□ Home □ Hockey □ Wolf*Pack □ Link to Story □ Back		New York Daily News Blackburn's new turn Tuesday, March 8th, 2005 Dan Blackburn's winding road back to the NHL has taken another odd twist. The rehabbing 21-year-old Rangers goaltender sought and was given his release by the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL over the weekend. And while Blackburn says he did so as a prelude to possibly joining the Hartford Wolf Pack for the AHL stretch drive and playoffs, the move caught the Rangers unaware and didn't particularly thrill the organization. "We were a little surprised at his decision, but it is his decision," Rangers assistant GM Don Maloney said yesterday. Maloney confirmed Blackburn's assertion that the Rangers were seeking a special visa that would allow the Canadian-born goalie to play for a U.S.-based minor league team the rest of this season - but for Charlotte of the lower-level ECHL, not Hartford. "There has been no discussion whatsoever about him playing in Hartford," Maloney said. The distinction is important given that Blackburn is attempting a difficult comeback from permanent nerve damage in his left shoulder by using a second blocker rather than a catching glove. Having played 12 games in the ECHL, Blackburn wants to take his experiment to a higher level in preparation for competing for an NHL roster spot with the Rangers in the fall - the NHL has approved the modified equipment for use whenever the lockout ends. "I can't turn my hand out like I would with a regular glove on," Blackburn explained yesterday from Victoria, B.C. "With a blocker, you use different muscles. And I can do that." John Dellapina