And I’m not talking “political correctness” although some of the last thread sure showed that a few people could use a quick lesson in that.

I’m talking about my PC at blog headquarters, which is acting up. So I’m putting up this on my laptop as I hit the road for a few interviews and such today. I will try to check back late in the day if and when I get a wireless signal.

I trust you guys will troll the web and post anything you find newsworthy, as you always do, in the comments section.

Oh, Happy Monday.

There’s not much to talk about, except that the Great One is getting upset. You probably saw the stories yesterday about Gretzky trying to block his personal financial information from being bared in this whole Ugly Coyote mess.

I’m sniffing around trying to figure if there’s anything else coming imminently, and whether there’s any fire at all to this Zubov or Richards smoke.

‘Til then, here’s a new canvas for you weekenders.

Here’s the announcement:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH DANE BYERS
            New York, July 10, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Dane Byers.
            Byers, 23, has skated in 165 career regular season games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), registering 44 goals and 58 assists for 102 points, along with 421 penalty minutes.  He established a career-high in goals (23) and plus/minus rating (plus-23) during the 2007-08 season.  Byers tied for third on Hartford in goals and finished fourth on the team in plus/minus rating.  He also posted a career-high, six-game scoring streak from February 8 at Providence to February 20 at Lowell, recording nine points (six goals and three assists) during the stretch.  In addition, Byers made his NHL debut with the Rangers on February 5 against Los Angeles.
          In 2006-07, he set career marks in games played (78), assists (30), points (47), and penalty minutes (213).  He ranked second on the Wolf Pack in assists, third on the team in points and penalty minutes, and fifth in goals.  Byers notched his first career AHL hat trick on March 31 against Manchester.  As an AHL rookie in 2005-06, he collected an assist in his professional debut on April 7 vs. Portland.
         The 6-3, 195 pounder appeared in nine games with Hartford (AHL) last season, recording four goals and three assists for seven points, along with 18 penalty minutes.  He registered six points (three goals and three assists) in a five game span from October 22 at Worcester to October 31 against Worcester, before missing the last 71 games of the regular season to injury.  Byers returned to the lineup for the playoffs, and finished tied for the team lead in goals (three) and second in points (four) in six games.  His three goals and four points both established playoff career-highs.
            The Nipawin, Saskatchewan native was originally the Rangers’ second round selection, 48^th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

The Habs have signed Paul Mara for one year.

See the story, and one last great picture of that beard, here.
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If you want to see our video chat about the Rangers’ offseason—or if you want to see it again—click here.

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FREE AGENT FORWARD ALES KOTALIK
            New York, July 9, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent forward Ales Kotalik.
            “Ales is a strong, hardworking player with good skating ability and a heavy shot,” stated Sather.  “We think he will fit well into our system and will provide additional offense and scoring from the wing position.”
            Kotalik has eclipsed the 20-goal mark four times in six seasons, including 21 goals in his first full season in 2002-03.  He also holds the NHL record with 11 career game-deciding goals in the shootout (tied with Vyacheslav Kozlov), and has converted 20 of his 38 career shootout attempts (52.6%).
          The 6-1, 225 pounder has skated in 445 regular season contests with the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers, recording 121 goals and 130 assists for 251 points, along with 273 penalty minutes.  In 2005-06, he established career-highs in games played (82), goals (25), assists (37), points (62), penalty minutes (62), power play points (28), game-winning goals (five), and shots (261).  He led Buffalo in shots, tied for the team lead in game-winning goals, second in goals, and ranked third in points.  He was also one of only two Sabres to skate in all 82 games during the season. 
            Kotalik appeared in 75 games with Buffalo and Edmonton last season, registering 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points, along with 34 penalty minutes.  He ranked third on Edmonton in goals and tied for fifth in points.  He also finished second on the team with nine power play goals and third with 208 shots.  Kotalik led the NHL with five game-deciding goals in the shootout, and ranked second in the league with eigth shootout goals.  He posted a career-high, five-game scoring streak from March 24 vs. Detroit to March 31 against Anaheim, collecting five points (four goals and one assist) over the span.  In addition, Kotalik registered his 250^th career NHL points with a goal against Vancouver on April 4.  He was traded to Edmonton on March 4 in exchange for a second round selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
            As a rookie in 2002-03, he finished the season ranked second among all NHL rookies in goals (21) and fourth in points (35), and was named NHL Rookie of the Month for January.  In postseason play, Kotalik has registered six goals and nine assists for 15 points, along with 16 penalty minutes in 34 career contests.
         Kotalik also captured a bronze medal with the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
            The Jindrichuv Hradec, Czech Republic native was originally Buffalo’s sixth round choice, 164^th overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.——————————

For those who missed the live chat this afternoon, you can watch it by clicking here. 

Hey guys, I believe Carp may be on the road (he does step away from the computer every now and again)….here’s the quick update from nhl.com. I’ll search for more..
The New York Rangers continued to bolster their offense by signing free-agent forward Ales Kotalik on Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not released. (but TSN has it at $9 mil for 3 years)
The 6-foot-1, 227-pound right wing had 20 goals and 43 points in 75 games with the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers last season.
A sixth-round pick of the Sabres in the 1998 Entry Draft, the native of Jindr Hradec, Czech Republic has 121 goals and 251 points in 445 NHL games.————————
Thanks for jumping in, Laurel.

Hey, it’s Carp, back at my desk. Believe it or not—and you probably won’t—but when I was looking over the remaining free agents this morning Kotalik jumped out at me, and I said to myself, “This is exactly the type of free agents other teams sign cheaply, and the type who usually turn out to be better signings than the marquee free agents … and exactly the type the Rangers don’t try to sign.”

I love this signing. Just want to go on record with that.

Good morning. Does anybody want to play General Manager today? Or do you have an opinion on the whole Scott Gomez-Marian Gaborik-Donald Brashear roster remake? Or questions about the Rangers going forward?

Join us today at 1 p.m. during a live video chat, which you can access by clicking here, or by going to the link: http://lohud.com/protalklive.

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH BRIAN BOYLE
            New York, July 8, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with restricted free agent forward Brian Boyle.
         Boyle, 24, was acquired by the Rangers on June 27 from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.  Boyle appeared in 28 games with the Kings last season, registering four goals and one assist for five points, along with 42 penalty minutes.  He established career-highs in games played (28) and penalty minutes (42).  Boyle notched three goals in a four-game span from March 28 at Nashville to April 4 vs. Phoenix.  He also skated in 42 games with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (AHL), recording 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points, along with 73 penalty minutes.  He collected two points (one goal and one assist) in his season debut with the Monarchs on December 5 vs. Worcester.  In addition, Boyle posted two, four-game scoring streaks – December 13 vs. Providence to December 17 at Manitoba (one goal and four assists) and March 4 vs. Springfield to March 8 at Worcester (two goals and two assists).
          The 6-7, 252-pounder has skated in 36 career NHL games with Los Angeles, recording eight goals and two assists for 10 points, along with 46 penalty minutes.  He registered two points (one goal and one assist) and a plus-two rating in his NHL debut on February 2, 2008 at New Jersey.  Boyle has also appeared in 114 career AHL contests with Manchester, collecting 41 goals and 42 assists for 83 points, along with 162 penalty minutes.  In 2007-08, he established AHL career-highs in games played (70), goals (31), assists (31), points (62), and penalty minutes (87).  That year, he led the Monarchs in goals, ranked second on the team in points and fourth in assists.  His 31 goals also led all AHL rookies and ranked 10th in the league overall, while he finished second in the league among rookies with 62 points.  Boyle also tallied three goals and five assists for eight points in 16 postseason contests with Manchester during the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs.
        The Hingham, MA native was originally Los Angeles’ first round choice, 26th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Joe Sakic always played the game with class, and with sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Fame skill. Yet just about every time I hear his name I think about the 1997 summer, when the Rangers kicked Mark Messier out the door and thought they would steal Little Joe from the Avalanche with a massive offer sheet.

With a week to decide whether to match, Colorado’s owners hemmed and hawed and wrung their hands … and then matched the offer. The Rangers’ Plan B was Pat LaFontaine, who was terrific as long as he remained upright, but who, predictably, ultimately had to retire due to repeated concussions.

And I always wonder if the course of Rangers history might have changed had they been able to get Sakic, to play with Gretzky and replace Messier, that year … which as you all know was the beginning of that long streak of non-playoff seasons, and this current streak in which they have won exactly two playoff series since that summer. 
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ANOTHER REMINDER: Laurel and I will do a live video chat tomorrow at 1 p.m. We encourage you to bring comments and questions. Access the chat by clicking here, or by going to this site: lohud.com/protalklive

Boy when there’s not a lot of news you guys sure do devolve…:) While Carp is out trying to improve his handicap, I thought I’d pop in with some updates…none on Rangers, but at least it’s something!

Thanks to TSN..
• After 20 NHL seasons, Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic may be ready to hang up his skates. The Avalanche have called a news conference for Thursday at 3pm et/12pm pt where, according to local reports, they will announce Sakic’s retirement.

• Sources tell TSN the National Hockey League Players Association has filed a grievance over the Chicago Blackhawks mishandling of a number of its qualifying offers and intends to argue the players affected by the mishap, who remain unsigned, should be ruled unrestricted free agents.
The NHL will be notified and can agree with the NHLPA’s filing, or the league can disagree and the case will move on to an expidited hearing.

• Also, did I miss the chat on this here (sorry, there was lots to catch up on after four days away), but I see Moore is now an Islander. If I’m late, then ignore me here and carry on.