…I Am A Tree

Archive for the ‘Hockey’ Category

1. Sign Brendan Shanahan to bring some leadership to a team sorely lacking in it. I love Chris Drury, but he suffers from Brian Leetch Syndrome when it comes to being captain. He can stay captain, but Shanny needs to come back.
2. Fire Tom Renney. He’s floundering as coach. The large amount of wins in the first month was simply the stars aligning right. Constant juggling of lines does not work, Tom, give it a rest. And the powerplay outage has been just awful.  Renney hasn’t been able to right the capsizing ship, so needs to go.
3. And lastly, lurking in the future, is there a Mark Messier era, replacing Glen Sather? I’m not sure of this one, myself, but it’s out there being talked about by lots of people. My guess is we’d see some old Oilers/Rangers return in the coaching staff if it happened. But Slats has compromising pictures of owner Jim Dolan (it has to be that), so this is still in the distant future.

Not only is he an amazing player and agitator, but, it turns out, he’s a fashionista and is going to be an intern at Vogue once the playoffs are over.

How classic is that?

Avery, who makes $2 million a year with the Rangers and has cavorted with starlets since his days with the Los Angeles Kings, initiated the contact with Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

“He is ridiculously obsessed with fashion,” Avery’s publicist Nicole Chabot told ABCNews.com. “He loves it more than anything in the world. It’s something he has always wanted to do.”

Chabot admits Avery is an agitator in the “old-style” of hockey and a “blabber mouth,” but off ice the player is “surprisingly articulate, creative and savvy,” she said.

He’s also charming, she noted. “There is not a woman that doesn’t fall in love with him in five minutes.”

Though his assignments are “evolving,” Avery will go to Paris Fashion Week with international editor-at-large Hamish Bowles, according to Chabot.

Avery, who never earned a college degree because he was drafted into the NHL right after high school, has said he wants to be a fashion magazine editor.

Rangers’ fans are well familiar with Avery’s fashion sense. He may be the first hockey player ever to sport a pair of trendy glasses in the Rangers official yearbook.

“He is serious about learning the fashion industry and to that end, we are happy to give him a chance,” said O’Connell. “He certainly has a demonstrated history. It makes sense.”

Rangers/Penguins starts Friday. Let’s Go RANGERS!!

Playoffs begin tonight, with the 5th seeded Rangers facing off against the 4th seeded Devils at the Rock in Newark. We went 7-1 against them this year, and hopes are sky-high that good things are coming.

Let’s go RANGERS!!

Henrik Lundqvist was signed to a six year, $39 million contract extension yesterday. The Rangers have finally done a smart move with a young player, locking him up at a great price for both sides for the forseeable future.

Whoddathunk that Sather actually had the chutzpah to do something this important, smartly? After the contentious off-season with Henke, where the team gave him a rather crappy deal, this turnaround makes me feel rather good. Now if only Slats would move Jagr. Looking around the news sites, it looks like the Canucks, Wild, Canadiens, and the Bruins may all be interested in him. I say pull the trigger, Slats. Pull the trigger.

Of interest, it appears Brian Campbell shut down talks with the Sabres for an extension. Marian Hossa — who is only 29, which surprised me — is also potentially available.