Does This Plan Fit an XXL Size Market?

I'm at home sick, and it's one of those days when you just hope for one easy breath of fresh air. Hard to come by when you have a cold, but you hold out hope for that one clear drag of air, a sign of better health ahead.

At a little after 1 pm Eastern today, Dave Maloney's comments on "NHL Live" served as a long needed breath of fresh air regarding the build 'em up, tear 'em down Rangers. You know the team. Couldn't win the Cup for a long time. Made a deal with the Devil and a boatload of teams to import players for the Cup victory in 1994. And then nothing.

A caller to the "NHL Live" show gave poor marks to the Rangers, as presently constructed, and then identified General Manager Glen Sather as the source of the odious stench of said team's performance. You know the drill. Team stinks. It's Sather's team. Sather stinks. Tic, tac, toe, biscuit in the basket.

But Maloney, a former Ranger and who is on Rangers radio and TV broadcasts, made the most intelligent point of the year (it's a young year). If you are constantly trying to rebuild on the fly -- Yankees style, if you will -- do you ever truly build a strong organization with skill and depth. Sure you can buy talent, but talent without skill players and depth on the roster will get you nothing.

Maloney said, sure the Rangers won in 1994, but there were former Oilers, Blackhawks, etc. The blueprint for that team was buy, buy, buy, buy, win. And it worked, for one year. Now, he asked, what did that strategy do for the team? And Maloney did point out that there have been several general managers tell Rangers fans and everyone else that New York fans need to win now, have to win now, and only stars will do.

And looking back to that 1979 Sasson jeans commercial, there's Phil Esposito and Anders Hedberg, who would tell you that the strategy for attracting big stars to Madison Square Garden predates Neil Smith. But with Ron Duguay and Maloney, you got the feeling the Rangers were filling in needed stars around their homegrown players. (In the commercial below, the homegrown Ron Greschner fills in for Duguay. Don Maloney takes his brother's spot.)

With Dave Maloney's thoughts in mind, perhaps it is time for the Rangers to start building, and that means drafting smart, trading smart. Spending smart? Sure, but spend for need, not spend for the marquee. Don't trade for the cover photo of the program. Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Wayne Gretzky, Theoren Fleury, Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik. You get the idea.

OK, so I was a little long winded. But when you have a cold, you have to live on that moment of fresh air for as long as you can.



THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 4, at N.Y. Rangers 2
St. Louis 2, at Calgary 0
At Vancouver 3, Buffalo 2
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Johnstown 5, at Cincinnati 1
Ontario 4, at Utah 0
The standings are here.