Bittersweet Off-Topic

My wife enjoys watching reruns of "Will and Grace," and once called me into the living room to show me a scene in which Will, at his first hockey game, starts chanting "Here we go Strangers, here we go!"

These days the team looks a lot more like Strangers than Rangers. I'm brokenhearted that Jagr is leaving, especially as the team is opening its season in Prague. To say he was my favorite player on the Rangers is something of an understatement. He was my favorite hockey player before he came to the Rangers.

Losing Avery is really hard to accept. This guy won hockey games, plain and simple. The future hall-of-famer and all around great guy Brendan Shanahan most likely will not return. Marty Straka, one of the few short-handed threats the Rangers had, is gone. Tyutin played hard all season long and was a great linemate with Girardi. Hollweg added a lot of heart and soul to the team, even if he took some knuckle-headed penalties.

Hard to figure out some of the new acquisitions; it seems like Redden's and Naslund's best years are behind them, and some of the younger guys they've traded for are unproven. A lot is riding on their big pick-ups from last season, Drury and Gomez.

And an oddity: the Rangers are only playing only one afternoon home game all next season! I don't get it. My soon-to-be eight-year-old son is going to be disappointed that with so many late games his chance to see them play at the Garden will be severely limited.

Off-Topic: Shanny is a Mensch

Brendan Shanahan has brought class and leadership to the Rangers since he arrived last season. In an interview with a Czech reporter, Shanny talks about his relationship with Jaromir Jagr as one of mutual support and complementary styles--in both how they play and how they lead. There is no resentment, animosity or envy. Most touching of all are Shanny's comments about his collision, in a game last year, with Philadelphia's Mike Knuble:

"Whether it’s speaking for Jagr in public or standing up for him on the ice, that’s just the way things are supposed to work for Shanahan. 'That’s how it works on the best teams,' he explained. 'Everyone cares for each other. It’s beautiful when I achieve something and I see that my teammates are happy for it. I score, take a look at the bench, and see Jaromir, a huge NHL superstar, smiling happily with his hands up. Or another example: Last season, I was knocked out after a collision in the Philadelphia game and I was taken out on a stretcher. I watched the replay and I saw Jaromir standing above me the whole time. He even came to visit me in the hospital. This gets people closer.'" (via BlueShirt Bulletin)

My son, then six, and I were at that horrible game. Seeing Shanny lying motionless was terrifying. You can watch the video yourself: Jagr did keep a vigil over Shanny. You can see Jagr, on at least two occasions by my count, bending over to try to communicate something to his fallen teammate; at another point he helps to secure the stretcher on the ice. I guess I'm just sentimental, but watching this video brought a tear to my eye. Hockey players are really something.

Off-Topic Update

After extensive video review, the NHL has determined that the winning goal in Monday night's Rangers-Lightning game should be credited to Brendan Shanahan, whose skate deflected Jagr's slap shot. Not as good a story, but it still attests to Jagr's toughness.

(Related post is here.)