Pee Wee Hockey

How much fun was it to watch Mats Zuccarello play his first ever NHL game? In case you didn’t catch the post-game show, you missed the mushy-gushy moment when Zuccarello remarked that tonight was “probably the greatest night of my life.” I probably melted right then and there. Kid played his heart out, and it showed. How many one-game call-ups play 17:52 in their NHL debuts? How many hop onto the first power play unit, end up on the ice when the team desperately needs that tying goal, and start on the first line in overtime? How often do they score critical shootout goals to propel their team to the next round?

That line of Brandon Dubinsky, Derek Stepan, and Zuccarello created so many impressive scoring opportunities that I became exhausted after jumping out of my seat so many times during their shifts. Prucha Zucca displayed utter fearlessness with his willingness to mix it up with tough guys behind the net and somehow manage to come away with the puck. He made a fantastic pass to a streaking Dubinsky from that very spot, a pass which resulted in a huge scoring chance in the first period. (Dub—who hasn’t scored since his other half, Allahan, has been out—banked it right off the post. Try again, Dubi!) The NHL is bigger and badder than the Swedish Elite league, and Zuccarello has spoken about the difficulties of getting used to the more physical style of play in North America. Judging by the way Zucca was throwing his body around against guys who are several feet taller than he is, I’d feel pretty comfortable saying that he’s adjusted fairly well so far. To the bitter chagrin of many Rangers fans, the little Norwegian Hobbit was sent right back down to the AHL for the Whale’s Sunday game, presumably because that guy who’s supposed to be our superstar is going to be ready to go for Monday’s game against the Islanders. (Although there has been speculation that he could be back on Monday.) Guess the acupuncture massage worked, eh Gabby?

You may have noticed another little guy out on the ice tonight. His name is Martin St. Louis, and he is my favorite non-Ranger player not named Petr Prucha. St. Louis is 5’ 8” to Zucca’s 5’ 7”…But hey, who’s counting? (In fact, I think they have to stand on each other’s shoulders to reach Brian Boyle’s height. By the way, friendly reminder that Boyle has twelve goals. LOL.) Now you see him, now you don’t. St. Louis represents the entire Tampa Bay squad with his lightning speed, and playing on a line with Steven Stamkos makes him positively deadly on the score sheet. He has the same amount of goals as Dubinsky does, but thanks to his record-breaking linemate, he also has thrity-one assists. When you see guys like St. Louis and Zuccarello go up against giant NHL players, it makes you realize why players that tiny are so rare in the NHL. In a league where Glen Sather will gladly chalk up $6.5 million over four years to pay a tough-guy enforcer who, by all accounts, probably doesn’t play hockey all that well, a player’s weight and height can be the ticket to a shiny NHL contract. Size does matter in the NHL, and in some cases it’s the deciding factor. St. Louis has the enormous skill and the quick set of hands to overcome the roadblock that is his diminutive stature, and from what we’ve seen tonight from Zuccarello, I’m cautiously optimistic. This hopefully won’t be the “greatest night of your life” for long, Zucc!

Lots of other players made a splash out there tonight, in addition to the little guys. Frolov seems to be slowly removing his invisibility cloak. Ruslan Fedotenko was rewarded for a season full of hard work with his sixth goal. And Derek Stepan--who is, inevitably, going to force me to impulsively buy his jersey one of these days—scored yet another clutch, game-tying goal to bring his team to overtime.

Gratuitous DStep Goal Celebration Picture! #GLEE


The Rangers’ defense definitely could have been better this game, and we all could have walked away with our pretty little two points and not let this loss ruin our Christmas. But despite the defensive gaffes and eventual shootout loss, I had fun tonight. Stamkos-St. Louis dominance aside, the Rangers and the Lightning match up very well, and I enjoyed the fast pace of the game. I’m past being shocked by the Blueshirts’ unbeatable work ethic and passionate level of play, so although I’m disappointed by the loss, I don’t have any fiercely scribbled notes of criticism to mercilessly throw their way. The boys battled, and they battled hard. This is what we’ve come to expect from the team, from Brandon Prust, Boyle, Dubinsky, Stepan, Sauer, Staal, etc, etc, etc. I’m not going to let this loss ruin my Christmas—and that’s not just because I don’t celebrate Christmas, but because I’m so happy with the way this team has been playing recently (and the way they played tonight) that I simply can’t find it in my heart to be mad at them.

Some more notes:
*I’m starting to get antsy about Chris Drury scoring a goal. He deserves it. Dru’s been pretty solid since returning to the line-up, and he picked up his second assist off of Frolov’s goal. I’ve never been especially fond of Drury, but I started to realize that it’s the little things that make Drury so important to this team. You wonder what everyone’s referring to when they mention Drury’s “locker room presence”, and we got a taste of that during last week’s game against Phoenix. After Marty Biron let in two quick, soft goals to the Coyotes, angry fans at MSG started sarcastically chanting, “Hen-RIK! Hen-RIK!” Drury skated over to Biron, tapped his pads with his stick and said, “Show them what you got.” By the end of the night, the whole Garden was chanting, “Mar-TY! Mar-TY!” And that’s why Chris Drury wears the ‘C’. Props, Chris.

*The Dubinsky-Prust shorthanded breakaway may have been the Rangers’ best scoring chance of the game. (I know Kerri had a moment there!) Brandon Squared outhustled the speedy Lightning squad and reminded us why we love the effort of this team.

*The shootout stresses me out so much, I swear it takes years off my life. Well, thanks to the third longest shootout in Rangers’ history, I’m going to die eleven years younger than I originally planned. Even so, there was so much to love about it. Zucca impressed once again with a few thousand nifty dekes to score the tying shootout goal, and Erik Christensen came up with another highlight reel shootout move. Next time we’re in the shootout we should just skip his turn, because we all know he’s going to score anyway. Cha-ching!

*Marty Biron’s dissertation on How To Beat Dan Ellis in The Shootout and subsequent reaction to EC’s goal were priceless. I wish he had shared his shootout tips with the rest of the team, though. Way to be exclusive.

When MZA finally cracks the Rangers’ roster for good, we’ll all get sick of those jokes about how absolutely bite-sized he is. But for now, they’re still pretty funny. A few highlights for your reading pleasure:

From Andrew Gross, over at Ranger Rants:

Kubina gets Zuccarello with an elbow to the head, it appeared. Could be considered a high elbow. Or, and not making a joke, Kubina had his elbow at normal height and Zuccarello’s head was there.

As for Zuccarello, liking his game, not afraid to try and take the body. The problem, and, again not trying to be funny, is the opponent doesn’t necessarily notice the hit.

From Jesse Spector, via his Twitter feed:

4:24 left in a tie game at MSG. Scrambling as usual. Zuccarello, meanwhile, tries to stare down Hedman. More of a stare up.

…can you believe I just wrote an entire post about little hockey players and managed to avoid the word “adorable”?

Happy Holidays to all!