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They could have a lot more fun with this in New York if the two sides acted more like Christie Brinkley and her spouse in their divorce.
I'm thinking a few leaked personal details about the relationship, maybe a couple of jabs through the media, something -- anything -- that might have spiced things up in the other uncomfortable high profile breakup taking place in the Big Apple. It has been going on for a year after all.
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| Jaromir Jagr took the Rangers from an annual joke to a playoff team. (Getty Images) |
It's all so very mature, so very dignified and by now, so very boring.
Truthfully, there is little surprise in Jagr leaving because the separation process actually began last summer when New York signed free agents Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. It was a clear signal the Rangers were looking to the next generation of leaders beyond Jagr, a transition that officially got under way Friday when a Russian team announced it signed the 36-year-old forward to bring down the curtain on one of the most critical periods in Rangers history.
The Jagr era in New York was brief and it never produced a Stanley Cup. But it created a lasting legacy because during the three full post-lockout seasons Jagr served as captain of the Rangers, the team and organization was transformed from being a laughing stock to a legitimate, if long shot perennial contender.
New York was about to miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season when Jagr was acquired from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline before the lockout. At the time, the Rangers were in the process of blowing up their high-priced roster to prepare for the work stoppage, yet they were also taking on the most expensive contract in the league for a player who seemed to be fading, and insisting they would rebuild around him.
When play resumed, the team had assembled a different looking lineup surrounding Jagr with several veteran Czech-born countrymen, many of whom appeared past their expiration dates. That created expectations that were low to nonexistent for the Rangers, but on the first day of the first post-lockout training camp, Jagr made like Mark Messier and guaranteed the team would be in the playoffs.
Jagr went on to set franchise records with 54 goals and 123 points, finishing as runner-up in both the scoring and MVP races, and helped New York hit 100 points to get to the postseason, although the Rangers were swept in the first round. New York bounced back with another playoff-worthy season and made it a little further by getting to the second round but there was a transformation already under way. With the team moving to find spots for younger players that had come from the farm system, they were weeding out some of the veterans Jagr was comfortable with.
The idea of bringing in Gomez and Drury was in part to find linemates for Jagr to play with, but neither of the newcomers were able to develop a real on-ice chemistry with him. Ironically, that was in part responsible for Jagr not being with the team next season because a clause in his contract allowed him to trigger a renewal option by scoring at least 84 points.
Jagr finished with a modest 71 points, but he did take things up several notches in the playoffs when he showed several flashes of brilliance from his prime years. However Jagr couldn't will the Rangers beyond the second round again, and with several holes on the team being exposed in the series against the Penguins, he was left vulnerable when New York began setting priorities for salary cap space.
GM Glen Sather made that clear when he described the team's offseason strategy.
"We're trying to get younger, we're tying to get more talented and we're trying to get faster," Sather said. "If you look around the league, that's the way the league is going. It's not necessarily going with guys that are 35 and up."
Sather did attempt to re-sign Jagr after the season ended, but the kind of contract the Rangers were offering -- reportedly one year at $6 million, a 20 percent pay cut -- was as unrealistic as what the Yankees offered Joe Torre before he left for the Dodgers. To Jagr, it was obvious he wasn't really necessary anymore, something that became clear when the Rangers signed free-agent forward Markus Naslund on Thursday, effectively freezing the former captain out of their budget.
"I don't want to say anything bad against the Rangers or Glen," Jagr told the New York Daily News. "They were always good to me."
Which makes this a less-than-ideal way of ending what was a good relationship, but not necessarily a bad thing for either Jagr or the Rangers. Jagr, who showed during the playoffs he can still play extremely effective hockey when he is inspired to do so, will again be the highest paid player in the world. And the Rangers will get to move forward and give players like Gomez, Drury and goalie Henrik Lundqvist a chance to put their stamp on the team without a dominant personality looming over them.
"(Jagr) told me he wanted to play here, I told him we wanted him to play here, but it never got to 'you give me X amount of dollars, I'll come back and play in New York.'" Sather said. "I've waited for a call in the last few days, so we decided we were gonna move on. But it was a very cordial parting."
