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Deserving the Boos
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/22/08 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (3)
It looks like New York Ranger fans have found themselves a new Marek Malik to boo in defenseman Michal Rozsival, a guy the team signed a $20-million contract extension over the summer.
This is something that the Rangers cannot afford to have and Rozsival needs to change things fast or else he is going to make Rangers’ management look extremely stupid for resigning him over the summer.
Back on November 4th, Rozsival was directly responsible for a New York Islanders shorthanded goal when he gave up the puck on the blue line in the offensive zone.
A week and change later, Rozsival did the same thing and it led to a Boston Bruins shorthanded goal as he fumbled the puck at the Bruins’ blue line.
And on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks, he was absolutely dreadful looking lost on almost every play he was involved in.
It is quite obvious that No. 3 on the Blueshirts has lost his confidence. He can’t control the puck anymore as he continues to turn it over in both the offensive zone and in the team’s own zoo.
The truth of the matter is that he has earned the wrath of Rangers’ fans. Night in and night out at the Garden, he continues to leaves a sour taste in their mouth.
Unfortunately folks, the team is not going to move him and Rangers’ head coach Tom Renney is going to continue to give him lots of minutes both at even strength and on the power play, which could mean more sloppy play from the team’s struggling defenseman.
The club’s fans need to take that into consideration because booing him certainly isn’t going to help things.
Does this mean that Ranger fans have to like him? No. However, they will have to put up with it as the team has him locked him contract wise and with the way he is playing right now, I don’t think other NHL teams will be begging for him.
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Tags: Boston+Bruins, Marek+Malik, Michal+Rozsival, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Tom+Renney, Vancouver+Canucks,
Comments
All I’m saying is that while his play has deserved the wrath of Ranger fans, they should try and tone it down somewhat because it’s not going to help him. It’s obviously making him nervous and giving him less and less confidence to make the right play.
Thanks for commenting!
Posted by Patrick Hoffman from White Plains, NY on 11/22/08 at 11:38 AM ET
No, I agree with you. But I’m also the type of fan that doesn’t agree with booing just one player (on my team...on an opposing team, it’s ok). I’m also not going to boo the PP on their first try of the game (no matter how much I want to). If I’m going to boo, I’m going to boo the team, not an individual. Otherwise, it’s just counterproductive, especially with someone like Rozsival who obviously doesn’t respond well to the criticism.
But that’s just me. As the saying goes: A person may be smart, but people are dumb. And Rangers fans, as shown by their chanting of “Potvin Sucks” 10x per game, have shown just how dumb they can be.
Posted by K24 from NYC on 11/22/08 at 12:48 PM ET
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The Goal Line Report will focus on all things Eastern Conference. Do I have a bias towards the Eastern Conference just because I am a New Yorker? No, but it certainly does make things easier! I’ll make my opinions known on Eastern Conference news bits (as often as I can), big games, hot and cold players, trades (I don’t make things up) and anything and everything else related to the Eastern Conference that I think is important for hockey fans to know. I will, in every sense of the word, be the beast of the East while also making sure to drop my thoughts on other hockey news items.
I, Patrick Hoffman, have covered the NHL since 2003 and have worked for a variety of hockey media sources including: Stan Fischler, Spector’s Hockey, TheHockeyNews.com, HockeyBuzz.com, McKeen’s Hockey, Blueshirt Bulletin, XM Home Ice Channel Hockey Blog, HockeyPrimeTime.com, FantasyHockey.com. NY SportsDay, and HokejaVestnesis.com.
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So basically you’re saying he deserves the boos but the fans shouldn’t do it anyway.
Posted by K24 from NYC on 11/22/08 at 11:24 AM ET