|
Daniel Girardi |
Games
|
Goals
|
Assists
|
Points
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
|
Regular Season
|
34
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
+7
|
8
|
|
Playoffs
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-4
|
4
|
The little engine that could….or something to that effect. We’ve all heard his story, undrafted, signed as a Ranger, made his way through the organization, etc etc. But what is truly remarkable about this kid is that he plays with such calm and poise at such a young age. He reads the play well, makes the smart safe play, and keeps the puck out of the zone. You will rarely catch him out of position or flatfooted and he seems to have a knack of making perfect poke checks. What Dan doesn’t give you, at least so far, is any offense whatsoever, nor does he give you a physical presence. Ideally he is a #5 or #6 defenseman on a very good team. For us he is a #4. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, considering the system we play. However it is important to not get overexcited with this kid.
Plenty of people absolutely drool over his play, which is nice and all, but its not really an accurate reflection of his game. Lets face it, the guy was replacing Karel Rachunek, Sandis Bozolinsh or Darius Kasparitis. 2 guys that just no longer have it, and 1 who never lived up to his potential. Bozo was a freaking nightmare, Karel was mediocre out there at best, and Darius’ skating made Colton Orr look like the Russian Rocket himself.
Its not all doom and gloom for the kid folks, its just keeping reasonable expectations. He should be a part of this club for a nice long time, but he won’t be a game changer, or the kind of player to shut down a guy altogether. That guy is Marc Staal. Dan Girardi is a really nice player, soon, our defense will be full of guys better than him, it just takes time for the kids to be ready.
-Inferno