Brassard should have been fined and suspended by the Rangers for that play. There is no room for that level of incompetency in any professional sport.
It's almost like fans need to be patient with super young players across all sports. He's only 20 years old.
it was hard watching him struggle at first... not b/c of being judgemental... but unless you saw him play among his peers BEFORE he came... you couldt really see what traits he was drafted for...
If treating him like a chew toy means expecting him to be in position on defense, then prepare to hear annoying squeaking all over the place.
It really is a pleasure to watch Artemi Panarin game after game. The guy oozes talent from his pores.
Kind of surprising because I think he’s really crafty defensively. I’ve seen him take the puck away from guys in amazing fashion.
He's a very canny player, however NHL face-offs are highly engineered and canniness doesn't really play into them much. It's purely timing, aggression and strength. The things that you can do to affect face-offs from the perspective of gaming the system tend to get you chucked from the circle because the linesman has seen them all and wants to get on with the game not watch you get all tricksy.
The sad reality is that the Rangers organization as a whole has ignored the center position for the better part of two decades.
Rangers squeak out of the first period tied. They may just have enough luck to go somewhere this year.
