The Legacy of Neil Smith

[AHB*]

Not saying I agree with his moves, but the majority of those guys you listed, were traded for key pieces in that 94' run.

The trades post 94, in dealing Zubov to start, were major mistakes. But no matter how they look in terms of career, the Rangers likely don't win a cup without Esa, Anderson, Matteau, etc.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Not saying I agree with his moves, but the majority of those guys you listed, were traded for key pieces in that 94' run.

The trades post 94, in dealing Zubov to start, were major mistakes. But no matter how they look in terms of career, the Rangers likely don't win a cup without Esa, Anderson, Matteau, etc.

Yup, you need to look at Smith's tenure in a pre and post-1994 mentality.

Post-1994 was awful. The Zubov trade in 95 and the Norstrom+++ for McSorley, Kurri, and Churla deal were just terrible. The writing was on the wall by 1997, with a team on its last legs dragging itself into the ECF. It was kaput after that, but in typical Ranger fashion, there was too much pride to begin rebuilding.

At least Smith did show some semblance of a plan in 1999 with 2 top 10 picks. Just so happened it occurred in perhaps the worst draft in NHL history.

 

[True Blue]

Thanks for replying to me, Neil Smith.....

No worries. Feel free to call on my any time.

However, you still need to answer the question.

 

[True Blue]

Yup, you need to look at Smith's tenure in a pre and post-1994 mentality.

Agreed. I will add that being the ONLY GM in memory to give Rangers fans something that they bleed for, counts for a lot. A LOT. Much like Keenan. The Cup put a lot of stock in the good will bank.

 

[JohnC]

No worries. Feel free to call on my any time.

However, you still need to answer the question.

Neil Smith was the only GM to bring the Rangers a cup in 54 years

I bet you that guy still thinks he's a pompous ********* tho

Move along

 

[Ghost of jas]

Even after the Keenan compensation talk was over, Keenan was willing to do Kovalev and Matteau for Shanny. This was reported over and over in the mid-90s. Then Kennan dealt Shanny for Pronger, which everyone thought was a terrible trade for the Blues because Pronger was struggling in Hartford.

The full story is that Smith and Keenan had a deal to bring Shanahan to NY. But, it was during the sale of the franchise, (along with the Knicks and the Garden) to ITT/Cablevision. So, Smith told Keenan he needed approval from the new ownership. Keenan got impatient, and made the deal for Pronger instead.

 

[Beacon]

I still think that we win the Cup, probably much easier, if we had Sheppard, Gartner and Amonte instead of Matteau, Noonan and Anderson. None of the guys acquired was particularly tough, in fact Matteau was kinda like Boyle - big but soft. The quality of Sheppard, Gartner and Amonte was FAR superior to Matteau, Noonan and Anderson.

You can say, "you never know and we won anyway," but I believe with Sheppard, Amonte, Gartner and Weight, we would've won a few more times and avoided the Horror Years. For one, they themselves would've helped in the 1990s. Two, their presence in the 90s would've made it less necessary to trade away guys like Norstrom.

I genuinely believe we could've had a run better than the Devils had since the mid-90s.

 

[Tawnos]

Gartner, Amonte, Weight, Marchant = 0 Stanley Cups/0 trips to finals

Anderson/Matteau/Noonan/Tikkanen/MacTavish = 12 Cups/15 Finals

Experience means a lot in the playoffs. While the talent given up might have been superior to the talent gained, it's likely that the extra experience in pressure situations put them over the top. No one knows if the other players ever would have excelled in those situations. Weight finally won a Cup in 2006. The only one to make it to a SCF too. So who knows. We know the deals worked.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Gartner, Amonte, Weight, Marchant = 0 Stanley Cups/0 trips to finals

Anderson/Matteau/Noonan/Tikkanen/MacTavish = 12 Cups/15 Finals

Experience means a lot in the playoffs. While the talent given up might have been superior to the talent gained, it's likely that the extra experience in pressure situations put them over the top. No one knows if the other players ever would have excelled in those situations. Weight finally won a Cup in 2006. The only one to make it to a SCF too. So who knows. We know the deals worked.

I wonder how many people on this board watched the 1990 Campbell finals. Probably not many. I was turned off to hockey because of the Druce fiasco, but something beggared my curiosity and I watched the best hockey in one series aside from Rangers-Devils in 1994.

That series was a war. Just great, emotional hockey.

Gilbert, Hudson, Larmer, Messier, Lowe, Beukeboom, Graves, Anderson, Mactavish and Tikkanen all played in that war. Keenan coached in it. Two years later the Hawks steamrolled to the SCF. Noonan and Mattaeu were there for that.

Chicago went to the CF six times in 10 years up to 1992.

Smith's blueprint with Keenan couldnt have worked out better. Wish they could have worked together longer.