Hello New York and everywhere else, I'm Bird and you're in the Birdcage. I first wish to thank Joe from the NY Hockey Report and Scott from the Face-off Hockey Show for having me on as a guest on their shows. I always have fun talking puck stuff and these guys both run excellent shows and I enjoyed the humor that was on display with the Faceoff guys. I'm not so sure it was Mountain Dew that they were drinking......I of course cracked a few brews. Speaking of which, I'm way behind on the Birdcage Podcasts.....so I hope to resume broadcasts as soon as possible.

So last night the Rangers were beaten 5-1 by the Carolina Hurricanes. Frankly I'm sick of hurricanes but it's clear the hockey hurricanes are a pretty good team. Hell, they're on fire over the last dozen or so games so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Rangers would get beat. Face it, the Rangers are not at that level yet. I was impressed with Lundqvist early on. He made several of those "how in the hell did he stop that?" saves. But as the game wore on the Rangers showed that they were a bit tired as even Henke became human and gave up a softie.

I should also point out that the constant trips to the penalty box killed off any hopes of a come back. While the third goal against effectively ended the Rangers hopes, up to that point Lundquist had given his team a chance to win. The rematch on Saturday afternoon should be an interesting contest. We'll see if the home crowd at MSG can energize the Blueshirts.

Now I want to pose a question to all of you. One can safely assume that this team could benefit from at least one if not two additions. We all can agree that a PP point man would really help out a lot. In addition, we could really use another sniper, a real decent goal scorer. With Rucha out with the bum knee we lack that additional scorer to compliment Jagr. So, the question is......do we ask Slats for an early Christmas present and send him out to acquire the two missing pieces?

Wait, before you answer you must think this out. We are rebuilding and are not expected to win a cup. This means you would wish to avoid a major move that included any of our good youngsters. This is also a cap league now so one must consider money as part of any trade equation. Hold on....there's more. Rucinsky will return at some point. Also, maybe....just maybe we have a PP d-man down in Hartford. Pöck's name has been mentioned but to be fair, I haven't watched him with the Pack and remain unclear if he's the man. I sure hope he'd be ready next season though.

OK, now that you've thought it out, what do you do? Remember, Ottawa might not lose another game this year and I could name at least three other teams in the east that the Rangers would find hard to beat even with these proposed additions. So, do you roll the dice or not?

Well, here's my thoughts.

I say no.

Yep, that's right. I wait for Rucha to return for my goal scorer and I promote Pöck or someone else in an attempt to win this year. Barring another injury I think it's possible (not probable) but possible that a little tweaking could help get the Rangers a playoff spot. That would help in the learning process that's taking place this year on the Blueshirts. I don't trade any prospects and I avoid taking on a big contract (both the $$ and the length of contract).

My take could mean that the Rangers don't make the playoffs. It could also mean they make it as a low seed and get blown out in the first round. I'm fine with that. I'd prefer to wait it out and continue the current course. This rebuild needs time and I for one don't believe you can rush the process by taking short cuts. I'm hoping for a team that can compete for a cup over several years, not a one shot deal.

So what did you select? Why not jump on the boards and add your two cents...or a buck fifty, whatever. Go for it now? OR Wait it out and build on what we have slowly and carefully? There are no right or wrong answers. There will be no tests. However, if you post something dumb we will remind you of it as often as possible.

Did I mention that we're not a blog?

----}- Bird

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