Bluelines: Jagr Regrets Leaving New York?
Latest news from the locals
Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 at 3:35 PM- Talk about going from a BIG SPLASH to a drop-in-the-bucket, how about our old buddy, Jaromir Jagr, formerly the toast of Broadway. A year ago Jags detonated roaring headlines by emigrating to Russia. Now there's hardly a whisper about JJ. Let's not forget that Jaromir – same as Sean Avery – could have remained a Ranger. There was a reasonable deal there for him to return, but he chose to chase pucks in Putinville. It says here that he regrets the move – deeply!
We're less than three weeks away from Charles Wang's deadline for approval of his Lighthouse Project. Whether or not the Islanders owner agrees to extend his deadline will be the key issue if the green light is not given by local authorities.
On his Islanders Point Blank blog, Chris Botta puts the blame for the procrastination at the feet of Supervisor of The Town of Hempstead, Kate Murray:
"It's as if the Town of Hempstead board realized, 'Uh oh, this Lighthouse thing isn't pissin' people off.' So Murray and her staff returned to back-room politics. They leaked a story about how most of the Lighthouse support notices they received came from citizens outside Hempstead or Nassau counties. They took their sweet time selecting a date for a re-zoning hearing. Playing cute, Murray & Co. eventually chose Sept. 22 – the same day the Islanders are playing in Kansas City."
- Enthused by becoming a Bruin, Derek Morris also was tickled to be a Ranger. In a fascinating – and insightful – interview with The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa, Morris also takes an oblique shot at Wayne Gretzky without mentioning The Great One by name.
Concerning Rangers coach John Tortorella, Morris has nothing but praise. "We used two different systems. It was different. Much tighter gaps, a lot more movement."
However, things were not as pleasant with the Coyotes. "In Phoenix, we were changing every single day. We didn't really have a system." (Italics ours)
- Brendan Shanahan isn't wasting anytime claiming his new number. With Brian Gionta and John Madden now gone, their vacated jersey numbers are ripe for the picking. "I called Gio and let him know I was going to wear 14," says Shanahan. "I told him I've requested a larger size and he had a good laugh about that."
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