminder that there are time pressures to getting a deal done, a large player agency, IMG, which represents Sidney Crosby and other top young prospects, has sent a letter to the NHL demanding that unsigned draftees be taken off teams' reserve lists. Their demands will amount to nothing if this issue is resolved in collective bargaining, but they loom large if talks break down, incenting owners to get a deal done.

Stan Fischler is gloating over the apparent capitulation of Bob Goodenow and the PA in giving in on so many points. Spector, his frequent antagonist at FoxSports.com, isn't quite as sure that Goodenow has given in all that much, depending on the definitions of revenue and other parameters that will appear in the CBA. We agree with Spector on this one. The PA would've agreed to a linkage-based cap in the first place had they trusted the revenue figures the cap would be linked to -- their agreement now is probably based on getting a revenue definition they can trust. It's also clear that, as in 1994, Goodenow is not interested in whether he is declared a winner or loser in this affair -- he will be satisfied to secure what he knows will eventually be a win for his clientele, the players, by getting a couple of key details in their favor. This time around the key detail is revenue definition.

Finally, congrats to longtime Ranger fan and season subscriber Steve Wachtel on the birth of his first child, Katerina. In his E-mail announcement to the world, Steve unabashedly wrote, "The baby’s birthday, June 14, 2005, is the 11 year anniversary for the Rangers Stanley Cup win. I always said that was the best day of my life, until I have a child. You have to hand it to Katerina, she has excellent timing!!"