Welcome to your insanity

(ironydesign.com) Forgive me if I am not so politically correct today as really some of the ideas making the rounds in the New York Ranger universe are pushing the limits of reality. House hunting is beginning to push me to the end of my sanity.

I'm beginning to think that as punishment for those who keep going rumor crazy is that they be required to try to buy a house that is listed as "a short sale".

Look, I understand people want to see the Rangers find ways to improve but if Glen Sather did 10% of some of the ideas being floated around, there would be a lynch mob waiting for old Glen at Madison Square Garden and that's just Gordie Clark and the scouts.

Seriously the world's worst trade makers are fans, for starters, you don't fully understand the situation that the other team is having to deal with. Sometimes just because somebody you want to see traded is the subject of a rumor means it is going to happen.

There are times when you don't make a trade because of what it could cost your franchise if you did.

Take Rick Nash, for example, Columbus for years has struggled to just make the playoffs and over time now their fan base is losing patience. Put it this way think back to when the Rangers missed the playoffs for 7 straight years.

If not for the 2004 NHL lockout; there would've been a good chance that streak could've continued for a 8th and maybe a 9th consecutive season. Who knows where the Rangers would've been had a salary cap not been imposed on the NHL.

Now try to imagine supporting a franchise from expansion beginnings like Columbus to where they are today. Columbus has had a team since 2000 and they have one playoff appearance to show for their history (and they were swept in their only appearance).

They have blundered and blundered and then blundered some more so if anyone thinks that the Rangers would just be handed Rick Nash for chump change; forget about it.

And I need to point this out, but Glen Sather didn't just say that he would not trade Chris Kreider. His exact words were "We Don't Trade Kids," Sather wasn't just talking about Chris Kreider either.

These kids are just as much the result of Sather's own scouting trips as any of the scouting staff. Sather has flown from Europe to Medicine Hat to check out the prospects.

Anyone who has followed Glen Sather's record in trades should know that Glen Sather will not overpay in any trade he makes. You either pay his price or he won't deal with you.

Even deals like Bure and Lindros, Sather gave up almost nothing (yes he traded kids, Neil Smith's kids not his). Remember the Jagr deal, the world was expecting Sather to sell the farm and he gave up Anson Carter PLUS got the Capitals to pay half of Jagr's salary.

Give Glen Sather some credit for learning from his own mistakes and doing his best to make up for them. Sure Glen Sather will take Rick Nash but he's not going to give Scott Howson what Howson would like to get.

And Howson can't go back to the Columbus fans and not bring them legit reason to accept any Nash trade. Howson royally blew it on the Jeff Carter trade as well as his free agent signings so he needs someone to bail his backside out.

Glen Sather is not that person as he won't even offer Howson a hanky when he comes pleading poverty. Sure 6-7 teams are supposedly asking about Nash but it is extremely doubtful that any of them are going to do Howson any favors either.

The other thing that gets me is people have already forgotten just how close this team came to making the Stanley Cup finals. You do not take a sledgehammer to that team and disrupt what you've already built up.

It's almost as if people are so wanting to get the name players that they forget that there's a price that has to be paid. One of the best things I've ever heard Glen Sather say was this:

“I would like to have a 60-goal scorer, I’d like to have a defenseman that could play 25 minutes and get 25 goals, I’d like to have a goaltender that could be under one goal-against per game,” Sather said. “Those are wish lists that every team in this league would like to have. Realistically, there are some people that are going to be available, but they’re not available until July 1.”

I have to admit that I never thought I'd see the day where Glen Sather was the voice of reason considering how much I did not want him as a Rangers general manager to begin with.

It's almost an annual tradition now for some Ranger fans no matter how the team finished. They expect the team to go out and get the biggest name no matter what the cost.

The Rangers could have won the cup and sure enough there would be someone saying this team has to have Rick Nash and Zach Parise. It is like little kids begging mommy and daddy to buy them a cereal because of the toy inside and not caring that they would never eat the cereal to begin with.

To be fair, most of the time these rumors are started by those who aren't as close to the situation as they would like you to believe. Can anybody picture John Tortorella picking up the phone and calling Larry Brooks to let him know that Sather is talking to Columbus?

It's not that extreme, but here's something that's almost commonplace when it comes to New York Ranger trade rumors; most of them aren't started in New York. Ever wonder about that?

Other than Larry Brooks who among the Ranger beat media ever breaks a trade rumor? There is not a more veteran group of writers covering the Rangers than the Maven, Jim Cerny, Rich Carpinnello, Andrew Gross and Steve Zipay and if they knew something they would report it.

Let me also toss a couple of bones out there for you to chew on; sometimes the first rumor you hear is not the only one making the rounds. When Glen Sather said that player(s) he was interested in were not going to be available until July 1; he wasn't talking just free agents either.

There will be several top level players who's contract status just might force their team to move them now while they can. There are also going to be players who might hit the trade market because certain GMs are under pressure to get their team back to the playoffs.

If you saw Eric or Jordan Staal's name out there as available; tell me who here would not want guys with actual cup rings? Then there is annual playoff flop San Jose who is expected to try once again to find a new way to break their choker's label.

And there is the place in the Northwest where choking is not a job but a way of life and boy do they need to appease some really pissed off fans. I can't believe I am writing this but this year trust Glen Sather to do the right thing with the Rangers.

Patience is a virtue, the rest go house hunting during a recession.