This Broadway Blue Often Is Black And Blue
Sep 01, 2022Posted by james
Our local hockey teams will begin respective training camps within a few days and the fan bases of the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils hope that their players have recovered from black and blues, pulls, off-season surgeries and anything else that afflicted them in the waning weeks of last season.
The local player who has earned the award for most body blows is Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren. He is known as the blackest-and-bluest Ranger, yet he keeps popping up, as one journalist wrote, in “Whac-A-Mole no matter how hard and often he would be conked by the mallet.”
Rarely does Ryan play at 100 percent of health, but he plays each game with 100 percent of his ability. Iron and grit appear next to his name in the NHL dictionary.
Ryan has created a professional career by handling plays that never make the scoresheet but impact each game. He makes the critical checks, chases the puck, blocks shots, grinds in the defensive corners and clears the zone while getting knocked to the ice. Did I mention the checks? During many games, Ryan often leaves the bench for the locker room to be attended by athletic trainers, maybe even the team doctor, to address some pain somewhere on his body.
Fans of the Rangers love Ryan Lindgren. He is that blue collar player who brings his lunch pail to work on Broadway. By now, he should be healed from last season’s bruises but certainly he will add new aches and pains with the first game this season. Make that the first pre-season game. No, make that the first scrimmage in training camp.
by james on Sep 01, 2022 |
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