The Rangers General Manager is about to make a fatal mistake – unless he pays attention to The Maven. With the imminent return of Ryan Lindgren on defense, the Rangers will be overloaded with defensemen and Chris Drury will have to drop one body. The GM's most obvious move would be to dispatch crack rookie Victor Mancini to Hartford, and that would be the mistake of a lifetime. Mancini is too valuable to be wasted in the AHL. Period! Victor The Victorious has all the tools to be the next Calder Memorial Trophy-winner as NHL rookie of the year. Chad Ruhwedel should be dispatched to the Wolf Pack with a sincere "Thank You Very Much." And that will be that. "It's a very tough move for Drury," says The Old Scout, "but I've always said; 'Play your best players; no matter how young they are." Neither Drury nor Peter Laviolette know their NHL history as well as The Maven does, so now – at no extra charge – I'm gonna teach them a lesson that supports my Mancini claim. For starters, the scene takes place in Toronto during the 1946-47 season. Stan Fischler talks about Matt Rempe. The Maple Leafs lost defenseman Garth Boesch to an injury and needed a replacement. Manager Conn Smythe had many potential reserves on his Pittsburgh AHL farm team and a couple more down in Tulsa. "We decided to take an immense gamble and brought up a kid nobody knew out in Hollywood," Smythe recalled. "His name was Bill Barilko and we promoted him for a couple of games, knowing he'd go right back to the Pacific Coast League." Barilko never did. "Snake Hips," as Bashin' Bill was known, was too good to lose, even as an 18-year-old. He replaced veteran Wally Stanowski and joined an all-rookie defense with Jim Thomson, Gus Mortson and Boesch. And in case Drury and his coach don't know it, Barilko helped the Leafs win four Cups in five years. The Rangers – despite Shesterkin, Panarin, Fox and Lafreniere – have not won a Cup in 30 years. I've got news for Chris and Pistol Pete; Mancini can win you the first Blueshirt Cup in three decades; not Chad Ruhwedel.
