Where we at III

Moving on. King Henrik reigns. Every so often, some bozo considers claiming Lundqvist isn't an elite goalie and it's his fault we lose games. This is somewhat like blaming the victims of the Challenger explosion for not being impervious to fire and shrapnel or able to fly. Yes, technically, you're right: they would have survived had they had those abilities, and yet, this does not mean it was their fault. Shut up, that bozo.

In the backup goalie realm, we're...waiting. Here's how it works: for stretches where we think we might want to play a backup goalie, we call up Chad Johnson. For stretches where we think Lundqvist will start every game, we call up Matt Zaba, giving Johnson the chance to start some games for the Wolfpack. Right now, for the Olympic break, we've sent them both down and called Valiquette back up, so that both Zaba and Johnson can get starts in Hartford. (As it turns out, the Olympic roster freeze only applies to inter-team transactions, and we're free to make moves between the Wolfpack and the Rangers during the break.) Are we going to bring in an actual veteran backup at some point? It would sure be cool. It sure doesn't make sense to bring up Johnson as a permanent backup, thus ruining his career. You're supposed to be a good backup at the end of your career.

Anyway, that's where we stand. I'm not grading us. For completeness's sake, to add to the post at the start of this rant, here are the non-forwards to whom we are committed after this season:

Lundqvist: $6.875 million/season for four seasons
Redden: $6.5 million/season for four seasons
Rozsival: $5 million/season for two seasons
Del Zotto: $1.088 million/season for two seasons
Gilroy: $1.75 million for one season

Why yes, that is all of our defensemen except Staal and Girardi. So good of you to notice. It also throws the Redden/Rozsival comparison into stark relief: compare the way Rozsival is playing to two years at $5 million. Now compare Redden's play to double that length at $6.5. See?

So, with an effective 3 days before the trade deadline, these are your New York Rangers. I'd feel a lot better about the whole thing if I didn't have such doubts about the coach's rewards system, especially for defensemen. But hey, at least we no longer have Donald Brashear to deal with!

The question now is: what are we going to do in those 3 days? Don't get me wrong: going to the wins over the Devils and Penguins was pretty much The Best, but we won 3 of 4 going into the Olympic break and are now only one point out of the top 8. We have one more game, March 2 in Ottawa, before the trade deadline. That puts us, as we feared, in the precarious position of Glen Sather possibly wanting to buy at the deadline. If we can get through March 3 without a major catastrophe, I'm calling it a big win. I'm nervous we're going to do something stupid. Just think: with one more under-performing veteran third-line wing, we can squeak into seventh and get eliminated by the Pens in the first round! Go Slats Go!

Everybody hold onto something: that's gonna be an emotionally wrecking-of-the-stomach few days. But until then, it's the Olympics. Take a deep breath and enjoy them.