Ranger Rumbles: The Lemieux bite, no love for Fox & more
By Steve Paulus
With the New York Rangers game Sunday with the Islanders postponed, it’s time to do round up of what’s going on in the NHL and with the Blueshirts. Regarding the postponement, the Rangers now have to make up two games this season and with the Olympic and All-Star break, the schedule is very tight over the next few months.
One negative for the Rangers is they were supposed to play Ottawa and the Islanders when both of those teams were at low points in their seasons. The Senators had won only two of 12 games when their visit from New York was postponed. The Islanders are riding an eight game losing streak, a perfect time to play them.
There was one incident Saturday night that warrants some attention.
The Lemieux bite
One of the great mysteries of last season is the fact that on March 27, two weeks before the trade deadline, the Rangers traded Brendan Lemieux to the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth round draft pick. Lemieux was a fan favorite for his feisty personality and on a team that was perceived as “soft,” he was one of the few who was willing to mix it up. Although he was offensively challenged with only two goals in 31 games, he was going to lead the Rangers in penalty minutes
The mystery was why the Rangers would trade him before the deadline to a team that was not playoff-bound when they could have dangled him before a contender at the deadline. The question among the fan base was why was he even traded and why such a meager return? We might have gotten an answer last night.
In the Los Angeles Kings win over the Ottawa Senators, Brady Tkachuk and Lemieux got into a fight and while wrestling on the ice, Lemieux bit Tkachuk on the hand, drawing blood. Here’s video of the whole thing.
It was the first biting incident in the NHL since Senators forward Jarko Ruutu bit Sabres tough guy Andrew Peters on the thumb, biting through Peters’ glove. Ruutu got suspended two games. Lemeiux drew a match penalty and is going to have an in-person hearing via zoom. That means he is facing a suspension of six games or longer.
It’s not the bite or the possible suspension that is interesting. It’s what Tkachuk had to say about Lemieux and how it might shed some light on his departure from the Rangers. He told this to the Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:
"“It was the most gutless thing somebody could ever do. This guy, you can ask any one of his teammates, nobody ever wants to play with him. This guy is a bad guy and a bad teammate, he focuses on himself all the time…The guy’s just a joke. He shouldn’t be in the league. This guy’s gutless. No other team wants him. He’s going to keep begging to be in the NHL, but no other team wants him, he’s an absolute joke. I can’t even wrap my head around it. People don’t even do this. He’s just a bad guy.”"
If there are issues with Lemieux, they’ve been unspoken until now. But to be accused of being a “bad teammate” who “nobody ever wants to play with” is pretty interesting. It could explain a lot.
One thing is for sure. Lemieux is a loose cannon. Ranger fans remember his high, late hit on Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi that resulted him being suspended for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Qualifier in 2020. The ensuing penalty put the Rangers a man down late in the third period of a game they were desperately trying to tie.
He is also a repeat offender, suspended twice in the NHL and once in junior hockey. He has also been fined for a dangerous elbow to Cody Glass of Vegas.
So, is he the bad teammate that Tkachuk says he is? If he is, the mystery surrounding his unexpected departure from the Rangers may be a little less mysterious.
No love for Fox
Why the constant disrespect for Adam Fox? Sure, he won the Norris Trophy, but it seems that sportswriters will take any opportunity to promote other defensemen at Fox’s expense. It’s always been the case with comparisons to Cale Makar, but at least Fox has kicked Quinn Hughes to the sidelines in that debate. The latest example of Fox disrespect is an ESPN piece by Greg Wyshynski .
The title of the piece is “Why Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy are in an elite class” and it proclaims that Fox and McAvoy are the elite U.S. born blueliners. While we agree regarding Fox, is McAvoy anywhere near our favorite Ranger at this point?
Let’s look at offense. McAvoy has three goals and 10 points in 17 games, compared to Fox with four goals and 21 points in 20 games. There is no comparison offensively, yet ESPN says that Fox’s better offensive totals are due to his extensive power play time. Let’s just point out that Fox has more points at even strength alone (3 goals, 12 points) than McAvoy has total.
Then, Wyshynski has the nerve to say that “McAvoy also gets credit for being a stouter defender in his own zone.” He then quotes an unnamed NHL “veteran” saying “McAvoy has the best overall game. You can put him on the No. 1 power play, the penalty kill, he can play a physical game against physical players and can play the speed game against the faster players. Fox is a very good player in the offensive zone. He’s a heck of a defenseman. But if he’s going against a physical player in the corners, he might not come up with that puck as often as McAvoy would.”
Our only advice for the unnamed NHL veteran is that he should watch a few more Ranger games. Maybe Wyshysnki should have waited until after Friday’s game between the Bruins and Rangers before publishing his story. While Fox was outstanding on defense and contributed two assists, McAvoy’s big move was getting caught flatfooted in the offensive zone and throwing out a knee to take down Kevin Rooney.
At least Ranger fans know what we have in Adam Fox if the rest of the hockey world doesn’t.
Kravtsov update
Okay, there is no doubt that the KHL is not the NHL and may not even be the AHL when it comes to quality of play. Still, Vitali Kravtsov continues to put the puck in the net. On Friday, he scored again as Traktor beat Lokomotiv, 2-1 in overtime. He is proving to be lethal from the left circle on a one-timer (shades of Martin St. Louis).
He scored the tying goal with 45 seconds left in the game. The goal, a one-timer from the left circle was identical to an earlier KHL goal, seen here.
It was also the same way he scored a power play goal in the preseason for the Rangers.
Kravtsov was held scoreless in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Dinamo of Minsk, but he has five goals and six points in eight games for Traktor, averaging 15:24 minutes of ice time per game. He is averaging 2.1 shots per game and has an outrageous shooting percentage of 29.4%.
Considering his hot start, one has to wonder how seriously Chris Drury is shopping the young forward. Kravtsov turns 22 in a month and considering his history the odds are that rival general managers will try to fleece the Rangers in any deal. Can hatchets be buried and does Kravtsov have a future in New York? We’ll know more when the KHL season ends on March 1, 2022 and after that when Traktor is eliminated from the playoffs.
Hartford update
The Wolf Pack are off to a great start, despite losing 4-2 to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday. Springfield is in first place in the Atlantic Division and a Wolf Pack win would have given them a tie for first with the Thunderbirds. The Wolf Pack have a 12-4-2 record and have allowed the fewest goals (45) in the Division while scoring the second most goals (61).
While Keith Kinkaid shouldered the bulk of the goaltending duties early, Adam Huska has been playing very well and is currently seventh in the AHL with a .924 Save Percentage (Sv%) and 2.20 Goals Against Average (GAA) in six games. Kinkaid has a 2.59 GAA and .916 Sv% in 11 games.
Jonny Brodzinski leads the team with seven goals and 18 points. Zac Jones is the top blueliner with three goals and 13 points. Finnish rookie Lauri Pajuniemi is getting acclimated to North America and has five goals and nine points in his last nine games. That was after he notched only two points in his first nine games.
Pajuniemi, a right winger, has always been a scorer with 48 goals and 78 points in 97 games in the Liiga in Finland the top pro league. How he develops could play a big part in the potential for a Kravtsov deal.
With Brodzinski, Pajuniemi and Morgan Barron all excelling, it will keep the heat on Julien Gauthier to keep his level of play at a top level.
It would be nice if Ty Ronning got a shot with the big club. He has six goals and 11 points in 18 games after scoring 10 goals and 18 points in 18 games for the Wolf Pack last season. His size, 5’9″ and 185 pounds, has always been an issue, but he was a big scorer in junior hockey and has found his scoring touch in the AHL.
At 24, his time with the organization may be nearing an end, but he’s always been an overachiever and it would be fascinating to see him get a chance.
Nothing more on the glove toss
And of course, the NHL is taking no action against Brad Marchand for his chirping at Artemi Panarin that led to the glove throwing incident. There is some lack of clarity over exactly what Marchand said to Panarin, though we know that involved an insult towards Panarin’s native Russia.
So, it appears that while the league has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to verbal abuse of a racial or sexual nature, insulting one’s heritage is fair game. Of course, questioning the competence of a league official warrants a $250,000 fine. Remember Gary Bettman’s explanation for the fine? “Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated.”
We guess that Marchand’s comments were not “personal in nature'” or “demeaning.” Nah, they were only about a false allegation of assault and a political situation that could be a danger to Artemi Panarin’s family in Russia. When it comes to the NHL Department of Player Safety, what else are we to expect?