This team still DOES resemble the Czech National team, even without Jagr... Kotalik, Rozsival, and Prospal.
Give me Jagr and his 25 goals over any forward on this team (sans Gaborik) on any day of the week. You say "good riddance" as if those 25 goals were a bad thing, when no one on this team outside of Gaborik will come close to reaching that.
The funny thing about it, is that those 25 goals in his last year was his worst goal scoring season in his career(he never scored < 25)......and he did it having Drury or Gomez as his center for the first half and a rookie in the last. If Jagr would have had a center like Robert lang, he most likely would have hit over 30 and his contract triggers.
Considering he played his entire Ranger career at a 4.5 team cap hit while breaking team records, you'd think Slats would have gave him 2 year 6/year contract. Then when you consider what Slats gave Dreary, Gomez and Redden....it makes me want to puke.
Drury I will admit has not been playing well at all.
Sathers did spend a boat load of money to get him... but come on what was everyone expecting form him? That he would be an all-star?
Drury barely reached mid-high 60 points when he was surrounded by talented players when he was with the Avalanche/Flames/Sabres
With this rangers squad he has none... ((except for gabby))
His playing style had to change from clutch to defense to win games for us.
He is now a 7 million dollar Blair Bets/ Fredrik Sjostrom, whose job is to win face-offs and kill penalties
Having said that, he needs to pick up his game and regroup our squad to be an effective captain.
So basically, you're completely contradicting yourself. (a statement, not a question) Gotta love "having said that" for you Curb fans.
Drury is essentially worthless at this point. It's Sather's fault for signing him, and Dolan's fault for not firing Sather. And the list of mistakes goes on and on. The fact is, we have been a horribly run organization for over 10 years, and we, the fans, can do nothing but venting our frustrations ad nauseum on this board, and the like. PERIOD
Drury is a metaphor for the Rangers' player characteristics over the past decade: Overpaid, overvalued, soft, ineffective, and crippling.
Last edited by KreiMeARiver: 12-14-2009 at 12:17 AM.
The problem is not just Drury...we need to start crashing the net more. I'm sick of seeing Cally and co. going to the outside and get a weak shot on net. The only guys that have been finishing lately are Gabby and Higgins (!).
I've been trying to pinpoint exactly why our team has been struggling. Lundqvist is absolutely NOT the problem. Our defense, although suspect at times, covers everything well enough. It's our offense. Look at the Detroit and Chicago losses...we score a 2nd goal in both of those games and take a 2 goal lead and we most likely have 4 points locked up. Goal support is so key for this team it's not even funny.
...and we, the fans, can do nothing but venting our frustrations ad nauseum on this board, and the like. PERIOD
just for the sake of discussion, I think that Bruins fans voted with their wallet a few years ago, before the Thornton trade. I'm just a distant observer, but my understanding was that the fans caused seem real worry for the Bruins ownership. That they voiced their displeasure clearly to where it it the Bruins, right smack dab in the wallet.
Drury is PART of the problem but he sure as hell not the CAUSE of it.
It seems like we have 10 grinders,2 playmakers(prospal,gabby) and a goalie you REALLY feel bad for on this team.
Drury is at best a sniping forward,he wants to RECIEVE passes not be the one doing the passing,I found it PATHETIC that drury had to gain the zone yestarday out of all the forwards who like to stick handle for 2 ****ing hours in the offensive zone.
There really needs to be a louder voice at the Garden to fire Sather. This organization is in need of a serious culture shock and it has to start with new management.
The key is new management and unfortunately that runs far deeper than Sather. Firing Sather will probably have little effect on the organizations as a whole. In the day of huge player contracts upper management has a lot more of a say in final decisions than they made of had in years past. This also extends to trades and free agent signings. Since, Dolan and former owners of the team seem inclined to put expensive crap on the ice every year firing the GM will do zilch.
What I am saying is that I don't think there is a single simple answer to this problem. What I am also saying is that Sather may not have as much say as we may be led to think. I guess the only solution is hope Verizon crushes cablevision and Dolan is forced to sell. Then there may be hope.
When people just realize theres nothing we can do about Drury for 2 and a half years, maybe the whining will stop and we can focus on things that can actually be altered.
Nah, if all the fans turn on Drury he won't want to play here and waive his NMC clause.
If Gomez could be dealt for something of value, Drury can be dealt.
Drury gets paid way to much for what he is and that fault is split between him, because he and his agent sought the money and Glen Sather who was foolish enough to pay him that amount. On Sathers end, I'd say, noone expected him to be 2 goals terrible only halfway through the deal, however, in no way should Sather ever have included a NMC clause into the deal. Slats hates other GMs for coming up with long term deals manipulating numbers to get the cap hit they want, well that's fine but Slats has abused NMC/NTC in his own right.
Drury as captain of this team should be showing some level of leadership. Maybe he's showing some miraculous intangibles in the locker room behind closed doors, but so far, he's not showing it on the bench during games and he's definitely doing it on the ice. There are many clips of VP or Callahan talking with guys and younger players on the bench, we see Sullivan and Del Zotto on the regular. For sure MSG wants to highlight him as a leader, yet they're incapable of finding any footage to do so.
Since Drury has played for the Rangers, there has been the likes of Jagr, Shanahan, a high flying Straka, Gomez, Naslund, VP, and Gabby. Not all were in the pinnacle of their careers, though none the less, he has had ample opportunity, including this year, to play with some talented players, yet he has never melded well on a line with any of them, so the question becomes, who can Drury produce with? At 33 he's not completely over the hill and like many players, coming to NY hasn't worked for him. He should realize that and look to move on, as well as this team. The only problem, is that without Dubinsky in the lineup, this team gets beat on faceoffs alot and losing puck control at the start of every play, isn't good for a puck control team. Drury is one of the few guys who can win the draw and right now, that's about all he does well.
In the past, I had hopes for a deal involving a smaller sallery dumps, but the likes of Penner and Fischer have been too good and to compound the issue Drury has been so horrendous, guys like Cheechoo and Horcoff have been playing much better than him. Maybe, just maybe, there's chance for a Brind'Amour for Drury deal available. Brinds can skate the 4th line in NY and maybe Drury can fit better on a team like Carolina. Maybe there's some nostalgic feelings for him in Colorado, who better could play on Duchene's wing then a veteran who can keep up with him and has had success in the city. In return? Adam Foote could provide some veteran leadership to our young blueliners and at 3.25m, is a start for salary coming back.
Nah, if all the fans turn on Drury he won't want to play here and waive his NMC clause.
If Gomez could be dealt for something of value, Drury can be dealt.
If only it were that simple.
I don't think Drury is losing any sleep over the fact the Rangers fans don't like him. I can't recall any situation in which a player waived his NMC or requested a trade because the fans were upset with him. That's just the nature of the sports world and the fan-player relationship, and if they can't handle it, they probably shouldn't be a professional athlete.
Additionally, Drury grew up in Connecticut and has family in the area. I think it will be really difficult to get him to waive his NMC.
As for the Gomez trade, that was a unique situation and should be not used as a prototype for any sort of trade proposal. Gainey was looking for a top line center and the free agent market didn't have much to offer. He had a lot of contracts coming off the books and had the cap space to trade for him. There are many players like Drury in the league who can be had for far less than $7 million.
youre not going to trade a guy who makes 7 million dollars a year for the next 2 years (thats his cap hit anyway) who is sitting at 2 goals and 7 assists 30+ games into the season. hes played like 26 games or somethign and has 2 goals and 7 assists. that's not just bad, thats borderline 4th line production.
youre not going to trade a guy who makes 7 million dollars a year for the next 2 years (thats his cap hit anyway) who is sitting at 2 goals and 7 assists 30+ games into the season. hes played like 26 games or somethign and has 2 goals and 7 assists. that's not just bad, thats borderline 4th line production.
1) Hope for a free buyout this summer. Buh-bye Dreary.
2) Buy out his sorry ass. Rather spend $4m on nothing than $7m on nothing.
3) Set up a tent, BBQ marshmallows and wait until july, 2012.
4) Freeze out Dreary and force him to waive his NMC. Welcome, Hartford.
The 4th is what WSH did to Nylander. He had a NMC and is now in AHL by being bullied and outfrozen. The last month, Nylander wasn't even allowed to practice with the Caps.
How long will Dreary's pride hold if he's not allowed to play any games and practice on his own?
1) Hope for a free buyout this summer. Buh-bye Dreary.
2) Buy out his sorry ass. Rather spend $4m on nothing than $7m on nothing.
3) Set up a tent, BBQ marshmallows and wait until july, 2012.
4) Freeze out Dreary and force him to waive his NMC. Welcome, Hartford.
The 4th is what WSH did to Nylander. He had a NMC and is now in AHL by being bullied and outfrozen. The last month, Nylander wasn't even allowed to practice with the Caps.
How long will Dreary's pride hold if he's not allowed to play any games and practice on his own?
unfortunately i dont see the rangers doing that with one of their players...they should talk with him though, and start the process of asking him to waive his NMC...
Here's a question.If they impliment this "one free buyout" rule.Is it possible to buyout a player and then resign them to a more reasonable deal? You can't tell me that people wouldn't want drury back at like 1-2mill At least he knows what blocking a shot or a pass is
I think even more disturbing the highest paid player on that list is VL $10 mill & he has a whopping 6 goals & 20 assists. This teh guy most of us want. If he had those stats as a Ranger he would need an armed security detail in & out of MSG.
There are alot of busts on that list, esspecially in the top 10, & Sather handed out 30% of those contracts.
youre not going to trade a guy who makes 7 million dollars a year for the next 2 years (thats his cap hit anyway) who is sitting at 2 goals and 7 assists 30+ games into the season. hes played like 26 games or somethign and has 2 goals and 7 assists. that's not just bad, thats borderline 4th line production.
He's certainly not gonna let it ruin his Christmas, for sure. Whatever you do, do not try to "compare" Captain Crutch to Blair Betts. Some folks around here get offended.
I agree you can't trade him now, its either a buyout or nothing.
For those of you saying fans should vote with their wallets because thats what the Bruins did, it wont work with MSG considering how many corporate seats there are and how unwilling 400 section STHs are to giv eup their blue seats. I'm all for it, but as long as there's tourism, and corporate entities holding blocks of seats, the garden will always make money.
I wish we could though.
Also, for those of you wanting to buy out Dreary if we get a "free roll", id rather buy our Dredden. Many more hindering years while Drury and Roszy are off the books in 2 years. I dont care how steady hes been this year, that contract is a much bigger burden to bear than Drurys.
If that buyout rule materializes there shouldn't even be a second thought to get rid of Redden. He hurts us the most for the longest time.
Maybe Sather can find a taker for Rosy, and we ride it out with Chris
with the hopes that he can at least have a productive season or
two before his contract ends.
Whatever you do, do not try to "compare" Captain Crutch to Blair Betts. Some folks around here get offended. 
