Dan Boyle and Tanner Glass Have The Right Attitude

Anthony Scultore Updated: May 29, 2020

Tanner Glass is ready to fight for NY (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

When you come off a successful season (as successful as one team can be, not winning the Stanley Cup) it is always difficult to repeat. In today’s cap crunch NHL it’s even harder.

The Rangers lost 5 key pieces to their Cup runner-up team this summer. It began with the buyout of Brad Richards and trade of Derek Dorsett, moves based solely on finances. Then there was the exodus to Tampa for Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman, both of which opted for no State Income Tax contracts. And of course, the Edmonton Screw Job! Benoit Pouliot screwed the Oilers of 20 million over 5 years. Yes Edmonton, jokes on you.

However, Sather replaced Stralman with a prized UFA defenseman in Dan Boyle and added lost 4th line grit with Tanner Glass. Both players wanted to be Rangers and both are saying all the right things now that they are here.

Tanner Glass left the hated Penguins to join the rival Blueshirts. His job will be to grind out 10 minutes a game, kill some penalties and police the opposition. Glass can flat out throw fists, and that is still a required skill in the game today. Admonish fighting all you want, but it plays a role during the regular season. Especially when playing divisional games in the lulls of January.

Alain Vigneault was happy to have Glass, saying “Tanner is a hard nosed fourth line player that can kill penalties. Smart player and will help us in that role.” Lets not forget that Glass played for AV in Vancouver and the familiarity only helps.

“There is not a stage quite like Madison Square Garden”- @TGlass15 joins the #NYR; full story: https://t.co/y78CBdoOQy pic.twitter.com/zoL3W4Xsgz

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 7, 2014

Tanner Glass also has the right attitude:

“Passionately hungry to win a Cup, that’s a great way to put it. My dreams–or nightmares, if you will–constantly drift to that spring and the feelings that I had before Game Six and Game Seven where I’d wake up thinking I could be holding the Stanley Cup later that night, and then it didn’t come true. So the reason I chose New York is that I like the team and think it can win, and I am confident AV is a coach that can lead a team all the way.”

Now those are the kind of words we like to hear. Words that were similarly echoed by Dan Boyle, who took less to come to NY.

Dan Boyle: “I wanted to go to the New York Rangers” https://t.co/AbgLxtG8lQ

— Rangers Report (@rangersreport) July 7, 2014

“That’s where I wanted to go, that’s the simplest way I can put it,” Dan Boyle told reporters on a conference call. “Once I found I was done in San Jose, that was a team I was always curious about. I played in Florida and California, two non-traditional hockey markets. I just wanted to experience something different, an Original Six team. I can make more money elsewhere but, at the end of the day, you’ve got to be happy. That’s why I chose to go there.”

Dan Boyle also talked about his friendships with Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards and how what they said helped influence his decision. Much like the way Ryan Callahan influenced Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman.

“Marty is definitely a big reason. Him and I have had similar careers. it’s a great opportunity to play with him. It was a struggle early, we all saw that. There’s a lot of talk about his age and my age. Marty and I will only thrive.”

We believe it here at FullTilt Rangers Magazine, and we hope that the Rangers RFA’s are listening.

Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard and Chris Kreider all need to keep the big picture in mind during negotiations. All will get their pay day, but a team first attitude is what they will need.

It’s time that the right attitudes of Boyle and Glass rub off on the rest of Ranger free agents.