Jaromir Jagr...?

Question

will the Rangers cope without him? i think he was sloppy and lazy at times, and that we'll do ok without him. what do you lot think?

Answer 1

ditto what cme said

Answer 2

Ditto, what Major Tom said.

Answer 3

When his whiny and b!tchy a$s was in DC, I lost ALL respect for him. I hope his nuts freeze off in Russia.

Answer 4

The Rangers always have a good crew and I don't think that they will be hurting without him. What will be more interesting is seeing how well his whiny attitude goes down in Russia. The Czech fans might put up with it because of who he is, but the Russians won't play that game,

Answer 5

Well, the team is pretty different than it has been... but I'm cautiously optimistic, heh.

Our defense, while it is still incomplete, seems greatly improved. Redden and Kalinin will help our transition game greatly, and will help with our speed. Getting rid of Malik and Backman is fine... Tyutin will be missed. I'm a little concerned that our defense is too soft, and it's still missing some players (we have Staal, Girardi, Redden, Kalinin, Roszival... even if sanguinetti or baranka comes up, we still need 2 more solid NHL-caliber defensemen.)

Our forwards seem decent... I'm okay with Jagr and Straka leaving; I felt that Jagr was lazy at times (which trickled down to the whole team), and Straka wasn't as much of a force as he should have been. Avery will definitely be missed. Zherdev seems to be a good pick up, and hopefully effort will not be an issue with him. Fritsche seems good, too, and Naslund too. Between them, hopefully we will have some wingers that can finish what our good centers (Gomez, Drury, Dubinsky...) do. That's what we were missing last year.

Overall, our team is not done yet, but I'm optimistic. I would like a stay-at-home, hard-hitting defenseman, an agitator, and another scoring winger... but I feel like this is a drastically improved team that may be able to get passed the second round this year.

Answer 6

As a Pens fan, I always hope the Rags lose.  ;-)

Honestly I think Jagr did what he wanted, and that's been his M.O. throughout his career. He's a selfish player on and off the ice.  I think the Rangers will be fine; if nothing else the locker room will be better and that can always be an asset.

Answer 7

Yes, He is going to play in a Russian League ... If you dont believe me, Look on the Internet (google)

Answer 8

Yeah. He was great with the Pens but lately isn't as good as he was. They'll do fine.

Answer 9

He had a 'bad' season, you can see he's getting aged through his performance, he is still elite, but not what he used to be. The Rangers will be fine without him this season, they have plenty of experienced leaders, and plenty of new candidates to take over the Garden after Free Agency is all said and done.......I actually expect the Rangers to do a bit better this season, if not better than certainly no less than what they accomplished last season.

Answer 10

To be honest Will, they will have to readjust but even as a Flyers fan, I think the Rangers and the league are much better off without him.

It's too bad the Rangers weren't compensated in some way for him leaving.

Answer 11

I think they will do OK. Jagr wasn't a real force in the regular season, but they may miss his post season play. I think he was the Rangers best player in the playoffs. Naslund should help overcome some of this.

I think they made a mistake not re-signing Avery. Get past his antics and he is a very talented player.

Answer 12

anyone with a MULLET hair cut has to go

Answer 13

No question he was lazy from time to time and doesnt always work hard during the regular season but he was a force when they needed a late season run and was unquestionably their best forward in the playoffs. I think people overestimate Naslund....guys who average a bit less than 60 points per season the last couple cant be your top line LW. Lets not forget he is 35, appears to have slowed slightly and was a minus player on a decent defensive team.His numbers have deteriorated every year since 2003. I personally think unless they get a couple of the younger guys to step up their games they will take a step backwards. I dont think they will miss Averys antics as much as people think, remember this guy wore out his lockerroom welcome in every city he has been and hurts the Rangers with stupid penalties nearly as often as his agitation helped them. Plus Voros will fill his toughness slot for a lot less money (the reason they could afford Redden.....think of it as a trade, Redden for Avery and now it looks brilliant).  I think Zherdev might prove to be the better offensive player they got than Naslund, he finally has a pass first type center to get him more shots (I know he has been an egnima but he has scoring skill and maybe the spotlight and a quality center bring out the best in him).

The Rangers have enough quality to do fine without Jagr, I wonder if losing his ability to dominate during critical times makes a playoff run even harder next season.

Answer 14

The Rangers will do fine.  I think they made some nice moves and Naslund will fit in well to replace Jagr on the wing. Nikolai Zherdev could really be the dark horse here, he could very well blossom into a Kovalev type player.  Since I watch the Sens, I know that Redden has never been the same since his mother died and quite frankly, I think the Rangers paid too much for him.  That being said, he is still a decent all-round defenceman that brings the puck out of the zone as good as anyone.  Shanny's leadership and grit will certainly be missed however.

As for Jagr, I think he's taken alot of unwarranted verbal abuse for this play. But to be honest, he's been pretty much a class act since he's arrived in New York.  He was clearly the best Ranger in the playoffs and likely down the stretch.  I don't even want to think of how many times Straka missed an opportunity setup by Jagr, not to mention a few other of his linemates.

As for the verbal attacks during his stint in Washington, let's not forget that Jagr was teamed up with a bunch of third-rate minor leaguers on a terrible, disoriented Capitals team.  Sure he had Nylander, not a name that really comes to mind to be your team's top centerman.  He gets 70 points and all of sudden he's not a "team player."  sheesh!  I'm quite certain a majority of stars in the league would have wanted out as well.

All I ask for the people who like to jump on the Milbury-Melrose-Cherry bandwagon on criticizing Jagr, is to step back and listen to what his teammates say.  Enough of this c**p already.  One or two incidents (which I challenge anyone to bring up if they can recall it) doesn't speak for his incredible career.

Go Rangers GO!

ps- As for the "whiney" remark bout Jagr playing in Russia,  he played with Avangard Omsk during the lockout and was totally embraced by the fans.