In Sather I trust
Posted 10:37 PM ET | Comments 11
As I was wasting more of my life on YouTube today I decided to watch one of the Rangers top, if not the top, prospect Alexei Cherepanov, aka the Siberian Express. Here's the link if you’re interested http://youtube.com/watch?v=KeanH3tLnoM. At one point in this video an analyst mentioned that the Rangers had already stitched Cherepanov in the back of the jersey. Now I'm not one to debate Sather's psychic abilities, but how would he know the Siberian Express would drop that low. Sure, I guess he could ask the other teams who their planning on drafting, but are they going to go by what they say. It amazes me that Sather saw this coming. This guy knows how the league works, and that’s why I think he's the BEST GM IN THE LEAGUE. I won’t praise Sather too much for just this because Cherepanov has yet to come to the league let alone make an impact.
Let's look at more of Sather's genius, how bout' the recent trade, (no not the Hollweg trade, even though a 5th round pick for that goon is a steal) Zherdev and Fritsche for Tyutin and Backman. Most people looking at this trade may concentrate more on the stupidity of Columbus's GM. Not me I look at Sather. I have no doubt in my mind that Sather made Tyuts and Backman's values seem MUCH more than it really is. C'mon a potential superstar, and a young grinder for a steady d-man and a give-a-way machine. Though I will miss tyuts, and backman had episodes of brilliance, neither of them will amount to Zherdev. And let’s not forget Fritsche, who is far from a depth forward. Oh and did I mention that both Zherdev and Fritsche are only 23 years old.
Many people concentrate so much on how Sather over pays players like Drury, Gomez, and Redden. I will not sit here and say that these players have earned this money. But what other players should we have sent this money at? Sure both are overpaid, but both are also GREAT defensively, one almost gave Gionta a 50 goal season, and the other is one of the most clutch players in the game, an attribute I consider PRICELESS. Let's not forget Redden, 6.5 a year. Does he deserve it? Ask me 2 years ago and the answer is yes, but ask me now the answer is no. But here is a solid fact. THERE IS NOBODY ELSE. Campbell is a question mark when it comes to defense, and do me a favor and check who the UFA d-men are next year. Aucoin is the best d-man on that list. Niedermeyer, Zubov, and Schneider are on it but most likely all of them are going to retire. The Rangers needed a puck-mover, and they got it. Did you really want to wait 5 years for Sanguinetti to become a #1 d-man?
So I ask all Ranger fans to please trust Sather. He knows what he's doing, and he knows a lot more than you.
Let's look at more of Sather's genius, how bout' the recent trade, (no not the Hollweg trade, even though a 5th round pick for that goon is a steal) Zherdev and Fritsche for Tyutin and Backman. Most people looking at this trade may concentrate more on the stupidity of Columbus's GM. Not me I look at Sather. I have no doubt in my mind that Sather made Tyuts and Backman's values seem MUCH more than it really is. C'mon a potential superstar, and a young grinder for a steady d-man and a give-a-way machine. Though I will miss tyuts, and backman had episodes of brilliance, neither of them will amount to Zherdev. And let’s not forget Fritsche, who is far from a depth forward. Oh and did I mention that both Zherdev and Fritsche are only 23 years old.
Many people concentrate so much on how Sather over pays players like Drury, Gomez, and Redden. I will not sit here and say that these players have earned this money. But what other players should we have sent this money at? Sure both are overpaid, but both are also GREAT defensively, one almost gave Gionta a 50 goal season, and the other is one of the most clutch players in the game, an attribute I consider PRICELESS. Let's not forget Redden, 6.5 a year. Does he deserve it? Ask me 2 years ago and the answer is yes, but ask me now the answer is no. But here is a solid fact. THERE IS NOBODY ELSE. Campbell is a question mark when it comes to defense, and do me a favor and check who the UFA d-men are next year. Aucoin is the best d-man on that list. Niedermeyer, Zubov, and Schneider are on it but most likely all of them are going to retire. The Rangers needed a puck-mover, and they got it. Did you really want to wait 5 years for Sanguinetti to become a #1 d-man?
So I ask all Ranger fans to please trust Sather. He knows what he's doing, and he knows a lot more than you.
I like what our staff has done the last few years too! As for Cherepanov are you sure this wasn't from one of his recent games after last years draft. If Sather really expected him to fall that far or had some hidden insight,kudos to Slats. I also had heard rumors during weeks prior that the club was looking to jump up to grab him.
Message Posted
Yeah that video has some of his recent games, but if you look at an original video when he was picked the TSN announcers mentioned how Cherepanov was already stitched on the back. So it seems that Sather was going to trade for him, but then found out that nobody was going to take him before the Rangers.
Im sorry but are you serious? First of all, it was no secret that cherepanov had great talent, but teams were afraid to take him because they weren't sure if he'd be able to play in the NHL anytime soon. And to rave about a guy that youve never seen play a shift in the NHL is a little ridiculous. Second, aside from Marc Staal ive yet to see a sather pick perform well on the big stage (and dont tell me Henk because that was clearly a fluke). Are you forgetting the miserable years we had before renney henrik and jagr showed up? Bure, Lindros, Holik, Kovalev, Anson Carter...all great acquisitions. Its safe to say that sathers best move as gm was bringing in sean avery, who he then proceeded to alienate in arbitration and not resign. It takes no skill to throw money at top free agents (gomez drury) so dont even say those were great moves. i could sit here and argue for why sather is a bottom half of the nhl gm all day...to say hes the best in the nhl is laughableoh yeah and he traded leetch for nobody
Easy easy easy 30. The prior moves were made with the pressure of former Garden management. Sure throwing money onto a pile of crap didnt work,in addition they had to restructure according to the cap. But look at the results after the lockout , a team that was picked to finish last and has now made tickets impossible to get at the garden.Its his abillity to rework an entire organization in one season that needs to be applauded. I guess Dubinsky sux too? Callahan is garbage,Prucha has no value,Sanguenetti is not the mix at all. Please see hockeysfuture.com for a little review.
Now 30, though I agree with some of what you said, I think you must of missed some of my blog. I stated in the beginning about cherepanov "I wont praise Sather too much for just this because Cherepanov has yet to come to the league let alone make an impact." And to say he hasn't drafted well is an interesting claim. Not only do we have home grown talent on our roster right now, but there are also great prospects. Im sorry but not every GM has the chance to draft Crosby's, Malkin's, and Fleury's three years in a row! And surely no credit should be given for henrik, and while I'm at it no credit should be given to detroit for finding Datsyuk, and zetterberg in the 6th and 7th rounds. But your right Sather has made some mistakes. Bure I dont blame that much because nobody could have predicted he would get injured, Anson carter, do you remember who he got for him. None other than Jaromir Jagr, the man who brought this franchise back to its feet. Lindros, and Holik were bad decisions I'll give you that, but trading leetch and graves was inevitable. They were old, and a rebuild had to happen, nobody will debate that. And then there is Avery. Sure if we still had jagr, straka, and the other veterans that were the 07/08 Rangers, then yes, avery had to be re-signed. Did you ever wonder why our record was so good with avery in the lineup? It's because he motivated the old players that needed motivation. But it's a different team now, a much younger, and much more motivated team. I will always respect the way avery plays, and I'm sure there will be some games where I will wish I was watching avery waive his stick in the goalies face. But here is something you dont know. What did he do to the locker-room? A big personality like his, is just a bomb waiting to explode. And for me, paying 4 mill for that bomb was just not worth it, no matter what he brought to the ice.
Next season is already over. Just give us the cup. We re-signed the one and only HUGE JESSIMAN!
the best gm in the league? are you serious? i hope not.ken holland, bob gainey, lou lamoriello (sp?), brian burke...and possibly a few more ahead of sather. he's done better recently and i think the zherdev deal was a steal, but he's had many a misstep along the way.
Nice blog, but I have to respectfully disagree. In Sather's seven year tenure, the Rangers have missed the playoffs four times, were swept in the first round once, and had two consecutive second round exits. He manages his hockey team like a fantasy football team with large scale roster turnover every year. He devalues the contributions of players that excel in the Rangers sweater, and overvalues high priced free agents that underachieved on other clubs. It would not be fair for me to say that the Rangers haven't rebuilt the farm in the last couple of years, but I would also not say the he has excelled in draft when he needs to sign guys like Aaron Voros and Patrick Rismiller to play positions that should be filled by Hartford guys. All I am asking is for this guy to establish a direction, and stick with for a couple year stint without completely turning over the roster every year.
Sather is a victim of ownership, if he had proper ownership he would be able to really assemble a championship caliber team, MSG is too worried about lawsuits to really get a quality team on the ice
I don't think Sather was responsible for a lot of the draft. The talent that we had was mainly picked by Don Maloney. Will be interesting to see how well DelZotto(sp?) develops seeing as Maloney is in Phoenix now. As for overpaying, the market was set when Toronto signed Jeff Finger. All of a sudden D salaries had a floor. Also I think the cap has been a godsend. We are finally getting to see what we wanted to see before the lockout, the kids playing prominent roles.