The New York Rangers have sent rookie defenseman Matt Gilroy down to the AHL, a sign that GM Glen Sather and coach John Tortorella have no idea how to fix what's wrong with the team.
The Rangers have gradually moved into a more defensive system, as the team has been unable to find scoring beyond Marian Gaborik.
Gilroy's defense could be suspect, but it's hardly surprising given that 1) he's an NHL rookie, and 2) he grew up a forward, converting to defense in college.
More importantly, Gilroy was demoted so that Ilkka Heikkinen could take his spot.
Heikkinen is a veteran of Finnish leagues but has just 24 AHL games and two in the NHL, so he's hardly a dramatic upgrade.
In other words, the Rangers demoted Gilroy just to make a move. There was no plan. There was no goal. Sather and Tortorella just wanted to make some kind of change.
I'm sure the move doesn't seem to have any ramifications to Tortorella and Sather.
Sure, Gilroy is sent down for a while, but he can always be recalled. And perhaps Heikkinen will even turn out to be the strong defensive presence the Rangers have lacked for most of the deca ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steven Ovadia
Matt Gilroy’s Demotion Takes New York Rangers from Fragile to Brittle
December 11th, 2009 by Steven Ovadia Leave a reply »
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