Why Not Every Game?
Last night infuriated me. Why? Because the Rangers played great hockey. They were first to the puck, the passing was crisp, players had jump and they, above all, wanted it more. Its just a shame that this great game has come too late, in my humble opinion.
Behind Henrik doing what he needed to, guys like Avery and (despite being on the 4th line) Anisimov played very strong games. Avery has been excellent for several games now and one can only hope Tortorella leaves the reigns off next year. If Avery plays like he did last night, there are few in the league that can match his all round package – he can play, antagonize and make a positive difference all over the ice.
Then there was the Rangers main ‘hopes’ for the future. Lets start with Mike Del Zotto. Last night he reminded me of Mike Green. He looked to finish at every opportunity and he was extremely poised and eager. Defensively strong too, it was a great game by MDZ. I for one can ignore the ugly +/- as he’s a teen learning D, playing on a wickedly inconsistent team. This kid will hit 50 points next year if we can actually get Gaborik some consistent offensive help.
Speaking of Gabby - our other main hope for the future – he had his legs, he was involved everywhere and was leading the team offensively in every way you want your stud to.
There really isnt much to complain about from last night (I for one have already written off Jokinen and last night showed why). If anything its perhaps we should have scored 7 or 8 such was the offensive push the Rangers displayed. It was good to see contributions from every angle. Drury was solid, Callahan played well up and down, Christensen and Girardi both played nice games…
So then Rangers, another 9 of those please.
Final thought: Atleast we can say this; The Rangers have the best record in the league……. in 3D.
By Rob A from BHD, March 25, 2010 @ 8:35 am
I know exactly how you feel. It was frustrating watching them play so well. The only thing is that Gaborik was clearly skating better last night. If he had been skating that way for the past two weeks I think things might be a little different. It wasn’t only him though last night, we saw a lot of performances that we haven’t seen in a while.
jurgenno88 Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 9:08 am
its amazing what a lack of expectency will do to free untapped reserves.
The most frustrating thing for me personally is, depsite the obvious flaws of the roster it IS a playoff roster. Despite me saying we’re better off with a top 5 pick (and we would be) there is still quality on the roster.
The reason im starting to put alot of it down to the coaches is the fact that SO many of this team have underperformed. Its not just about an unblanced line up.
Dubinsky, Girardi, R+R, Avery (in part due to coaching limitations), Drury and now Jokinen have not produced what they should/could. Every team has players over perform and under perform but SO many core elements on one team? Coincidence?