Blueshirt Boggle

No Done Deals Yet

Apparently, yesterday's report that an outdoor game at Wrigley Field was a done deal was a tad premature -- although a Yankee Stadium game featuring the Rangers has been reduced to a long shot, there is still a chance it may come to pass, according to John Dellapina of the Daily News. The main hurdles -- a parking lot scheduled for demolition before New Year's Day and the integrity of water pipes in winter -- remain issues but are surmountable if someone is willing to pay to surmount them. Dellapina has more on the subject in Blueshirts Blog.

Avangard Omsk appears to be seriously pursuing Jaromir Jagr. "They are in full swing," Omsk GM Anatoly Bardin said of negotiations with the Ranger captain during a press conference yesterday. "We talked with him today at night. Jagr returns from vacation in New York to the Czech Republic in mid-June -- I will go to the Czech Republic to continue negotiations with Jaromir." He also told reporters he is talking to three NHL defensemen, none of them native Russians. "Now negotiating with three defenders and from the NHL," he said. "They are all leaders in their clubs, they played 75-80 games over the season and are on the ice for 23-27 minutes. I hope one of them will make good." He spoke of many players in his state of the roster speech but didn't mention Ranger draftee Alexei Cherepanov.

Father's Day is about two weeks away -- if your Dad is a Ranger fan and you don't know what gift to get for him, a subscription to Blueshirt Bulletin may be just the thing. Or if you are a Dad (or a Mom) and your son or daughter the Rangers nut is graduating this June, a subscription to Blueshirt Bulletin would be a good way to help them fill the days while they are futilely looking for a job -- in fact, conspicuously tucking in their copy of Blueshirt Bulletin into their briefcase it could be the difference in landing that coveted job if their prospective boss is a Ranger fan! And you'd be eligible for our giveaways for all new subscriptions received by June 20th -- renewals and extensions are eligible too for existing subscribers. Click here for details on how to subscribe, and here for details on the giveaway. Above left is a snippet from an article set to appear in our upcoming June issue.

Rangers Have Six-Pack of Draft Picks

With the draft three weeks away, Glen Sather and his scouting team are in Toronto for the NHL Draft Combine interviewing the top prospects and putting them through their paces. Here is the Rangers' draft position this season: the Rangers currently have one pick in each round except the fourth round. The first round pick is #20 overall. The third round pick originally belonged to Carolina and came the Rangers' way as part of the trade that sent Matt Cullen to the Hurricanes -- the Rangers' third round pick went to L.A. as part of the Sean Avery deal when the Kings were unable to lure Jan Marek to North America. The Rangers traded their fourth round pick to St. Louis for Christian Backman.

Several other picks were subject to conditions that were not met. Dallas would've owed the Rangers a pick for Mike Green, but he had to play 5 NHL games, which never happened. The Rangers would've sent Carolina a fifth rounder had Brad Isbister played 40 NHL games after being traded for Jakub Petruzalek -- he only played 19. And Chicago could've received a seventh rounder for P.A. Parenteau -- we're not sure what the conditions were, but the Blackhawks' web site says the conditions were not met. It was reported that the Rangers got a conditional pick this year from Phoenix as part of the Al Montoya trade, but that pick is actually in 2009 and is based on the Rangers not re-signing David LeNeveu and Montoya playing 15 NHL games.

Jess Rubenstein is covering the Draft Combine at Prospect Park -- he has an entry today on heart and soul players. In other news, John Dellapina reports from the Stanley Cup Final on Jaromir Jagr and Mark Messier in Blueshirts Blog, the Post and Blue Notes discuss the Rangers' arbitration loss to Bobby Holik and Jed Ortmeyer, and the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the next outdoor game will be held at Wrigley Field between the Hawks and Wings, which means that Yankee Stadium will not be closed down by an outdoor game featuring the Rangers.

No Moscow on the Hudson

Moscow Dynamo has denied making any contract offer to Jaromir Jagr, let alone the $12 million rumored offer spread by Penguin enforcer Georges Laraque last month. But Avangard Omsk GM Anatoly Bardin said yesterday that he did in fact make an offer to Jagr, which he insisted had to remain undisclosed, and that he is waiting to hear back from Jagr about it. Both Russian teams were quoted in a SovSport article translated for us by Laurie Carr.

"Yes, we could give Jagr that contract, and a little more!" said Dynamo president Michael Golovkov, laughing. "But $12 million for two seasons is a record amount for our clubs. Do you really believe all these rumors? I don't know [Jagr's agent Pat] Brisson at all. And I have not conducted negotiations about the transfer of Jagr to Dynamo with anyone. Our club has not entered into contact with Jaromir and his agents."

"I do not believe this nonsense," said Bardin, who met in New York with Jagr, an Avangard player during the lockout, as well as with Ranger GM Glen Sather in early April. "It's simply the North American press stirring up interest in such a colorful person as Jagr. People raise the price, gambling on the name of the player. Up to now I've come across rumors that to Jaromir will be given not 12, not 16 or 20, but would you believe all of $30 million! But this is delirium! Nobody in the world will give him him such money."

The $30 million figure Bardin ridiculed was not a rumored offer, but the U.S. post-tax dollar equivalent the Rangers would have to pay Jagr to match the rumored $12 million Dynamo offer. But despite the wild numbers being thrown about, Avangard remains interested in Jagr. "Of course!" Bardin insisted. "We had, have, and will have interest. I personally on a regular basis keep in touch with the Rangers' general manager and with Jagr's normal regular agents. I'm keeping my hand on the pulse."

Bardin went so far as to admit that he extended a contract offer to Jagr. "Yes, quite a while ago," he said. "For the time being I can't publicize that information [on the value of the offer]. I can assure you that negotiations with him are going on their own course and we await the final response from Jaromir." Meanwhile, Jagr is believed to be negotiating with the Rangers on a contract that will allow him to get close to what he has been earning since the lockout via incentives, which would hopefully be true incentives, not the easily reachable type given to Brendan Shanahan a year ago to help the Rangers manipulate the cap.

For more on the impact of Russia's new Continental Hockey League (KHL) and its intentions, see Jess Rubenstein's entry in Prospect Park, based on information from his contacts in Europe, and an Edmonton Journal article based on an interview with the KHL's head honcho, Alexander Medvedev. Word of warning for those who think the Russians are pricing themselves out of the market with these insane contract offers -- where do you think a goodly chunk of your inflated oil and gas prices end up? Medvedev, after all, runs a company called Gazprom.

Two other articles of note: TSN reports that the Rangers lost their arbitration case against Bobby Holik and Jed Ortmeyer and will have to pay them bonus money withheld during the lockout; and Slap Shot notes the irony of the Penguins whining about the officiating (there is a lot more being written about this story, including hypocritical Pens' fans continuing to whine about the Wings' diving, but we'll just chuckle heartily over the abrupt reversal of their stance on the subject of whining about the officiating and leave it at that).

Russian Roulette

Jaromir Jagr has been offered $12 million by Dynamo Moscow according to rumors spread by Georges Laraque. Avangard Omsk said they could offer Jagr up to $7 million (before the KHL changed its rules to remove the salary cap on NHL players). Larry Brooks of the New York Post quoted an agent who said a Russian team offered one of his clients (not Jagr) an outrageous sum that would make a commensurate offer to Jagr astronomical.

Those are some of the bullets entering the chamber of the game of Russian roulette the Rangers appear to be in as they work to re-sign their captain and leading scorer, which Brooks says would be along the lines of his prior contract -- a base salary roughly equal to what the Rangers paid him the past three years (close to $5 million), plus bonuses that would allow him to recoup the amount Washington had been picking up (another $3 million, which the Rangers could then defer to the following year's cap calculation if they had to). But how much this Russian league intrigue comes to bear still remains open to speculation.

One thing we know for sure right now is that Jagr has not actually spoken to anyone from Russia, according to our sources (other than his cup of coffee with Avangard's GM during a visit to New York in April). What may be of greater concern to Ranger fans is Brooks's question of what will happen a year from now when Alexei Cherepanov's contract with Omsk expires and he has to choose between a lucrative tax-free offer to re-sign there or a highly limited NHL entry level contract? That could be a real issue now that the KHL have altered their rules to allow them to not only poach NHL players without having to worry about the salary cap, but also to set aside cap concerns in competing for non-NHL players who have received offers from NHL teams.

"The next condition of the rules announced by [KHL Managing Director Vladimir] Shalaev completely causes a sensation," reports Sport-Express.ru, according to a translation provided by reader Laurie Carr. "From now on the League's clubs will have the right to enter a contract on any financial terms with a player who has received a contract offer from the NHL, with the agreement not to be counted against the salary cap. A similar rule will apply to players with active NHL contracts. In other words, Moscow Dynamo can offer any incredible contract to Ovechkin, and Avangard to Jagr."

The KHL has been successful recently in signing several marginal NHL players -- John Grahame is going to Avangard, Chris Simon is going to become their problem instead of ours, one-time Rangers (briefly) Jussi Markkanen and Jason Krog are headed over, and Andrei Zyuzin is the latest to defect back home. And the Rangers lost prospect Ivan Baranka to a Russian team. But beyond that, our connections in Europe tell us that so far, this is all posturing by the KHL -- posturing between the Russian teams themselves as they compete for publicity and players, and between Russia and the NHL as the former tries to stop the latter from siphoning off their best talent (with other European countries ready to join the fray for the same cause).

"Since our relationship with Mr. Bettman's league is still not formalized, we decided to go ahead with this somewhat discourteous behavior," Shalaev said. And this despite NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman insisting that he will continue to maintain courtesy on his side, or at least his version of it. "My goal is to have a cooperative framework for all interested parties, internationally, for the growth and development of the game," he said last week. "Not having a transfer agreement is more of a short-term problem, because it will adjust -- either we’ll get a transfer agreement in some form going forward, or the marketplace will adjust and the players in Europe and Russia who want to come here will either insist on short-term contracts or the right to buy [them] out.

"In the interim, we’re going to try not to throw stones. We’re going to try and work our way through this. We’re going to try and do this right. I did meet recently with [KHL founder] Alexander Medvedev in an attempt to establish a dialog so we can maybe figure each other out a little bit better and understand what our mutual goals and objectives are. And so as I look down the road in the short term, we’re going to try and make things work instead of hunkering down and fighting. Because cooperation is always better than fighting in whatever venue you’re in." Except in hockey, where fighting is an accepted way of solving problems. And unfortunately for Bettman, the KHL has already dropped the gloves.

If the Shoe Fits: So how funny is it that the Pittsburgh Penguins are suddenly whining about the officiating in the Stanley Cup Final, which they trail 2-0 after consecutive shutouts in Detroit? Even funnier is that they're whining about diving -- especially about Johan Franzen, in his first game back after a concussion, diving after taking a glove to the jaw from Gary Roberts. But the funniest of all are the Pens' fan who mocked fans of the Rangers and Flyers for complaining about the officiating in prior series.

We're not going to post a link to their site, but after their holier-than-thou attitude while things were going well for their team, they now have a poorly photoshopped image of Chris Osgood and (I think) Franzen accepting Oscars right up at the top of their whineblog, as well as several other photos and video clips of alleged dives -- they even have a clip that shows several angles of Roberts punching Franzen along with their complaint that Franzen dove! "What really stings about the loss is Osgood's lack of sportsmanship," they write. "His two blatant dives were embarrassing." Maybe so -- I wouldn't put it past Osgood to dive. But that is hardly as embarrassing as the hypocritical whining of fans who already established their stance against complaints about the officiating back when it was all going their way.

If It Smells Like a Daisy...

No news might be good news, or at least better news than the slim pickings in Rangerland these days, where fans have not joined in the search party that is beating the bushes looking for the lost Stanley Cup final. Unseen for five days, the NHL's marquee event will be relegated to the Saturday night and Monday night of Memorial Day weekend -- which means that it will continue to remain largely unseen. That's OK -- that means we don't have to see Sidney Crosby's playoff beard (and I use the term beard lightly).

Anyway, in Rangerland, the only news (and I use the term news lightly) being made is by guys who may not even be Rangers again next season. Sean Avery surfaced in New York the other night at the FiFi Awards -- yes, the most hated man in hockey got all duded up to attend the FiFis, where he presented a Hall of Fame award to designer Vera Wang. With the best fragrance FiFi going to a scent named "Daisy", one would have hoped to see Avery do some trash talking on its behalf, but sadly there is no truth to the rumor that Avery yelled as someone (not sure if it was supposed to be Dolce or Gabbana), "Go back to your own country, you freaking foreigner!"

Meanwhile, in the other Sin City -- Las Vegas -- cameras caught Jaromir Jagr swimming in the pool at the MGM Grand. The good news is, cameras did not catch Jagr trying to swim with the sharks in a casino. Although you know what they say -- if it smells like a daisy... If Glen Sather really wants to re-sign Jagr to a contract less than the rumored $12 million being offered him by Moscow Dynamo, maybe he can go back to the strategy that worked in 2005, signing all of Jags's friends to make him happy. We know Straka and Rozsival will want to return if Jags returns. And Martin Rucinsky too -- Rucinsky told reporters in Czech, "I'd accept offers from one, two teams tops. One of them are the Rangers. But it's anybody's guess. I don't know whether they're interested, or whether I want to go back in the NHL." [Thanks to DaTeL for the translation.]

No way does Rucinsky return for a fourth go-round as a Ranger... unless... if Avery doesn't re-sign, or retires to pursue fashion full time... and there's no one else available... nah, too much time on my hands. Enjoy the weekend folks -- unless there is some serious news, we'll just be chillin' and grillin' here.

Jags a Dynamo?

Glen Sather may have his work cut out for him if there is any truth to a rumor that Jaromir Jagr has been offered upwards of $12 million to play in Russia for Moscow Dynamo next season. Avangard Omsk, Jagr's former Russian club, have already hinted that they were considering offering him the franchise player cap of $7 million. Now, according to James Mirtle in his Globe and Mail blog, Alexander Medvedev, head of Russia's new Kontinental Hockey League, wants to waive some of the KHL's new rules in order to better compete for NHLers and other top players from Europe. So even as North American wire services parrot a New York Post report that Jagr is set to start negotiations with the Rangers, these new rumors -- which Mirtle says are being spread among NHL players themselves -- put him well out of the Rangers' salary range.

UPDATE: The rumor of Moscow Dynamo's offer to Jagr was made public by Georges Laraque, speaking on an Edmonton radio station in late April (thanks to James Mirtle for passing along that information, which was first reported by someone at HF Boards). The timing of that radio appearance was interesting -- Laraque's Penguins were in the midst of a playoff series against Jagr's Rangers at that moment. You have to wonder about a guy publicizing this kind of rumor about his then-current playoff opponent's top player. The Prague Post has a review of the Jagr situation.

Procrastination

If Jaromir Jagr is intent on remaining a Ranger for at least one more season, as his agent told Larry Brooks (see yesterday's New York Post) -- and the truth is that we're still not convinced that he will return -- then perhaps we ought to be looking beyond this season's free agent crop to next year's. If we assume that a couple of dominoes will fall in line behind Jagr (dominoes named Straka and Rozsival), and if we assume that Sean Avery and the Rangers will figure out that they have no better match for each other than each other, then there is really no room for a marquee free agent, except perhaps on defense where a power play quarterback and crease clearer are still chronic shortcomings.

Should this scenario unfold (and you probably have to add Brendan Shanahan back into the mix for one more season, making next year's Rangers almost identical to last year's), then the 2009 free agent market is what we should really be working toward to find high-scoring wingers, the one thing the Rangers have not been able to acquire in the draft -- there are not nearly enough on this year's ultra-thin menu, especially up front. Granted that some -- many -- of these players will be re-signed by their current teams before they hit the open market, here are the top names currently slated for unrestricted free agency a year from now:

The most important area to consider is on the wing, as the Rangers will remain stocked down the middle a year from now with Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, and Brandon Dubinsky. Candidates in what looks like the deepest positional pool for 2009-10 currently include Marian Gaborik, Martin Havlat, Henrik Zetterberg, Alex Tanguay, Daniel Sedin, Brian Gionta, Maxim Afinogenov, Ales Kotalik, Jere Lehtinen, Erik Cole, and a half dozen or so familiar names we don't want because most are aging and fading fast, some of whom have already been in and out of New York (Kovalev, Sykora, Dvorak -- the first two had good seasons, but does anyone doubt how fast they'd fade if they came here in 2009?).

At center, there is Vincent Lecavalier, Henrik Sedin, Mike Cammalleri, Nik Antropov, Johan Franzen, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Comrie, Tim Connolly, and another half dozen aging veterans, plus a half dozen defensive specialists. Even on defense, next year's list has some intriguing names, though most would only be short-term placeholders until (if) Bobby Sanguinetti is ready to step up: Scott Niedermayer, Sergei Zubov, Mattias Ohlund, Filip Kuba, Derek Morris, Nick Boynton, and Brendan Witt. The most intriguing name, Mike Komisarek, cannot possibly reach free agency, although the way Montreal handled its goaltending situation this spring, one can suppose that anything's possible up there.

In other Ranger news, Fedor Tyutin proved to be the one out of four Rangers in the World Championship to bring home the gold in Russia's win over Canada, with Tyutin assisting on the goal that began Russia's third period comeback from two goals down (see NYR.com). Henrik Lundqvist complained of burn-out after Sweden was ousted by Canada in the semifinals (story here), and Canadian coach Pat Burns boasted about instructing his players to go high on Lundqvist, although he also granted that as a Devils coach his team was only able to beat Lundqvist twice in thirteen tries this season (story here). A Globe and Mail analysis that postulates that coaches control special teams and defense but not five-on-five goal scoring has the Rangers' staff finishing sixth in the league despite their low-ranked power play.

Finally, after taking a lot of grief about our complaints over the officiating in the Rangers' second round series against Pittsburgh, it's interesting to note that complaints have not diminished even though the Rangers and Ranger fans are no longer part of the mix -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman actually had to answer questions posed by the Denver Post about the league rooting for a Detroit-Pittsburgh final, and Spector at FoxSports.com analyzed Flyer fans' complaints of league bias toward Pittsburgh. Spector is going to have to update his comments to include more than just the number of penalty calls for and against if he, like us, is left wondering how the Pens could score a goal after checking the stick out of the goalie's hands behind the net without penalty and then get a power play for a nearly identical play behind their own net less than 90 seconds later.

The Times's Slap Shot blog seems to think checking the stick out of a goalie's hands is not a penalty in their long examination of the history of claims that the NHL influences games on purpose -- they seems to be making the point that the fix is not in, despite an eye-opening list of incidents that go way back, and they don't seem to make the connection that the only alternative explanation to bias is gross unrelenting endemic incompetence. I know it's a huge stretch to imagine a conspiracy that so many people have to be part of -- though it's not a stretch for me, having been told by someone who was in the room that the NHL asked its officials to make sure the Pens would not be adversely affected by the loss of Mario Lemieux in the 1992 playoffs after he was slashed by Adam Graves.

But it's just as huge of a stretch to see such massive incompetence continue year after year after year without anyone ever looking across the street to the NFL for the simplest of answers: just enforce the damn rules as they are written! That the NHL steadfastly refuses to take such an easy and sensible course of action leaves only two possibilities, and neither of them are flattering to the people making the decisions.

Please scroll down to the next story to read about Blueshirt Bulletin's summer subscription giveaway.

Sixes Are Wild for Blueshirt Bulletin Subscribers

If 666 is the mark of the Devils, then 6666 must be a sign of something better, ten times better. We can't claim that it's the mark of the Rangers (6 has not been the luckiest of numbers for Ranger players), but we can claim it for Blueshirt Bulletin. Every subscriber since the start of the publication in 1991 has gotten a unique number when they signed up. We just topped 6000 (which when you think about it is stunning, that only 6,000 Ranger fans would subscribe to an all-Ranger magazine over the course of more than a decade and a half, especially since less than 20% of that number currently maintain their subscriptions).

So we are going to celebrate the approach of our 6,666th all-time subscriber with some giveaways. We will give out prizes to four subscribers. The first will go to the person who becomes #6666 in our subscriber list. But wanting to recognize those who did not need the lure of free prizes to subscribe when we asked for support a week ago, a second prize will go to one person who entered in a new subscription between the end of the season and today. Similarly, we want to recognize our longtime subscribers, so we will give a prize to anyone who has renewed a subscription since the end of the season, and another to a current subscriber who did not have to renew. Other than subscriber #6666, we will choose randomly from the other groups.

Here are the prizes we propose to award these four: If you took out a 10-issue subscription, we will extend that subscription by another ten issues at no cost. If you took our a 20-issue subscription, we will give you an additional ten issues, plus your choice of a Blueshirt Bulletin T-shirt (our logo on the front, an updated version of the cover image shown above on the back) or a bobblehead from Mark Messier Night (we only have two, so if three or more are requested, we will decide by random selection who gets the T and who gets the bobblehead). If you took out a 30-issue subscription, we will extend that subscription to a lifetime subscription and add a T-shirt or a Messier bobblehead. If you already took out a 10- or 20-issue subscription and want to upgrade it to be eligible for a higher level prize, we can do that.

We'll give it until Draft Day, June 20th, to reach #6666. If we can't get that many new subs in five weeks, then we won't be able to afford giving out any freebies. Ten issues of Blueshirt Bulletin cost just $30 (we publish monthly except July and August, with the recent May issue still available and the upcoming June draft/free agent preview issue due out in three to four weeks). Multi-year discounts are available -- 20 issues for $50, 30 issues for $70. Subscribers outside the U.S. must cover the extra cost of international postage ($1.50 per issue to Canada, $3.00 per issue elsewhere).

The easiest way to subscribe is via PayPal, which you can do whether you have an account there or not. Simply log onto their web site and execute a transaction to [email protected] (remember to enter your mailing address). You can also send in credit card information via E-mail to that same address (either in the body of the message or by attaching our subscription form), or fax the information to 646-356-7026. If you'd like to pay by check or money order, use snail mail to Blueshirt Bulletin, 31 Grove Street, New York NY 10014. Or you can phone an order into 212-965-1459 -- although, this being the off-season, phone is a hit or miss proposition, so either keep trying at a later hour or, preferably, contact us via E-mail.

All of this information, along with a form that can help you enter in your subscription, can be found here or by clicking the subscription link at the top of the right sidebar just above the image of our May cover.

UPDATED SATURDAY @ 1:00 PM: The first two Rangers to ever wear the number 6 were Hall of Famers Bun Cook and Neil Colville. But since then, with very few exceptions, the number has been probably the unluckiest number for a Ranger player to choose as their primary number. Among a list of names you've never heard of, the ones that stand out often stand out for the wrong reasons -- junior versions of famous fathers (Bryan Hextall Jr., Syl Apps Jr.), players at the bitter end of their careers (Joe Cirella, Don Awrey), players at the start of careers that took off elsewhere (Mark Tinordi, Manny Malhotra), players who had one brief shining moment as Rangers but otherwise had their heyday elsewhere if at all (Doug Lidster, Bobby Sheehan), and names you'd just wish had never graced (or disgraced) the Garden ice and the Rangers' all-time register (Milo Horava and the aforementioned Cirella).

Really, there are only two number 6's that really stand out of the list other than the first two. One is Darius Kasparaitis, though you could really add him to the list of those who wore the number while fading away as players, the difference being that Kaspar did register one superb season before drifting off into retirement. The other is Glen Sather, though he stands out not for what he did as a player (he earned his nickname "Slats" because of the time he spent glued to the bench) but for what he did subsequently as a GM and coach in Edmonton (to Hall of Fame proportions) and here in New York, where the jury remains out after four bad pre-lockout seasons and three better post-lockout seasons.

Finally, there is the object at the center of the picture to the left, known as Messier Object 6, a group of stars in Scorpio also known as the Butterfly Cluster. No, it is not named after Mark Messier, it is named after French astronomer Charles Messier, and there are many other Messier objects other than M6. Still, we're talking Rangers, we're talking number 6 -- free association on a sunny Saturday in New York with no other Ranger news to worry about for the moment. Nevertheless, there is a bit of reading today -- Sean Avery starting his internship at Vogue (see WWD), more on the outdoor game at Yankee Stadium in Newsday, Stan Fischler getting fan reaction to the Rangers at MSG.com, and NYR.com reporting on Henrik Lundqvist bowing out of the World Championship while Fedor Tyutin and Russia go on to meet Canada in the final.

And just so you don't forget what a joke the NHL is, here on the one hand is a report that Versus is planning to bring back the dreaded Glow-Puck to its telecasts, while on another hand the NHL tries to figure out how to pretend that its officials are not influencing the outcomes of games. The latest is a goal waved off for goalie interference by Tomas Holstrom even though he was outside the crease and never touched the goalie, although there is some debate about whether his big red butt was overhanging the plane of the crease. Colin Campbell's tortured attempts to rationalize the call as recounted here are just priceless. Maybe Versus should introduce a Glow-Butt instead of a Glow-Puck to help make the game truly move forward.

Baranka Confirms Defection to Russia

Ivan Baranka has confirmed for us that he signed a contract to play in Russia next season -- and it has no "out" clause, which means that he cannot get out of it to play in the NHL. As an RFA, the Rangers retain his rights going forward. Thanks to Jess Rubenstein for contacting Baranka. In other news, Henrik Lundqvist and Fedor Tyutin are headed to the WC semifinals, representing Sweden and Russian, respectively. Brandon Dubinsky (U.S.A.) and Michal Rozsival (Czech) were eliminated in quarterfinal action yesterday (see NYR.com). And an outdoor game at Yankee Stadium next winter appears to be in trouble due to construction on the new stadium -- see reports at Blue Notes and USA Today. One last link for today -- Bob Crawford's Wolf Pack report at WP.com.

Rozsival Content to Play in Jagr's Shadow

“Is it going to be about Jags?” asked Michal Rozsival with a laugh before Robert Sára of the Czech news service MF DNES could even begin his interview of the Rangers’ defenseman in Quebec, where the impending free agent was playing in the World Championship for his home country after the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs. Rozsival has grown accustomed to playing in the shadow (or is it riding the coattails?) of his famous countryman -- during his first two NHL seasons in Pittsburgh and over the course of the last three seasons in New York.

“Even I ask him for autographs,” Rozsival said, only semi-joking about times when people ask him to get Jagr’s signature for them. “It’s getting on his nerves already -- he’s had enough. I go to him like twenty times a season. He doesn’t [ask me for my autograph], but I know there are people doing it for him. When he needs a locker room autograph, he always sends someone else [to get it from me].”

And so it goes. Rather than ask Rozsival about his own plans for the future -- plans that probably hinge on whether Jagr himself re-signs with the Rangers or chooses to play elsewhere next season -- Jagr remains the prime subject. “Sure, everyone’s asking [about him],” Rozsival said. “Especially when there’s yellow journalism, like that [rumor that] he got married. It has to be checked, so I call him right away and ask him why wasn’t I invited and what wedding gift he wants. He just laughs. It’s hard to give something to such a person,” Rozsival said about a wedding gift for Jagr. “He’s extremely modest. He doesn’t like shiny things to attract too much attention.”

How modest is Jagr? Well, Rozsival doesn’t even seem to know when his birthday is. “In the summer, no?” No -- Jagr’s birthday is in February, during the season. “We never celebrate it. Seriously though, I think there was a dinner.” Rozsival spoke about Jagr’s disappointing regular season. “He was somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t going well for him because he was used to having different numbers,” he said. “But he’s a professional, so he didn’t curse in the locker room to show how unhappy he was. On the contrary, it was obvious how much he wanted to [get better]. He went to the gym, worked very hard to get better.”

Asked if he thought Jagr would return to New York next season, Rozsival said, “I believe he will.” And maybe therein lies the only clue as to whether Rozsival himself would return, since it would make little sense for the Rangers to re-sign a player whose success is linked so strongly to his teammate, which even Rozsival readily admits. “You have to play behind good forwards who score goals and hold onto the puck so you don’t have to defend much,” Rozsival said of his career +67 plus-minus rating when on a team with Jagr (-11 without him). “You have to have a great goalie and know when to go to the bench,” he joked. “And when there’s a two-on-one, you have to be off the ice ASAP!”

But on a more serious note, Rozsival admits his own surprise at how important he has become to the Rangers. “It’s a jump, for me anyway,” he said. “As time goes by, you feel more responsible. On the other hand, you know that the coaches trust you, that they are behind you. You get more ice time, play on the power play, and when you see that it’s working, your confidence grows. Maybe it’s all just because I got to the Rangers. There were the Czechs, the ease, and I gained confidence. It starts to snowball.” And he recognizes what being a Ranger has done for him. “It seems that the decisions I’ve made so far have always been the best,” he concluded. “Like dealing exclusively with the Rangers in the NHL.”

In the news, NYR.com previews the upcoming WC quarterfinals that will feature Rozsival as well as Henrik Lundqvist, Brandon Dubinsky, and Fedor Tyutin, teammates competing against each other. More on the upcoming draft from Prospect Park.

The Times discusses the conflict of interest in Cablevision taking over Newsday. With respect to the newspaper's coverage of the Rangers and other MSG-owned teams, Newsday's Neil Best says there will be no conflict, as things will be business as usual. Another column there acknowledges potential conflicts, but notes that the Times owns the Boston Globe as well as a healthy chunk of one of the teams the Globe covers, the Red Sox, and that the Tribune Company, former owner of Newsday, owns the Cubs and has a reputation for being soft on the team in its flagship Chicago paper. Meanwhile, on the day after the deal was announced, Newsday published two separate puff pieces on Cablevision donations (here and here). No surprise that the Post, which lost out on its own bid for Newsday, pans the Cablevision purchase of its competitor.

[Thanks for our friend DaTeL for his translation of the interview from Czech.]