One Player Does Not Make A Team, Folks

Trust me on this.

Hockey, unless I missed a memo somewhere, is a team sport.  Usually it consists of three forwards, two defensemen (or two defencemen if you’re Canadian), and a goalie. The only time one skater is on the ice is for a shoot out. Golf, is a single player sport. Tennis, unless you’re playing doubles, is a single player sport.  Now that we cleared that up…

Lately, if the Rangers are playing poorly, and Avery is being sat, the loss is due soley in part to Avery being all cozy in the press box according to some fans. But it’s also due to the fact that EC was in the line up and is invisible. The losses were not because of lapses in the D.  Not because the goalie let in a soft goal.  Not because the team racked up penalties.  Not because the team wasn’t playing a cohesive game.  Not because they were skating like they had 50lb sandbags attached to their legs.  It was because one player was, or was not, in the line up.

When the Rangers went on their epic winning streak, with Avery in the line up, they won games because of Avery. Not because of Lundqvist’s stellar play.  Not because of Brad Richards’ keen ability to make beautiful passes.  Not because of Dan Girardi playing like a beast.  Not because lines were working.  Not because the defense was on point.  But because Sean Avery played. He played an average of 5 minutes a game.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Avery has shown he has what it takes to give the team a ‘spark’, and has contributed when called upon.  But the Rangers’ don’t need spark.  They need goals.  They need them badly.  They need to start taking shots, and not verbal ones.  They need to play smarter.  They need to back check better, fore check better, body check better.  They need to put together 3 periods of solid play. This is not the work fit for one man. It’s work fit for a team.

I see many a tweet that imply that “If Avery had played…”, “If Dubi was benched…”, “If Boyle was benched…”, “If Biron was not started…”.  hindsight is 20/20 folks.  It’s a 6 in one-half a dozen in the other scenario as my grandmother would say.  The grass is always greener. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

I agree, there are games where Avery’s style of play is warranted and welcomed. But there are times when his style of play may not match the game.  This just doesn’t apply to Avery.  The same could be applied to Dubinsky, Rupp, Boyle, EC, etc… Thus is the life of a 3^rd and/or 4^th liner.  You know there may be games sat and games played.  You can anticipate some will be rotated based on the opponent and the expected tone of the game. Rest assured if you aren’t playing up to par, you may be sat, your line may be flopped around, or you may have some quiet time down at the end of the bench. Some times you got to take one, for the team.

The takeaway from my little rant is that one person does not make or break the team. One person is not the sole reason for a winning streak or a losing streak. 

One person does not win the Stanley Cup.