Hello New York and everywhere else, welcome to the Birdcage. I got a few e-mails from some of you begging for an article that would give some reasons to be positive about the New York Rangers. At first I thought...why me? Then I realized that next to no one has come even close to penning a positive story in any of the major papers in NY. In fact, it's been downright nasty so far and we haven't even had one pre-season game. So, sit back with a cold one and gather the kids....I'll try and give you reasons to be positive and when I can't find facts I'll just make stuff up. Hey, I see others doing that.

Happy Happy JJ:

After reading comments from an interview from the Czech Republic it was assumed that Jagr was unhappy with the Rangers, exploring ways to get out of his contract and if forced to play here would sulk as he did in Washington. Well, it now seems that Jagr was in fact consulted by Ranger brass on some player acquisitions and his contract status remains unchanged. He'll be playing in NY this season and he'll have some of his buddies as linemates. A happy Jagr is a more dangerous Jagr to opposing teams. Of course, before you get all giddy at the prospects of the all-world player scoring 100 points plus remember that his pinky is still injured and has not healed well. But at least the possible nastiness has been avoided......for now.

No More 1940:

Remember how good it felt that Islander fans could no longer chant 1940? Well, with the new CBA in the all new NHL the NY Rangers will never again be the reason why the NHL is ruined. I grew tired of reading how the Rangers were "buying the Cup" each season and it was made worse as we haven't seen a single playoff game since '97. The cap will now eliminate people's ability to blame the Rangers for all the NHL's woes.

In addition, the Rangers did not sign and over pay for any of the big names that were available. Sure, token offers were made to Forsberg or Khabby but Slats didn't do anything to suggest that the rebuild is anything other than true. Sure, we have a few older guys signed to one year deals but those are just to fill gaps in the roster. It's possible that "Rangeritis" has been cured. Now wouldn't that be great?

Play The Yutes:

Ah yes, the rebuild. I'm sure at some point over the last seven years you or someone close to you made the following statement; "I'd rather see a bunch of kids play hard and lose than watch these overpaid old guys coast through the season." Well, now you're going to get exactly that. While I'm not convinced that our prospects are all future NHL stars I do think we have plenty of kids who could possibly succeed at the NHL level. We now have two solid goaltending prospects in Lundy and Montoya. Watching these guys should be fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing Feder and Pöck along with some others develop on the Ranger blueline. There are some young forwards who will get some ice time and perhaps, just maybe become good NHL players. It's true that we are devoid of rock solid can't miss stars such as Crosby or Rick Nash but we will at least see kids getting a shot and will not have to endure Marcel Dionne or Guy LaFleur. Oops, I guess it's still possible that Messier turns up although everything does point to his retirement.

Keep in mind, the Rangers fielding a line up of kids will not instantly bring wins or playoff games. It will take some time for these kids to develop and during the upcoming season the losses will not be fun. We will however see some youth fight for ice time. Renny will reward hard work and effort with more ice time and the kids who want it the most will be the most fun to watch. You'll be watching the game itself rather than the final score. It's what we wanted and it's what we got.

If nothing else it'll be great to read Rocha's report cards.

Hockey is back:

Look, complain all you want about the GM, the coach, the past seven seasons but even I would not wish to endure another dark year. The only thing more infuriating than reading the PR spin from both sides in the CBA wars was the lack of games to watch. Now that I'm out of the NY area I'll be buying the Center Ice package and will have access to every NHL game played. Honestly I can't wait until I can return home from a crappy day at work, cook dinner, get the kids to bed and instead of watching "Dancing with the Stars" or Fox News I can pop on the best game of the night. There is something so very comforting about that thought. Wife in a bad mood? Kids acting up? Boss giving you the business? No problem, I have beer and hockey and all in the world is fine. Remember, you're not just a NY Rangers fan, you are a hockey fan. Having games to watch is reason enough to be cheerful.

Offence:

OK, I'm reaching here. The NHL has once again announced the clamping down on the obstruction in the game. Sure, we've heard this many times before but they mean it this time. Really. Stop laughing. OK, well they did reduce the size of the goaltending equipment so watching Garth Snow becomes more fun. I'm interested in how this effects the different keepers out there. Removing the red line should give teams a chance to break the trap, something a lot of fans claim is more boring to watch than C-Span during the month of August. The new rules on keepers playing the puck combined with the extra room behind the nets could really help scoring chances increase. I'll be interested to see how all this works out.

Cheaper Tickets:

I admit that a $17.50 discount off a $175 ticket is not much to get excited about but there are some teams gearing up for some very cool promotions. I'd expect that you can now see a live game or two that you wouldn't have before. Televised hockey is great, live hockey rules. Hell, I used to go to Nassau just to see an NHL game no matter who was playing. For $8 you can see the Florida Panthers in person on certain nights. I might have to take in a game or two.

Now of course you can continue to complain about not signing this guy or that, you can bitch about Glen Sather not being the right guy for the job based on his record here and I'll not argue with you. I choose to ignore you. I'm going to smile and stock up on good beer. Hockey season is just around the corner and the NY Rangers will be interesting to follow again. So in fact will the other NHL teams, even if I'm watching to see them fail.

Yup, there are reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three.

----}- Bird

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