Report: McDonagh Will Leave Wisconsin, Sign With Rangers

Since Wisconsin Badger senior Blake Geoffrion won the Hobey Baker Award back on April 9, it's been all downhill for the longtime powerhouse hockey program.

The next night, the Badgers were annihilated by Boston College 5-0 for the national championship. That was followed up by a parade of departures.

Along with seniors like Geoffrion and Michael Davies, Wisconsin lost defensemen Cody Goloubef and Brendan Smith to the pro ranks. Then, unexpectedly, forward Derek Stepan decided to give up the last two years of college eligibility to sign with the New York Rangers.

If that wasn't worse, head coach Mike Eaves needed to replace his top two assistants.

Now, he has to replace his lone remaining captain.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh is on the verge of following Stepan to the Rangers, according to the New York Post.

The Post has been told that McDonagh, who had been undecided between turning pro and returning to Madison for his senior season, was won over by the environment at last week's Rangers' prospect camp during which he mixed with fellow hopefuls and the team's front-office personnel, notably general manager Glen Sather, coach John Tortorella and special assistants Mark Messier and Adam Graves.

This is another development in an awful offseason for Wisconsin. The Badgers have lost a slew of top scorers, and they have now lost (arguably) three of their top four defensemen, too.

McDonagh had 18 points last season, and 46 in 119 games over his UW career. His loss leaves a leadership void, as well as a void on the blue line, where the Badgers have lost one of their best defensive zone players.

While I have argued in the past that there needs to be a firm deadline for college players to make their decision on turning pro, it's an idea that has never gotten off the ground. It's also unclear if anyone has really tried.

Moves like those by Stepan and McDonagh sometimes leave their college teams in quite a bind. It's one thing if a player you expect to leave bolts within 96 hours of your team's season ending. Coaches have recruited with that expected hole in mind. It's another if a player you don't expect to leave decides to leave after summer has already started.

Frankly, pro teams shouldn't be allowed to pursue players after an agreed-upon date, and players shouldn't be allowed to sign.

But that's the best date to use? June 1, before some pro teams are done playing? June 15, so it's before the next NHL Draft? July 1?

Or is there really no need for a deadline at all?

I've gotten mixed reviews from college people I've talked to about this over the years. Some think it's ridiculous that NHL franchises are allowed to sign players after June 1 or so. After all, it's not like those players get better between March and June, and the teams that own players' draft rights have had months to scout those players and see where they are at in their development. Others don't see where it matters, because coaches should be prepared for early departures, no matter when they come.

I'm on the fence. I don't like that players can leave virtually anytime they choose, but we rake coaches over the coals for dropping recruits or players to make scholarship room. Loyalty is a two-way street, after all. On the other hand, I do think coaches are well-prepared for almost any early departure they will encounter.

In the end, a deadline would probably be a good thing. It would put some pressure on NHL franchises to take care of their business in a timely fashion, and it would allow coaches to know that by a certain date, they can be secure in their roster and move forward with preparation for the upcoming season.

(Tap of the stick: Michael Russo)

Badgers Could Lose Two to Rangers

The Wisconsin Badgers finished 60 minutes short of a national championship in 2010. Only the buzzsaw known as Boston College stopped UW from netting coach Mike Eaves his second national championship.

For Eaves to get his team back to the Frozen Four this year, he'll need one of the greatest coaching jobs mankind has seen in a long time.

Wisconsin has already lost eight of its top 13 scorers from last year, including early departures in defensemen Brendan Smith and Cody Goloubef. Eaves also had to replace assistant coaches Mark Osiecki and Kevin Patrick. Osiecki took the head job at Ohio State, while Patrick became a head coach and GM in the USHL.

Now, Eaves may have to deal with two more early departures. Both would be damaging.

Leading scorer Derek Stepan (photographed) has reportedly decided to leave for a gig with the New York Rangers, but the Rangers won't be signing him until after July 1 -- which is Thursday. Stepan says he hasn't decided yet, but all indications are that he will be gone. The drama surrounding recruit Matt Lindblad was at least partially a response to Stepan's late and unexpected decision to bolt.

Another Wisconsin star, defenseman and co-captain Ryan McDonagh, is considering making the jump. He doesn't appear in any hurry to make up his mind as he attends the Rangers' prospect camp.

"I feel like this is a huge week," McDonagh admitted. "I really didn't want to jump into a decision without coming out here first. It was unfortunate I got traded last summer right during this camp. I didn't get a chance to come out here and I didn't get a feel for the staff and the players. Before I make my decision, I want to experience what it would be like out here and just get a feel for it. The staff members get to see me face to face as opposed to a phone call. There's a lot of value there before you make a big decision in your life.

"I think they've followed me enough on the ice and seen me throughout the seasons, so it's more just getting to know what kind of person I am character-wise before I make a step further here."

McDonagh could captain the Wisconsin squad this fall if he stays, along with finishing his degree, something that sounds important to him. My boy Chuck Schwartz details two another compelling reasons for McDonagh to stay.

For one, the NHL max contract for his draft year is $875,000. Thats a solid chunk of change. But if McDonagh isn't in the NHL next season, his salary max drops to $65,000. One of the biggest hold ups for McDonagh is that he wants to really analyze the situation with the Rangers and see where he fits in. Can you blame him? That's a significant money difference if he's in the NHL or in the AHL.

There is also the added fact that if McDonagh doesn't sign this summer, he can become a free agent next summer. What does that mean exactly? Next summer McDonagh will be able to pick and chose which NHL team he wants to sign with. The advantage with that, is that he can chose an organization that can guarantee him a spot in the NHL where he will be making the max contract all season. He can also chose an organization that is run properly, not one that is run by Glen Sather.

Right on both counts. It's always better to play for a real NHL franchise, as opposed to one who passes over two players who will have a chance to play in the NHL this season for one who is at least a year or two away.

Or one that intentionally and gainfully employed Olli Jokinen, then used him for the most important shootout round in the history of the NHL shootout.

Oh, and Chuck's right. Rangers fans are dumb. They don't deserve to have a player like McDonagh, who will make a solid impact in the pros when he arrives.

Unfortunately, Stepan is stuck. Maybe he can figure out a way to get Sather to trade him somewhere.

BUZZ BISSINGER AND SEAN AVERY

I don't get HBO. Frankly, I don't have any interest in their original programming. I'm not a boxing fan. I don't think Bill Maher is all that great. And I have this thing in my house called a "DVD player" that allows me to watch the same movies they're showing on HBO, only I don't have to pay $whatever a month and get a bunch of other shows and movies I don't care to watch.

Anyway, that's not the point I'm about to make.

Tuesday night, Bob Costas hosted a roundtable discussion on sports blogging during his creatively named Costas NOW program. The guests were Will Leitch, the brilliant editor of Deadspin; H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, the author of Friday Night Lights, among other works; and Braylon Edwards, wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns. Why was Edwards on the panel?

(Seriously, why was Edwards there? And has someone checked to make sure he's not in shock after what he sat through?)

Here is the video, posted on The Big Lead:



I'm all in favor of people having their own opinions. It's even okay with me if someone's opinion is misinformed. It's the old saying: The less one knows, the more firmly one believes. If this saying is true, Bissinger is the most ignorant man alive when it comes to sports blogging.

Other takes can be found here, here, here, and here, among other places. I won't bore you with any more shots at Bissinger or his televised idiocy.

However, there is a rather odd irony to Bissinger's appearance. At 1:39 of the video, Bissinger tells Leitch that he feels blogs are "dedicated to journalistic dishonesty".

Bissinger's words were prophetic. A story broke today that is wrought with what I feel is journalistic dishonesty. Even if you don't feel it goes that far, the word "irresponsible" certainly applies.

I don't know about you, but I hate it when blogs start stuff like this.

(A tip of the hat goes to HockeyFights.com for getting the image.)

Oh, wait. You mean that a blog didn't start it? The New York Daily News isn't a blog? What?

We know now that Sean Avery didn't go into cardiac arrest. Somehow, the Daily News screwed up. Royally.

So the Daily News fixed their story, right? Yes.

Did they acknowledge their error? Not so much (if they did, I haven't found it).

The best part about the original Daily News story? They made sure to mention their March report about Avery's alleged ties to prostitution (I mean, you don't even have to imply any allegations of drug use here, because it's so obvious that it's the direction you want this story to go). Play that card for all it's worth, kids.

Where's the outrage, mainstream media? If this story originally appeared on Deadspin, FanHouse, or any of the multitude of sports blogs that can be had on the internet, you can bet your ass that the Daily News and probably every other mainstream outlet in America would have been all over it.

Their words would have been similar to Bissinger's, only not nearly as profane. They would have called bloggers "irresponsible", ranted about how bloggers don't have editors to answer to like "real reporters" do, and how bloggers are just driving down the journalistic standards across America.

If a random guy with a Blogger account is driving down the journalistic standards across America, then what happens when the freaking NEW YORK DAILY NEWS messes up a story as badly as this one, then just gets to pretend it never screwed up in the first place?

Where, Mr. Bissinger, is your outrage today? Where is your statement about the horrific reporting by a major American newspaper?

Perhaps you misplaced it, along with your manners and dignity.

Even though the odds of him reading this are about as high as the odds I'll win Powerball tonight and get to retire to my own private Caribbean island, I thank Will for sitting through that last night and not doing anything stupid. Lord knows what they'd say about bloggers then.

(By the way, in case you're too lazy to click, Avery is okay. He's out for the rest of the season, which might only be one game for the Rangers. But he's expected to make a full recovery.)