Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. It’s been ten days since my last update – the longest I have ever gone without posting something on this site during the past eight years! In other words, how have you been? I hope the summer is treating you well.
And unlike others, I truly mean that – I hope everyone reading this is doing well, that is, except for Islander fans!
During the past two weeks (and as you’re all probably aware of), there hasn’t been much going on in the land of Rangerstown, USA.
In fact, on Friday, July 22nd, I saw a few heroin-fueled junkies at Penn Station playing around with a slow moving ball of hay! (Yes, I’m making this up for effect. After all, I wouldn’t go to Penn Station these days – that is, unless I was attending a Rangers’ game at M$G!)
Following Ryan Strome’s departure to Anaheim, coupled-in with several AHL player signings made by Chris Drury – the Rangers have been idle for the most part. (They did make one move since I last left you, another AHL deal, which we’ll get into later tonight.)
At the present moment, there are really only two questions left to be answered. Those questions are:
1- “What happens with Kaapo Kakko?”
2- “What happens with Tyler Motte?”
As noted before on this site; at one point, it seemed like the idea of Drury re-signing Kakko would easily become a sign, sealed and delivered decision. While ultimately, that might wind up being the case; for whatever reason, Kakko still remains as a restricted free agent as of this writing.
I thought that the Hall of Famer Larry Brooks, during his July 23rd column for the New York Post, brought up some interesting points about both Kaapo Kakko and Tyler Motte. (You can read the column here: https://nypost.com/2022/07/23/lack-of-kaapo-kakko-offer-sheet-not-all-good-news-for-rangers/ )
While admittedly, this is a story for a slow news cycle; I think it’s worth your time to think about that not only have the Rangers yet to re-sign Kakko – but no other team in the league has presented the Finn an offer-sheet either.
(Another slow, yet somewhat important story during this boring news cycle? The mercurial Russian, known as Vitali Kravtsov, is in town, as he is getting a head-start on the 2022-23 season. Despite his previous misgivings, I take this as a good sign and hope that the phrase of, “third time is a charm,” rings true for #74. I know I’ve said a lot of negative things about Kravtsov in the past, but at the end of the day – I’m a Rangers’ fan. I hope Kravtsov kicks ass next season – no matter what took place before this upcoming 2022-23 campaign.)
What does this current non-signing of Kakko mean? Most likely nothing – but at the same time – I do find it interesting that Kakko currently remains unsigned, in addition to not even receiving a whiff of an offer from one of the league’s 31 other teams – teams that just like the Rangers – also have their own issues with the NHL’s idiotic hard salary cap.
(I’ll spare you from rant number 875675765765765 on my disdain of the unfair and unbalanced salary cap, but it was refreshing to see Brooks address one of my concerns in his latest piece.)
As I’ve been saying all along, I still expect #24 to suit up for the Rangers at the start of the 2022-23 season – even if it is odd that he hasn’t been re-signed by now.
After all, the Rangers have cleared out the cap space in order to sign him, following their trade of Patrik Nemeth to Arizona.
Perhaps not as shocking as the present status of the still unrestricted free agent Nazem Kadri; is the status of #64 of the 2021-22 Rangers, Tyler Motte.
Motte, a fourth line winger, and who can also kill penalties; “Apple Sauce” would be a solid acquisition for any of the league’s 32 teams. For whatever reason, his name hasn’t really been in the news, nor has he been linked to any team neither.
Currently, the Rangers do have the cap space to bring Motte back for another season; but there’s nothing out there to suggest that Drury and company are interested in retaining his services for the 2022-23 campaign.
It’s my opinion (and not a fact), that it can never hurt to have enough veterans on your roster – especially whenever a team is in “WIN-NOW” mode – as the Rangers are.
In the event that the Rangers don’t bring him back, there’s always the trade deadline – a deadline that Drury absolutely mastered in 2022. (And these present rumors, concerning the future of Patrick Kane, won’t stop until Chicago moves him.)
With that said, we’ve now covered the final two mysteries of the players that were on the roster of the 2021-22 Rangers – but who don’t have a home for the 2022-23 season – yet.
At this time (and when speaking of the 2021-22 Rangers, what a segue-way!), let’s talk about what I’ve been doing during the past two weeks, during tonight’s DIARY segment!
After giving you a rundown and a huge update on my two book projects; we’ll then hit the rest of the news, including Tony DeAngelo’s recent interview, Tim Gettinger, the Calgary Flames, and the main event, a sample chapter of my upcoming book, a tome which covers every Rangers’ trade ever made, where tonight we will be looking at the departure of Mike Gartner. (And the acquisition of Glenn Anderson too!)
While both real life and the “shoot” job have cut into my free time, free time that is spent by writing; I am happy to report to you, that the two book projects that I have been working on – both of them are now nearing completion/publication.
In what is totally an insane decision, I will be releasing two new books prior to puck drop of the 2022-23 season.
At the present moment, each book is over 1,000 pages. I’m not sure if any author has ever attempted such a feat before – but I do know that no other hockey author has even thought of even broaching this idea.
Admittedly, if I was a true businessman, I’d stagger each release, in order to not “compete with myself.” (I know there is a masturbation joke to be made somewhere with that sentence – but I’ll let you make it! After all, I’m an author – I’m too classy to make such a joke from the realm of puerility!)
However (and especially if you’re familiar with both my writings and my personality) – I usually have a million thoughts racing around in my mind.
While it’s cool to throw the word “author” in front of my name (I think it’s even cooler that Stan Fischler considers me as a hockey historian, and during our personal conversations, he refers to me as “Young Maven”); at the end of the day – I’m just a fan. A lucky fan at that, who aside from this site, has had my name featured in “The Hockey News” and on “NHL.com.”
(And neither of these events wouldn’t have happened without the “Old Maven” – a Fischler who will be writing the foreword to my passion project – the book covering every Rangers trade ever made – but more on this title to come.)
As I continue this blog from a stream of an unconsciousness state; I’ve been continuing my Hunter S. Thompson Rangers’ historian act, since last writing to you on this site.
While the Hunter S. Thompson reference is definitely exaggerated; during my free time, I’ve been living off of a diet of whisky, cigarettes and bad Chinese takeout – not necessarily a diet that an Olympian would endorse, as if it was the cereal cover box of “Wheaties!”
Once my first book went to print on September 1st, 2021, I have been working on my new book which covers every trade, ever made, in all of Rangers’ history.
While the 2021-22 season took time away from that, I’ve been plugging away on it ever since then; where with the once scheduled Olympic break from the 2021-22 season, combined with the summer – both of these periods of down-time has allowed me to nearly reach the finish line – as if I were some sort of Olympian myself. (Sad to say, the only running I do these days are “beer runs!”)
When I first started this project, I didn’t realize how intense it would be, nor how many roads I’d go down. However, I’m happy to report to you that the rough draft is finally done. Up next, the hard stuff – editing, formatting, publishing, and everything else.
What will make the proof-read tough (the final step before sending off the manuscript to my editor), is not just the fact that this book is already at 2,000 pages (trust me – I will trim it down, big-time at that), is that I have been working on this book for nearly a year.
In other words, my style of writing has changed during each writing session, so I’ll have to go back and try to make everything the same. Of course, the style of writing does have to change too from era-to-era – especially during the eras of the NHL Entry Draft and the hard salary cap.
As the project kept growing and growing (this book took me nearly five times as long to write as compared to my first book, a book which clocked in at 540 pages), it then became my plan to release the book in volumes. Since then, I have now had a change in heart.
I don’t know if reading about director Francis Ford Coppola was the reason why I changed my plans (and I’m not comparing myself to him, I’m just comparing myself to his line of thinking); but similar to his lengthy films – I’m just going to release the trades book as a single book.
Maybe down the line, I’ll chop up the book in eras (and for a more affordable price), but for now, I think this book works best as one singular thing.
While I don’t know what I’ll charge for it yet (I still don’t know what the printing cost will be); I’m sure it will be more than the $20 I asked for my first book.
However, it’s my opinion that this trade book will be better than my first one – and not just because it’s longer.
After all, having gone down this road once before (and with Fischler now helping me with my writing) – my writing should improve – no matter what these blogs would suggest!
With that all said, I now want to provide updates on each title.
After all, if it weren’t for you guys, the loyal readers of this website – I would have never attempted to write one book, much less three of them!
“One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember” is a game-by-game recap of the Rangers’ 2021-22 season.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but for the new eyeballs of this site, and as a Rangers’ historian – I think it’s important to have a book out there about this season – even if future fans and historians will get more use out of it when I’m long and dead, rather than for the fans/readers of today.
(I know this first-hand, as whenever I do research on the Rangers – I’m reading a lot of stuff written by people that passed away prior to my birth year of 1982.)
In addition, yes, I’m aware – the Rangers didn’t win the Stanley Cup in 2022.
However, what’s important to me, is that the team entered a new era, a post “The Letter Era,” while bringing in a new regime too – a successful regime at that.
I will admit this to you too, as I’m always honest with my readers – while some may consider this book as a cash grab (as it’s an edited compilation of game review blogs from the 2021-22 season) – there will be a lot of original content included too.
And since this 2021-22 season book is 90% a compilation of my previous writings – it will be priced cheaper than my other books.
Since “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember” is almost complete (the editing process has already begun), I had to come up with a back cover and a book description for Amazon.
Currently, the cover of this book (and my trades book too) is being made by the person who made the cover of my first book, Rob S. (Both Rob, and my editor Diane E., are working on my second and third books. I am always loyal and want to stick with the excellent people who made my first book successful.)
I should have both covers for you (and more previews of each book), sometime next week on this site.
Here is the description/preview of “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember”:
“One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember” is a game-by-game recap of the New York Rangers’ comeback 2021-22 season – the first successful season of a brand new era of Rangers’ history.
Following the heels of one of the most dramatic and controversy-plagued seasons in all of franchise history (the 2020-21 season), the Blueshirts used the 2021-22 campaign to complete one of the biggest 180’s in their near one hundred years worth of history, where by the end of it – the Rangers finished the season as the third-best team in all of the NHL.
Behind both a new general manager/team president (Chris Drury) and a new head coach (Gerard Gallant), the Rangers had one of their best regular seasons yet during the 2021-22 season, where they finished with 52 wins (tied for second-best in franchise history) and 110 points (third-best in franchise history).
The Rangers not only had team success during the 2021-22 season, but many superstars, including Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Igor Shestyorkin, Adam Fox, Barclay Goodrow, Jacob Trouba, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller and more, all had the best seasons of their individual careers too.
For a team that many thought wouldn’t even reach the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the start of the season – the Rangers then went on to have a strong postseason run, where they ultimately finished two games shy of reaching the Stanley Cup Final.
From the author of “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden;” “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember” is a compilation of writings from Sean McCaffrey’s BlueCollarBlueShirts.com website, where every Rangers game played from the 2021-22 season (82 regular season games and 20 playoff games) are fully recapped.
Re-live every big goal, save, hit, win, Game Seven victories, and more from the Rangers’ 2021-22 season during “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember.”
Since the inception of my Rangers’ trade book idea, I’ve been working with the title of “The Best & Worst Trades in Rangers’ History (And Everything In-Between)”
While I thought that title was fine, I also thought it didn’t pop.
In addition, while I know that the regular readers of this website will buy it (based on how well my first book did) – I’m also aware that on Amazon – books are judged by their cover.
In turn, on my social media accounts, I asked for ideas for a title. Some were funny, some were good, some were flat-out unusable, including “Blewshirts: 100 Years of Bad Ranger Trades.”
At the end of the day, and after reading every title suggested; it was my curmudgeon friend (I hate admitting that I’m friends with him, now for ten years running), the always mentioned YOFFREY on this site (and as “name-dropped” during my first book too), who in my opinion, came up with the best title possible.
In other words, “The Best & Worst Trades in Rangers’ History (And Everything In-Between”) is no longer the working title, nor the title at all.
Instead, I will be titling this book as “Tricks of the Trade – A Century Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers History.” (Title credit: ugh, YOFFREY!)
While it’s most likely that I’ll release “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember” first (even if it’s by a few days/weeks), especially since it’s more timely; “Tricks of the Trade – A Century Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers History” will take a bit longer to complete – but both books should be out prior to October 1st, 2022.
(And despite being close to the finish line of both projects – I won’t accept any pre-order monies until both books are complete. I just don’t want anyone to send me any money until I can send out the finalized product. Again, I’m not a businessman – but this did work out for me when I released my first book. My readership always supports me – and I thank you for that.)
Just like “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” I had to come up with a back cover/Amazon description. for this title. Here’s what I have for now, but this could change during the next few weeks:
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers History,” simply put, is the only book of its kind – as it is the only book on the market today that covers the entire history of the New York Rangers.
From the author of “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden,” “Tricks of the Trade” recaps every trade ever made in all of Rangers’ history and with no detail left unearthed.
Nearly 700 trades, which features thousands of players changing jerseys, are examined.
This book is not just a list of trades. Instead, every trade made by every general manager in Rangers’ history is explored and then graded.
From 1926-2022, “Tricks of the Trade” not only provides deep looks into Rangers’ history, but also dives into the histories of nearly forty other NHL franchises too, including teams from both the past and the present.
“Tricks of the Trade” is a General Manager-by-General Manager journey, that not only discusses all of the Rangers’ general managers from franchise history, but also covers the eras of each men – and both the advantages and disadvantages that each general manager had.
“Tricks of the Trade” also recounts the careers and lives of many men to have worn the familiar blue Rangers’ sweater. In addition to the stuff on the ice, “Tricks of the Trade” also takes a look at off-ice human interest stories, triumphs, tragedies and sensitive topics, including substance abuse, arrests, plane crashes, wars, concussions, diseases, pandemics, defections and more.
During the near one hundred years worth of Rangers’ history covered in “Tricks of the Trade,” you will relive the greatest hits and biggest misses from the inception of the Rangers throughout today, while also reading about every other trade ever made.
Every player from every trade ever made receives full attention, including, but not limited to, players such as Mark Messier, Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell, Dave Kerr, Ryan Callahan, Martin St. Louis, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Doug Harvey, Igor Shestyorkin, Rick Nash, Adam Graves, Jean Ratelle, Brad Park, Phil Esposito, Ryan McDonagh, Emile Francis, Glen Sather, Eddie Giacomin, Scott Gomez, Bun Cook, Mika Zibanejad, Camille Henry, Jaromir Jagr, Gump Worsley, Rick Middleton, Bobby Carpenter and hundreds more.
Every era is also discussed in-detail, including “The Original Rangers,” “The Original Six Era,” “The Post World War II Era,” “The Emile Francis Era,” “The Core Four of 1994 Era,” “The Henrik Lundqvist Era,” “The Letter Era,” and the current era of today.
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers History” is a book for anyone who not only wants to learn about Rangers’ history, but to completely understand the history of the franchise too.
Lastly, before getting into the sample chapter regarding Mike Gartner and everything else, is this – again, I could wait some time before releasing each book, because let’s face it – releasing two books at once is the work of a crazy man.
However, whether it was COVID-19 changing my views on life, or just getting older in general (I’m now forty years old) – I don’t like wasting time. (It’s also why I don’t engage with anymore stupidity on social media – I just can’t be bothered.)
And if you notice the timestamps of whenever these blogs are posted, I also subscribe to the idea of “sleep is our enemy.” (In fact, Fischler brings up my lack of sleep during his foreword in “Tricks of the Trade!”)
(I also believe that the phrase “can not” shouldn’t be in anyone’s vernacular too. You should always try to do whatever you want – as long as it’s legal!)
As mentioned earlier, I have 78566756756757856785768 thoughts and projects racing around my head, including working titles such as “FIGHT CLUB: A Look at Every Fight in Rangers’ History,” “D-DAY – A Look at Every Rangers’ NHL Entry Draft, ” and “BENCH BOSS: A History of Rangers’ Head Coaches.”
Another project I want to tackle? “RICKARD,” which would be a screenplay of one of the most fascinating men to have ever walked this green earth, the first owner of the Rangers, Tex Rickard. (And if you don’t know already, it was he, after being suggested this by his peers, to come up with the team name of the “New York Rangers.”)
Again, I talked a lot about Rickard during my first book; but needless to say, while this screenplay wouldn’t have much about the Rangers, I do think a screenplay/ten episode mini-series/movie of his life would be the equivalent of a “Deadwood” meets “Yellowstone” meets “Boardwalk Empire.”
Put it this way – during Rickard’s life, he either had friendships and/or interactions with Jesse James, Teddy Roosevelt, W.C. Fields, every big gambler and bootlegger of his era, Wyatt Earp and many other historical figures during his days spent as a U.S. Marshall, a gambling house operator, a gold rush seeker (where he chased gold in Alaska, Paraguay and in Africa), a Hall of Fame boxing promoter, and of course, his foundation of the Rangers themselves.
At one point, I know that Ron Duguay was trying to get something done on Rickard’s life, but much like Rickard himself – he’s now chasing a prize in Alaska!
I haven’t talked to Duguay lately, but it’s my impression that he’s since dropped the idea of doing this project. (If he does tackle any sort of writing project – I hope it’s an autobiography. I know a ghost writer that’s available!)
Why do I bring all of this up? Easy – I want to get all of my current projects out of the way, so I can tackle everything else.
While I’ve never written a screenplay before, prior to my first book – I never wrote a book either. I’m up for the challenge! (It also doesn’t hurt to know a few people in the business whose ears I can bend when attempting such a project!)
At this time, I apologize to you if everything from this blog sounds like the work of a self-serving bloviating madman.
However, who else is going to promote their own work better than I can?
Sometimes, and just like Tex Rickard – you have to be your own best self-promoter!
Before getting into the latest top topics of the NHL – another sample chapter of “Tricks of the Trade – A Century Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers History,” and as requested by friend and reader of the site, Chris C.
Of note: you can find previous (unedited) samples of this book here:
Matt Cullen: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/7122/
Adam Graves (preview): https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/7622/
Ryan Strome: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/71522/
In addition, what you’re about to read is the unedited version. I’m sure that the great Diane E., my editor, will find some errors in my work!
DATE OF TRADE: March 21st, 1994
RANGERS ACQUIRE: Glenn Anderson, Scott Malone and a Fourth Round Pick of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft (#100 – Alexander Korobolin).
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS ACQUIRE: Mike Gartner
Of all the trades made, it was this one, the third of five trades made prior to the 1994 NHL Trade Deadline, that just made heads spin. Again, had the Rangers not won the Stanley Cup in 1994 – this would’ve been the first trade that Smith would have been panned for.
Mike Gartner, as discussed in-depth earlier, was a Hall of Famer and at the time of this deal – was still playing hockey at a top-notch level. While right winger Glenn Anderson would eventually join Gartner in the hallowed halls of Toronto in 2008; on this date, Anderson was at the end of the line.
In fact, Anderson would only play in 12 regular season games for the Rangers and then in 23 more games during the playoffs – where of course, it was during the playoffs where Anderson made his mark – just as Mike Keenan had envisioned.
Following the 1994 Stanley Cup win, the now six-time Stanley Cup champion (Anderson won his five other Stanley Cups in Edmonton, with Mark Messier), then joined Keenan in St. Louis for the 1994-95 season.
Come the 1995-96 season, Anderson was back in Edmonton, only to be waived in January of 1996. He then rejoined the Blues for their 1996 Stanley Cup playoff run, where he played in eleven games in total. Following the playoffs, he finished his NHL career with 1,099 points in 1,129 regular season games played. Just six of those points came as a Ranger!
Anderson’s playoff numbers were equally as outstanding, as he scored 214 points in 225 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games played. Just as he did in the regular season with the Rangers, six of these playoff points were picked up in 1994.
Mike Gartner, 34 years old at the time, was actually one year older than his fellow right winger. However, undeniably, he was the better of the two.
Put it this way, following this trade, Anderson finished out his career with 46 points. Gartner finished out his career with 176 points, including two seasons where he scored 32 goals or more.
Gartner, who remained in Toronto until the start of the 1996-97 season, where he then played the final two seasons of his career with the Phoenix Coyotes; retired with 1,335 points in 1,432 games played. Despite having the longer career and more games played than Anderson; Gartner only played in 122 playoff games as compared to Anderson’s 225 postseason games.
Mike Keenan never believed that Gartner was a playoff player. Keenan thought Gartner was an excellent regular season player, but once the games started to count, that’s when he perceived Gartner to be at his weakest. Conversely, Anderson had a successful track record in the playoffs, and that’s why this deal was done, despite the talent disparity between the two at the time.
Defenseman Scott Malone, the throwaway player included in this deal, never played in the NHL. After graduating the University of New Hampshire in 1994, Malone spent six seasons playing professional hockey, where he bounced around the AHL, ECHL and IHL. He also spent two seasons in Europe. He then retired in 2000.
Russian defenseman Alexander Korobolin never played in the NHL either. However, he did eventually come over to North America, where he then played in 21 games for the Hartford Wolfpack. After that stint, he was right back to Russia, where he finished out his career following the 2007-08 season.
Since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, and no matter what Gartner and Anderson did following June 14th, 1994 – this trade is a win.
On July 19th, 2022, Tony DeAngelo was interviewed by the Cam and Strick podcast, where the former #77 in Rangers’ blue talked a bit about his time with the Rangers, Jeff Gorton, and the now infamous bout between he and Alexandar Georgiev.
To find the complete interview, search for “Cam and Strick” on your favorite podcast provider.
What made the rounds was a snippet of the interview, which in my opinion, and after listening to the entire interview, and like most things DeAngelo-related – was somewhat taken out of context.
Here’s the promo clip that the “Cam and Strick” podcast released:
Tony Deangelo has this to say about what went down in New York. #NYR @CamandStrick pic.twitter.com/I9pDXEU0N9
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) July 19, 2022
Our pal, Adam Rotter, from NYRangersNews.com, took the painstaking measure of transcribing this DeAngelo interview. Rather than yours truly doing the same thing, I’m going to give complete credit to Rotter for transcribing this interview.
Here’s Rotter’s transcription, courtesy of https://nyrangersnews.com/2022/07/19/what-tony-deangelo-said-about-how-it-ended-with-the-rangers/ :
DeAngelo said “you get bought in NY and the way that goes, I’ll never dive into the story and never rat about anything or tell on something that I know happened. It is what it is and I get bought out, I took the brunt of what happened and I’m not going to finger point at people or whatever. All I would say is I don’t think that is the way it should have went down, I think I should have been traded. You release a guy that is making $5 million and just came off a big year, especially with my reputation, people are going to think that something huge happened. If you scratch me for a game while working on a trade and you trade me two days later they aren’t going to think anything of it.”
He continued, “you have Trouba and Fox and on the right side, there are things there that could actually make a trade make sense. When I got released there and then all these stories came out in the media that were inaccurate, for example, the one that I bullied K’Andre Miller and that would allude to racism and knowing that I got suspended in junior and it was a completely false story and I would never ask another player to come out and protect me because I don’t need it, I don’t want anybody else to put themselves in the spotlight, but K’Andre Miller, who is a fantastic young player and we got along real good, I only knew him for a month and half, two months. We got along great, good kid, quiet, I was probably one of the loudest guys in the locker room and never shut up, but for a story like that to come out and be spread 40,000 times on the internet between the likes and that kind of stuff and people believe it and then you get this reputation painted of you again and people say he got suspended in junior,’ why wouldn’t they believe it? I didn’t realy like that and I didn’t like that there was no backup for me from the team, they wanted to get rid of me so bad, it is what it is, but there was no protection of me as well, to put that out there that it wasn’t true and there was no trying to trade me, it was just like ‘oh, we’re going to bury you. I took it and said it is what it is and if I have to sit out the year, I actually, the one thing I always wanted to get out there, but never did, was that year at the deadline I offered to terminate my own contract to play again and then a story comes out after the deadline, when it didn’t pan out, that the Rangers offered for me to terminate and then I declined, which was very inaccurate. I offered it because I wanted to play.”
He went on, “I spoke to a ton of people this summer, everyone was doing their due diligence and you get the same reports back, that my teammates and I get along great and never have problems and teammates love me. Obviously I had the incident with the teammate and it ain’t the first two teammates to have an incident. It’s the NHL, pro hockey, people are competitive and I don’t even blame him for it either, it is what it is and it’s not the first guys that this ever happened to?
When asked directly what happened with Alex Georgiev, DeAngelo said “we were coming off the ice and I said something to him and you should never say something to a goalie when you are coming off the ice and I take my part in that, he’s running hot, we just lost in OT and if I were him I would want to turn around and say something. He turned around and tried to throw a shot and it kind of got broken up pretty quick and it was kind of the wrong guy to throw a shot at, especially when it’s off the ice. It kind of calmed down, but there was other stuff going on with the team and I at the time where I kind of wanted to be traded and Quinn and I, I actually like David Quinn personally, but we weren’t seeing totally eye to eye as head coach and player and the next morning, no one called me, I just got released, waived. It was it. All that kind of stuff, I just feel like it got magnified to a way….”
“I’m the first guy to take responsibility for things, do I think stuff like that should be made public? Absolutely not and I think there is a little bit of a code that should be followed by and I got released. I ain’t sitting here saying they made the wrong move, would I have preferred to get traded? Absolutely, but I got released. I’m not going to blame anybody, they moved on, nobody picked me up. I said to all the teams that called me that I’m a fiery guy and have I made mistakes? Absolutely, but am I ready to go and play? Absolutely and that is what I did, I went to Carolina and played for a great coach and played well.”
When asked if he has talked with John Davidson, Jeff Gorton or David Quinn again, DeAngelo said “Yea, John Davidson texted me to congratulate me on heading to the Flyers. It’s funny, the way it ended there, I didn’t like how I wasn’t just traded and it became public knowledge and I turned into enemy #1 in NY as you guys could see in the playoffs, but personally, as guys I liked them. Quinny, as a guy, I liked, sometimes a coach we didn’t totally get along all the time or see eye to eye, but as a good, he’s a good guy and I think anybody on our team would say he was a good guy. I liked him, funny guy. Gorts I really liked and I was close with Gorts’ son, he was at the rink a lot of the time. JD, they were all good people, I never have anything bad to say about any of them. The only thing and I told them to their face and anybody that I spoke to publicly, I really believed that I should have been traded and not released and bought out after. I felt like. They talked super highly of me when they speak to you guys and I would talk highly of them, I think they are all good hockey guys and good people, but the one thing that we’ll never agree on is that I wasn’t able to get moved. And you aren’t able to get moved because of what people know after. What are they going to say? ‘Eat half the salary and then maybe we’ll take him’ and obviously they weren’t going to do that, but if nobody knows what happens and they just say that they are moving on and they have a piece to move here and we have too many righties, I highly think that I would have gotten traded without issue.”
On the interest in him after he was waived, DeAngelo said “A lot of calls came in, a ton of calls, I think there was maybe 17 different teams that at one point called to see what would be the thing and that is when I said ‘you know what? I’ll terminate this deal if we can find the right fit.’ And when I was going to go terminate the deal it was going to have to be like a two-year deal and it just didn’t make sense. What if you go somewhere and it wasn’t the right fit, then you are stuck there for another year….It just didn’t wind up working out, it was a little too late there….when the offseason came around it was a lot of the same teams interested again and, to be honest with you, a lot of the times, ownership of some teams were putting the ‘no’ on it. You’d get to the time where you have a deal and ownership would pass on it because they didn’t want the publicity or whatever, which I understood, it’s a business they are running.”
Again, all of the above was transcribed by Adam Rotter at https://nyrangersnews.com/2022/07/19/what-tony-deangelo-said-about-how-it-ended-with-the-rangers/
While DeAngelo as a Ranger is a thing of the past; again, as a historian (that sounds so conceited and full of myself – I know), I found his interview interesting.
Just a few observations before moving on:
— DeAngelo said he thought that the Rangers didn’t defend him from Adam Hermit’s fake news/fan-fiction/100% lies story. Then Team President, John Davidson, did defend him, although that defense didn’t come until a week later. (I think that’s what DeAngelo was referring to, as he didn’t receive a follow-up question on the matter.)
— No matter how you slice it, I still think that former Rangers’ general manager, Jeff Gorton, did a piss-poor job in this case of asset management. If you recall, at the time, the Flames and center Sam Bennett were heading towards splitsville, where at the end of it – the center, a center that the Rangers could have used at the time – was then dealt to the Panthers.
— I agree with DeAngelo – if the Rangers didn’t want him, he should’ve been traded. Instead, Gorton buried him so bad, that DeAngelo (and his contract was also part of it) became toxic for the other 31 teams. If Gorton said nothing, and then tried to generate a “hockey trade,” as in a defenseman for a center – it would have been better for every party involved. However, what’s done is done.
— It’s my opinion, that one day, DeAngelo, who is well-spoken no matter what his detractors may say, will wind up behind an NHL bench once his playing days are over. It’s also my opinion that if that day ever happens, people will still be talking about his days as a teenager in Sarnia. For a culture that says they believe in second chances and a change for the greater good – this culture will always harp on the past, rather than hoping for a brighter future.
Again – just my opinion – and I do understand that DeAngelo has had many immature transgressions since his days with the Sting – and as he said during this interview – in regards to his non-stop battles with NHL officials.
— While DeAngelo opened up a bit on Georgiev; I still don’t think we’ll ever get the complete story about this fight until both DeAngelo and Georgiev retire, and then talk about it whether through books or during podcast interviews. Either way, both men were in the wrong, but DeAngelo did start it – and as he said during this interview.
— DeAngelo also talked about David Quinn, and his clashes with the then Rangers’ head coach. And yep, this is a segue-way!
As brushed upon recently on this site; David Quinn, once linked to land the bench boss job in Boston, is now heading 3,000 miles away instead – as it’s expected that the former head coach of the New York Rangers will soon be announced as the new head coach of the San Jose Sharks.
Prior to general manager Mike Grier’s arrival to California, it was rumored that the Bruins leaked their intentions to hire David Quinn, in an attempt to gauge both the reaction and the feedback to such a hire.
When this idea became public, it was met with a negative reaction, and the Bruins then went out and hired Jim Montgomery (a man who previously had off ice issues) instead.
And as also noted, Grier and Quinn, two men with Boston University connections, are close friends.
And in something else as previously noted; DQ, just like DeAngelo, had been previously interviewed by the “Cam and Strick” podcast, where during the interview, DQ said that if given the opportunity to coach an NHL club again – he’d do things differently. I have no reason to believe otherwise, and I do take DQ’s comments at face-value.
While DQ didn’t get into specifics during his podcast interview – it’s thought that he wouldn’t be as hands-on, and be as personal as he was with the lives of his players, as he was with the Rangers. (For a reference, he was a groomsman in Kevin Shattenkirk’s wedding.)
In other words, he wants to shed the “college coach” label and take what he learned (both successes and failures) during his next, and hopeful, NHL stop.
As of this writing, the Sharks have teased a major announcement for sometime this week, where according to the people in the know – DQ will become Grier’s selection as the next head coach of the Sharks.
The Sharks, much like the Rangers during the 2018-19 season, are in a state of rebuild – while also being buried by bad contracts from a former regime. (Hello Erik Karlsson!)
I always liked DQ and his “SWAGGER” with the Rangers.
However, and especially when compared to his successor Gerard Gallant, and his predecessors too, Alain Vigneault and John Tortorella – I also thought he was “bullied” and “sold” for the Rangers’ media at the time too.
If you read my writings throughout DQ’s tenure, I thought he was unjustly fired – just because he had to coach through a pandemic and with the roster provided to him by Gorton.
While who knows how DQ would’ve done during the 2021-22 season; at the same time, I was also very happy when the Rangers hired Gerard Gallant.
In other words, I wish DQ the best of luck in San Jose.
Unlike other Ranger fans – I have no ill-will held against him.
I am rooting for DQ’s success – especially since he will be coaching a Western Conference team, as opposed to another one of my favorite head coaches, the current head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Mr. Torts himself!
Finally, before closing out with the Flames; on July 22nd, Drury re-signed Tim Gettinger to a one-year contract worth $750,000.
As opined during my off-season preview blog – whether the Rangers re-signed or moved on from Gettinger wasn’t going to be a big deal. Now that he’s re-signed, I still feel that way.
In other words, I don’t envision Gettinger ever becoming a full-time roster member of the varsity squad. However, if he can help the Wolfpack – bless his heart.
Our buddy, the cantankerous, adversarial and the strange (he uses the word “strange” a lot during his writings), the infamous “welcher,” known as Derek Felix (AKA “NO FLEX”), of NewYorkPuck.com; in my opinion, did a great job in covering all of the latest developments in Calgary, during his latest article which was posted on July 23rd.
You can read his piece on the Flames burning out here: https://newyorkpuck.com/2022/07/23/hard-hits-tkachuk-blockbuster-trade-involving-huberdeau-a-rarity-the-uncomfortable-direction-the-nhl-is-headed/
For whatever reason, the city of Calgary may have perhaps sunk below the levels of both Columbus and Winnipeg – where according to the most recent NHL players’ poll (and has been the case for years) – are the two least desirable NHL cities for NHLers to live in. (And I’m sure the poll results, at least in the case of Columbus, will change during the next players’ poll.)
While the pandemic is part of it (as is evident in the case of Andrew Copp and others – as a lot of free agents are signing with their hometown NHL clubs, and would rather live in the United States rather than reside in the strict COVID-19 protocols of Canada); the Flames got hit with a one-two combination, when “JOHNNY HOCKEY” took his talents to Columbus, Ohio, and when following Gaudreau’s departure – Matt Tkachuck told the Flames that he would be a goner, in the the event that Calgary had retained him during the last year of his contract.
In return for Matt Tkachuck, who signed an eight-year deal with the Flames for $76,000,000 overall before being traded to Florida (a sign-and-trade deal, as by signing with Calgary, he then received an extra year on his contract, as Florida could have only afforded him a seven-year contract) – the Flames received a bundle in return, including an unhappy Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.
Huberdeau, who did not expect this trade, is in the final year of a contract that pays him $5,900,000 for the 2022-23 campaign.
Weegar is also in the final year of his contract, a deal that pays him $3,250,000 him for the 2022-23 season.
Unless the Flames are able to re-sign these players – they run the risk of having a “Gaudreau Part Deux” on their hands.
And how about that Jakob Markstrom fellow, a goaltender who still has four-years remaining on the six-year deal that he first signed back on October 9th, 2020, a contract that annually pays him $6,000,000?
What really torches the Flames right now (I know these burn/torch puns are elementary, but just go with it), is that they are currently in talks for a new arena, as they feel that the Saddledome, their current home, is dated.
After losing two pillars of their franchise (which neither scenario being of their own doing), the Flames, the 2022 Pacific Division champions, are now in a world of hurt.
It’s going to be a tough sell to receive public funding (tax-payer money) when your top two stars decided to bolt for greener pastures – pastures where they won’t be heavily as taxed as opposed to playing in Calgary.
But hey, Gary Bettman loves his unbalanced hard salary cap that favors teams in markets without an income state tax! What a dick!
(And while my points about the NHL’s hard salary cap, in my opinion are spot-on – a cap which provides a lot of disadvantages for many American NHL teams, including the Rangers – it also punishes every single one of the seven Canadian teams. Again, Bettman is a dick.)
Due to both salary cap consequences and the COVID-19 protocols in Canada – more and more NHL players, including players of Canadian heritage, are fleeing the Great White North for Uncle Sam’s country.
While I can’t profess to be a fan (or should I use the word “fanning” here, in my series of puns about Calgary), of the Flames – what happened to them is extremely unfortunate, and could have been avoided with an NHL commissioner with a saner state of mind. Then again, as I hit word 10,000 here – who am I talk to talk about sanity?
PLUGS TIME.
My first plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden”.
As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD
For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:
Ryan Strome Goes From “The City That Never Sleeps” to Disneyland; Sample Chapter of Upcoming NYR Trades Book, Rangers/Drury Continue To Flesh Out 2022-23 Roster, NYR Podcasts & More
NHL Free Agent Frenzy Day One Recap & Review: NYR Lose a Bunch of Veterans; Bring in Trocheck & a Ranger Killer, Time for the Blueshirts’ Kids To Grow, Drury’s Comments; Erases His Lone Black Mark, Kakko, Potential Line-Up, Alumni, Bad Puns & More
Breadlines & Deadlines: Rangers’ Clickbait Suggests a 100 Man Roster; Video Game GM’s, The Buzz on Patrick Kane & Nazem Kadri (And How To Land Both), NYR Development Camp Fails Fans; Brennan Othmann Creating Them, Drury Qualifies RFA’s; A Surprising Pass, Alumni & More
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
This is a blog, and not an article written by a professional – even if you do see some of my stuff on NHL.com and in The Hockey News!
In other words (I love this phrase), I know that this blog spent a lot of time on my personal projects.
But one last time – who else is going to promote my own projects better than yours truly?
As far as this site goes, I’ll return once something truly news-breaking hits the ticker, such as Kakko re-signing with the Rangers.
Until then, for me, it’s proof-reading time!
I can’t wait to get these books into your hands – and then go full-boar on the other projects that I want to sink my beer-soaked teeth into!
Thanks for reading.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine
Ha ha ha, Sean! What a joker you are.
You wrote, “It’s my opinion, that one day, DeAngelo, who is well-spoken no matter what his detractors may say, will wind up behind an NHL bench once his playing days are over.”
That’s the best joke I’ve seen in a long time.
You proved my point. I wrote 10,000 words and that’s the one sentence you pulled and commented about…
Sean – That one sentence was the funniest thing in the whole 10,000 words. If DeAngelo ever coaches an NHL team, I’ll eat my hat and yours too (just don’t get it too sweaty).
A twenty year bet, you’re on!
Ha ha ha! Only 20 years? Is that all? Why not make it a 70-year bet? I’m sure DeAngelo won’t be coaching in the NHL before his 90th birthday, and if he makes it at that age, I’ll eat his hat too.
Well he does coach kids at a summer training camp. Do you owe me a shoelace? You can dip in Rao’s lol
Yeah everything Tony D said in that interview is probably true but I’m sure it’s far, far from the entire story. What I’d like to know (and what TDA isn’t telling) is what were the prior incidents that caused the Rangers to put him on “final warning” before “burying” him? I’d also like to hear from JG and JD, two of the most respected men in the game before absolving TD. They could have revealed Tony’s past mistakes and justified their reason for the buyout but that would have hurt TD’s chances for getting another NHL contract. Instead they took the heat for mismanaging the situation, showed class and moved on. The Ranger organization (and us fans) took a hit. We lost an asset and cap space. Tony came up smelling like a rose. And let’s not forget it was Gorton who traded for and gave Tony what was called at the time his “last chance.” The Rangers gave him the opportunity to turn his career around and now we have to sit and listen to how he was buried. Fact: if he plays the way he did against the Rangers in the playoffs Torts will kill him first and then bury him.
Butta—
The incidents was the stuff on social media. He should’ve never been engaging with trolls. There was also stuff between he and DQ, but outside of mentioning it, he didn’t really dive into it, nor were there any follow-up questions asked.
Gorton talked about TDA on one podcast, I forget which one, prior to being hired by Montreal. I know I recapped it on the site a year ago or so. However, he didn’t get into details either, outside of saying that it wasn’t working out.
JD, from my knowledge, has never talked about it.
I don’t remember the “last chance” comment. I know he was moved from Tampa because of attitude/coaching issues, something TDA said himself on his own podcast. It’s always been my belief that the Arizona trade was more of a hockey trade/getting a back-up goalie to a team where he can start type of a deal.
I can be wrong (it’s happened before), but I still think TDA and Torts will click together, they feel like two peas in a pod in my eyes.