Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Enforcer...

If Derek Boogaard doesn't do one of these two things tonight against Toronto, he literally has no purpose being on the New York Rangers' roster:
  1. Make life hell for Colby Armstrong by either pummeling him in a fight or delivering fierce body checks to him every single time he's on the ice.
  2. Hit Phil Kessel or Kris Versteeg or Luke Schenn so hard that no Toronto player wants to have the puck all night.
Last time the Leafs and Rangers met, last Friday, Armstrong boarded Gaborik. The no-suspension hit from behind left Gaborik out for the better part of a month. Only one player - Sean Avery - stepped up on his teammate's behalf.

What did $1.6M (for 4 years!) Boogaard do? Nothing. He did nothing in his 5 minutes and 29 seconds of ice time.

When he was signed, they quoted his size (6'7", 265 lbs.) and protective nature (after all, he played with Gaborik in Minnesota) as the reason for throwing him more years and more money than Colton Orr wanted. Well, 3 games into his Ranger career, and he failed to protect Gaborik from an injury.

If he doesn't respond tonight, then you might as well buy him out tomorrow, because no team will be afraid to take liberties with Gaborik or Henrik Lundqvist if they know there is nobody to answer to.

Oh, and if he fights Colton Orr tonight? Buy him out tomorrow. There's no need for one tough guy to fight another tough guy. Boogaard should hit Armstrong as hard as he can as often as possible for the illegal hit on Gaborik, or he should hit Toronto's young stars as hard and as often as possible to send a message.

Take out mine, we'll take out yours.

After all, why is he being paid?

3 comments:

  1. the problem is torts does not give him enough ice time to be effictive he can not retaleate if his but is glued to the bench

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  2. Agreed... but do you think he would if given time? Two minutes in the Avs game is nothing, but does he warrant more time?

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  3. I say let him play a lot tonight, and if he is ineffective and soft, sit him for a long time.

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