10.16.2009

Mr. Softie


When the Rangers signed Ales Kotalik for 3 years at $3 million per, I was skeptical. The word out of Buffalo was that he was soft... takes nights off... he won't go in the corners. He's basically the older poor man's Nikolai Zherdev (talk about a guy that takes nights off), without the "upside". When Vinny Prospal joined the team and Brandon Dubinsky signed the glut at forward was obvious.

Coach John Tortorella won't allow Kotalik to take nights off here. Players will be held accountable and they will sit if they do (see $5 mil a year Michal Rozsival). In an earlier post on The Beat (Rangers Trying to Ground A.O.) I guessed that Enver Lisin would be the odd man out when Sean Avery came back. I didn't think Tortorella would put a player making $3 million on the fourth line... he surprised me again. Although no one else covering the Rangers seems to be aware that Lisin and Kotalik have rotated on the fourth in every game since Avery returned.

Kotalik has responded by doing the opposite of what I heard of him. He's working hard every shift... He's throwing hits... he's going in the corners, winning battles and when you put him on the power play he's scoring. He's helped change the dynamic of the power play and that's what he was brought here to do.

He has 3 goals and 4 assists in 7 games as a Ranger. Asked to play on the fourth line he has put his head down and done what has been asked. You don't hear any complaints from him and you won't. People can say Kotalik is making too much but he's doing exactly what he was brought here to do so far... with a lot less ice time than he's used to.

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