Do the Gers Need A New Tendy?
As the Gers move into the crunch time portion of their regular season schedule and with the NHL trade deadline upcoming, the neck injury to Henrik Lundqvist could not have come at a worse time. While the Gers sit strong at fourth place in the Eastern Conference and second in the Metropolitan division, only three points separate the fourth placed Gers and seventh seeded Washington. This means that either GM Glen Sather stays complacent with the roster he currently holds, or makes strong moves to send this team back to the glory land that is the Stanley Cup Finals.
While we have recently reviewed possible dishes and pick-ups the Gers may need to make on the offensive side to fortify their current position in the East, it might be time for the team to evaluate possibly their biggest question, goaltending.
Sure, Hank’s numbers are among the best in the league (25 wins, .922 Save%, 2.25 GAA), and Cam Talbot is not far behind (.915 Save%, 2.51 GAA) as well as accumulating three goose eggs in a mere eighteen games played, but are these numbers good enough to get the boys in blue to where they need to be?
Talbot, albeit in a small sample of games, has fallen far short of expectations with Hank out of the line up. While a 4-0-1 record may state otherwise, he has attained a sub-par Save% [.903- in only one of these games has he had over a .900Save% (34/35 stops against the Arizona Roadkill)] and goals against average (3.2), which leads me to believe it is time to hand over the reigns to someone more capable.
Lundqvist has done some remarkable things for the Gers over his ten-year career in Manhattan, compiling over 330 wins and partnering that with a very solid .921 Save%, but underlying evidence states that the Swedish fish is more of a mackerel than a blue fin tuna. For example, everyone who has a working set of eyes understands Hank might be one of the top five best looking guys in the show and maybe NYC. That being said, his wife Therese Andersson is a 6.5 at best. While this metric doesn’t completely translate to any athletic ability, it tells me that Hank’s mind isn’t in the right place; why settle for a 6.5 (conference finals), when you could definitely score a 10 (A cup ring). Hey, maybe the King should take a page out of Tom Brady’s playbook.
Staying with the theme of grit (as the Blue Shirts desperately need), I would say that if I were Sather I would look no further than pipelining a deal with our rivals down south, the Philadelphia Flyers.
In this hypothetical deal, if I was a smart man, and I know Glen is, I would look to deal the aging Henrik for three players who are in their prime, namely Michael Del Zotto, Wayne Simmonds, and (most importantly) Ray Emery. With my personal tendy bias, DZ and Simmer are mostly kickers in this deal. The Gers need some strength and a better net front presence on the peeper, which Wayno will more than provide.
As for Del Zotto, it is evident that he might be the missing piece of the puzzle on the Gers’ blue line. If any fan needs convincing of the necessity of acquiring Del Zotto, one just has to look back to his days as a Markham Waxer where he had 30 goals, 90 assists, 90 PIMs, and was a plus 135. If those numbers aren’t enough for Sather to take notice of the possible Norris trophy candidate, I don’t know what is.
Now on to the most important piece: Emery. Critics may look at this possible trade as an outrage. How can you even begin to compare Lundqvist with the Razor? With a quick look at career numbers, Hank flattens Emery in nearly every relative metric. However, there is one stat that tends to be lost in all the clutter: fights. Combined, Henrik and Cam have a zero career fights. That is some sorry stuff. Comparatively, Razor Sharp Ray has fourteen fights total (5 OHL, 6 AHL, 3 NHL), and that doesn’t include the one that he and his equipment manager got into when Ray was crushing life in the KHL. Knowing that Ray is willing to drop the gloves may give the rest of the team enough confidence to run players at will, increasing the chances of a cup ring ten-fold.
Emery is just hitting his peak as a player as well. Just two seasons ago, Sugar Ray set a new NHL record during his time with the Blackhawks. In just 21 games played, he compiled a record of 17-1, including winning twelve straight to start the season, a record previously held by Ken Dryden (11).
This move may be ballsy, but I believe it must be done and will pay high dividends for the Gers in the long run. After all, as Donald Trump once said, “If you’re not willing to risk everything, then you might as well go play for Montreal.”
- Boyz