henrik lundqvist

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day Weekend. This summer flew by, didn’t it? It’s already September. It’s already cooled off a bit where windows can be opened without fear of melting, and there are already reports coming from World Cup training camps. Unbelievable. I think a nice musings is a good way to start off the short work week.

1. To address the rumors regarding Henrik Lundqvist, he is not injured. He said he took a puck to the ribs during a practice and is fine. He certainly did not hurt himself playing golf. And even if he did, it never seemed like it was a serious thing when the rumors broke.

2. Speaking of Lundqvist, I want to address the “Lundqvist is overpaid and is not good” crowd. You guys are small but as vocal as you are misinformed. Justin summed up the “Hank is on the decline” fallacy pretty nicely here. But here’s the thing: Last year Hank played behind of the worst defense he’s ever seen. And that defense actually got worse this offseason. It’s not Hank.

3. This is usually when we would start hearing about players filing into camp early, but that is not the case this year. The World Cup of Hockey is returning. The Rangers will have representation from Mats Zuccarello (Team Europe), J.T. Miller (Team North America), Henrik Lundqvist (Team Sweden), Derek Stepan (Team USA), and Ryan McDonagh (Team USA). Reports out of practice have Stepan centering Blake Wheeler and Zach Parise on the second line, with McDonagh paired with John Carlson. Miller spent time with Vincent Trocheck, Dylan Larkin, and Sean Couturier in a bottom-six role.

4. There are rumblings that if the World Cup does well, that the NHL will no longer send players to the Olympics. That decision isn’t coming for a while, but it’s one that wouldn’t shock me. The Olympics shut the season down as the playoff stretch begins, with players risking injury at the most important time of the year. Players risk injury at the World Cup, but it doesn’t shut down the season too. I think it would be a shame to restrict NHL players from the Olympics, but this clearly isn’t my call.

5. As for the Rangers, I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop. The front office has done a masterful job of retooling the bottom-six into one of the deepest group of forwards in the league. Considering the job they’ve done with an apparent eye for some newer stats available, I find it hard to believe they are comfortable with the defense as is. They replaced Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle with Nick Holden and Brady Skjei. That is a major step backwards for a blue line that already wasn’t that good. As it stands today, the defense would look something like this:

McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Kevin Klein
Skjei-Holden/Dylan McIlrath/Adam Clendening

Are you confident in that blue line? I most certainly am not. If you think Hank was hung out to dry last year…

6. Finally, if you haven’t haven’t had a chance to listen to this story from Nick Kypreos regarding Mark Messier and the China Club (link should go to the 01:06:00 mark, but that’s where it starts), you need to. It’s hilarious, and only three minutes long.

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