Hot, hot, hot.

Yes, that's right, I just couldn't resist posting some hockey news on the hottest day of the year thus far here in New York. Temperatures are expected to get up to about 100 degrees today, and I just felt like talking about some ICE hockey.

I know Bird wrote that it is hard to discuss hockey while there is so much conflict going on in the Middle East, but I like to think of this as my escape from all of the other crappy news in the world. Even if it is for just a few minutes a day, it's worth it. Still, I too hope for peace in the region and that our troops all get home safely.

So what's going on in Rangerland? Not much since the Shanahan signing. Jed Ortmeyer re-signed a one-year extension for about $550,000. They also signed Pack defenseman Bryce Lampman.

I got the chance to hear Sam Rosen on ESPN radio the other evening, and he seemed to agree with the notion that Petr Sykora will not be back. He also thought that signing Martin Rucinsky was a long shot at this point. Sam felt that Michal Rozsival would eventually come to some agreement with the club.

I, for one, was happy to read Larry Brooks' report that it is very unlikely Brian Leetch will return to the Rangers so long as Glen Sather is the GM. Upon hearing reports that a deal may have been discussed, I spent several days in healthy debate on the message boards arguing against bringing him back to New York. Someone even put a poll up, and asked who people would prefer as a 6th defenseman, Leetch or Thomas Pöck. Surprisingly (even to me), Pöck turned out to be the heavy favorite with 77% of the votes. Still, I won't be comfortable until Brian signs elsewhere or announces his retirement.

The Rangers organization lost some players over the last couple of weeks. Most of them were Wolf Pack players who were not tendered contracts or qualifying offers:

The Rangers didn't qualify or re-sign veteran Pack defensemen Dale Purinton, Martin Grenier and Joe Rullier, leading goal scorer Alexandre Giroux, assistant captain Chad Wiseman, goalie Robert Gherson and forwards Martin Sonnenberg, Brad Smyth and Colby Genoway.

That article, written on July 13th, mentions some rumor about Al Montoya possibly being dealt to Detroit, but we have not heard anything else about that since then. The Red Wings have a good goaltending prospect in Jimmy Howard, so it was probably just speculation.

And speaking of the Pack, there is a new Calder's Corner up with a thorough season re-cap.

In other NHL news:

Former Ranger/Flyer/Maple Leaf/concussion patient Eric Lindros signed a one-year deal to join the Dallas Stars, who were seeking a replacement for Jason Arnott, who left Texas for Tennessee after agreeing to a five-year deal with the Predators.

The Maple Leafs will replace Lindros with Michael Peca, after the former Sabre/Islander/Oiler/Canuck agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million dollar deal. Peca had a sub-par regular season, but played well in the playoffs for Edmonton.

Try to stay cool!

HDH

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