Thoughts And Musings

Well, we’re at the All-Star break. Halfway through (roughly). And all in all, pretty good season.

-6th seed. In range of the 4th, although it would be tough. With all the injuries, it’s remarkable.

-Hats off to Brian Boyle. What a tremendous year.

-Players who deserve praise: Staal, Girardi, Eminger, Sauer, Gilroy, Boyle, Prust, Fedetenko, Callahan. Lundqvist, Biron, Stepan, Zuccarello, McDonagh, Dubinsky, Anisimov

-Players who need to do better: Avery, Gaborik, Drury, Christensen, Del Zotto, Boogaard

-The culture here, whatever allows this team to be resilient, to plug in minor leaguers and get the same results, that’s what been great. John Tortorella has to be a Jack Adams candidate, if not the favorite. He’s done a tremendous job.

-Still, for all the grit, need more scoring. Have a little more scoring, don’t need to use all that energy coming back. I’m talking to you, Marian Gaborik. I’m talking to you Chris Drury. Boyle has been great, but he’s also your leading scorer. He shouldn’t be.

-When Dubi, Cally, hopefully Prospal come back, things will be different, I think. But, if we want to make a run in the playoffs, have to score more. Plain and simple.

-Defense, though, has been terrific. Staal, Girardi, Sauer and Eminger, in particular have been great. Gilroy has improved. McDonagh has showed us something. MDZ hasn’t worked out. But I think the stint in the AHL will help.

-If Eric Staal passes over Marc in the All-Star draft, how awkward will family gatherings be?

-I actually like the idea of the All-Star draft. Adds intrigue, excitement.

-Will I watch the actual game? Probably not. Maybe the skills stuff. But the game will suck.

-Met a Kings fan. Fascinating. No, really. Talk about a struggling fan. That team has so much talent, but can’t put it together yet.

-I like what I’ve been seeing from Chad Kolarik. Nose for the net. Good offensive upside.

-Grachev, I think, still belongs in the AHL. Rather have Dupont than him, at this point.

-Sometime, though, he will belong in the NHL.

-I think MDZ, barring any further injuries, needs to stay in the AHL for the remainder of the year. Still has the home run mentality. Doesn’t know when to play it safe.

-I keep thinking back to how much I love the Marty Biron signing. Perfect signing.