Here is the quintessential Dan Girardi moment, coming near the end of the 2013-14 regular season just before the Rangers went on a run to the Stanley Cup final:
After a practice in Tarrytown, Girardi took off his skate and his ankle was about the size of a grapefruit. A reporter looked down and asked what was wrong, the ankle being incompatible with the fact that the defenseman had not missed a game seemingly in forever.
“Oh,” Girardi said with a shrug as he limped away, “that’s just my ankle.”
And that was the way Girardi was, as tough as they have come around New York in some time, squeezing almost everything he could out of his talent. He was one of the most sturdy defensemen in Rangers history and one of the most upright members of the extended community created by the organization.
But Girardi’s time with the Blueshirts came to an end Wednesday as they bought out the remaining three years of his contract, which lowered his $5.5 million annual salary-cap hit to more manageable number of dead space over the next six seasons. It was a moment not only to say goodbye to an athlete who gave his all to this organization, but also to say goodbye to an era in Rangers history that was defined by success that only was missing a championship — an era that was slowly weaned to death by the hard salary cap and the increased speed of the NHL.
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It was a further declaration from general manager Jeff Gorton that he is not playing favorites when it comes to business, because it’s hard to think of anyone who was more of a favorite in the locker room than Girardi.
The blue-collar attitude was set when Glen Sather, now the team president, signed Girardi as an undrafted free agent on July 1, 2006. Sather called his contributions to the franchise “immeasurable,” but you can easily measure it by saying Girardi earned every cent of what will be $50.9 million in salary from the only NHL team he ever has known.
Now the 33-year-old from Welland, Ontario, moves on to see if he can find work elsewhere in a league where stand-up defensemen like him are few and far between.
“I poured my heart and soul into this team for the past 11 seasons,” Girardi said, “and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
There are still remnants from the Black and Blueshirts era, most notably the face of the franchise in net, Henrik Lundqvist, as well as Girardi’s longtime blueline running mate, Marc Staal. But Gorton is making room for what is needed in this league — defensemen who can skate like the wind and get up in the play. That was never Girardi’s forte, which is not to say he is no longer valuable. Put in the right situation, his quiet leadership (plus a reasonable contract) could be intriguing to the right team.
But not the Rangers. Not anymore. Not even after he bled for them for more than a decade, and not as they again try to retool on the fly as they still have the Stanley Cup in their sights while Lundqvist is in nets.
Like the rest of the league, Gorton is looking for a top-pair right-handed defenseman, but those aren’t exactly falling off trees. Girardi filled that role for so long, even if he never was flashy.
Above all, he was dependable, and not just on the ice. No one who was there will forget him speaking earnestly and for as long as need be after the puck bounced over his stick and it cost the Rangers Game 1 of the 2014 Stanley Cup final in overtime. The players around him noticed that, and it was some semblance of describing how to lead by example.
But now he is gone, and the Rangers have moved on. They needed to. It’s the end of an era, and the Blueshirts are better off that it happened.