THE RANGERS FIRED THE WRONG MAN

Tom Renney was fired today as head coach of the New York Rangers after a little more than four and a half seasons behind the bench. The Rangers season is spiraling out of control, having lost 10 of 12, and Renney is the one to ultimately pay the price. Coaches are often the scapegoats on struggling teams, even if they aren't necessarily the ones who's performance needs review, and that appears to be the case with Renney. It is general manager Glen Sather, the man who fired Renney, who deserves to be canned.

Sather has given some ridiculous contracts out in the past couple of years, which makes the Rangers situation even more dire. With the March 4 deadline arriving soon, teams in the Rangers situation usually look to make a trade. But New York probably won't be able to do that, with Chris Drury ($7,050,000 cap hit), Scott Gomez ($7,357,000 cap hit), Wade Redden ($6,500,000 cap hit), Henrik Lundqvist ($6,875,000 cap hit), and Michael Rozsival ($5,000,000 cap hit) clogging up all of the team's salary cap space. Markus Naslund was brought in last offseason to sure up the club's scoring a little more, but the 35-year-old hardly seems worth his $5,000,000 salary, as he is a -14 through 61 games in New York. To make matters worse, Sather gave Redden a partial no-trade clause in his six year, $39 million deal, and Naslund has a full no-movement clause as well.

The decision to let Brendan Shanahan, who scored 23 goals last season for the blueshirts, leave was another costly decision, as was the uncerimonious parting from former captain Jaromir Jagr. Jagr now plays for Omsk in Russia, and Shanahan is still in the Atlantic Division, now with the New Jersey Devils. Don't you think the Rangers could use a little more punch up front with either of these two guys?

The Rangers, who are 2-7-3 in their last 12 games, are certainly lacking offensive firepower. They score only 2.33 goals per game, which ranks 29th in the 30 team league, and have scored two goals or less in their last 12 losses. Ultimately it was Renney who took the blame, which is why he is now looking for work. If the blueshirts can't pull themselves out of this tailspin soon, maybe it's time for Sather to start updating his resume as well.

THE TOP 5 HOCKEY MOVIES

With the Oscars set to kick off in just a few hours, let's count down the top five hockey movies ever made. Before we begin the list, here are a few movies you won't see: MVP: Most Valuable Primate, Sudden Death, or The Love Guru. Sorry to fans of those films, but they just aren't quite good enough for the list. Here are the top five.

5. Mystery, Alaska
Russell Crowe stars in this film about hockey in a small Alaskan town that is chosen to host a televised exhibition game against the New York Rangers. Jay Roach directed the 1999 comedy, and the movie gets extra points for Mike Myers portrayal of hockey announcer Donnie Shulzhoffer, a comedic character based on the hilarious Don Cherry.

4. The Rocket
This 2005 Canadian movie focuses on Maurice Richard coming into the NHL in a time when French Canadians were rare in the league. The trailer makes it seem like a corny Disney movie (the voiceover really does it), but the hockey scenes look great. Not that there is anything wrong with corny Disney movies. Movies like...

3. The Mighty Ducks
OK. It's a bit unrealistic. Emilio Estevez's greatest role (don't even try to deny it) as coach Gordon Bombay who turns a bunch of misfit kids into champions. Of course, I'm only talking about the first one, as D2 was pretty average, and let's pretend The Mighty Ducks 3 never even happened. Just remember, Ducks fly together.

2. Miracle
This 2004 movie tells the tale of the Miracle on Ice, when the United States hockey team defeated the heavily favored Soviet team in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Kurt Russell stars as head coach Herb Brooks, the plaid laden leader of the gold medal winning Americans.

1. Slap Shot
What else would have been number one? Paul Newman, plus the Hanson brothers, make Slap Shot the best hockey movie of all-time, and one that will probably never be topped.

TRADING KOVALEV IS A SMART MOVE

The Montreal Canadiens struggles have been well documented. The floundering club's GM, Bob Gainey, even went as far as sending one of their top offensive players--Alex Kovalev--home while on a brief road trip because of his indifferent attitude as much as his poor play. Kovalev, MVP of this season's all-star game, is probably in his final month in Montreal, as the Habs will most likely look to deal the aging superstar before the March 4 trade deadline.

Kovalev's act has grown stale before, and his on ice conduct has rubbed many the wrong way as well. In the 1995 playoffs, Kovalev, then with the New York Rangers, went down in a heap after taking a one hander to the back. Joe Sakic then scored for the Nordiques, but the goal was disallowed because of the Rangers' forward's "injury." Sportsmanship be damned. In 2003, Kovalev grabbed his wrist in pain when Boston forward Travis Green nicked his glove in overtime of game four of the Habs first round playoff series. Kovalev gave up on the play, electing to shake his wrist in pain and complain rather than play the puck. As Kovalev was putting on a show for the refs, he collided with defenseman Sheldon Souray, taking him out of the play. Glen Murray of the Bruins grabbed the loose puck and ultimately scored, giving Boston a 3-1 series lead. Thanks Alex.



Theres a reason that a player as talented as Kovalev has bounced around a bit. He's made two stints in New York and two more in Pittsburgh before coming to Montreal in 2003-04. And it appears his tenure with the Habs is drawing to a close as well. Trading the 35-year-old is a smart move for Gainey. The Canadiens clearly don't have the team they were expecting this season, and Kovalev is one player who's age, and cap hit make him a prime candidate to be moved. Montreal still has the pieces to make a run this season--however doubtful that may be at this point--without him, and building for the future should be the team's top priority. Kovalev's attitude will probably deter Gainey from re-signing him anyway, as he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Kovalev's attention grabbing attitude can clash with the "win at all costs" circus in Montreal. It appears his act is finally starting to wear thin, and the five year marriage between player and team appears to finally be coming to a close.

THE ALL-TIME BLACKHAWKS TEAM

Having already seen the Bruins, Red Wings, and Rangers all-time teams, let's take a look at the Chicago Blackhawks, the fourth and final original six team in the United States.


OFFENSIVE LINES
LW: Bobby Hull C: Stan Mikita RW: Steve Larmer
LW: Dennis Hull C: Denis Savard RW: Eric Nesterenko
LW: Chico Maki C: Pit Martin RW: Tony Amonte
LW: Clifford Koroll C: Troy Murray RW: Kenny Wharram

DEFENSE
Chris Chelios, Doug Wilson
Robert Murray, Pierre Pilote
Keith Brown, Doug Jarrett

GOALIES
Tony Esposito
Glenn Hall
Ed Belfour

Head Coach: Billy Reay
Captain: Bobby Hull
Assistant Captains: Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote

THE PRICE IS WRONG

When the 2008-09 season kicked off in October, the Montreal Canadiens were supposed to be one of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. Montreal, celebrating it's 100th season and ready to host the All-Star game in January, seemed poised to capture their unheralded 25th Stanley Cup. But something strange happened along the way and the Canadiens are finding themselves failing to manage the lofty expectations placed on them by the rabid fan base and smothering media in Quebec's capital city. With 67 points, the Habs are currently in sixth place in the East, and just two points ahead of ninth place Carolina. At 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, Montreal is fading fast and searching for answers. One solution that the Canadiens should look to is benching goalie Carey Price in favor of Jaroslav Halak. It may be just what the doctor ordered.

When the Canadiens played the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada two weeks ago, announcer Jim Hughson mentioned that Price was too deep in his net. Price allowed five goals that night (a 5-2 loss), and looked visibly shaken afterwards. His confidence was clearly down, and he wasn't cutting it in net. In fact, Price hasn't won a game since, and has just two wins since new years. The way he crumbled in the playoffs last year can't make Habs fans feel good either. He played well in a 4-3 OT win against the Flyers in the first game of the Conference Semi-Finals, but then completely fell apart and was pulled late in game three, and benched for game four. Montreal lost the series in five games.

While yes, it's true that Price is only 21-years-old, his struggles have to worry the Habs. This was supposed to be their year (again), but instead it's looking like young Price is going to need more time to develop. Whatever the Canadiens do, they'll need to do it fast. They are 3-11-1 since January 20, and are struggling to score as well as keep the puck out of their net. The team's struggles, coupled with the Soprano...er, Kostitsyn brothers' troubles, should make for one interesting rest of the season for the Habs.

BOSTON'S MOUNT RUSHMORE: COLLEGE HOCKEY EDITION

College Hockey News' website had a link to this blog from Tom Kensler of the Denver Post critiquing ESPN's Mount Rushmore of Sports choices for his home state of Colorado. That got me thinking about my own hometown of Boston and the possibilities f0r it's Mount Rushmore. The area is certainly a college hockey hotbed--with BC, BU, Northeastern, and Harvard all close to one another--and three of those four teams are currently ranked in the top 20 (including two in the top five). Here is my Mount Rushmore of College Hockey for the Boston area.

Mike Eruzione- Boston University
Eruzione was a tremendous player for BU before captaining Team USA to the "Miracle on Ice" victory over the USSR in the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. While best known for his Olympic triumphs, Eruzione was outstanding for the Terriers as well. He put up at least 40 points in each of his four seasons playing for legendary coach Jack Parker, including a 27-29-56 line during his sophomore year in 1974-75.

Chris Drury- Boston University
Drury won a National Championship with the Terriers in his freshman season of 1995, and won the Hobey Baker award as college hockey's best player in his senior year, 1998. He was the first BU player to ever record 100 goals and 100 assists in his career, and this past year, was honored as Hockey East's Best Defensive Forward of all-time as part of the league's 25th anniversary celebration.

Lane McDonald- Harvard University
McDonald captained Harvard to the National Championship in 1989, and won the Hobey Baker that year as well. He graduated with four different school scoring records, and was in the top five in 11 different statistical categories. McDonald was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.

Jerry York- Boston College
BC desperately needed representation on Boston's Mount Rushmore of College Hockey, and that is why York gets the nod over Jack Parker, who is currently in his 36th season as BU's head coach. York is actually the NCAA's all-time leader in wins by a head coach, and since 1998, his teams have the best winning percentage in post season play in division one hockey (79.2%). At BC, York has won six Hockey East tournament titles, four Beanpot titles, eight Frozen Four appearances (in the past 11 seasons) and two National Championships.

THE ALL-TIME RANGERS TEAM

With the Bruins and Red Wings out of the way, we come to the New York Rangers. Many greats have played in the Big Apple, let's find out if they made the cut. Here is the all-time roster for the New York Rangers.


OFFENSIVE LINES
LW: Steve Vickers C: Jean Ratelle RW: Rod Gilbert
LW: Vic Hadfield C: Mark Messier RW: Andy Bathgate
LW: Adam Graves C: Walt Tkaczuk RW: Henry Camille
LW: Don Maloney C: Frank Boucher RW: Dean Prentice

DEFENSE
Brian Leetch, Ron Greschner
Harry Howell, Jim Neilson
James Patrick, Brad Park

GOALIES
Mike Richter
Ed Giacomin
Gump Worsley

Head Coach: Lester Patrick
Captain: Mark Messier
Assistant Captains: Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle