There is a certain amount of fear you hear in the voices of players when they talk about someone like Chris Pronger. Behind the facade of toughness and testosterone, any time a forward has to face Pronger, there's a reverence and sense of doom whenever you hear them comment on Pronger's play.
It's like they're speaking of their own demise.
When Henrik Lundquist has spoken in postgame sessions, his eyes widen and he looks crazed when he talks about his team, and behind those words, he keeps coming back to the same things: Play in front of his net.
In the post-lockout NHL, one trend has overtaken all. That's the size of the players in front of the goal. Some teams are great at clearing opposing forwards from in front of their netminder, others, not so much.
Take the New Jersey Devils, for instance. Their forwards and defenders punish the opposition forwards for even looking in the direction of Marty Brodeur. But, any time they fail to clear bodies, a quality scoring chance occurs.
Now, let's take a look at the team across the Hudson. The New York Rangers, despite regaining some of their early season confidence wi ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Russell McKenzie
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December 29th, 2009 by Russell McKenzie Leave a reply »
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