MY COUSIN VINNY 

The NY Rangers have resigned Vinny Prospal to a one year deal. While terms are never officially released it’s believed to be for one million dollars with easily attained bonuses that would take him over two million. I can’t speak for you, but it certainly seems to me like this team go a whole lot younger and a whole lot better as advertised, don’t you think? Word is from Glenn Sather that there is still room for the young guys to make the team. My question is, “Where?”

Here’s the official release:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FORWARD VINNY PROSPAL

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Vinny Prospal on a new contract.

Prospal has reached the 20-goal mark five times, including a career-high 33 goals in 2007-08, and has recorded two career hat tricks.  He has also eclipsed the 70-point plateau three times, and has surpassed 900 career NHL games, 200 career goals, 400 career assists and 600 career points.

Last season, Prospal registered 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points, along with 32 penalty minutes in 75 games in his first season with the Rangers.  He ranked second on the team in several scoring categories, including assists, points, power play assists (13), even strength goals (13) and home goals (13), and tied for second in goals, third in power play goals (six), and ranked fourth in power play points (19).  He also established a career-high in average icetime (20:06).  Named Alternate Captain on November 3, Prospal was selected as the co-recipient of the John Halligan Good Guy Award for cooperation with the media.  He made his Rangers debut in the season-opener on October 2 at Pittsburgh, and notched his first point as a Blueshirt, and 600th career point, with a goal in his home debut on October 3 vs. Ottawa.  Prospal ranked second on the team with 15 multi-point performances, including his seventh-career four-point effort on February 4 vs. Washington (two goals and two assists).  He reached the 20-goal mark for the fifth time in his career on April 7 vs. Toronto (one goal and one assist), and surpassed the 50-point plateau for the eighth time on March 12 at Atlanta (two goals and one assist).  On February 10 vs. Nashville, Prospal recorded a career-high, nine shots, marking the most shots on goal by a Ranger since Scott Gomez registered nine shots on October 25, 2008 vs. Pittsburgh.  The 13-year veteran registered an assist while skating in his 900th NHL game on November 28 at Pittsburgh, and he notched his 200th career goal on October 14 vs. Los Angeles (two goals and one assist).

The 6-2, 198-pounder has skated in 949 regular season contests with the Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Ducks, recording 218 goals and 439 assists for 657 points, along with 505 penalty minutes.  Prospal has skated in 80 or more games in seven of the last eight seasons.  He recorded his 400^th NHL assist on March 7, 2008 vs. Carolina.  In 2007-08, he established career-highs in goals (33) and game-winning goals (five), and tied his career-highs in games played (82) and power play goals (10).  He led Philadelphia in goals, and ranked second on the team in shots (215), and third in points (71) and assists (38).  He also tied for third on the club in power play goals and game-winning goals.

His most productive season was in 2005-06, when he registered a career-best 80 points (25 goals and 55 points) with Tampa Bay.  He also established career-highs in shots (236), power play goals (10) and multi-point games (24).  Prospal tied the Lightning record for longest point streak, recording a point in 13 consecutive games from October 26 to November 20 (eight goals and 13 assists).

In post-season play, Prospal has registered nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points, along with 26 penalty minutes in 60 contests with Philadelphia, Ottawa and Tampa Bay.  He established career-highs in games played (17), assists (10) and points (13) during the 2008 Playoffs, helping the Flyers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.  His 10 assists led Philadelphia, while his 13 points ranked fourth on the team.

Internationally, Prospal has represented the Czech Republic in several tournaments, including the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.  He tied for the team lead in goals (four) and ranked third in points (six) in eight contests to help the Czech Republic capture the Bronze Medal.  Prospal has also captured a Gold Medal at the 2005 World Championship, tallying the game-winning goal in the gold medal game vs. Canada and finishing second on the team in points (eight) and assists (six), and tying for second in goals (two).

The Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic native was originally Philadelphia’s third round choice, 71^st overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.