NYRangers Pound 4 Pound: Derek Boogaard!

I went through the hockeyfights.com archives and found some of Derek Boogaard's best fights.  Since it seems that is all the 6'8 monster can do anyway.  With him scoring no goals the last four seasons.  But I guess that's why he only received a 4 year deal worth over $1.6M a season.  He is only 28 so maybe he will learn how to skate while with the Rangers but that discussion is for another time.  As long as he fights like he does in some of the videos I will post then I think most Rangers fans won't be thinking about his contract...

Tale Of The Tape:
Age: 28
Height: 6'8
Weight: 257 pounds
Position: LW
Nickname: The Boogey Man!
# of NHL Fights: 59 (5 seasons)
# of AHL fights: 48 (2 seasons)
# of WHL Fights: 66 (3 seasons)
Total # of Fights: 173 (10 seasons)

Hockeyfights.com Awards: (21 nominations, 8 wins)
2006-07 Fight Of The Year
2005-06 KO Of The Year (KO of Gillies)
2006-07 Fighter Of The Year
2006-07 People's Choice Award
2006-07 Kimble Award-Most Exciting Fighter
2005-06 and 2006-07 Best Punching Power/Most Destructive Fighter
2006-07 Best Player Feud

Join me after this for my favorite Boogey Man throw downs...

Boogaard And His Teammates Comment On Him And His Style Of Play!!

Dan David did an article today on the Rangers Website!  He goes in depth on Boogaard.  Boogaard comments on himself along with comments from Girardi and Gaborik.  Here is some of what they had to say:

"People, especially defensemen, won't want to play against him," said Rangers leading scorer Marian Gaborik, a longtime teammate and friend of Boogaard's during their years with the Minnesota Wild. "When he gets going and he hits somebody, it's scary."

"Boogaard speaks for himself," said Girardi, who faced Boogaard for the first time last season at Minnesota. "He will be a great force."

"There is a physical presence that I bring to the game and to the guys," said Boogaard. "It helps them play to the best of their abilities, and that's what showcases a team at its best -- when every player doesn't have to be worried about using their skill set because of another team." he continues "The thing is is that when I go out for a game, I'm not thinking I want to intimidate any one person," Boogaard said. "It's just me going to do my job night in and night out -- just by skating as hard as I can and by doing the right things on the ice. When that happens, good things will follow that as well. Maybe the intimidating thing is that I can skate and keep up with the play and hit guys, whereas a lot of other guys my size can't do that. Obviously, it was important that Gaby was there and I had played with him years before," said Boogaard. "Seeing what kind of teammate he is and how hard he works at what he does definitely entices a player to want to play again with a that kind of teammate and good friend as well."

Click here for the entire article!

Sather Trying To Bring In Familiar Faces!!

This offseason it seems as if Glen Sather has decided to go back to something that worked coming out of the lockout for the Rangers.  In 2005-2006 most of the Rangers squad was new except for the younger kids coming up.  The Rangers already had Jaromir Jagr under contract from a trade they made with the Washington Capitals before the lockout.  At the time Sather decided to put pieces around Jagr that he was familiar with from previous teams. They added Michael Nylander and Michael Straka.  Nylander and Jagr played together in Washington and Straka and Jagr played together in Pittsburgh.

These three would start out together and have some of the best years of there respective careers until Sather decided that an over payed Gomez would be a better center for Jagr and so he let Nylander leave.  Thus Jagr proceeded to have his worse year as a Ranger and he left to go play in Russia.

To a lesser degree during the 2005-2006 season Sather traded for Petr Sykora to play along side former teammate Steve Rucchin.  They also traded for Sandis Ozolinsh who played on those same Ducks teams.  Ozolinsh actually added some offensive punch to the Rangers game but struggled defensively and flopped in the Rangers short playoff experience.

Join me after this to continue to read more about what Sather has done to bring in some familiar faces while keeping the main core intact......

Gaborik Endorsing His New Teammates!!

Today Gaborik finally came out of the woodwork to let everyone know that he is endorsing the signing of Derek Boogaard and the trade for Todd White.

On The New York Rangers official Twitter account Gaborik had some kind words for each of his former teammates. 

Gaborik on White "He can both very well defensively and offensively" he continued "I think he's going to be a good fit for us because he's a good skater and he's strong."

Then Todd White had some words about joining the Rangers that I am not quite sure are true but he said them anyway "They always have a hard-working team. Tortorella holds them accountable and they are a tough team to play against" he continued "I'm looking forward to being a part of it and helping out wherever I'm needed."

Then Gaborik had some kind words about former Minnesota teammate and Tough Guy Derek Boogaard "He opened up the ice for Wild scorers by putting fear into opponents. He's the best at what he does" he continued on "People won't want to play against him. When he gets going and hits somebody, it's scary."

While it is nice to hear Gaborik talk about his former teammates, what else did we expect him to say? It's not like he was going to bash his former and now current teammates.  But it is nice to see he endorses the deals and is on board with what the Rangers are doing.

It was also good to see that Todd White realizes that he might have a smaller role with the Rangers and that he will need to help out wherever needed. 

Hopefully they can find some chemistry here on the Rangers as well...