ABSTRACT:

John Muckler yesterday left no doubt regarding what the Rangers are demanding from Petr Nedved, now 20 games into his Broadway encore.

“Petr’s role on the hockey club is not to be a good hockey player, but to be a great hockey player,” the coach said following yesterday’s practice at Rye.

Nedved has had some great nights since returning to the NHL after the contractual stalemate with Pittsburgh that kept him out of the league for over a year – nights on which he’s dominated, controlled the puck, dictated the play, driven hard to the net. But there also have been nights on which Nedved has been average, if not less than that, nights on which he’s played almost entirely on the perimeter and not been a factor.