Glen,
Well Glen, you did it. You have won the Hunger Games that is the NHL Trade Deadline. Your moves for Ryane Clowe, Derrick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore turned out for the best.
Okay, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Sure, all of your trades paid off as seen in the team’s 6-1 trouncing of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, but that’s only one game. Before I completely forgive you for all of the pain you’ve put us Ranger fans through in the past, we should wait to see how this plays out.
But I have a feeling that the huge risks you’ve made are going to play out.
Let’s face it, the team is having a lot of problems this season. To be honest, I think the problems the team has had this season are the product of a shortened season. For players like Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller who are so young, not having a training camp is detrimental to their development and integration into a professional club. Something the successful teams of the season like Pittsburgh, the Montreal Canadians and the Chicago Blackhawks have in common is that their cores and overall rosters are loaded with experience and have built up a solid chemistry with one another.
The other problem the team has been having is that their experienced players like Brad Richards and Henrik Lundqvist just haven’t been there this season. Maybe they got too swept up in New York City life during the lockout and are now suffering from something similar to perpetual jetlag, but it doesn’t excuse two of the team’s most important players for not contributing the way they should be.
But what you could control and were ultimately able to fix is how sorely the team needed gritty, tough and intimidating third and fourth line guys. And if Wednesday’s game is any indication of what to expect in the future, man oh man did your humungous risk pay off.
I said a couple of weeks ago that trading Gaborik would be a mistake. When I saw the trade I thought it was a mistake. Maybe they’ll miss the goals and the speed, but hey, you got something out of this for now and it’s working.
I know it’s only one game and there is still too much left unsaid to be optimistic about the end of the season. However, Wednesday’s game showed that there was something important missing before the trades and now with everything said and done, that depth scoring is back and it’s ready to help the Rangers move up in the standings.
But before I give you my congratulations, I will say that I’m expecting a big offseason splash now that Gaborik’s contract has been unloaded. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.
Get Bobby Ryan. I want him here so bad.
Until next time,
Cat