The latest, according to a report from Comcast SportsNet, says that Wrigley Field and not Yankee Stadium will be the site of next year’s NHL outdoor extravaganza.

This also means the Rangers would be out of the picture and that Blackhawks and Red Wings would square off in the friendly confines.

When a certain style flourishes in the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are always repercussions felt around the league. Just look at recent history.

When the up-tempo Hurricanes won the Cup in 2006, many teams—the Rangers included—saw the merit in having their defensemen join the attack the following season. But seeing how the Rangers didn’t necessarily have the personnel at the time to fit the style—Sandis Ozolinsh, anyone?—the results were occasionally disastrous.

The next year, the smash-and-bash ‘em Ducks powered their way through the Finals, and suddenly everyone felt the need to get bigger and nastier.

Now the puck-possession Red Wings are having their way with the Penguins, and it’ll be interesting to see if there’s another knee-jerk reaction around the league.

Of course, this might be the most difficult team to mimic seeing how the Wings at their core are mostly just a scary collection of talent. But believe it or not, their emphasis on keeping the puck low in the zone and away from the opposition isn’t far off from what the Rangers have been attempting the last few seasons as well.

Again, the difference is the Red Wings have the two-way players who can pull the style off. The Rangers, meanwhile, were defined by sequences this season when they’d control play for minutes on end, not score, and then surrender a costly odd-man rush the other way.

How this plays into the Rangers off-season plans remains to be seen. Naturally one solution is to find some guys who can finish. The other is to make sure you find both forward and defensemen mobile enough to play at both ends of the rink.

It all sounds good in theory, of course. Grabbing hold of those players might not be as easy.

As juiced as I was—and I guess still am—for this Stanley Cup final between Detroit and Pittsburgh, I’m not sure this long gap between series is helping. By the time the series starts I will be in full-on Memorial Day barbecue mode, and I may temporarily forget whether Brooks Orpik is a forward or a defenseman.

Moreover, filling the void hockey has left, I find myself actually caring that the Yankees are going to move Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation—and I hate the Yankees (on a related note, my 3-year-old son has defiantly told me he’s a Yankee fan despite my mandate that he root for the Mets. Of course he doesn’t really know who any of these people are, although I’m proud to say he can easily identify Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, and Bobby Orr).

In other news, the early results from the poll are telling. The vast majority of you would like to see the acquisition of an upper echelon defenseman be Glen Sather’s priority heading into agency, with the re-signing of an otherwise occupied Sean Avery coming in second. I suppose I agree, although given my well-documented indifference for all things defense, I would put re-signing Jagr up there as well.

Here’s the question: are there really any defensemen out there that make your mouth water? Sure, Brian Campbell is intriguing, but he’s flawed as well and going to make a team overpay for him, and after that, I feel there’s a lot of only secondary talent. Surely the Rangers will target at least one of those players, but I’m not sure you should expect any of them to be saviors.

We have a new poll below and to the right about what Glen Sather’s top priorities should be this summer. Feel free to vote early and often.

As you can probably tell, I’m a little lax on updating the polls. For instance, the last poll asked you to assess the coaching job done by Ron Low.

I seriously doubt the NHL has consciously tried to sway the outcome of its playoff series to arrive at this outcome. That said, I doubt anyone in the league office is complaining about a Detroit-Pittsburgh final.

Because let’s face it: with or without the Rangers, these playoffs have been good, but not great. Only three series have gone to a Game 7, and all of those were in the first round; and the only two Game 6s in the ensuing two rounds were the result of last-gasp efforts from teams rallying from 3-0 deficits.

Given the level both the Pens and Red Wings have played at, I can’t imagine one team running too far away from the other. And whereas I originally thought the Wings were the clear-cut favorite, I am now not so sure.

Either way, I’ll be watching. Hopefully, plenty of others will be, too….

Larry Brooks reports that Jaromir Jagr and the Rangers are about to enter preliminary stages of contract negotiations, with both sides making clear they want to extend their relationship for at least another year.

Don’t cancel that New Year’s skiing trip just yet. A report in USA Today today says the Rangers outdoor game at Yankee Stadium may be in trouble because of some construction issues at the Stadium.

My suggested alternative would be to play the game at Port Chester High School seeing how I could walk there, and everyone could come by for hot chocolate afterward.

Come to think of it, I should probably run that last part by my wife (“Uh honey, we’re going to need more marshmallows…”)

The same story also says that a Flyers-Penguins game at Penn State’s football stadium may also be in the works.

Brandon Dubinsky had a hat trick today in the U.S.’s 9-1 win over Norway in the World Championships.

If this against a nation other than Norway, I’d actually be impressed.

Every morning around 8 a.m. the Rangers send out an e-mail compilation of the assorted stories written about the team that day, containing everything from news stories to blog entries to gossip items on where Sean Avery was seen and with whom.

Today came this depressing note:

Please note: There are no NYR Clips on 5.12.08.

Consider me officially depressed, but I try to look on the bright side: tomorrow the clips package will at least consist of this entry lamenting the fact that there are no clips.

I’m just happy to do my part.

Meanwhile, I say there is nothing going on, but in truth the Rangers are having their organizational meetings out at Glen Sather’s pad in La Quinta, Calif., where they will surely discuss everyone from Jaromir Jagr to Avery to Brendan Shanahan. Surely the wheels of decision-making are already in motion, so stay tuned…

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And speaking of the organ-I-zation, consider the odd position my fantasy league co-owner Zip finds himself in, because his newspaper was just bought by the team he covers.

I don’t want to speak for Zip because I’m sure he has his own insight into this, but this is not without precedent. In fact, the company that just sold Newsday, Tribune Co., still owns the Chicago Tribune as well as the Chicago Cubs (although they’re in the process of selling the Cubs). More often than not, the challenge for such a newspaper is not playing favorites but going out of your way to avoid the appearance that you’re playing favorites. It’s a delicate balance, I’m sure. Either way, I certainly don’t envy the position.

Last night with the help of my 3-year-old son Charlie, I spent some time studying the Red Wings’ power play and trying to understand what makes it so effective (actually, I was the only one studying. Charlie was just jumping on the couch and putting off his bedtime).

The simple conclusion I came to is they’re a great team with a lot of great players.

The more complicated conclusion has to do with quick, instinctive puck movement.

Bear in mind the advantages of moving the puck around so quickly in the zone is not just because you can catch the penalty-killers out of position and open up a shooting lane. It’s also because you’re able to tire those penalty killers out.

Think back to the Rangers’ Game 3 loss at the Garden, when they came painfully close to killing off Ryan Hollweg’s brain camp boarding penalty, but instead gave up a goal to Evgeni Malkin with mere seconds remaining. Both the Penguins and the Rangers were clearly exhausted at the end of that power play, but it’s obviously a lot easier when you’re the one passing the puck around than when you’re the one chasing it.

So the Penguins scored, and the Rangers lost, and now it sounds like much of the focus heading into free agency will be in securing some sort of power play quarterback.

As it should be. Because even if Jaromir Jagr returns next year, the Rangers need someone who is going to not only move puck up ice swiftly, but also provide another option beyond No. 68 set up on the half boards.

Because right now, you, me, everyone on the opposing team, and the guys who drive the Zambonis know what the Rangers are trying to do on their man-advantage.

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And speaking of the power play…

As we first mentioned a few weeks ago, Rangers assistant Perry Pearn is a natural candidate for the vacant Panthers head coaching job given not only his league-wide reputation, but also his close ties to GM Jacques Martin.

Pearn was an assistant under Martin for several years in Ottawa, which may make him the leading man for the job. But there are others in the running, including Pat Quinn and perhaps the recently-fired Paul Maurice.