Hello New York and everywhere else, welcome back to the Birdcage. Years from now we will look back on this period of time and laugh. Hell, I'm laughing now. The chaos that is the NHL at the moment is enough to drive one nuts and the comments on the boards prove my point. Allow me to ramble a bit on a few different points.....

Fire Sather:

OK, I know....if you look at the record it's clear that things haven't worked out for Slats. Honestly I can't blame those of you who after taking a careful look at the past five years feel that Glen Sather is not the right man to run the Rangers. No playoff appearances despite having unlimited resources and access to the best talent in the world is a tough record to defend. I could explain where some of the signings were good but backfired because of the players themselves but if you are in charge then you are held accountable for the whole thing. Fair enough.

However, since the rebuild has begun I'm pretty happy with the moves Slats has made. We now have a nice stockpile of youth that I look forward to seeing perform at MSG. I also need to point out that with very few exceptions, Glen Sather and his crew know more about the game than most of us, including me. So, go ahead and play armchair GM and by all means post your complaints on the boards but keep in mind, saying Sather Sucks just because everyone else does isn't going to hold much weight. Which brings me to my next point....

The Boards:

I wish to welcome all the new members to the Hockeybird Messageboards. Some of you have perhaps been reading a while and just now decided to join and of course some of you are just finding us. Either way I'm thrilled that you come here. Some of our regulars have been around the various forms of Hockeybird for many years now. It's almost as if we're close friends. We've played some hockey together, some poker and there was even a gathering of some of the musicians under the name Judas crease. During the summers and this whole lockout there was less activity and with no hockey to discuss we kind of bonded. It's natural for the longtime posters to think of the boards as belonging to them and to react when some new people come on "their" turf. Well, I want everyone to know that I have always considered Hockeybird to be an INCLUSIVE place, not exclusive. So I ask our longtime members to welcome our new visitors in the same way that they were welcomed. I also ask that our new posters read through a bunch of threads.....check out the Hall of Stuff so you can get a feel for the personalities. Don't just jump in and post Sather Sucks and expect to be taken seriously. OK?

Jagr:

Hmmmm, I'm confused here. Recent interviews from Europe quote Jagr as looking to stay there and not play in the NHL. The reaction to this has been heated. Let's get a few things straight here, Jagr is under contract and is obligated to play in the NHL for the NYR. But if you took 24% of my salary I'd be a little pissed. Add to that his desire to be close to home. Last time I checked, the North American continent is not close to the Czech Republic. I don't fault Jagr for these feelings. Fans here only care about the team and don't ever think about how a player feels. Also, these comments were made in his native language while in his home country. I don't think Jagr realized his comments would upset those of us here. Of course no one wants to hear that their star may not wish to play for you.....so I'm guessing that Jagr would have expressed himself a bit differently if the interviews were conducted here for our consumption. Jagr has also said publicly and privately that New York is where he wants to play if he's a part of the NHL. Just keep that part in mind.

If the NHL didn't throw away a whole season and take back 24% of Jagr's salary we wouldn't be discussing this at all.

The Rebuild:

Not every Ranger fan understands that we needed to rebuild or what a rebuild is or how to react to a rebuild. It's OK....no need to feel bad if you're one of these people. Let me explain. The practice of bringing in high profile players who are towards the end of their career at very high salaries and throwing 'em out on the ice has not worked very well (duh). Building a winning team means developing from the draft and when you have a solid core, adding to that to get you over the top. 1994 was exactly that (you remember 1994 don't you?). The Islanders of the 80s were that at the highest level. So we are about to play some kids, allow them to develop and somewhere down the road, add some big time guys to take a real run at the Cup. Between now and then we are going to lose. We won't even make the playoffs this season and you know what? I'm OK with that. So please, stop with the silly posts about signing Forsberg and the like. This season will be tough......but next season there will be some solid NHLers available (can you say Iggy? Oops, he's signed with the Flames for a few years...but you get my drift). Let the process happen. I know that some of you think that being a Rangers fan means you have to complain about everything.....I can't live that way. I'm not asking you to swallow your tongue if Slats signs Messier to a four year $20 Mil contract but don't freak out if during this upcoming season we don't win more than we lose. It's part of the rebuilding process. Not that long ago the Tampa Bay Lightning were a hapless squad that we made fun of. They are now of course the defending Cup Champs. It takes time is all I'm saying, OK?

So please, take some time to think about what you're going to post whether you're new here or a long timer. Respect each other even when you disagree. and, have a little patience with the rebuild that's taking place. Try to have some fun, relax a bit....we've got hockey back eh!

----}- Bird

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