Dan Girardi opens up about leaving Rangers, starting new chapter with Lightning

Jim Cerny

Dan Girardi opens up about leaving Rangers, starting new chapter with Lightning image

Dan Girardi had just brought the garbage cans in and was about to pick up his 7-year-old son Landon from school when his cell phone rang. On the other end of the call was Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton, who had "some tough news" for the veteran defenseman. 

After 11 years with the organization, spent largely sacrificing his body for the greater good of the team, Girardi was no longer a New York Ranger, his contract bought out, making him a free agent.

"I gotta say I was surprised," Girardi told Sporting News. "Obviously, it's a [salary] cap era and my contract did not help, but at the end of the day, after a decent year and good playoffs and the (end-of-season) meetings, I just started working out, preparing for next season. When I first heard the news it was disappointing and it hit me pretty hard, but that's part of the game these days."

Originally an undrafted free agent, Girardi played in 788 regular-season games with the Rangers and another 122 in the playoffs, more than any other position player in franchise history. From the 2007-08 season through 2014-15, he missed only five regular-season contests, this despite a robust, physical style of play, often on the club's top defensive pairing. His ability to play through pain that would have sidelined others became legendary around the Rangers and respected throughout the league, especially as the blocked shots and recorded hits continued to pile up game after game, season after season.

 

Girardi's body betrayed him more often the past two years, however, and his play was more criticized, especially by Rangers fans who could not justify his $5.5 million cap hit with his poor possession numbers and decline in play, in particular during the injury-ravaged 2015-16 season.

Then with the organization looking to get younger and more under the cap, while remaining a Stanley Cup contender, came Gorton's phone call to the 33-year-old Girardi on June 14.

"I have no hard hard feelings towards the Rangers; they gave me a great chance to play for 11 years, and as time went on it's helped me to heal a little bit, it's not the end of the world," explained the affable Girardi, who played in the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. "Once other teams started showing interest, I was like, OK here we go, turn the page, start a new chapter. And now I feel really good about the season coming up."

The new season, and the one after that, will see Girardi in Tampa, playing for the Lightning. He agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract on July 1, the day free agency began.

 

 

Little Landon's reaction to moving from New York to Florida?

"He obviously is really sad to leave his buddies at school and on his hockey team and baseball team, but he's really excited to meet Steven Stamkos," Girardi said, chuckling. "Of course that doesn't make me feel so important now, but knowing the kids are OK with it makes it that much easier to move on and I think it'll be a cool experience for them, really for all of us."

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Girardi will reunite in Tampa with one of his best friends, former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan, as well as ex-Blueshirts teammate Anton Stralman. He joins a team that missed the playoffs last season after reaching the Eastern Conference Final the previous two seasons and competed in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

It's a recent run of success — albeit excluding last year's injury-ravaged campaign — similar to what Girardi enjoyed on Broadway with the Rangers. With him helping lead the way on the ice and as a team leader, the Rangers appeared in three conference finals since 2012, played in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and won the President's Trophy in 2014-15.

"It would have been amazing to get a chance to lift the Cup in New York, we came really close that one year. Now at this stage of my career, I'm really hoping to get that chance with a new team," offered Girardi. "Obviously, when everyone is healthy — and having Stamkos out almost the entire year last year did not help — [the Lightning] have some dynamic forwards, great D with [Victor] Hedman and Stralman, that young [Andrei] Vasilevskiy in net, I think we have the right pieces to be competitive.

"At this stage of my career, I wanted to go to a team that has a chance to win, and that's why it was the right thing for me to go to Tampa."

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Though he admitted to reflecting some on his time with the Rangers recently, Girardi is now more focused on what lies ahead.

"You can call it a new chapter, new start, new beginning, that's what it is really, right?" said Girardi. "A window opened for me and I'm excited about this next step in my career and for my family."

Jim Cerny