I have heard that if Lefevre puts in a bad or ho-hum training camp that he would be sent to Hartford with Slats looking for a buyer...probably another pick. Kloucek too is on the same boat as Lefevre but more importantly is thatthey want to see how well Thomas and Puriton work together, so they might work with each other for awhile in Hartford. Poti is a great player but after going through the whole threatening to go to arbitration deal, word in the street is that they would like to use him i a package deal of some sort.
The problem with dumping Lefevre is that he and Malakhov seem to be attached at the hip. In my opinion both of them played much better when they were paired with each other than at any other point in the season. As for Kloucek, why on earth would they pair him with Purinton? Why would Purinton even play for this Ranger team? Karpa is better than Dale if they really want to carry a 7th defenseman, and frankly, I'd rather see Mike Mottau finally get a consistant shot over either of Purinton and Karpa. Both Purinton and Kloucek are stay at home, hard hitting defenseman. Pairing them together negates the concept. It's best, especially considering how many good offensive defenseman the Rangers have, to balance things out by making tandems of attacking defenseman and stay at home defenders. Leetch/Beukeboom is the classic example. Finally, I'll be royally ticked off if they let Poti go in some trade. We gave up Mike freakin York to get this guy, and he'd better stick around and produce. On another note, which rookies would you all like to see get a shot this season? Aside from Mottau, I'd love to see Jamie Lundmark finally get a bunch of games under his belt. JMac
I'd normally disagree, but Zubov is just the kind of leader the Rangers blueline needs. Leetch is an enormous talent, and one of the best defenders in the league, but he's not a vocal leader. Someone like Zubov could step in there and have that group straightened out in no time. JMac
I'm sure a lot of Ranger fans would love to see Zubov back at the Garden. As for Leetch, I agree. He never looked right wearing the "C". Even when Messier was on sobatical in Vancouver, I thought Graves or Gretzky should've been wearing it. Leetch is great, but he can't keep playing the ridiculous minutes like he has been. He wore down last season and you could tell from his turnovers and bad passes which you rarely see him make.
Can someone tell me about the image of the NHL franchises? I mean, I know quite a lot about the NHL and the history of the single franchises, some older stories and reputations (e.g. Broad Street Bullies), but what is the actual reputation/image? I'm interested in all franchises, but in particular the rather new ones. Here's a link to the individual stats of the German DEL players (click the team to get them), you'll find quite a lot ex-NHLers http://www.del.org/statistics/getst...LinkTitle=Hauptrunde&statname=teams&hoehe=750 Ricard Persson is extremely good with 5 assists in 3 games while Adams is having some problems (1 assist in 2 games).