If Hockeybird.com was an actual workplace, we'd be crammed into someone's office for a little cake party right about now. Who's birthday, you ask? Why, it's Bird's! Happy birthday, bro.
While you're picking at your cake and drinking your cup of Champale, I'll run down the afternoon's hockey news...
The Rodent takes us back to the 01-02 season in his message of caution for the upcoming season. 14-7-1-1 they were at one point. Yow. I'm still trying to keep my memories of that season repressed. Seeing that was disturbing.
Andrew Gross of the Journal News writes about Richard Scott sticking with the team so far and also reports on a line change: Lacouture taking Barnaby's spot on the third line with Holik and Lundmark. I wouldn't read anything into that. Sather & co. have seemed entirely undecided on the third and fourth lines as of yet, and have switched them up constantly since Friday.
I was considering just not linking to Bridget Wentworth's article as it's really quite careless, but my function is to provide you the news, not filter it. First, Wentworth seems to make an issue about Lundmark being moved off Holik's line by saying, "Lundmark is a little confused and Sather isn't doing much to clear that confusion". Projected lines three and four have been constantly shuffled in the last few days, and why not? While most people, myself included, want to see Jamie on Holik's wing due to the success they had in last year's pre-season, I hardly find it noteworthy that the coaching staff is shuffling these two lines in practice just for curiosity's sake.
Worse, however, is the issue Wentworth tries to make out of long time Wolf Pack veteran Ken Gernander's low ("orange") status at training camp and his quick cut from the roster, even while Gernander doesn't see it as disrespectful himself. Bridget, Bridget. First, the fact that Ken Gernander is even still in this organization while they have cut, let go and traded almost everyone over the age of 27 on the minor league level in the last few years is both a favor and a tribute to Gernander and the Wolf Pack fans who like him. Secondly, you bemoan his "orange" status and quick cut, but don't mention any reasons why this should be any different. Did he have a good camp? Play better than or even as well as the fourteen or so players vying for the twelve forward positions? I don't think anyone, including Gernander himself, thought he had a chance in hell of making the team this season. So what should the Rangers have done differently? The Rangers will always have plenty of issues and hot topics as a season goes on, can't you at least wait and not try to create controversy from thin air??
Finally, I have to take issue with the MSG Network. The Rangers pre-season starts in about 48 hours and there has still been no announcement of a pre-season TV schedule. If you remember, Bird scanned MSG's online TV schedule the other day and noticed the Rangers at Columbus on the 25th (which has since been canceled and Columbus at Rangers on the 26th has appeared), but it seems silly for Ranger fans to have to scan the schedule day by day to see when there might be a Ranger game on. Are the pre-season ratings that bad and they just don't care? The Mets' season has been over since June, practically. You'd think MSG would be excited about moving onto the Rangers and would let their fans know when to tune in.
- Rocha
Posted by pete at September 17, 2003 03:51 PMeMail this entry!
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