Bluelines: Free Agency Set to Unfold
Will the Rangers keep Orr and Voros?
Posted on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 4:00 PM- Not that anything too serious should be read into it, but Colton Orr and Aaron Voros accompanied Glen Sather to last week's Canadian Society annual hockey dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. Does this mean either – or both – will be back with the Blueshirts? Not necessarily. Now that the hated Flyers have Chris (not so Mr. Clean) Pronger, Orr might be the best bully-deterrent on Broadway.
Lou Lamoriello, to the surprise of most, didn't demand that former head coach Brent Sutter sit out for a season or ask for anything in return from the Flames. Instead, he had this to say: "Once you give consent, because of the new rules in the NHL there is no recourse and no compensation."
Says Lamoriello, "There should be compensation in situations like this for all the obvious reasons, but there isn't. That's a league rule and you accept it."
- There never will be another Scott Stevens, but Niklas Kronwall holds the title as "Best Open-Ice Hitter in the NHL". Now, smart readers, name the runner-up.
- Chris Kreider, the Rangers' top Draft pick tells us he'll move on to Boston College where Jerry York will mentor the center. "We like his size and speed," Glen Sather tells us.
A native of Boxford, Massachusetts, Kreider tells us, "I'm a New Englander without a New Englander accent."
- Of all the dumb remarks written by columnists following Sid Crosby's pointed snub of Nik Lidstrom after Game Seven, The Dumb and Dumber prize goes to Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox.
Apologizing for Crosby, Cox writes, "Did any of the oddly embittered Red Wings take a moment to thank Sidney Crosby for carrying the league on his back since the lockout?"
Excuse me, Damien, haven't you heard of Alex Ovechkin, Sean Avery, or Zach Parise? Avery alone, in one interview, is more interesting than Sid The (Petulant) Kid in a hundred.
- Dion Phaneuf, who hasn't been himself since he got called out by Sean Avery, should be jumping out of his skates with Calgary's new coach hire. Phaneuf played stellar hockey as a member of the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, a club coached by Brent Sutter.
- Figure on the Devils naming their new coach at any moment. Jacques Lemaire remains in the mix, and even Mike Keenan's name popped up in a column on Sunday. When we asked Lamoriello when he is going to name his man, The Devils' boss winked and said, "In due time!" As for Peter Laviolette, he's not optimistic, "I haven't talked to anybody."
- John Tavares threw out the first pitch at the Yankees-Mets game on Sunday night. Growing up in Ontario, Tavares is a Toronto Blue Jays fan, and like any good Jays fan he is not very fond of the Yanks.
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