the first ranger report....

this is a very exciting moment on the blizzy. great work as always by the illustrious barry beck. can an islanders report be far behind?



The deadline to buyout player contracts has come and gone and the Rangers have bought out the contract of Bobby Holik. Holik is a solid player but his strengths will be hurt by the leagues rule changes which will open up the game and flow considerably. Further, his large contract would be a burden to the franchise. I am suprised the the Rangers didn't buyout Kasparaitis who is also owed a lot of dough even with the 24% rollback in salaries. The Rangers are in a great position with Jagr. When they traded for them the Capitals assumed1/2 his salary. Amazingly the 1/2 of the salray paid by Washington will count against their cap. Sucks for them. Now we wait and lett he dust settle over the weekend and watch the Draft (Saturday at Noon on MSG). Sidney Crosby will have his coming out party on Saturday.Too bad he will not land in MSG but we will get to see a lot of him. Come Monday free agent signings will begin. It is going to be crazy and I, for one, will have a close eye on the wires over the next few weeks. The Rangers have publicaly annoucned their commitment to youth. It will be interesting to see if they follow through with that commitment.

Stay tuned for my report on one of the Most exciting Ranger Prospects: Al Montoya (G) from the U of Michigan who will likely become the first Cuban to ever play in the NHL.