Strange coincidence:
Wade Redden's locker stall at the MSG training rink is next to Martin Straka, one of the players he was traded for (along with Bryan Berard) back in 1996 when he became a member of the Senators.
Though Redden was unceremoniously booed out of town by the often fickle and long-term memory afflicted Ottawa fans, Glen Sather still thinks Redden can be a top echelon defenseman in the NHL.
"In our opinion, he's the best first-passer in the game today," Sather said, envisioning Redden on the left point of the Rangers' power play.
-Newsday
I'm inclined to agree with Sather on this one.
It's hard to believe how quickly the fans turned on their franchise defenseman after the years of service he gave to the team. It might be true that it was best for both sides to part ways, but since when did Redden deserve all the negativity?
4 comments:
For the record, there have been a lot of Redden haters even when he was playing his best in a Sens jersey. It's not fair, but it's not new, either.
While I'm not bitter at Redden's departure, I'm not disappointed, either. His highest-paid years were both his least consistent, and he doesn't seem to have adjusted to the change in pace since the lockout. He isn't worth $6.5M a year based on his play the last two seasons, so I'm glad Ottawa didn't gamble he'd magically return to form. If I were a betting man, I'd guess Rangers fans will be sorry they did.
Things stated to chnage once he stopped competing and being a responsible and relaible Dman. The guy was SOFT and every time he turned to chase a puck which was just dumped in behind him, you knew he was going to crumple no matter who was bearing down on him...
It has more to do with him eating so much cap space than strictly his performance. The fact that his downturn coincided directly with a pay raise - plus the "WE COULD HAVE KEPT CHARA?!?!!?" speculation/factor - contributes to this dislike of Redden.
He was the least physical defenceman on the sens (except maybe Meszaros last year), and some people didn't like this quality from the start.
i would say the negativity started when Redden decided to not show up for work anymore once he signed a big contract. Never played the body since. Also his first pass is highly over rated at this point in his career.
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