While you continue to fret over the Rangers most recent performance, a somewhat unrelated update:

A number of you have contacted me about tickets for the Rangers’ two-game set in Prague next fall. Thanks to Zdenek Janda, a reporter from the Daily Sport in Prague who was kind enough to get back to me on this, we know that tickets for the two games will go on sale in mid-April.

They’ll run between $124-$550, and there’ll be about 8,500 available to the generabl public (with the other half going to NHL execs, VIPs and others).

Of course the next big question is how people go about buying those tickets. More on that when I have it, but I figured I’d pass along what I have.

OK, you officially have reason to be throwing your shoes at the TV scratching your head.

Because other than a couple of Swedes—sorry Christian Backman, but we’re talking about Fred Sjostrom and Henrik Lundqvist—the Rangers pulled a complete no-show tonight in Tampa, and now are just four points ahead of ninth place Buffalo.

Maybe it’s just a two-game hiccup, or maybe it’s worse than that. But like it or not, this Florida misstep has added an extra layer of tension to these final 10 games.

And you thought this would be easy…

Ah, sarcasm. It is the air I breathe.

No, I don’t think you should be overly concerned about your Rangers after last night’s streak-snapping loss to a Panthers team that has now won six straight.

But a little bit of concern? Sure. After all, nothing is yet a given with 11 games remaining.

Truth is, the Rangers haven’t been airtight for a few games now, and the last thing you want is to drop two straight to two teams on the outside of the playoff picture. This time of year is all about momentum. The Rangers had it going one way for more than a month. They can’t afford to now have it swing back in the other direction.

Tom Renney has again opted against tinkering with his lineup, other than Marek Malik missing his second consecutive game with what is now a slight shoulder sprain.

This also means Henrik Lundqvist is back in net, which makes sense: Florida has won five straight, so the Rangers are better off having their No. 1 guy tonight.

All this courtesy of my fantasy league co-owner Zipay (under whose stewardship we are losing ground in the standings. And to Dellapina, no less!). Sadly I am not in Florida, which would be even more painful if not for the first signs of spring appearing here. Instead, it will be Sam and Joe on the TV and my 2 1/2 year-old bouncing on the couch wondering why the Rangers are wearing white (he refers to them as the “Blue Rangers,” so this is all very confusing).

In other news, my colleague Rick Carpiniello chimes in with a buzzkill observation here.

If Jaromir Jagr has any desire to be a Ranger next season, why wouldn’t he just say so when we asked him about it yesterday?

That was one reaction I took away from a conversation in which the captain was otherwise perfectly vague. It appears the only other person present for it had the same take

Again, there is the chance that Jagr simply doesn’t want his contract status to be a distraction at such a pivotal time, which is understandable and even admirable. But the other side to consider is the issue loses steam the moment Jagr declares he wants to be back.

Stay tuned…

In other news, I got this e-mail from the NHL this morning:

The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) today announced a new global multi-year partnership with Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) and Bridgestone Firestone Canada Inc. (BFCA) in which the Bridgestone brand will serve as the “Official Tire of the NHL, NHLPA and the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

Oh, thank heavens at least that’s been resolved. The lack of an Official Tire for the league has been gnawing at me for months….

As if my post from before didn’t already hint at as much, Jaromir Jagr was predictably noncommital when it came to the subject of his plans for next season.

“I think we should worry about that a little later after the season,” Jagr said. “How to explain it? There was still a chance I was going to hit the numbers (84 points for him and and appearance in the second round for the Rangers) and I was going to be here for sure. Now I’m not going to hit it and I’m totally OK with free agency. But I still have a contract here and I’m going to try to play my best, so whatever happens, happens. I don’t know.”

This all comes in the wake of Glen Sather’s comments in Prague that he wants to re-sign the captain before he becomes a free agent July 1.Jagr said he hadn’t heard that—“I was in Buffalo,” he said—but now that he did, he sounded skeptical.

“I know how people react when there’s pressure from media,” he cracked. “You cannot say the truth, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just want to have a great playoffs. That’s all I worry about.”

Naturally, Jagr has been thinking about this more than he let on today, but it’s clear it’s not something he wants out for public consumption while the Rangers are still playing. As far as he’s concerned, the only certainty about his future is where he’ll finish his career. It probably won’t be next year, or even the year after that, but eventually he wants to finish playing in Kladno, where he started as a junior a near quarter century ago.

“I know that for sure because at least it’s not the NHL and I can play there,” Jagr said. “That’s what I know for sure. If nothing bad happens, I’m going to finish my hockey career in Kladno.”

Sean Avery was fined $2,500 and the Rangers were tabbed for $25,000 as a result of the left wing’s water bottle throwing incident on Sunday. This news came courtesy not of the league or the Rangers, but of Avery himself.

I won’t detail the attire he was sporting when he announced as much. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.
In other news, everyone practiced today, although Marek Malik and Paul Mara were each still in non-contact green jerseys. Malik is day-to-day, and Mara said he’s about a week away.

More in a bit, including Jaromir Jagr’s response to Glen Sather’s statement in Prague that he wants to re-sign the captain at season’s end….

Stephen Valiquette said he hasn’t had any discussions with the Rangers about a contract for next season, but that he wants to be back.

Neither of these revelations should come as much of a surprise. One, given the other free agents on the team’s roster, the backup goalie might not be much of a priority right around now. And the team probably already has a good idea that Valiquette isn’t interested in walking away.

Just much does Valiquette like being a Ranger? This is how he described it to me:

“The staff is the best in the league. It’s the best facility. The best plane. The best food on the plane. The best workout facilities. The best coaches. There isn’t one negative aspect of being a New York Ranger. The quality of life is great here.”

In other words, he’s pretty miserable.

Truth is, the Rangers have stumbled on a gem with Valiquette, not only because he’s capable of stealing a game from time-to-time, but because he has no ego to speak of, and is happy to be the starting goalie’s biggest supporter. That’s not a common combination of traits.

And given all that, you wonder if Valiquette’s success opened the door for Al Montoya being shipped out of town. Valiquette shot down that theory when I asked him, and Tom Renney only said the combination of Henrik Lundqvist and Valiquette allowed the team to feel comfortable making the deal.

Obviously. But I would have to think holding on to Montoya would be much more important to the Rangers if Valiquette turned out to be a disappointment this season.

As we know now, though, that hasn’t been the case, and my guess is the Rangers will feature the same goaltending tandem in 2008-09 that they do now. And unlike some of his teammates, Valiquette doesn’t sound like he’s going to push the Rangers too hard when it comes to a new deal.
“No,” he said when I asked him if there’s been any talk so far. “But should I be like Sean Avery and tell you what I think I’m worth?”

Update, 1:33 p.m: The Rangers just announced they’ve agreed to terms with forward Justin Soryal.

A startling admission: I don’t know who that is. Apparently he’s in the OHL playing for Peterborough, and has 15 goals and 22 assists in 56 games. He was a free agent, so I assume that means he wasn’t drafted. That’s OK, Justin. Neither was I.

It’s never a good reflection on an officiating crew when an infraction that goes unpunished during a game leads to a suspension. That, however, is what happened to Andrew Peters, who was suspended one game for his punch from the bench on Colton Orr on Monday night in Buffalo.Tom Renney didn’t have much to say about the news when asked about it now, and really, what can he say? The Rangers and Sabres are done for the season, and won’t likely meet again until 2008-09. So in other words: a lot of good it does his team now.

Meanwhile, some notes from practice:

A project for my boss just now involved submitting a list of teams the Rangers might face in the first round of the playoffs.

From what I recall about last year, only sixth through eighth place were viable options at the same point in the season, and I’m pretty sure there were only four realistic first round opponents: Buffalo, New Jersey, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta (where the Rangers ended up going).

This year? There are seven different possible opponents (eight if you count the Sabres three points out of eighth, and 10 if you think Washington or Florida storming back to win the Southeast Division is still a possibility).

Not only that, but there is still the chance the Rangers could claim home-ice advantage, meaning there are something like a thousand different scenarios for where the Rangers would play their first round game and who they’d be playing against.

A couple of reactions to this:

First off, I should reiterate I am really bad at math so I’m pretty sure “a thousand” is probably not accurate.

And secondly, I’m aware that this isn’t something any of you want to discuss right now since it’s woefully premature. But that’s just what I do.