The following are The Maven's Wooden Nickel Awards For Work Above – Also Below – The Call of Duty:
MOST DISAPPOINTING VETERAN: This has to be a tie between Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Yeah, The Z Man put up numbers and one of them was minus-22. GM Drury would love to trade him but The Poor Little Rich Boy loves Manhattan and won't be moved. Rangers are stuck out of luck. As for Kreider, he's a former hometown hero who once could be called Mister Ranger but doesn't deserve the title anymore. Drury would love to trade Kreider to the NY Americans but they haven't been around for 83 years.
MOST DISAPPOINTING YOUNG GUY: Alexis Lafreniere must fear success. Just when Laffuy's star was rising, Drury foolishly opened the vault for Big Al. The lad took the money but not the hint – PLAY BETTER. The only thing more frustrating than watching this waste of $ is waiting for the F train at Fort Hamilton Parkway.
MOST SURPRISING VETERAN: Jonny Brodzinski opened the season as the club's fifth center. Actually, he was supposed to stay in Hartford where he'd work with the young fellas. But unlike Brodzinski rolled up his sleeves, worked like a demon and scored amazing goals. He should have been a role model for a dozen teammates, but they weren't looking.
MOST SURPRISING YOUNG GUY: They say, "Where There's A Will, There's A Way." Will Cuylle managed to find the way and bang bodies and score goals and has turned out to be a better all-round player than anyone imagined. Except Will!
BEST FARMHAND: At 5-9 Brett Berard doesn't look like much, especially when he's standing next to Matt Rempe. But size is irrelevant to the Rhode Islander. Fearless to a fault, the 23-year-old left wing should be a regular next season.
BEST MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Matt Rempe won The Frank Boucher Award as the most popular Ranger but nobody knows why. He rarely scores; and he gets suspended a lot. It must be because he's 6-8 and is very good at handwriting!
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