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Tortorella, Zibanejad, team awards and more

By Steve Paulus

SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 23: Head coach John Tortorella of the New York Rangers watches action in the Florida Panthers zone during the third period at the BB&T Center on April 23, 2013 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 23: Head coach John Tortorella of the New York Rangers watches action in the Florida Panthers zone during the third period at the BB&T Center on April 23, 2013 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers celebrates his powerplay goal (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers celebrates his powerplay goal (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Mika owns up on COVID

On break-up day, Mika Zibanejad admitted that his bout with COVID-19 was much worse than he let on during the season.   This is what he said on break up day.

“It was a unique situation, obviously, having COVID, and having one practice before the season really started.  I think I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t, that I was feeling good, and I was feeling fine. But it wasn’t easy. I didn’t really feel up to speed after that, and it took me a while to kind of get back just physically and mentally.   And I didn’t want to have anything to, to kind of have an excuse or whatever.  I didn’t want to tell myself that and kind of just give myself an excuse.
That was the reason I didn’t talk about it as much as people asked me about it.”

While there had been much speculation about his slow start including some rumors that his off-season workout regimen had a role, we now know that it was the virus that affected him.

One question has to be whether he rushed back and that delayed his recovery.  Would he have been better off not playing at all until he was ready for full time action?   Unfortunately, we will never know.

Zibanejad now goes into the final year of his contract with the question of whether he will get a new deal.   He has indicated that he wants to stay and based on his performance since St. Patrick’s Day, he is the player he was at the end of 2019-20.   If the Rangers decide that they want to extend him it could have a major effect on whether they jump into the Jack Eichel sweepstakes.

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