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....

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!