September 14, 2006 -- Guaranteed to happen when the Rangers report for training camp physicals today at their Westchester practice rink: presumptive captain Jaromir Jagr will be asked to guarantee a second consecutive playoff berth for the Blueshirts.
A year ago, of course, everyone scoffed when No. 68 issued a pledge that seemed way wackier than even Joe Namath's 1969 Super Bowl vow. Now, a repeat of the guarantee is essentially required after the Rangers did indeed qualify for the tournament for the first time since 1997.
The Rangers report to camp with a foundation of success after qualifying for the playoffs last season. But there is still much to prove and much to improve upon in the aftermath of the ultimate, concluding and conclusive nine-game losing streak that cost the team a division title and its historic spotless postseason record against the Devils.
"We want to make the playoffs again for sure and show that last year was not a one-year [fluke], goalie Henrik Lundqvist said."
Glen Sather, prescient last year in building around Jagr and constructing a club designed to take advantage of the new-era rules interpretations, had a second consecutive conservative free agent summer. Sather added winger Brendan Shanahan, center Matt Cullen and defenseman Aaron Ward while maintaining a significant amount of cap flexibility for the season.
While the team hardly fits the traditional rebuilding model, the significant renovations are taking place at the back of the house. Tom Renney will be open to kids taking the relatively few apparent open spots on the roster if they're earned.
There appears to be one open spot among the top six forwards, either in the middle or at wing, depending upon where Martin Straka lines up. Figure the early competition to feature Jarkko Immonen, Lori Korpikoski, Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinsky.
There may also be a spot open for a checking and penalty-kill forward, now that Radek Dvorak has signed with St. Louis rather than with the Rangers.
The six-man defense seems pretty well locked in, but Marc Staal, Martin Richter, Thomas Pock, Ivan Baranka and Daniel Girardi will get long looks if merited. Brian Leetch, by the way, has given no indication to the Rangers that he either does or does not wish to continue his career, and the Rangers, at the same time, have given no commitment of any kind to Leetch.
Guaranteed, however, to happen at tomorrow's first skate: defenseman David Liffiton will not be wearing the No. 2 decal on his helmet as he did during Tuesday's informal scrimmage.
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Michael Sauer, the 19-year-old defenseman who was the 40th overall selection in the 2005 Entry Draft, is still suffering post-concussion symptoms after an injury he sustained at last month's USA Hockey Evaluation camp and will not attend Ranger camp.
