Tuesday, March 11, 2008

City vs. The Burbs

Sam Weinman at The Journal News reports on where current Rangers are living...

"There was a time when the decision for Rangers whether to live in Westchester wasn't much of a decision at all. The team has been based in the county for nearly 30 years, with stints in Elmsford and Rye before relocating to the lavish MSG Training Center in Greenburgh in 2002.

Between practices and morning skates, the astronomical cost of living, and the fact that players living in Manhattan wasn't entirely welcomed by Rangers management, Westchester to many players was home while the city was only for games at the Garden and the occasional evening out...

...If the advantages of raising a family in this area (Westchester) were the determining factors for some, they haven't even been a consideration for members of the team's younger crowd, who have migrated to Manhattan. That includes second-year defenseman Dan Girardi and rookies Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes, all single players who have made the move to Manhattan's West Side this season."

...the article goes on to say that Leetch pioneered the recent move from Westchester to Manhattan...

"...Even when franchise great Brian Leetch pioneered a new wave of Rangers players moving to Manhattan in the early '90s, then-coach Roger Neilson offered his own type of protest: When the Rangers would fly into LaGuardia Airport after a road game, he'd make Leetch ride the bus with the team out to Rye - only so he could turn right back and drive into Manhattan."

...I had never heard that story about Neilson making Leetch take the bus to Rye. What a jerk.

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