Kreider, Asham, Gilroy Out; Newbury, Bickel, Eminger In
With Gilroy, Asham and Kreider scratched, Steve Eminger will play 2nd straight game on defense and Stu Bickel will play on fourth line again
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) January 24, 2013
Jim Cerny at newyorkrangers.com adds that Kris Newbury will also be in the line-up.
...i know with a shortened season, it's hard to give Kreider too long of a leash to figure this out, but I thought they'd give him another chance. Although, as I mentioned in my previous post, tonight could get out of hand physically and the Rangers might just be protecting him.
...while I'd normally critique a line-up including Rupp, Bickel and Newbury, Torts has done the correct thing making sure there's enough protection for his skill players from the Flyer goon squad.
...also, what's up with Asham? These are the games he was brought in for and he's missing it for precautionary reasons?
Here's Ryan Callahan on Kreider's struggles (via Bergen Record)...
“(Kreider) is young still, everybody had these expectations on him coming off the playoffs he had. But he’s still young he’s still learning but you can see how good he’s going to be, he’s got a lot of size, his speed, his shot. You’ve just got to be patient with a young guy and realize he’s still learning the game, the speed of it. He’s going to be good.”
...being sent down to the minors early in his career did wonders for Callahan, so it might not be the worst thing in the world for Kreider.
Kreider touches on what he needs to work on...
"They do a really good job in the AHL of instituting a very similar defensive zone system. Here it’s obviously much more detail oriented. I don’t think the spotlight has anything to do it with it. I think it has to do with play and the speed of the play itself. It makes for completely different reads, different reaction times. I think I’m starting to pick it up and positive going forward that I can improve on my defensive zone.”
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This is perfect. Let Kreider watch one or two from the press-box (I hope) then send him to the AHL for a solid 15 games. Bring him back mid season and mix him back in. No rush for Chris.
I'm bummed Kreider is out and I hope this motivates him to get back in the line up soon because he has a lot more skills than Bickle as a forward. He looked like he was trying to do too much on his own.
I think Asham has another concussion. I was concerned about this happening the moment he signed. I still miss Orr!
I'm happy to see this. Last season everyone was acting like he was the second coming of the messiah before he'd even played a single NHL game. He did much better in the playoffs than I expected, but the NHL is a long way from college, and if he was struggling in the AHL, I think it was a little premature to think that he was ready to be up with the big boys long term. Let him get the system down and give him another shot in early March. The kid has great potential, but he needs time.
Kreider will be fine. Maybe Torts wants him to practice more and watch a few games from the press box. You could see it last night after he got out of the box, Torts was coaching him on the bench and then gave him a few good smacks on the shoulder pads as if to say don't worry kid.
