I saw Colton Orr was not in the lineup and Donald Brashear was. Don’t laugh. Think back to a time when Tom Renney failed to have the big enforcer in the lineup for a game against the Flyers, and they proceeded to run rampant all over the Blueshirts. After that game, Renney vowed to never sit Orr again and #28 has been a staple ever since. Especially after watching Brashear challenge Orr during pre-game warmups, you had to believe he was going to be in there right? Right???
Well apparently not, and the injury sustained by Blair Betts is a direct result of not dressing Orr. Brashear knew he could perform that act without fear of having to face the reprecutions of Colton Orr. I applaud Paul Mara for standing up to him, and we can argue until we’re blue in the face about how many minutes Brashear should have gotten for it. As a player, when you see that happen to a teammate of yours, it does something that’s hard to explain. Whatever it is, it takes a lot out of you and its hard to recover from. Brashear didn’t get much ice time after that, and you can speculate as to whether or not this was premeditated, but the Rangers staff allowed it to happen by not having Colton Orr ready to go at a moment’s notice.
I’m in no way pinning the Rangers loss solely on this decision and subsequent event, but it definitely was a factor. Now the Rangers are likely down their best faceoff man and penalty killer. I’ll bet Colton Orr will be dressed for Game 7.
Either way, its time to find out what these Rangers are really made of on Tuesday night….
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