Adam Graves Number Going To The Rafters, But Wait, There's More!

We all learned that Adam Graves was getting his number 9 retired this season back during Brian Leetch's number retirement ceremony.... but what we (or at least I) didn't realize, was that the Rangers weren't stopping there.

No, just a couple weeks after Gravy's number is raised to the rafters on Feb 3, 2009, two more guys will be so honored by the Rangers on Feb 22, 2009: Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell.

Interestingly, Bathgate also wore number 9 so the Rangers will be like the Knicks, who have two number 15s retired (Earl Monroe and Dick McGuire) and the Yankees, who have two number 8s retired (Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra).

What's also interesting to me is that the Rangers waited this long to honor outstanding players like Bathgate and Howell.

Perhaps Bathgate having worn number 9 was an issue -- deciding to retire it for Graves opens up a (legit) discussion that might ask, why wasn't this done for Bathgate? He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978 and Howell, a defenseman was inducted in 1979.

Maybe because these guys didn't win Cups for this team, they never thought to honor them. For the longest time, it was just Eddie Giocoman's number 1 and Rod Gilbert's number 7 up there... and now it's growing rapidly. I used to think the only ones left would be the ones we all expected -- Mess, Graves, Leetch and Richter, the cornerstones of the '94 team. But now that we've opened the gates up, why not some others from the solid '60s teams?

Gilles Villemure's number 30? Steve Vickers' number 8? Jean Ratelle's number 19?

And hey, Brad Park wore number 2... Nicky Fotiu wore 22.... Bob Froese wore number 33!

We could fill those rafters in no time.

Mats Sundin Kind of IS a Land Mine

So Mats Sundin, late of the Toronto Maple Leafs, might or might not want to become Mats Sundin of the New York Rangers. In true Brett Favre style... according to Sundin's agent:

"He still hasn't decided if he is going to play this year. That's stage one. Stage two will be picking a team. We haven't had that discussion yet."

I see. So first he'll decide if he'll grace the NHL with his stellar 10-place-in-the-Eastern-Conference kind of leadership, and then after that, he'll regale us with teams he deems worthy of his deteriorating services.

I can hardly wait, Mats.

What's Happening With Brendan Shanahan?

"Where the hell will I be playing this year? Your guess is as good as mine."

Hell if I know.

Some reports suggest Shanny might wind up back in St. Louis, because the Blues have the cap room.

Yet his agent insists being a Ranger is still Brendan's priority. I like hearing that and I'd really like having the savvy veteran back for another year, but the Rangers are close to the cap (ugh, hate discussing the cap -- we need games already) and so unless he's willing to play on the cheap, I don't see it happening.

I hope it does because I still like my Shanny-Shirt t-shirt jersey.

All-Time New York Rangers Roster, As Voted By Fans

The fans have spoken, according to NewYorkRangers.com, and they voted on the all-time best Rangers team, player-by-player through the years. There were no surprises, honestly, with representation from the solid '60s teams as well as from the '90s nostalgia years. The team is as follows:

Forwards: Mark Messier, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle
Defensemen: Brad Park, Brian Leetch
Goalies: Ed Giocamin, Mike Richter

Any time Mike Richter is your backup, you've got a damn good team. Though I have to say, this sounds more like a power play unit. Not to questions Messers Park and Leetch on their defensive skills, but how would they decide who gets to pinch?

Wearing the As and C This Year

The conventional wisdom right now is that Chris Drury will likely be named captain of the Rangers during the preseason. I’d be fine with that, as Drury has always been a leader and a winner. He’s a class guy and would do a fine job. However, I don’t think he’s necessarily the only legit choice.

A guy I wasn’t impressed with when he signed – and I've heard people say nobody is really impressed with him unless he plays for your team – was Scott Gomez. But seeing Gomez’ leadership and enthusiasm and connection with the other guys makes me think he’s a terrific choice for captain as well. At the very least he should be wearing an Alternate “A.”

As for the other “A,” with Marty Straka gone and Brendan Shanahan in limbo, I feel a solid choice for it would be defenseman Michael Rozsival. Rozsival has been a consistent, talented backliner for the past couple of years and it’s been so much fun seeing him grow up before our eyes, getting high-pressure minutes in the ‘05’-’06 campaign and never giving any reason why he shouldn’t continue getting those minutes.

Markus Naslund will likely be in the running for an “A” as well and that’s more than fair. While the guy is new to the Rangers, he’s been a captain before and has been well-respected in that role.

These are critical decisions that I know Tom Renney takes seriously. For the entirety of the ’05-’06 season he went with three “A” designations and no “C,” which I remember thinking was simply brilliant. The last captain had been Messier, which nobody on that team was qualified to follow. And with no expectations and very young team, it made sense to see who would step up. And as the wonderful results were yielding a 100-point season, Renney saw no reason to mess with it. It wasn’t until the playoff loss to the Devils that it became apparent that the Rangers needed an officially designated leader. And by then one had emerged in Jagr.

This season brings about some uncertainty as well and while I’d love to try to recapture the magic by using the three-A system again, I think there’s too much leadership already established to try that again and doing so would just seem like a gimmick.

Let’s give it to Drury and let him lead.

Rangers Merchandise on the Cheap

Because I care about you, the loyal reader (as though I have any yet), I am pointing out that the Rangers are holding their "Blow Out Summer Merchandise Sale" this week at the Garden. Evidently, there will be up to 90% markdowns on Rangers apparel.

Dates and times are as follows:

Wednesday, August 20 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Thursday, August 21 from 10:00am to 3:00pm
Friday, August 22 from 10:00am to 6:00pm

Hmm, the "Blow Out" sale, huh? I suppose they could have called it the "What We Do To The New Jersey Devils Merchandise Sale," but why start throwing jabs before the season even begins? Lord knows no Devils "fans" are paying attention yet.

Jaromir Jagr -- Should We Miss Him?

The Jags situation was a difficult one, wasn’t it? Here we had a guy who had blossomed as a leader in New York and who had actually seemed to enjoy being a senior spokesman on a youthful team. He enjoyed taking guys under his wing and being the one to talk the boys up to the media. Of course, his monster ’05-’06 season was nice, too.

I was never a huge Jagr fan. When he came to New York, I couldn’t shake the images of him dogging it in Washington and practically admitting it during an on-ice All-Star Game interview. But he lit it up in New York, the fans loved him and even I eventually came around. The guy really seemed to want to win badly. Maybe he wanted to win the same way Kobe Bryant wants to win – without the guy who was always attached to him and his titles (Mario for Jags, Shaq for Kobe, in case you live under a rock). It sure looked that way because he seemed driven to me.

Sure, there were still the weird, occasional Jagr-isms, like asking out of the shootout Top 3 because he didn’t like breakaways and felt he wasn't good at it. But all in all, we all came around on Jags. He embraced being the captain and led the team admirably. Nobody wearing the C following Mark Messier had an easy job and I’m not sure anybody could have done it better. Brian Leetch, long a favorite of mine and all Ranger fans, certainly couldn’t handle it.

And now he’s gone. Jagr wanted to stay, but only half-heartedly it seemed. He wasn’t going to get a big, final NHL contract from the Rangers – largely due to the salary cap – and he knew it. He also knew, after one of his worst statistical seasons ever, that he wasn’t a hot ticket in the NHL at all anymore. And while I’m sure somebody would have paid him well enough, the lure of going back to Omsk proved too much. (I really can’t believe I just wrote about the lure of Avangard Omsk.)

It’s hard to fathom anyone wanting to live and work in Russia over New York City. But none of us are in Jagr’s head, where who knows what goes on. This is a foreign land for him and he’s taken a lot of arrows from the media and various fans here. In Omsk, where he played during the lockout, he was revered and treated like a conquering hero – which he probably deserves.

Jaromir Jagr won two Stanley Cups and gave his all during other playoff runs, especially with the Rangers. I'll always be convinced that his shoulder was never close to right again after he injured it taking a swipe at Gomez in the 2006 playoffs. And yet he never complained about it and pushed through, doing his best. My respect has grown for him during his time in Ranger blue and I have to say I’ll miss him and I think the team will miss him.