|
Jed Ortmeyer |
Games
|
Goals
|
Assists
|
Points
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
|
Regular Season
|
41
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
+7
|
22
|
|
Playoffs
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
2
|
Ok, so I want you to close your eyes. Well, maybe you shouldnt close your eyes since you cant read the rest of my instructions… Ok, PRETEND to close your eyes. Now, in your minds eye I want you to imagine a hockey team filled with a bunch of lazy schlubs. Guys who are playing to pick up a gigantic paycheck, who show no heart or desire whatsoever. A team so wrought with mercenaries that you feel like booing them every second they are out there. Ok, so you have this horrendous team, when suddenly something jumps out at you. You have this guy, playing among these superstars who plays with heart, who plays with passion, who lives and dies with every shift, who jumps in front of pucks like its game 7 of the Stanley Cup championship (or the championship for the Goblet of Stanley for our Russian friends out there). This guy skates hard, and although he doesn’t have a lick of talent, he stands out amongst the mercenaries as a home grown symbol of what could be.
Now, you probably can see where this is going, but bear with me. Fast forward to present day. You have a lineup from top to bottom where guys like Brendan Shanahan, a vet, who is willing to do exactly the same things, but with goal scoring and other “tangibles”. Youve got guys like Martin Straka who can skate faster, play as defensively responsible a game, and who plays with a heart the size of Kansas. Youve also got home grown kids like Lundqvist, Prucha, Callahan, Tyutin, and more coming who all do the same things, but again, have talent to back it up. Such is the world we live in now folks. No longer is it enough to just try hard out there. It’s not enough to sacrifice your body to get the puck out of the zone. Its no longer the exception, it is the RULE that our players do that. When you add all those things in, a guy like Jed Ortmeyer, who played full throttle, and left it on the ice every single game simply isn’t good enough to make this squad.
It’s really a sad thing. Orts skated hard, blocked shots, killed penalties, threw his body around, but he had almost no offensive talent whatsoever. He might have had the worst shot in the league…maybe in the history of the league. I know thats a harsh thing to say, but seriously, have you ever seen him shoot the puck? He goes down on his right knee, and shoots it straight off the pass. However since he is in such an awkward position, and since he simply can not direct the puck with any force or accuracy, the puck usually ends up plunking one of our fans in the forehead. Ortmeyer simply had no hands, I know it sounds like I am bashing him, but I’m just being honest. His hands were non existent. Hes probably the only player who could skate in on an empty net and miss….well, ok, maybe hes not the only player…
As we all know by now, Ortmeyer is a Nashville Predator, and for a club going through a rebuild, they will need guys like Ortmeyer who show kids that you need to give it your all out there, unfortunately for Jed, that lesson has been learned in New York (Finally!)
-Inferno
[…] Answering that question is fairly simply, you only need go back a few days and look at my review for Jed Ortmeyer. The fact of the matter folks, is the Rangers probably have one of the 3 deepest farm systems, completely loaded with kids who not only can be role players, but who can bring some offensive finish, and some defensive presence. Lets face the facts here guys, Ryan is an agitator, who throws punishing body checks, but thats literally all he brings to the table. He is not gifted offensively, nor defensively. He can’t player the power play, nor can he kill penalties. He doesn’t have a good shot, he doesn’t have good vision, all he can do is skate, and hit. Which is a nice combination to have, but is his presence necessary? […]
Left by Rangers Review on July 31st, 2007