Rangers are running scared

The New York Rangers fired their head coach, John Tortorella, yesterday. The news is debatable, but not too surprising. There are many reasons to justify Torts’ removal, but his win-loss record is not one of them. Since I think outside of the box, I would like to submit one possible reason why Rangers’ GM Glen Sather decided to pull the plug and hit the panic switch now, while Tortorella had one year left on his contract.

Isle see you in Brooklyn

The New York Islanders will remain on Long Island after all. In an announcement in which owner Charles Wang, commissioner Gary Bettman, and the NHL save face, the Isles will move, in 2015, roughly 25 miles (less as the crow flies, more if you are driving) west to the Barclays Center, and become a co-tenant with the Brooklyn (formerly New Jersey) Nets. It is a less than ideal solution to the lease issue they had with the Nassau Coliseum, since the Barclays Center was not designed with professional hockey in mind (no one knows why). However, this will keep the franchise in the New York Metropolitan market, as opposed to moving the team to another city altogether, such as: Quebec City; Houston; Kansas City (which already has an NHL-caliber arena built); or Seattle (which might end up with the Edmonton Oilers – but that is another story). In the short-term, this is good news for the NHL, and lord knows they need all the good news they can get. (Of course, if the NHL really wants good news, they would end their current, needless lockout). In the long-run, I have my concerns.

Citi Field and the Islanders need each other

It’s too bad that the NHL’s “Winter Classic” will not be played in New York anytime soon. Not that the NHL, or NBC don’t want the game there. In fact, once they realized they have a TV hit on their hands, they immediately had their sights set on the Big Apple, and the NY Rangers. There are just two small problems: (1) they wanted the game played at the original Yankee Stadium; and (2) too many teams want to be the Rangers’ opponent.

On the bright side, at least there is no chance of a lockout

The NHL has been quite busy today. First of all, we have the 2011 Entry Draft tonight from St. Paul, MN, which the first round will be televised on the Versus network from 7 – 11 PM EDT.  We also have the Winnipeg ownership has decided to rename the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers as the Jets. That is to say, they will known as the team that is now known as the Phoenix Coyotes. (Don’t laugh NFL fans, you have the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens, which used be the original Cleveland Browns.) To me, the most interesting story is the release of the NHL’s 2011-2012 schedule. There are two things that stand out right away. One is that the New York Rangers return to their vagabond roots to start the season. They open with two games in Stockholm, Sweden; then travel to play their closest rival, the Islanders; then venture out to a tour of western Canada, before they get to play in the renovated Madison Square Garden. Plus, they will visit Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA as they will play the Flyers in NBC’s Winter Classic on January 2, 2012. It is more than likely that there will be a majority of Ranger fans in their first three games when they play in Henrik Lundqvist’s home country, and in the outdated and sparsely attended Nassau Coliseum. The other is the new Winnipeg Jets’ schedule itself. The fact that remained unchanged after their move from Atlanta is interesting. Did the NHL not see this relocation coming? (I hope not.) How long will Winnipeg remain in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference? There are 7 teams in the Western Conference that are east of Winnipeg, (including Dallas by being just 21 minutes of longitude east). Here is the most logical choice: move the Nashville Predators from the Central to the Southeast Division; place the Jets in the Northwest Division, and move the Minnesota Wild from the Northwest to the Central Division. What the NHL will or will not do after the ’11-’12 season is another story. Of course, my relocation plan can be completely monkey wrenched if the original Winnipeg Jets or the New York Islanders get sold and relocate to another city – say Kansas City perhaps?