B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

Bathgate66 wrote:

Hockey Rodent


In The Trenches

Wed, Apr 4, 1:15 AM Pacific


It should have been 3-0 before things got better last night in Uniondale. Marek Malik got stripped of the puck behind the Ranger net and only a stellar stop by Henrik Lundqvist kept the Blueshirts within reach.

Malik's clumsiness and sluggishness has been bared for all to see in recent weeks. As the referees swallow more and more whistle, his benign presence demonstrates how useless he will be in the playoffs.

With a skyskcraper frame and proportionate attraction to gravity, you'd think he'd keep enemy attackers on their toes... heads up, so to speak.

But that's not our pacifist... our pussyfist. I fail to see how he's any improvement over Tom Poti. What's worse... Marek averages a penalty ever other game. For what? Does the victim suffer for the privilege of obtaining the man advantage? Hardly.

Worse yet...he keeps chasing the puck behind the goal line, making mental mistakes. For someone as mobility-challenged as Malik, positioning is the maker/breaker. And that begins with his head. But the problem is that he's so tall, by the time the nerve impulses reach his feet, the puck... and the attacker... are behind him.

Perhaps his plus-minus speaks well during the regular season... until you scrutinize the digits with a magnifying glass. More than half those chits came against the five worst defenses in the universe... The Kings, Bruins, Yotes, Caps and Flyers. All of these clubs yield at least 3.5 goals per game. None of whom represent the type of challenge New York will face in the postseason. All (but one) of whom score fewer than 2.7 goals per game. And the lone exception is Washington which ranks 18th in team offense.

Look. I fully understand it was never his mission to dish out punishment on behalf of the Blueshirt rearguard. That was supposed to be the role of Darius Kasparaitis. But that ship has sailed and Malik should be the one to step up to the task.

Note please how Brendan Witt and Sean Hill routinely delivered extracirricular physicality after each whistled stoppage when they were on the ice Tuesday evening. None of those abrasions resulted in a trip to the sin bin. Why not? Because that's the nature of playoff hockey. Matt Cullen was speared twice by Witt after whistles with nary a call. How did he get away with it?

It's playoff hockey.

And playoff hockey is all about attrition... eroding your adversary at every opportunity.

Rock is harder than water, n' est-ce pas? Yet canyons are carved by the relentless antagony of tiny droplets which ultimately cause the mightiest stones to yield.

That's how the Devils won with Kevin Stevens during their heyday. It was those consistent cheap shots after the whistle... the face washes... the shoves...

But no. This is not for Marek Malik.

Six-foot six, ungainly and all about finesse in a postseason world of Hudson Bay officiating. Not to mention that finesse kind of implies you can skate. But heck. I'd be satisfied if Malik would merely clear the crease in front of Henrik.

I'm not holding by breath.

Now don't get me wrong(ly). I don't expect the man to be anything he isn't. I have no personal beef with Malik.

Frankly, the problem doesn't even lie with Malik. It lies with the guy who signed Malik, dis-ir-regardless whether that entity was pressured by a subordinate entity into doing so.




BERTH-O-METER
Eastern Conference
6th 7th 8th P/O
59.7% 32.6% 6.9% 99.3% TAM
35.4% 43.0% 19.1% 97.6% NYR
4.3% 19.9% 53.4% 77.6% MON
0.6% 4.4% 18.3% 23.3% TOR
0.0% 0.0% 2.3% 2.3% NYI

Chart shows the probabilities for each team to secure one of the three final playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. The fourth column sums up the first three and displays the likelihood that team will reach the postseason.

Bathgate66 wrote:

haha

good catch .

i suspect you are correct there friend.