Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Chris Kreider show

May we please interrupt the New York Ranger fans broadcast of "The Chris Kreider Trade Rumors Show" for "The Chris Kreider Beanpot Special"? We think that our show is more realistic than the rumor show.

After all for the third straight year, Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) helped his Boston College Eagles win the annual Beanpot Tournament; this time over hated rival Boston University 3-2 in overtime. For those of you who do not follow college hockey that much; the winner of the last 4 Beanpot's has gone on to win 3 of the last 4 NCAA championships.

It is that big a deal but what's better is that during the three years that Chris Kreider has played in the Beanpot but it is also been the start of his best hockey of the season. Against Boston University, Kreider set up a shorthanded goal and scored a power-play goal himself.

Kreider is now 5-5-10 in his last five games and we will just mention that Boston College has also won the last 5 games, 19-16-35 on the season. The other thing that stood out for us is 9 shots as anyone who knows us knows the importance we place on the number of shots Chris Kreider takes in a game.

Anytime Chris Kreider takes more than 4 shots it means more than likely he has had a multi-point game as well as Boston College has won the game. I suppose at this point one should also mention that in attendance at this game was Glen Sather, Jeff Gorton, Gordie Clark, and Mark Messier.

It is a symbolic sign that we have taken to realize that when those four are together that the intention is clear that the Rangers want to sign that prospect. It is one thing that Jeff Gorton and Gordie Clark have been the ones who scouted and pushed for Chris Kreider to be picked but Glen Sather is a fan of Kreider's so is Mark Messier.

And had those 4 had their way that Chris Kreider would've already been wearing his Ranger uniform. It was Chris Kreider who turned down the Rangers last year and attended summer school.

We believe that Chris Kreider as soon as his Boston College season is done will join the New York Rangers. We expect that the Rangers will put him first on an ATO with the Whale and then Kreider will get with good friends Derek Stepan and Ryan Bourque for summer workouts with the goal being making the Rangers in the fall.

Hopefully this might give people the idea that Chris Kreider is not on the market today or tomorrow. Seriously most of those who have suggested using Kreider in a trade would not know Kreider unless they were given a picture to look at.

For three years we along with those of our friends have been watching Chris Kreider play and the player we know is not just a guy who skates fast and can score goals. He is a rock solid two-way player who is a threat at both ends of the ice.

He plays defense, he goes into corners and fights for the puck just like he goes into traffic and sets up in the crease, and while his speed is first rate; put him out on the power-play with Derek Stepan and look out. Those two are good friends who've already shown a very very good chemistry with each other on the ice.

What a lot of fans do not realize is that under Gordie Clark when the Rangers draft a player they do so with the intention of using his skills to complement other players who already are part of the Ranger system. It is a huge reason as to why the Rangers have been trying to sign Kreider for the last two years to take advantage of the chemistry he has with Stepan.

It is almost comical that we are watching a reversal of roles as fans who used to scream about Glen Sather going after players with big contracts are now the ones urging him on. It is also sad because many of those same people have not really watched the players that they want to see the Rangers go after.

Are we supposed to believe that Ranger fans actually watch Columbus Bluejackets games? Or is it more logical to believe that those same fans watch clips and looked at the statistics page on the computer for their knowledge of the player the chasing?

When Glen Sather elevated Jeff Gorton to the position of assistant general manager he was sending a message that he understood after all this time the lesson: it is not how much you spend but how will you spend the money.

It is also sad that how quickly the same folks who jumped all over trade rumors claiming it's because they're excited or because they think it would help the team actually would do more harm than good.

If it hurts your feelings not going to apologize because truth is when it comes to making trades fans of the home team overinflate the value of the player they're willing to get rid of while under inflating the player they wished to obtain. They fail to acknowledge that the idea of the trade is for both teams to walk away believing they've improved themselves.

What is a scary thought that one actually feels safer with Glen Sather making the deals then one would if it was some of the ideas Ranger fans are tossing out there.

(Kreider - NHL media/New York Rangers)

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