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NYR return to action to face BUF, kickoff stretch of 4 games in 6 nights |
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The Rangers return to action today against the Sabres. As noted yesterday, the team is in the midst of a heavy workload of 10 games in 17 days. New York is halfway through that schedule with four contests remaining over the next six days and five games in the next eight. Following those six games, the Blueshirts have four days before facing the Habs and then a four-day holiday break prior to the game against Detroit.
Yesterday, the team returned Adam Huska and Morgan Barron to the AHL, calling up Keith Kinkaid and taking Greg McKegg off COVID-19 protocols. Huska was strafed by the Avalanche on Wednesday, most of the damage not truly his fault. Nothing like a welcome to the NHL moment like that. Barron was promoted when McKegg went out, but never saw a game, as the team was on a win streak and coach Gerard Gallant rightfully saw no reason to modify the lineup. But it stinks to a certain extent for Barron, though, Hartford had several games postponed due to COVID issues in the AHL, so he didn’t miss much action.
McKegg resumes his role as the 13th forward, likely only to get in if need arises. Kinkaid backs up Alexandar Georgiev until Igor Shesterkin is ready. We should get a better sense today on how much longer Igor might be out as the expectation is he will skate in practice. My best guess is he won’t be ready for Nashville on Sunday but is a possibility for the Colorado contest Tuesday, though that is far from certain.
A really good column by
Vince Mercogliano on the two hits by Jacob Trouba. One hit would have brought attention, but occurring on back to back nights and one to Nathan MacKinnon, drew additional attention. Each hit was legal by the definition of the rule, but seeing the impact to Jujhar Khaira was jarring to say the least.
Some good takeaways were:
The league took no issue with either hit, which comes as no surprise. Neither hit clearly violated any rules. For it to be considered charging, Trouba would have had to leave his feet in a jumping motion or traveled an excessive distance to deliver the blow, which he did not. He also didn’t extend his elbow or check from behind. He led with his shoulder and hit both players straight on
Placing the burden on players to calculate the odds of an injury in a fraction of a second is unfair and unreasonable. The truth is, the only way to ensure fewer head injuries would be to eliminate open-ice hits altogether.
Of course, that would completely change the way the sport is played. And as someone who loves the game — including the physicality of it — that's a difficult sell.
“There's little doubt that Trouba's hits were executed within the rules, but even less doubt that they put his opponents in danger. Unfortunately, the players accept those risks when they step onto the ice and are mostly left to police it themselves.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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