I don't know what type of fair return they'd get on a scoring winger coming off a down year who has injury concerns.
The lesson here: don't invest superstar money in injury prone players who can't be relied on to carry the team in big spots, players who don't play a well-rounded game. On a team where so many other players are willing to do the dirty work in the corners, hit, fight and block shots, Gaborik is asked to do primarily one thing and to do it very well--score goals. Score goals in blowout games against weak opponents but he's also paid to do it during crunch time when it matters most. He's a non-factor when he isn't scoring because he doesn't do enough of the other things to win games.
And if he's not scoring at the end of the season because he's all banged up, then how much help is he going to be each year in the spring if the Rangers do happen to make the playoffs? The Rangers need him to be productive to win and he needs to be healthy to be productive. Because if he's healthy and still isn't scoring, then they've got an even bigger problem.
I for one am sick of all the "Gabby's Hurt" crap.. I don't believe for a second he's hurt at all...First of all Gabby doesn't want to be here. He doesn't like the system Tort's wants him to play. Gabby doesn't like playing at both ends of the rink, he never has. Why start now?
Second..Gabby's teamates don't like him. He's a cancer to the team, but unfortuntley at this point anyways, no one can come out and say that.
Third.. Gaborick is too much of a P**** to ever even think of playing hurt.
The best thing this team could do is dump him to anyone who will take him. A bag of pucks and a water bottle sounds fair to me.
Honestly, at this point, I'd do Gabby for David Perron or David Booth and like a 3rd rounder. I'd rather have someone who fits the identity of this team and lots of cap space, even if they are damaged goods.
Gaborik isn't a bad player but he's more Mike Gartner than Jaromir Jagr. Gartner was a great player but he was a top 3 COMPLIMENTARY winger, can you imagine the 89-90 or 90-91 Rangers minus Bernie Nichols, Brian Leetch, John Ogrodnick, Brian Mullen but with just an injured Kissio, young Turcotte, and Gartner? That's Gabby.
Gaborik's gone people, save for an amazing performance today and through the playoffs. I told you yesterday this was coming and some of you (most?) just covered your ears and kept yelling no.
He can't handle New York. The Rangers know this.
This post is funny considering your tone. Get off your pedestal. Gaborik isnt gone yet. Stop shoving your "I told you so's" down our throats when nothing has happened yet and all we have is a made up Brooks article to go off of.
I would like to see him for one more year. We saw what he could do last year. Somethings up with him, the obvious guess is an injury. What honestly could you get for Gaborik besides a first and a prospect? Who would be in the market for a 7.5 million dollar injury prone winger?
This isn't all Gabby's fault; the identity of the team really changed this year. They become the blue collar Ryan Callahan-led Rangers and there was no major announcement, it just evolved that way.
Free agents who are signed need to be tough and fit within the system. Richards is the man and I'd brign him here, but maybe it's a better idea to bring in guys like Joel Ward from Nashville, Erik Cole, Brooks Laich, or even a Hal Gill (obviously not ALL of them) as these guys all work, grind, and are tough.
so now he will have more time to think about hockey... maybe...
Yes he is pro that is getting payed $7.5 mil a year. But he is still a human...
I can imagine that he lost his passion for everything. And yes, you are paying him enough so you don't have to be interested in his life.
I'm just saying...
EDIT: Yeah... btw. Gaborik is far from your biggest problem. I don't want to offend this organization so I will not call it with right words.
If you feel offended I will delete my "Edit" section. It is just my opinion...
Last edited by slovakfan*: 04-09-2011 at 10:23 AM.
Gabby will not be traded, and he should not be traded.
0 goals in the last 9 games. Coincidently the biggest games of the year.
And having to be benched in the 3rd period for awful effort in THE biggest game of the year with the playoffs on the line.
That's a lot more fail then people expressing their dissatisfaction with a player earning 7+ million to be an elite goal scorer and top performer and game breaker in these big game situations.
Or was he signed to beat up on the Islanders 6 times a year?
I think were cuses with signing first line players.. Gomez and Drury were spose to be great players.. But atleast they had more then 2 years. I would give Gabby one more year.
Gaborik does not fit anymore. He sucks along the boards and is not a grinder. He is a skater and a scorer and is a fish out of water on the Rangers. Tortorella has made his opinion on Gabby and Avery quite clear. I do not expect either of them to be back next season.
Gaborik is not a meat and potatoes type of player. We're more in need of a power forward type of player. Strong on the puck, buys into the team system. Not a floating, inconsistent, brittle, 6 foot whatever pile of "potential".
Richards' price will be too high, plain and simple.
What about Cole, Laich, or Fleischmann? Jussi Jokinen?
Honestly, I can't see which goal scorer would thrive on this team right now. Grinding behind the net for the majority of our offense, seldom any traffic in front of the goalie, no screens, no deflections, no rebounds, no nothing. Just a grind cycling along the boards followed with a weak perimeter shot at best.
Our outlet passes are terrible - well, our passing is horrible, period - which Gaborik usually thrives from on the run. We almost never get the puck through the neutral zone in an adequate manner. Dump, chase and giveaway. Rinse and repeat, without any real pressure on the opposing net.
Gabby wants a game where we change to the attack quickly, off rushes, which this team is inept of, since again, our passing game, offensive determination and decision making is pathetic. How should I put it? A low average hockey IQ, which is perhaps expected considering the team consists of such young players and a general lack of "that little extra".
Honestly, I can't see which goal scorer would thrive on this team right now. Grinding behind the net for the majority of our offense, seldom any traffic in front of the goalie, no screens, no deflections, no rebounds, no nothing. Just a grind cycling along the boards followed with a weak perimeter shot at best.
Our outlet passes are terrible - well, our passing is horrible, period - which Gaborik usually thrives from on the run. We almost never get the puck through the neutral zone in an adequate manner. Dump, chase and giveaway. Rinse and repeat, without any real pressure on the opposing net.
Gabby wants a game where we change to the attack quickly, off rushes, which this team is inept of, since again, our passing game, offensive determination and decision making is pathetic. How should I put it? A low average hockey IQ, which is perhaps expected considering the team consists of such young players and a general lack of "that little extra".
yeah. Something like this.
I was going to say that it is not Gaborik who stinks. This smell is all around. Sorry...
