Farewell, Sean, Farewell. . .

See my post from late June if you want to get my thoughts on Sean, the now former New York Ranger. See below if you want just a few quick hits:

-Good for Sean. I like him and I wish him well in Dallas. The arbitration process last year insulted him. But hockey is a business and that is part of the business. He left for money that he was not going to get in New York for whatever reason. I can’t blame him one bit. He must have seen the Rangers offer for Wade Redden and laughed. Or the one for Michael Rozsival. If you’ve watched the team the last year and a half, who do you think is more valuable – Sean or Rozsi? Sean saw they were not going to give him what, for the most part, can be seen as a pretty reasonable salary – given what they were giving others. And he went for more money. And he probably left, too, because he was still a little miffed at what they did. The lack of appreciation they wanted to show him. And that’s fine. I don’t blame for that. I really, really don’t. I’m still with Larry Brooks. I think they’ll regret it. I hope they don’t. But I think they will.

-For the record, I like Dallas. During the seven playoff-less years in New York, as a hockey fan, I had to find other teams to follow come playoff time. Dallas, who had former Rangers Doug Lidster, Pat Verbeek, and Sergei Zubov on their 1999 Cup team, became one of those teams. How can anyone not love Zubov, arguably the most underappreciated guy in the whole league. Fantastic player. And I always loved Mike Modano, the person and the player. He’s held himself with a lot of poise with all that has gone on in Dallas, especially with him and his on-again, off-again captaincy, and he has the respect of his teammates and those around the league. In the name of American-born players, he’s done incredible things. I’ve seen him stick handle through three guys without faltering and bury some beautiful goals. And lastly, to boot, the Stars have a young, feisty winger in Joel Lundqvist, who is fun to watch, but even more fun because he’s Hank Lundqvist’s twin. (Who doesn’t love twins that play hockey!) See, I’ve been watching Dallas already, but I’ll certainly be watching more intently now. And thanking all that is sacred that Dallas is in the Western Conference. I love you Sean, but if you went to the Islanders, I was going to be sick.

-I’m going to take a brief moment to thank Sean Avery. Thank you Sean for repeatedly standing up for your boys, verbally and physically. Thank you Sean for being one of those special players that play better against Ranger rival teams like NJ and the Islanders – this puts you in our good graces. Thank you for what you did to Martin Brodeur in game 3 of this past year’s opening round. I will never forget seeing it. That cemented you in our memories. Thank you for not being typical – there are way too many cookie cutter players as it is. Thank you for speaking your mind, when you weren’t on a self imposed media restriction, that is. Thank you for your humor – how may injured players do you know that get a hotdog and sit with the Garden fans? Thank you for being a character and an individual. There are too few and they need more like you. Not exactly like you, but like you in spirit. Your spirit has been overlooked, I think, and it will be missed. Thanks for February 2007- April 2008. The Garden stood silent for so long and you helped bring it to life. I remember the day they signed you, Sean, and I said, “what are they thinking?” Thank you for making me regret that statement.

-Oh and I just realized. Dallas and Colorado have had some history in the past, and they play each other four times a year. And you know who signed on with the Avs, don’t you? One Darcy Tucker. I cannot wait for the first of those meetings next year. Popcorn, baby, popcorn!