This evening, the Rangers will host the red hot Carolina Hurricanes, who are 8-2-1 in their last eleven games. I know it's an old theme by now, but can anyone predict which Blueshirts team will show up? Will it be the group that recently lost stinkers to the Caps and Penguins, or will it be the fellas that showed up for the victories over Atlanta and Tampa Bay? There's just no telling.
Larry Brooks talks about how keeping Darius Kasparaitis on the roster without playing him just eats up some valuable cap space. Larry also tries to rejuvenate a rumor he started a couple of weeks ago, that the Rangers and Blackhawks might be thinking about swapping Petr Prucha for Brent Seabrook. While we never hear anything from Sather or Maloney, Chicago GM Dale Tallon, in a recent online chat with fans, answered a question about trading Seabrook:
Trevor (Chicago): Dale, rumors have been circling around about Seabrook going to NYR for Prucha, is there any truth to these rumors? Thanks.
Dale Tallon: Hogwash. Never in any discussion with anyone in New York about Brent Seabrook. Not going to trade him.
Even as recently as yesterday, Tallon stated he had no intention of movng the young defenseman:
Prior to the game, Tallon had to shoot down another trade rumor involving Seabrook. This one had the second-year defenseman going to the Canucks for center Brendan Morrison. “Seabrook is one of the guys we’re going forward with,” Tallon said. “Why would I trade him?”
So either Tallon is misleading the Blackhawk fans, or Uncle Larry is being misled by his "sources" once again. I'm not saying there might not be a deal in the works, but it sure doesn't seem like Seabrook is going to be part of it.
John Dellapina wonders if Brendan Shanahan will be worn down by logging so many minutes of ice time, but the Rangers' leading goal scorer says he has no problem with it: "With the whistles and the timeout and all that stuff, it's a lot easier on hockey players these days to play more minutes," Shanahan said. "And I thrive on it . . . I can't predict the future. But my feeling is, in the NHL, you've got to play for today. And sometimes, when you focus too much on the future, it just doesn't ever arrive."
Steve Zipay bears great news in that Jed Ortmeyer was cleared to, and in fact did, skate with the team today.
Bird left a few droppings for you to, um, chew on, in the the latest Birdcage.
Tonight it's the Rangers and Hurricanes in MSG. The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST.
HDH
Posted by Jim at November 21, 2006 01:07 PMeMail this entry!
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