• RANGERS ALL-TIME TEAM PHOTOS
Friday night’s season finale of MSG’s "Fans’ Most Wanted: Rangers" gave Blueshirts faithful a chance to meet the all-time Rangers Dream Team.

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Brendan Shanahan turned down more money from Montreal to sign with the Rangers two summers ago.

He endangered his own life by challenging Donald Brashear to a fight at center ice of the Garden in order to make it clear that he would not tolerate the Rangers — particularly Jaromir Jagr — being pushed around.

He came back from a frightening concussion when, at his age and with his resume, nobody would have begrudged his taking the rest of the 2006-07 season off rather than rush back for the playoffs. And he refused to let a severely sprained knee heal properly last January, talking his way back into the lineup because he believed the Rangers were on the verge of missing the playoffs.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that, with less than a month to go before NHL training camps open, Shanahan is risking not only the loss of significant dollars but perhaps the chance to play anywhere in the NHL next season because he so badly wants to remain a Ranger.

Yesterday afternoon, Blues president John Davidson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wants to sign Shanahan. But when I spoke with Shanahan a little while ago, he reiterated yet again that he has instructed his agent, Rick Curran, to keep telling potential suitors that he remains focused only upon re-signing with the Rangers.

“I haven’t spoken directly with any other teams,” Shanahan said. “But the ones that have contacted my agent have all been told the same thing: ‘My focus remains on working something out with New York and we’re still talking with Glen Sather.’”

It remains difficult to see how Shanahan will fit back into a Rangers roster that has been significantly retooled this summer with the obvious goal of devoting the offensive ice time on the wings to newcomers Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev and returning youngsters Ryan Callahan, Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes.

But Rangers GM Glen Sather has refused to close the door on a Shanahan return. And Shanahan remains determined to play a third season with the Rangers — even if it means taking a dramatic paycut from the $5 million he made last season to approximately $1 million.

Shanahan has enrolled his three young children in a Manhattan private school. And he and his wife Catherine have determined that, no matter what, the family will live in the city this year.

Shanahan has no interest in playing so far from New York that he will only see his family occasionally. And he is believed to have been offered a contract by the Devils and drawn interest from the Flyers — two options that would enable him to spend the time with his family he deems imperative.

But how long can the Devils and Flyers — two of the Rangers’ most bitter rivals — patiently wait while Shanahan continues to profess his affection for the Rangers? Similarly, how many teams can continue to delay the final construction of their 2008-09 rosters while Shanahan waits until the very last minute to make sure that he gives a return to the Rangers every possible chance?

He may be gone, but he just won’t let himself be forgotten, no matter how many times we think we’ve written the last episode of “The Sean Avery Show”. The Late Grate One can be seen all around town in…

Any casual reader of this blog knows how I feel about these two individuals.

Mike Richter is the most recognizable New York goalie of all time and one of the classiest people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. Unlike many “kooky” goalies, Richter is both smart and carries himself more like a professor than former NHL goalie.

Brian Leetch is nearly spitting image. He is the most recognizable New York defenseman of all time and equally classy. While I unfortunately have yet to directly meet him, interviews and testimonials of those who have met him have been nothing short of stunning.

On the ice, both showed the same poise and outstanding character. Their numbers hang in the MSG rafters for a reason. Each hold numerous Ranger records and were easily the best at their position for their country.

International accolades, NHL accolades, and amateur accolades can be found extensively on both of their resumes.

So without going too on too much about this: congratulations to Brian Leetch and Mike Richter on their recent award of being named to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

(Photo from Newsday.com)

If you’re partial to the handiwork of Sam, Joe, and the rest of the MSG crew, you’ll be disappointed by today’s news that the Rangers will again be featured a maximum eight times on Versus this year, including the Oct. 5 game in Prague against the Lightning.

Furthermore, the Jan. 18 NBC Game of the Week [...]

The New York Rangers announced today that the start time for a game on the team’s 2008-09 pre-season schedule has been changed.

The start time for the Saturday, September 27 game between the Rangers and the New Jersey Devils at Madison …

Mark Messier and Brian Leetch are two of  the most popular Rangers ever. Will that be enough to earn them spots on an All-Time team chosen by the fans? Find out at 8 p.m. on Friday, when MSG airs the season finale of "Fans Most Wanted: Rangers".

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