Gaborik Most Valuable in First Quarter

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Written on 11/24/2009 by Jim Cerny


A quarter of the way through the 2009-10 NHL season is a good time to assess the good, bad, and ugly in the National Hockey League.

To me, the top story has been the plethora of injuries sweeping through the league. That, and the amount of injuries caused by blows to the head, as well as the GMs consideration of tougher penalty calls for such violent hits.

The biggest surprise, in my opinion, is the play of the Colorado Avalanche, though both the Islanders and Coyotes deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Avs. First place in the Northwest and third overall in the Western Conference, the sorry Avs of a year ago have been replaced by a plucky bunch backstopped by the somewhat-suprising, and quite dependable, Craig Anderson.

The most disappointing team has been the Carolina Hurricanes, hands down. An Eastern Conference finalist last spring, the 'Canes returned much of the same lineup this season, just with much worse results. Their 14-game winless skid (0-10-4) was as shocking as it was embarrassing.

The top rookie? Tough call because this is a really, really deep freshman class this year. Two that have really impressed me ar Philly's James Van Riemsdyk (6-12-18 in 17 games, with four game-winning goals) and Evander Kane of Atlanta (7-5-12 in 20 games, with three game-winners and, like Van Riemsdyk, a +7 plus/minus mark). John Tavares of the Islanders, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay, Michael Del Zotto of the Rangers, and the Avs precocious duo of Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly will all continue to bear watching as the season moves along due to their strong play, too.

Now, who has been the most valuable player through one-quarter of the season? Anderson deserves consideration for what he has done in Colorado, though his numbers are not eye-popping great. Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, despite injuries that sidelined both for a spell, are averaging just about a goal-per-game and have both been phenomenal so far this season. Philly's Chris Pronger has been a beast, playing 27 minutes a night in every important game situation, averaging nearly a point-per-game as a defenseman, and carrying a +13 along the way. Anze Kopitar leads the league in scoring and has helped push the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division.

And what about Joe Thornton or Dany Heatley, both of whom have played huge roles in helping the Sharks stay ahead of the resurgent Kings? Or Ryan Miller and his sub 2.00 goals against average and 12-3-2 record for the Sabres?

There are a host of players off to great starts this season. But who is most valuable to his own team? I'd have to say Marian Gaborik of the Rangers.

Gaborik's numbers certainly back this argument. In 21 games played (he missed two because of an injury), Gaborik has 18 goals---nearly one-per-game---and 32 points. He is tied with Heatley for the league lead in goals, and is second behind Kopitar in points. He has also scored at least one point in 19 of the 21 games in which he has played, showing tremendous consistency this season.

Dig deeper and you find out that Gaborik has also been a workhorse, averaging more than 22 minutes of ice-time, among the leaders for all forwards in the NHL. He has also been an excellent penalty killer, while thriving on the power play with seven power play goals, second most in the league.

But dig some more and you find out the real reason why I think Gaborik is the MVP of the first quarter of this season.

Gaborik has put up these elite-level numbers with little-to-no help from his teammates. In fact in a stretch that spanned more than 200 minutes of hockey and ended in the first period of last night's victory over the Blue Jackets, the Rangers did not have a goal scored by a player not named Marian Gaborik or Vinny Prospal. That's a total of six goals, and Gaborik either scored or assisted on all six.

The Rangers have scored 71 goals this season, and Gaborik has a hand in 32 of them.

So even as the only legitimate offensive threat wearing a Rangers jersey every night, Gaborik has still found a way to keep scoring. With that target etched on his jersey, and every coach game-planning against him---and pretty much only worrying about him---Gaborik has delivered game-in and game-out.

Even last night when the story was about a seven-goal outburst by the Rangers, with five goals tallied by others on the Rangers' roster, it was Gaborik who scored the biggest goal of the game. The Rangers surrendered the first two goals of the contest, and trailed 2-0 just 9:31 into play. As head coach John Tortorella and goalie Henrik Lundqvist both told me after the game, had Columbus scored a third goal before the Rangers scored their first, it would likely have been lights out for the Blueshirts. But instead Gaborik scored a huge goal two minutes after the Blue Jackets went up 2-0, and the Rangers took off from there.

"Who else but number 10," Lundqvist said of Gaborik.

There's plenty of hockey left to be played yet this season. But one quarter of the way through, Marian Gaborik has been the most valuable to his team.

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Monday Musings on the Avs, Bruins, and More

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Written on 10/19/2009 by Jim Cerny




As we turn the corner and head into the third full week of the 2009-10 season, I realize that I have put the whammy already on quite a few individuals and teams.

First I pick Vancouver as my Western Conference team this season, and they proceed to stumble out of the gate at 3-4-0, surrendering bad goals at an alarming rate despite having, arguably, the best goaltender in the league.

Then I hail Carey Price in another Rink Rap entry for his monster effort in an Opening Night shootout victory, only to see his goals-against skyrocket to 3.36 and his save percentage shrink to .886 over the first two weeks of the season as his Canadiens are currently mired in a five-game losing skid.

My run continued by writing about how good I believe the LA Kings will be this season, right as they are in the midst of a three-game slide. I am standing behind this belief, though. The Kings are going to be just fine, and they will be one of the eight teams coming out of the West in the spring.

Unless I just put the whammy on them by saying that, of course.

To my credit, not all of my entries have brought doom and gloom to those being written about. The Rangers are still rolling at 7-1-0, and the teenagers---John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly, and Michael Del Zotto---I featured in another piece are still all contributing nicely to their respective clubs.

In fact, Duchene and O'Reilly have played major roles to the fast start the Colorado Avalanche have enjoyed this year. Duchene recored his first NHL point---an assist---in his NHL debut, and netted his first goal on Saturday night in a win over the Red Wings.

Duchene, the 18 year-old 3rd overall pick by the Avs in June's draft, has notched three points in his last four games, and is 1-3-4 overall to date. He is one of the many nice stories on an Avalanche squad that has shocked most by starting the season on a 6-1-1 run, best in the Northwest Division.

Not surprisingly, Adrien Dater at the Denver Post is reporting that Duchene is not going to be returned to his major junior club in Brampton and  instead will remain in Colorado all season. He is playing on the second line, receiving plenty of power play time, and has logged some major minutes already this season. Duchene is a fixture this year, and for many years to come.

O'Reilly, the Avs 18 year-old second round pick this past June, has also played well, but whether or not he remains with the big club is still a question mark. O'Reilly netted his first NHL goal last week against the Canadiens---and it was big one as it tied the contest. He is also riding a four-game point-scoring streak, and has outproduced Duchene, so far, with 1-5-6 numbers.

It's very rare to see an NHL club carry one 18 year-old on the roster, much less two. But the Avs might just break that mold this season.

Heck, what's another surprise for a team that lacks star power, but which has been terrific in all three zones of play so far this season en-route to a fast start out of the gate? The Avs may not have gotten the high-profile coach they wanted this past summer in Patrick Roy, but give Joe Sacco---the man who did eventually get the nod---a lot of credit for having this team prepared to outwork the opposition on a nightly basis.

And let's not forget goaltender Craig Anderson, who right now ranks up there with the Rangers' Marian Gaborik as the best free-agent pick up this past summer. After two seasons splitting time and playing well for the Florida Panthers, Anderson has established himself as the Avs true No. 1 netminder, starting all eight games this season and posting a 2.09 goals-against average. The question will be how he holds up over the long haul. Last year's 31 appearances are the most he has ever made in a single season.

Great start, and a great story, so far in Colorado.

A few other musings on this Monday morning:

*You must check out the 100 facts to know about the first 100 games over at nhl.com. Greg Inglis, who has long worked on the PR side with the league did a fantastic job compiling this list, which is just awesome reading if you are a hockey junkie.

*I am very curious to see the San Jose Sharks in person this evening. Having followed them online, and seen them a couple of times in action on the tube, I want to study their chemistry in person. Only 4-3-1 to start the season, the Sharks have so much talent, and I am waiting for it to fully jell.

*Similar to the news about Matt Duchene, it is not surprising that Rangers head coach John Tortorella told me yesterday that 19 year-old defenseman Michael Del Zotto (3-5-8 in 8 games) is not returning to junior this year. In fact, Torts said it was never a question in his mind that Del Zotto would spend the whole season on Broadway.

*Funny moment yesterday when Larry Brooks of The New York Post jokingly said to Tortorella, "I guess this means you won't let Del Zotto play for Canada at the World Juniors?" Torts' response: "Uh,...no" Of course, Canada has bypassed Del Zotto each of the last two year's anyway...

*Keep an eye on the Bruins. They picked up another second round pick in yesterday's deal that sent Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota. They now have multiple first and second round picks. Kind of makes it easier to swing a bigger deal down the road, doesn't it? The only hitch is cap space. Trading Kobasew saved some money, but the Bruins would need to shed more if they have any plans to land a needed big-time scorer at some point.

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