I did a full report on NY Sports Day, but just some musings:

• Unlike Mark Messier a few years ago, Leetch’s pre-retirement gathering was much more subdued, like the way he played.
• Leetch was very forthcoming about still being hurt when he was traded almost four years ago.
• All the Rangers agreed he may have been the most important player from the 1994 team.
• When asked Leetch didn’t want to give a Super Bowl prediction, but Messier said 24-21, yet he would not guarantee that.
• Tonight, don’t expect a 75 minute ceremony, although the Rangers have 98 minutes, but that also includes pregame warmups and getting the ice ready.
• Tie Domi was at the event last night as well, which was a welcome surprise.

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Sean Avery will be with the Rangers on Thursday and Friday on their western trip, but according to Tom Renney he’s still a ways away from suiting up.

“[He'll] drive us bananas because he is itching to play,” Renney said. “He’s a few days away from serious contact and there’s still a little bit of pain there. We can rehab him, and he could be day-to-day in two days.”

***

Al Montoya was called up in case Henrik Lundqvist was not ready after coming down with the flu. Based on last night’s perfromance, The King was ready.

***

The line shakeups seems to work very well.

Jaromir Jagr seemed pleased with playing next to Scott Gomez: “From the first time we played together, Scotty is a lot more confident. He’s gotten a lot quicker.”

Gomez on Jagr: “I think that was the problem in the beginning, I was thinking too much,” Gomez said with a laugh. “We get in trouble when we start to think. We’re just a bunch of hockey players.”

Chris Drury and Brendan Shanahan also seemed pleased, although Shanahan wantes to take some time before passing judgement. Said Shanahan: “It was good. I though at a certain point of the game, it seemed like we were getting more special teams shifts together. We killed a lot of penalities. He had a lot of shifts with Nigel [Dawes], but then we couldn’t string them together. It’s tough to gage.”

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Just kidding. But between my coverage of the Yankees for Sportscene, Mets for Inside Pitch, and create myself a little bit of a personal life, I had little time to jump on this.

Here are my thoughts though:

1) Signing Chris Drury is just what this team needed. Even more than Scott Gomez, the Rangers needed Drury and the dimention he adds to this team.

2) Gomez is an upgrade over Michael Nylander, but his value will come in star power. Unlike the Devils, the Rangers will market him and in a league that is looking for new fans will become one of the top stars in the diverse city. He’s a pretty good hockey player too.

3) Their signings mean there is no margin for error. The Rangers need all the restricteds signed as well as Brendan Shanahan. Also, they better hope no major injuries occur, since they will probably lack the cap space for any major moves during the season unless someone is waived. [Paul Mara, you are on notice].

4) After last season Tom Renney needs to show he can keep the ship together. Unlike last season when they kind of got a pass early on, the Garden Faithful will be very unhappy if a perceived Cup contender starts out of the gate slow.

But all this means, I can’t wait until September!!

I will be updating more often if news comes by, so stay tuned!! 

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