Jumping To Conclusions

It’s been one week since the New York Rangers were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils.

No sooner than Adam Henrique poked the puck in the net, fans, media and experts were already at work dissecting what when wrong and pointing fingers as to who was to blame for the disappointing conclusion to the season.

Marian Gaborik was the $7.5 million man who rebounded from a brutal 2010-11 campaign and the offseason deaths of two of his good friends to not only play a full regular season for the first time in his career (his previous high was 81 in 2002-03 while with the Minnesota Wild), and came within one goal shy of matching his career high, scoring 41. He was selected to represent the Rangers at the All-Star Game and was selected MVP of the showcase. He was the productive player everyone expected that he would be when he signed as a free agent in 2009. But then Gaborik was a different, virtually invisible player in the postseason, finishing the playoffs with 5 goals, 6 assists and an even +/- rating in 20 games.

Plenty of fingers were pointed Gaborik’s way as to why the Rangers came up short, accused of disappearing, of not coming up big for his team when they needed him most, of being soft. One local sports radio host went so far to say that the Rangers had to get him off the team. While the “get him off the team” sentiment was extreme, there was no doubt Gaborik’s poor performance was a big reason why the Rangers came up short. Criticism seemed warranted.

On breakup day last Monday, Gaborik hinted that there was an injury that might need surgery, but no one could have been prepared for the news that came down on Friday. Gaborik revealed that he played close to two months with a torn labrum in his right shoulder that will require surgery and sideline him for 5-6 months. He will undergo the procedure Wednesday.

And then suddenly, all of the missed shots – maybe even that horrible turnover that led to his benching – began to make completely sense.

While the Rangers did not officially disclose when he sustained the injury, it was reported that Gaborik believes it happened in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Ottawa Senators. Slovakian media outlet SME first had the story (In Slovak here, should you wish to translate and read to get a general idea of it), reporting on a press conference in which Gaborik stated that he played through the injury for 2 months with the aid of drugs and injections to try and manage the pain. Still, he refused to use the pain and the weakened shot as a result as an excuse for his poor playoff performance.

Anyone still want to ship Gaborik off to any team the Rangers can get to take him off their hands? Anyone still want to accuse him of being a choker in big situations? What about soft, when in fact he has shown he is anything but? Anyone who said those things want to take them back? He could have put himself and his own well-being above the team, but chose instead to do what he could, even in his limited capabilities, to try and help the team win. If nothing else in the modern world where everything is so in-the-moment and reaction is literally instantaneous, it’s a lesson learned in rushing to judgment. Well, at least until the next time a player disappoints us.

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Speaking of offense, Mats Zuccarello shared two tweets – one to the fans, one to his Rangers teammates – on Friday that indicated that his time in New York had come to a close:

Zuccarello never quite found his place on the Rangers after coming over from the Swedish Elite League in 2010 and was not pleased with how his playing time was managed. The Norwegian played the first 3 games of the Rangers’ regular season before being sent down the the AHL. Zuccarello was finally recalled in early March and breathed some life into the Rangers’ flailing power play for 7 games before suffering a fractured wrist on March 23rd vs. the Sabres. His destination has not been officially announced, though it is believed that he will be heading to Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL.

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Also on Friday, the Rangers announced that they came to terms with prospect Oscar Lindberg. The Rangers acquired the Swede from the Phoenix Coyotes last year in exchanged for Ethan Werek.

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