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Have You Seen These Men?
by Patrick Hoffman on 10/21/08 at 10:00 PM ET
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At 6-2-1, there shouldn’t be too many things to complain about if you are a New York Rangers fan.
Sure, there will be the usual “Why doesn’t Renney juggle the lines?” or “Why isn’t this team scoring?” or even “Why does this team continue to struggle on the power play given all the talent they have up front?”
However, one question that Ranger fans are probably surprised they are asking themselves is “Where is Chris Drury and Markus Naslund?”
Believe it or not folks, Drury has played in all nine of his team’s games this season. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been able to produce.
Despite being third on the team with 25 shots on goal, Drury has yet to score a goal and has just one assist, which came back on opening night at Madison Square Garden when his team defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.
What’s even more worrisome is that he has a +/- of -5. For someone who places such a high emphasis on playing at both ends of the ice, this statistic certainly doesn’t show it.
So what’s the matter with the captain, you ask. Well, to be honest with you, I can’t quite figure it out. He’s getting scoring chances, he’s averaging close to 20 minutes of ice time per game, he’s playing on the power play and is being given every chance to succeed. However, it’s just not happening right now.
The same can actually be said of teammate and linemate Markus Naslund. Naslund came out like a gang buster in his first two games with the team as he buzzed around the net, put shots on goal and looked comfortable. However, since returning to North America, he hasn’t looked the same.
Yes, Naslund has five points but these stats are misleading. He’s looked a step behind the play and is also reminding many Blueshirt fans of Martin Straka, someone who had the talent to put pucks in the net but looked as if he’d rather pass the puck.
Luckily, it’s still very early on in the season so they still have time to turn it around. However, if they can’t turn it around soon, head coach Tom Renney may really shake up the lines, something Ranger fans have become all too familiar with over the last three seasons.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Chris+Drury, Markus+Naslund, Tom+Renney,
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About Goal Line Report
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.
For questions, comments or to talk hockey, feel free to send me an e-mail at .
Any Rangers fan asking that question has not actually been watching the Rangers for the past (at least) 2 years. I think the question might be, “Why doesn’t Renney try NOT to juggle the lines?” Except for Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev, all the lines have been juggled numerous times this season already! And he’s ALWAYS switching things up as soon as a combination looks like it might be getting, um, a little stale, so to speak.
Posted by K24 from NYC on 10/21/08 at 09:40 PM ET