Bleacher Report - Articles by Robert Guess

Chris Drury: The Most Overrated Player in the NHL

Robert Guess — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:28:04 -0500

I can already feel the heat I am going to get for this one, but I don't really care. Chris Drury was average last season, if I am lenient. This season he is an entirely different story, awful.

Chris Drury is not producing offensively this season, and he is making lazy plays. A perfect example is on a power play against Buffalo. Drury watched Vanek skate by him to create a two-on-one, and then chose not to back check, leading to the goal that sealed the Rangers fate that game.

Enough of that though, let's take a look at his stats last season.

G: 25

A: 33

Points: 58

+/-: -3

The points aren't bad, but they certainly aren't explosive by any means, especially for a guy who is a $7 million cap hit and a minus-3. I know some people don't believe in the +/-, but I think good things follow good players.

Like I said, last year he was average, but is absolutely not worth his salary.

After fourteen games this season, Drury has been dreadful to say the least.

G: 2

A: 3

Points: 5

+/-: -5

Let's start by saying his first goal against the Islanders was virtually a bounce off of him from behind the net that hit Macdonald's skate and ricocheted in. His second was a slap shot in the same game on a five-on-three that deflected off an Islanders skate, I forgot who it was.

Now I'm not saying those aren't goals, but when a $7 million captain's PROD is almost a full game, how he got his points needs to be looked at. The fact is, his play in the defensive zone has been weak, the offensive zone has been worse, and the neutral zone is just as poor.

A minus-5 is a minus-5, no matter how you want to put it. When he is on the ice, bad things happen.

Do I hate Drury? No, not at all. I would love to see him succeed as a Ranger and prove me wrong. The problem is that Rangers fans make excuses for him and it gets annoying. He's the captain, he's a huge cap hit, and he's been a liability.

It's time he starts earning his money and turning this ship around. As a Rangers fan I am fed up with him and the way he is playing.

One last thought, for a "great" two-way player, he sure has a bad plus/minus. I think that's just something to look into.

NHL's Five Most Pathetic Fanbases

Robert Guess — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:06:33 -0400

5. Detroit Red Wings

While I have tremendous respect for an organization that is great every season, I still can't ignore the fact that Hockeytown averages 94.2 percent of their 20,066 seating capacity. The Red Wings are always cup contenders, which should mean there is always a sellout in Hockeytown, right? The Red Wings are far from the worst though, as the list continues.

4. Philadelphia Flyers

I admit, they always have good attendance records, and the Flyers are one of Philadelphia's most successful sports franchises, which doesn't say much. So why would I add the Flyers to the list? It is Philadelphia's reputation that earned them a spot on this list. They are loyal and passionate, yet annoyingly stupid and often extremely violent.

Any sports fan who has encountered them knows their ways and understands why I put them on this list. Of course, it can just be frustrations building up over not winning a championship in the past 25 years, which has become nearly 100 seasons.

3. New York Islanders

Here are a group of fans that don't even know where their home arena is. Well, maybe it's just such a dingy place they would rather stay home and watch the game? Regardless, I don't care what their excuses are; they had the lowest home attendance average in hockey (13,640).

They also clinched the lowest total attendance, including road games, with 1,282,739. Seems like we should stop concentrating some much on the Panda's, and focus on this group, they are decreasing unlike any other species.

2. New Jersey Devils

They sell more seats than the Islanders. They have more sales, a better team, but both fans are equally annoying. So why would I give the Devils the honor of being ahead of the Islanders?

Easy, they had a brand new, beautiful state-of-the-art building, yet they still could not sellout. They did sellout their playoff games though, but for that, Devils fans can thank the Rangers' fans.

Really, an 88.3 percent capacity average is just pathetic. When one watches this clip you have to wonder. Why is it so loud in the Prudential Center when the Rangers just clinched a first-round victory?

1. Montreal Canadiens

Another team that continuously sells out, but for them, it's easy to get right to the point. On February 20, 2008, the Rangers were beating up on the Canadiens 5-0, and their fans began throwing debris onto the ice—yeah, real classy.

The Canadiens went on to win this game 6-5 in a shootout, perhaps a new tradition for Montreal? Of course, who can forget the riot?

The Habs had a first round match against the eighth-seeded Bruins, whom they went 8-0 against in the 2007-2008 season. After taking a 3-1 series lead, they were forced into a Game Seven, which they won.

After this win that was expected, the fans began to burn police cars and vandalize property. This is not even the first time in Habs history this has happened. In 1993, the fans also rioted after winning Lord Stanley's cup.

The '93 riots cost over $1,000,000, about $500,000 more than the most recent. In the new age of tremendously cultured Canadiens fans, 10 stores were vandalized, over 13 people were arrested, and at least 16 police cruisers were damaged or even burned using fuel.

This is a new portion of the article written on July 7, 2008. I forgot to mention the Montreal Canadiens fans booing the national anthem at game seven. They have also booed it on other occasions, here is a video of the game seven.

Rangers' Offseason Good So Far, but They Still Have Holes to Fill

Robert Guess — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:19:40 -0400

Marching into the free agency period this year the New York Rangers had plenty of work to do. Without Straka, Jagr, Avery, or Shanahan signed the Rangers only had centers for their first two lines.

Now, any Rangers fan understands that they had a lack of defense in front of Lundqvist last season, making the signing of a defenseman like Wade Redden imperative. Since they addressed their defensive needs for an all-star blueliner they had to change gears and begin to look for forwards.

On the second day of free agency the Rangers traded Fedor Tyutin (who is just awful) and Christian Backman who had played 18 games too many with the Rangers. These two "defensemen" were traded for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. A thumbs up exchange for New York on this one.

Zherdev, a first round draft pick, notched 61 points last season (25 G, 31 A). The 23-year-old right wing may not have the numbers of a superstar, but then he has never had the luxury of playing by the side of one of the game's very best skaters and passers in Scott Gomez.

Yesterday the Rangers made an important move in signing Naslund. Whether or not his move is positive is yet to be determined. Naslund's points per season have declined since 2003. The root of the problem could be that the entire Vancouver team didn't know how to turn the red light on.

Regardless, Naslund was an important piece to the puzzle. We just have to wait and see if the piece fits.

There are still some holes in the Rangers' first two lines and fans are worried that they may not be able to fill them. There are a few options out there. Any Rangers fan would love to see Alexi Cherepanov in the NHL next season. I have read multiple articles on this subject. It looks like a 50-50 shot.

Cherepanov will not be held in Russia due to contractual obligations, but he can remain there by choice. He said, "When I'm ready, I'll be there." Generally, when one reads his interview you can't help but think he will be a blueshirt for the 2008-2009 season.

There are also many prospects who may be able to earn a spot on the squad next season including Artem Anisimov, a highly regarded Rangers prospect.

The Rangers' offseason was not full of good choices though. I like Rozsival, but not for $5 million a season for four years. He better step his game up from just a season ago if he wants to earn that money and prove that he isn't grotesquely overpaid.

All in all the Rangers are off to a good start this free agency with the exception of Michael Rozsival's contract.