NYRangers Pound 4 Pound: Best Of 2009-10!

The New York Rangers had an up and down 2009-10 season.  It ended with a loss in a shootout during the last game of the year.  Missing the playoffs by 1 point on the last day is terrible enough, but the team they lost to actually went on to play in the Stanley Cup Finals.  But that is not the point of this post and we have no idea if the Rangers would have went that far anyway.

After losing Colton Orr in free agency to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Rangers quickly went out and signed Donald Brashear to be there new "enforcer." As we all know this did not work out at all and the Rangers spent the whole season trying to find a new fighter/enforcer.

The Rangers ranked 11th in the league in fighting majors with 52 according to HockeyFights.com!  But the team leader definitely surprised me when I looked it up. Recently traded AARON VOROS lead the Rangers with 13 fights overall.  Second was EPIC fail of an enforcer Donald Brashear who had 1 assist and 9 fights in 36 games.  Sean Avery was up to his usual antics and was in 7 fights and caused trouble although it seemed like he lacked some of the spark he has had in recent seasons. After Brash was sent to the minors the Rangers went out and acquired two of the best fighters in the league, Brandon Prust and Jody Shelley. 

Prust and Shelley came in guns blazing but after they developed an offensive chemistry on a line with Artem Anisimov, Prust didn't fight again and Shelley only had 1 more fight.  Prust was involved in 7 fights in 26 games and Shelley was involved in 3 fights in 21 games.  Needless to say both Shelley and Prust filled the enforcer role much better then Brashear did.  But an aging Jody Shelley was not resigned and the Rangers opted to sign big bad Derek Boogaard for four years.  Prust was resigned during the offseason for 2 years at 800k per year.

HockeyFights.com Awards:
Best MidSeason Tough Guy Pick-Up for Jody Shelley.

Click here for a list of all the Rangers fighters last season and how many fights they were in.

The Rangers should not have the same problem looking for an enforcer next year as they now have Derek Boogaard and Brandon Prust and Up and Comers Dane Byers and Devin DiDiomete if something goes wrong.  But join me after this anyway to see my top 15 NYRangers fights and rough stuff moments from 2009-10 in no particular order....

NYRangers Pound 4 Pound: Brandon Prust!

In the second installment of my NYRangers Pound 4 Pound series, I will be looking at Brandon Prust.  Prust was acquired from the Flames right before the Olympic break last year along with Olli Jokinen for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik.  Needless to say most Rangers fans were glad to get rid of Higgins and Kotalik but to get a young energetic player in Prust who can also fight pretty well was definitely a bonus.

Prust was an RFA this summer and resigned with the Rangers for two years at 800k per.  Prust is still young at 26 and late in the season when paired with Anisimov and Shelley he put together some good offensive games.  He tallied 3 goals and 3 assists in 9 games with this line.  2 of those goals were game winners.  He was not involved in any fights over this 9 game stretch. 

Prust becomes a fan favorite where ever he plays because of his willingness to fight anyone of any size even though he is only 5'11.  He showed this in only his 3rd game with the Rangers when he took on New Jersey Devils 6'4 240 pound monster Andrew Peters not once but twice in the same game.  There  is no doubt in Rangers fans minds that Prust will come out the same way this season playing with his heart on his sleeve and leaving it all on the ice.

Tale Of The Tape:
Age: 26
Height: 5'11
Weight: 195 Pounds
Position: LW/RW
# of NHL Fights: 50 (3 seasons)
# of AHL Fights: 74 (3 seasons)
# of OHL Fights: 73 (3 seasons)
Total # of Fights: 197 (9 Seasons)

HockeyFights.com Awards: (5 Nominations, 0 Wins)

Click here for the 1st installment with Derek Boogaard!!

Join me after this for some of my favorite Brandon Prust fights....