Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Finally they win

Guess we at Prospect Park can take credit for being the reason why the Rimouski Oceanic finally ended their losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Gatineau Olympiques Wednesday evening.

David Skokan finished his interview with us for the next issue of the Blueshirt Bulletin . OK so we do not deserve the credit for their win but we did like talking to David and getting to know this very soft spoken young man from Slovakia.

In the game, Skokan did not score but he went 13-12 on his face offs, was even for the game while taking 5 shots. It was a much needed win for the Oceanic and we are hoping to see more wins from them.

On the other hand for the second week in a row the prospect who earned our Prospect Park Player of the Week saw his team lose. Ryan Hillier was held scoreless as his Halifax Mooseheads lost to the St John's Fog Devils 6-1 one night after beating the Fog Devils 8-2.

It was a very quiet evening for Hillier who hardly showed up on the stat sheet at all but I am sure the Mooseheads are tired after back to back road games.

Complaints NO Concerns YES

With just 3 games into the season it is not about complaining after losing 2 straight but rather some concerns about the direction the Rangers appear to be taking.

I know the Rangers are a work in progress and I did not expect them to jump out and win 20 in a row. I know there will be some rough patches as this team gets to know each other but a couple of things are becoming clear fast.

1-Blair Betts is a good dependable DEFENSIVE forward but using him with Prucha and Cally is a bad move. Betts has almost no offense to his game and the 2 smaller forwards could use a creator for this goal scoring skills.

2-Brandon Dubinsky is not going to score a lot of points (heck score any) if he has Hollweg and Orr as his linemates. I did not understand why right after Dubinsky centering Prucha and Cally in the Florida game had a really good shift that Betts was moved into that spot. I could understand when the team is trying to protect a one goal lead to have Betts but not during the first couple of periods.

3-Mara and Strudwick: Let me get this right, the Rangers are paying Mara a couple of million to sit in the press box so Strudwick who is at best a filling gets regular duty? Either play Mara or dump him because that makes no sense at all to keep him to scratch him which leads to

4-Pock who is not figuring in the Ranger plans yet takes up a roster spot that could be used elsewhere. If you are not going to use Pock then move him. Why worry about a player who clearly is not in your plans today or tomorrow being lost for nothing? Pock was a undrafted UFA so if he is lost on waivers nothing really is lost.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Why would losing Pock not matter because he was an undrafted free agent? That's like if I have a diamond necklace, which i've gotten for free, but I don't have any need for them, not today or ever, and I don't like them. You'd suggest just giving it away?

Jess Rubenstein said...

IF Pock had the value of a diamond necklace then he would be playing and contributing. He can't even jump past Strudwick the dinosaur for playing time.

Your choice of a diamond necklace is a bad one because if you had one that you did not like or want then you would be doing everything possible to get rid of it.

You are not using Pock, you have no plans for him if he is your 8th defenseman. His path is blocked by Mara and Strudwick while kids in Hartford are going to blow past him like Sauer.

Heck over time his value decreases to the Rangers so either move him for something while you still can or just get rid of him EVEN if it means losing him on waivers for nothing.

It is called addition by subtraction, you open roster space for someone who could actually contribute rather than keeping dead wood

How does keeping someone who is not in your plans make any sense? Even more so what has Pock done wrong to deserve seeing his career being messed with like this?

The Rangers did this to him last season as well. Right now the Rangers can put Avery on IR and open a roster spot for what a short term?

Loose Threads said...

Dan Girardi was also an undrafted free agent.

Jess Rubenstein said...

Jason

I think people are missing the point which is WHY KEEP Pock if you have no use for him?

It is not a knock about him being a UFA when they found him. I like Pock he is a good guy but why waste a roster spot if you are not going to use him?

Loose Threads said...

Jess,
I was just point out that saying that losing Pock because he was an UFA isn't probably the best point to make about him.
I do agree that why have the spot if he won't be played. He does have some offensive skills on the blue line and I personally would like to see him play and get some time on the PP but that option looks like it won't be used.
He needs to see action which probably won't come Friday and depending on what happens Friday, he might not see it Saturday either, unless that is if Hossa can't go and they have to use him up front.