Rozsival's Injury is Lethal to the Rangers

Michael Rozsival has often been the butt end of many Ranger Fan's outbursts, and rightfully so. Over the course of his career he has often been weak on defense, gun shy at the point and never shows any emotion.

However, this season, he has been an improvement over his recent years play. Is he worth 5 million dollars? No, he is not, but he established himself as an NHL defenseman.

Now, the Rangers are faced to play the remaining stretch of games without his services. And that is a very scary thought. As you saw tonight, the defense had break downs. The unit of 6 has been relatively injury free all season. Mara missed a few weeks, and the rest a game here or there. But they have been lucky when it comes to injuries.

What does this all mean? Surely you could replace Rozsival you say?

But lets look at some facts

1. As stated before, the defense has been healthy 90% of the time, which means they have played every game with little rest. The NHL season is a grind, and we are at the end of that grind. These players are feeling those effects ( look at Giradi who had his first point on a 2nd assist in 37 games ). Now this unit of 6 has become a unit of 5. More minutes for a group that needs a break.
   
2. By not playing better in December, January, and February the Rangers are to blame for being in this spot. Instead of working in Potter , Sanguinetti or Sauer, they will be throw in to the fire. Now, Potter, -8 ( 9 goals, and 19 assists ) has played a few games, but he is NOT an NHL defenseman. Sanguinetti is a -15 in the AHL ( 5 goals and 30 assists ). Bobby is not ready for a NHL playoff race by any means. Sauer is the best of the bunch, at + 19 ( 6 goals and 16 assists). However, none of the 3 have much NHL experience.
3. Blame Sather folks. Due to his poor drafting and lack of depth, this team is now in position to fail because of it. How is it that Devils lose key guys to injury every year and never skip a beat? Or the Red Wings?
   

While there's no official word on Rozsival yet, one can speculate at best , its a 3-4 week recovery ( think callahan 2 yrs ago with an MCL Sprain ). Even at 3-4 weeks, it will take time to re-adjust. If its worse then an MCL, and we are talking ACL - hes done for a year plus. Which, again, kills the rangers, because he is the most tradeable of the 4 albatross contracts on the team come the offseason.

On a night where they decided to not show up ( shocked, i know ), the final result wont be remembered as a 2-1 loss, but it will be remember in the months as the night the Rangers were once again exposed due to lack of heart, guts and terrible front office management.

Not even Mark Messier could prevent the inevitable this team is about to face in the next month.