TAMPA, Florida — Dan Girardi was walking through his Westchester County neighborhood last summer to pick up his son from school when the game-changing call from general manager Jeff Gorton came informing him that his time with the Rangers was over.
The defenseman, who had played 11 seasons for the Rangers, was told he was going to be bought out of the final three seasons of his contract.
“I was pretty upset, not like mad upset, just disappointed,” Girardi, 33, recalled on Thursday before facing his former team for the first time at Amalie Arena. “I didn’t even call my wife right away, I was still processing it.