OT-Kovalev goes to the Rangers

[Cards4ever]

Looks like the Rangers are going to try to make the playoffs no matter the cost.


http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2003/0210/1506863.html

[Tarkus]

Yes, yes, yes! I was hoping for a deal like this. Now lets get Leetch and Bure back and we're off! Go Rangers! :)

Tarkus

[Ksyrup]

People complain about baseball's economics, but hockey is doing a fine job showcasing its own inadequacies. This kind of thing doesn't get much press for what it is, other than "pity press", but when the Royals deal Carlos Beltran and/or Mike Sweeney this summer, people are going to call for a boycott of baseball.

:confused:

[Craptacular]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
but when the Royals deal Carlos Beltran and/or Mike Sweeney this summer, people are going to call for a boycott of baseball.


The more the merrier!

[sachmo71]

Wow...who would have know that all it would take to get Kovalev was cash and a bag of pucks. Well, Samuelson shows some promise, but DAMN!!

The Rangers sure got a lot of defensemen in the trade. I wonder if Leetch is headed to the West?

[ice4277]

The Rangers are setting themselves up nicely for a seventh seed and a first-round exit....Nice job making that huge payroll even bigger guys :rolleyes: Hockey is going to go the way of baseball for me if it keeps up.

[Honolulu_Blue]

What a crap trade. Utter crap. The worse thing about it was Glen "The Idiot" Sather's remark "I don't think it's a salary dump at all. I think it's a trade." What jack-a$$. Yeah, sure, techinically it was a "trade" and he couldn't come out and say "It was a salary dump" but it's ridiculous. Kovalev is stellar, but it going to ask for a ton.

I am sure the Rangers think they will be able to fit him under their "cap" (didn't the Rangers skip on a deal for Mike Grier, a defensive forward they could have used becuase his $1 million salary didn't fit under their budget?). The Moose is done after this year. Ricther is done after this year. That will leave the Blueshirts with plenty.

Luakanen and Wilson were thrown in becasue they make too much money.

Besides Samuelsson, the others are nothing. Fata may develop, but it's looking less and less likely.

I still don't think the Rangers will make the play-offs. Their defense sucks. Their forward lines have no chemistry. Leetch is still out. Bure is still out and will likely remain so for a while. If not, I think he'll get hurt again soon. He's not one to play with pain.

The question is... Where the hell were the Maple Leafs?? Bbor? Hello?? They've been squawking over and over about how bad they wanted Kovalev. How desperate they were! They could have offered a better deal than this. The Leafs have better prospects to give up. Maybe they were unwilling to take on Wilson's and/or Laukanen's salary? Who knows. But once again, the Leafs are left high and dry without there man. No Blake. No Lindros. No Holik. No Kasparitus. No Kovalev. Poor Maple Leafs...

[Superman=#54]

Damnit Damnit Damnit. I wanted the Black Hawks to get him the Hawks are such cheap skates they needed some offense and they dont get any.

Well there is always next year.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue
The question is... Where the hell were the Maple Leafs?? Bbor? Hello?? They've been squawking over and over about how bad they wanted Kovalev. How desperate they were! They could have offered a better deal than this. The Leafs have better prospects to give up. Maybe they were unwilling to take on Wilson's and/or Laukanen's salary? Who knows. But once again, the Leafs are left high and dry without there man. No Blake. No Lindros. No Holik. No Kasparitus. No Kovalev. Poor Maple Leafs...
Quinn's initial comments indicate that the Leafs didn't want to take on the $4M salary and $4M cash payment the Rangers did. That won't fly in Toronto. Leaf fans are tired of hearing about how the team has to count its pennies. The Leafs made more moneythan any team in the league, but they continually get outspent. They should be the Yankees of the NHL, but instead they sit back and rack up the profits.

That said, I'm not a huge Kovalev fan and "missing out" on Holik and Kasparitus looks like a great move right now. Maybe they go after Iginla now.

[klayman]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue
. No Lindros. No Holik. No Kasparitus. No Kovalev. Poor Maple Leafs...

No 11th place showing in the East. No early trip to the golf courses come April. Yeah, poor Leafs :)

[samifan24]

I have watched Fata play in both the AHL and NHL and I believe that he will develop into a solid player very soon. Given the low key environment in Pittsburgh, it could happen sooner rather than later. Of course the Rangers got the better end, but I don't feel it's a total loss for the Pens.

[bbor]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue

The question is... Where the hell were the Maple Leafs?? Bbor? Hello?? They've been squawking over and over about how bad they wanted Kovalev. How desperate they were! They could have offered a better deal than this. The Leafs have better prospects to give up. Maybe they were unwilling to take on Wilson's and/or Laukanen's salary? Who knows. But once again, the Leafs are left high and dry without there man. No Blake. No Lindros. No Holik. No Kasparitus. No Kovalev. Poor Maple Leafs...

Typical Pat Quinn....the usual Leaf response is that they did'nt wanna add the payroll..Well..low and behold...they changed their tune....the official word is that they offered Pittsburgh a better deal....but they wanted the Ranger deal instead..WTF??????

WHY,WHY,WHY....would Pittsburgh take the weaker of the 2 deals?....this is such nonsense it is ridiculas.

As it is..they will say adding Roberts to a team that is pretty solid will get them over the top(even though it did'nt last season)

What about Aaron Miller?....he is an interesting name...L.A is going to be dropping salary soon...Miller is a FA at the end of the year....he would be a top 4 D-man for the Leafs....and won't be too expensive.

Any thoughs.....

[oykib]

The difference between baseball and hockey is that you have all these teams throwing money around, but no money coming into the league.

Even the pro-owner baseball fans don't really believe that the Royals or Pirates are losing money. They just think it's unfair because they cant keep up with the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, and Red Sox.

But in hockey it's totally different. We know thathalf these teams'd go out of business if left in the current system for five more years.

BTW, they need to blow up the Rangers and start over. Of course, I thought that about the Knicks too. But the Knicks are playing suprisingly well. The rangers are playing like garbage. Blow it up!

[Lathum]

The Rangers are a joke. I've been playing hockey my whole life and one thing that the Rangers don't seem to realize is that chemesitry is huge. It is similar to an offensive line in football. Players need to play together for a while before they know what each other are going to do and such.

The Rangers apparently don't understand this. They either trade for or sign a big player every year and then wonder why they don't win, it's because they have a carousel of players every year and nobody can get comfortable with each other.

Look at a team like the Devils who bring players up through the system and let them play and gel together and the team wins every year. Until the Rangers understand this they will never win and I'll be glad.

[Karim]

There were better offers on the table, especially from the Leafs, but no one other than the Rangers were offering cash. Apparently, from one report I read, Sather and Patrick agreed on a deal that involved substantially more than $4 million heading Pittsburgh's way but that was nixed by the NHL.

So in the end it comes to 3 borderline NHLers for 4 borderline NHLers and Kovalev for $4 million.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is like many teams, just trying to hang on until Armageddon 2004, hoping things are rectified with a new CBA. Even if they are, Mario is in a tough spot, needing a new arena with the state running a $2 billion deficit and the organization saddled with debt created by Marino and Baldwin.

Craig Button said today that Iginla is available (not surprising). But it looks like it will take 3 NHL-calibre players to get him. Clarke apparently already inquired but the price was too high so he went with Kapanen.

[sachmo71]

Iginla should return to the team that drafted him. :)

[Cards4ever]

Originally posted by sachmo71
Iginla should return to the team that drafted him. :)

Yes, and Dallas should return to the state that they were born in! Duluth could use a team!:D

[sachmo71]

LOL, Cards!

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Karim
There were better offers on the table, especially from the Leafs, but no one other than the Rangers were offering cash. Toronto media is reporting that the Leafs offer was Boyes, Belak, Pilar and Ponikoravsky. The Leafs were also apparently willing to give up the cash. I guess the Pens just liked the Rangers offer better (or thought they were close enough that they'd send Kovalev to the city he really wanted to go to).

[BishopMVP]

I notice that Jeremy Jacobs wasn't eager to spend any of his cash on a great player like Kovalev that could take Boston to the Cup Finals this year.