The New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Wild /
The New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Wild /
It’s Thanksgiving Day and it’s time to give thanks to our New York Rangers for all that they have given us this season.
In the spirit of inclusion, we have something to be thankful for with each member of the 2019-20 New York Rangers. No matter what, each one of our heroes presents us with something unique and special. Here goes, we’ll start with the forwards.
The forwards
Artemi Panarin’s excellence – Need we say more? He’s everything you would want in a player and his obvious joy at playing New York is infectious. David Quinn says that the entire team feeds off Panarin.
Brendan Lemieux’s teeth
– The kid takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Black eyes, bruised shins, lost teeth do not phase the young forward. And he chirps the opposition too.
Mika Zibanejad’s health – Mika is a gifted player and we should all be thankful he is back.
Kaapo Kakko’s moves
– He’s had a rocky start, but when he makes moves they are great. His shootout goal, his breakaway, his first goal…all memorable.
Jesper Fast’s effort – First line or fourth line, Jesper Fast is the answer. He may not have the greatest hands in the league, but if you need to put a player on the ice in the last minute of a one goal game, he’s is the one you can trust.
Ryan Strome’s compatibility with Panarin – Panarin and Strome, two peas in a pod. Panarin makes Strome better, but Strome has risen to the occasion and is finally living up to the potential.
Brendan Smith’s versatility – Forward or defenseman, Smith has fulfilled both roles admirably. This is a case of a player playing himself onto a team and staying there.
Chris Kreider’s post game persona – Kreider continues to give the oddest post game interviews on the team. Watch them, you ‘ll see.
Pavel Buchnevich’s frown – No one looks sadder than Pavel Buchnevich when he misses a scoring opportunity. He was even dubbed “Captain Happy” by David Quinn on Monday night after the Minnesota game. We’ve been counting and Buchnevich has smiled three times in two years.
Filip Chytil’s revival – The kid got sent to Hartford after being handed the second line center slot. Did he pout? No. Did he play hard? Absolutely. Now he’s tearing up the NHL and deserves the second line center job. Good for him.
Boo Nieves’ nickname – On a team with a dearth of nicknames, Boo is a good one. He has also shown in two games why he should be the first call up from Hartford and why he has a future as a fourth line center.
Greg McKegg’s name – It’s delightful and has spawned his nickname of “Kegger.” He’s also the first Ranger with a Simpsons reference. On the show, Dr. Nick Rivieria says “Well, if it isn’t my old friend, Mr. McGreg with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg?”
Brett Howden’s between the legs goal – He hasn’t scored a lot, but this between the legs goal last season against San Jose was pretty special.
The defensemen
Adam Fox’s intelligence – Watching this kid play you see flashes of Brian Leetch. No one has been as good at keeping a puck in the offensive zone at the blue line as Leetch, but Fox is pretty good. His passing and his ability to avoid hits is amazing. He’s going to be really good.
Tony DeAngelo’s shot
– Sometimes defense can be an adventure, but when DeAngelo joins the offense he is lethal.
Marc Staal’s steadiness – He may be in the waning days of h is career, but as a respected veteran, Staal brings a sense of calm to this team. We may criticize him now for being a step slow, but remember the link he has to the great Ranger teams of the last decade.
Jacob Trouba’s checks – The man can hit and he doesn’t hold back. He eats minutes, contributes on offense and runs over opposing players. What more could you want in a top pair defenseman.
Brady Skjei’s end to end rushes – Brady Skjei is a favorite target for a lot of fans, deservedly so in many case, but when he joins the rush with confidence, he can do some special things.
Libor Hajek’ssteadiness – The Czech defenseman has quietly established himself as a solid stay at home defenseman. There’s no mystery about Hajek, Quinn just puts him out there and he plays.
Ryan Lindgren’s toughness – Lindgren hits and clears the crease. He is the kind of defenseman the Rangers have been looking for for years.
The goalies
Henrik Lundqvist’s excellence –
Hank continues to show that he is still a top notch NHL goaltender. There are 30 other NHL teams that would have loved to have his steadiness in goal for the last 15 years.
Alexandar Georgiev’s calm – Nothing phases Georgiev. He has a zenlike quality to his game and when he is good, he is great.
Off the ice
David Quinn’s in-game facial expressions – Everyone has their favorite “Quinn face.” It can be the dumfounded look when a soft penalty is called. It can be the look of exasperation when a player make a boneheaded move. He’s got a number of faces, not a lot of them smiling
Sam Rosen’s power play goal call – We’ve all grown up with it. The only thing is we want to hear it more often.
Joe Micheletti’s optimisim – The Rangers could be down by five goals and sinking and Joe will find something positive to say about a play or a player. And if he can’t even his criticism is with good humor.
Steve Valiquette’s perspective – Vally is becoming the best analyst in the business. He oozes sincerity and never hesitates to bring it around to his personal experiences. There’s no holding back with him, you get the real story.
This young Rangers team has given us a lot to be thankful for. The best thing is that the team is so young, we have a lot more of what they have given us to look for ward to.
