I know I wrote a post very similar to this one the other day but what the hell. I'm sitting here in the middle of the night reading game previews for tonight's game against Montreal and for the first time in a long time I am very excited about this team. Although I am always excited for games my mentality often centers around the phrases "must win" or "if they don't win this game..." or "they should beat this team".
For the first time in awhile I want to watch a game simply to see this team play. They are once again fun to watch but in a very different way. While I used to revel in the utter puck dominance and skill of Jagr-Straka-Nylander... I am now excited to see Drury and Gomez drive to the net for garbage goals, Brandon Dubinsky excel at both ends of the ice, and Marc Staal continue to prove himself as the YoungStar that he is.
The similarities between this year and last year persist. Henrik holding down the net, Roszival being the unsung leader of the defense, Sean Avery being... Sean Avery. This team right now, however, exhibits a steady calm and consistency that makes me proud to be a Rangers fan. Look at the Rangers... signing young players and building from within!!! Who would have thought? Not me.
Jagr, Straka, Shanny...they're nice pieces that can definitely help this team. But at this point, thanks to improved play, contract extensions, and proper media attention, the Rangers have transformed themselves from a team that was close to being over the hill (Jagr, Shanny) to a young, up and coming team with enourmous potential (Dubinsky, Dawes, Girardi).
Would someone like Rob Blake help this team at the deadline? Certainly. However, it would be a huge mistake to trade a Dawes, a Callahan, or anyone else in the young core of players, guys who are quickly replacing Jaromir Jagr as the current face of this franchise.
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