BUFFALO – Yes, more likely than not Dan Blackburn will remain with the Rangers for the remainder of the season. But there is no guarantee, not even after Glen Sather released Petr Skudra from his AHL tryout agreement so the veteran netminder could return to the NHL with Vancouver.
“It’s not etched in stone that Danny will be here,” Ron Low said of the 18-year-old who got the start here last night against the Sabres. “Why? I don’t think anything is etched in stone.
“I’m sure if something jumps out at Glen that would help the hockey club, he’d do it, whether we have Danny here or not.”
Make no mistake. The Rangers are thrilled with everything about Blackburn, whom they grabbed out of WHL Kootenay with the 10th overall pick in the June Entry Draft. They’re thrilled with his play, with his work ethic, with his ability to adapt to sitting behind Mike Richter, who had started seven of the previous eight prior to last night’s match.
“When you’re No. 1 in junior, you play 70 games, so you only practice for maybe 20 minutes while the backup stays on late and gets most of the shots, not you,” said Low, who had an 11-year NHL career in goal. “Here, Danny has to be the guy who does all the grunt work in practice, who has to stay on late with the extras or the guys coming back from injuries.
“If you’re not going to get three games a week, you have to get at least one-and-a-half in practices. And Danny has done that. He’s been more than willing to do that, to do anything we’ve asked of him. That’s one thing about having him here with Ricky; if Danny is watching him at all, he has to pick up on Mike’s incredible work ethic.”
Last night marked Blackburn’s sixth start in the Rangers’ 18 games, on pace to get somewhere around 25 on the season. Management figures that will be more than enough for him.
“We had talked earlier about possibly releasing him to play for Canada in the World Junior Tournament around the holidays, but I don’t think that’s on the board right now,” Low said. “We would do that if there’s was a concern about Danny needing work, but he should get right around our target of 30 games.”
There has for some reason been confusion concerning the Rangers’ need to either declare or make a decision on Blackburn’s roster status before he plays in his 11th NHL game. There is no such need. The Rangers could return Blackburn to Kootenay at any time, just as they finally returned Manny Malhotra to Guelph in mid-March of the 1999-2000 season. The 11-game threshold is significant only as it applies to contract and waiver issues.
“I’ve never been concerned with that at all,” Blackburn, who is living with John Davidson’s family, said. “I’ve believed and said from the start that I’m ready for the NHL.
“I just want to work on my game. I leave everything else to the people who make the decisions.”
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Rangers were going for their fourth straight win last night. If successful, they would have gone three games over .500 (10-7-1) for the first time since the end of the 1996-97 season. The Blueshirts squandered one such opportunity earlier in the year when, at 4-2-1, they lost in Tampa on Oct. 20 … Richter will be in goal tonight when the Canadiens visit the Garden … Eric Lindros had scored in four straight games going into last night.
