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Mats Zuccarello

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The first time I saw MZA, it was at some World Cup Tournament (don't remember the exact year).

Even though small, he immediately made me think that he is something special. He is close the being the best Norwegian player there is, even with the size deficit. Didn't bother him (or me) at that time either. He just made crazy things happen, fast! That is good.

Then he signed with the Rangers, I was very happy. Many didn't know what to expect. It took some time, but he has proven that he has a lot to add to the team.

Halfman ftw!


(as for Miller and Kreider, their names popped up here. Miller is cleary too young, he's not Crosby for christs sake. You can't just throw him in and expect him to be good, everynight, everytime. AHL is the right spot for him. As for Kreider. I don't see the roster spot. Let him click with Fast and Miller in the AHL. Brew up the chemistry for next year. They'll be something special.)
 
NickyFotiu said:
I agree. His forechecking has been better than average for this Rangers team. He gets these strange labels on him that just do not hold water.
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Yea just like..."well he's 5'6 so there must be something wrong with him"
But a bad fore checker? Jeez...if someone thinks that...they must not be watching the games
 
usernamesteph said:
Yea just like..."well he's 5'6 so there must be something wrong with him"
But a bad fore checker? Jeez...if someone thinks that...they must not be watching the games
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The only aspect one can critiize since his return is his points, only 2 i 6 games. But this has a lot to do with inefficient teammates too. He is a playmaker, and his production depens a lot on the finishin of his teammates. He could easily have had a point/game with normal efficiency. But it is not bad luck that the Rangers recently were the least scoring team in the NHL. As of today they are in 24th place for GF, just 6 goals more than 30th.

He has a +3 in +/-

He has not been on the ice on one single goal against since his return
As far as I have seen, hasn´t he made one single mistake that have resultet in a turnover or other chances against.
His work along the boards have been very good. Yes he´s small, but somehow he ends up coming out with the puck after board battles a lot of times.
His job defensivly has been very good. His average ice time is close to 17 minutes. Minutes he would never have recieved from Tortorella if he was a "defensice liability".
And he forechecks. Seriously, those who mean otherwise must have been drinking.

I am not saying he is a Gretzky. Or a Crosby. The best player on the team. No, I have never said that. But he has made huge impact offensively for the team since he came back. He has great passing ability and great vision. His teammates praises his skills and his return.

I just get frustrated when people still talk about his size and that he is to small and weak for the NHL. And that he is a defensive liability. It is just not true.

He has grown tremendously since laste year. His skating, his speed, but most of all, and most important. His confidence. He actually confessed to this himself, that he no longer is afraid of making mistakes. Last year he said that he was worried about making mistakes and getting benched/sent down, that his effected his play.

Last year you often saw him get the puck in the neutral zone, and dump it in after a couple seconds. This year you actually se him handle the puck with great confidence, and goes around players, taking long passes across the ice you barely saw last time around (most likely because of the risk of turnovers).

I see a player that is growing into a solid top 6 NHL-player, but he needs minutes, and he need to keep his confidence. And he also needs to get more points.
 
TigerJack said:
only 2 i 6 games
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Yeah, I was going to post about this too.

It was the same thing when he was back last year too. Its not at all unusual that a player can like pick up 0.5 PPG over a 10 game period without doing anything special really. But Zucc sometimes must make 10 out of this world plays to get 1 pt it seems.

We as a team could really really need him to get hot. Imagine if it were the opposite, that he like got 1 pt + for every chance he created.

Sometimes you just need to get things rolling, but Zucc just hasn't been able to buy that luck when given a shot...
 
Ola said:
Yeah, I was going to post about this too.

It was the same thing when he was back last year too. Its not at all unusual that a player can like pick up 0.5 PPG over a 10 game period without doing anything special really. But Zucc sometimes must make 10 out of this world plays to get 1 pt it seems.

We as a team could really really need him to get hot. Imagine if it were the opposite, that he like got 1 pt + for every chance he created.

Sometimes you just need to get things rolling, but Zucc just hasn't been able to buy that luck when given a shot...
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The funny thing is that one of his two points came from barely touching the puck when exiting the box while Callhan put on a 1-man show on the PK. That was really a Boyle-like phantom assist.

Regardless, Zuccarello has really been excellent and has been our top forward along with Nash and Stepan since his return.

The points will come.
 
Lack Of point production comes from lack of chemestry..

How long has he been with the team so far? 2 Weeks?

If he's here next season, then the team mates and him understand each other better..
 
haohmaru said:
He was the best player on the ice last night along with Rick Nash. The Rangers should extend his contract, definitely a keeper.
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We should try to give him an "Islanders contract"; long term, low salary. He may want it for job security, since he's still considered a fringe player at 25. I really believe in him, so such a contract would become a gigantic steal.

Maybe not at the ridiculous rates the Isles got MacDonald and Nielsen, but something like: 3-4y 1.5M per.

Low risk as well, since he'd bolt to the KHL if he lost his roster spot, so there wouldn't be any cap penalty to worry about.
 
Glennsoe said:
Lack Of point production comes from lack of chemestry..

How long has he been with the team so far? 2 Weeks?

If he's here next season, then the team mates and him understand each other better..
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Nah, that's not the type of "pts" I am talking about really. He has made great plays that should have warrented more pts. He has been around several goals. But since he don't get the pts on the board, he finds himself with his back against the wall.

My pt is just that I would have loved to see Zucc on the ice in his 7th game with 6 pts on the board instead of 2 pts on the board. No matter if those pts were all BS pts, not that they would have been, but still.

Get a real positive buzz around him etc.
 
Ola said:
Nah, that's not the type of "pts" I am talking about really. He has made great plays that should have warrented more pts. He has been around several goals. But since he don't get the pts on the board, he finds himself with his back against the wall.

My pt is just that I would have loved to see Zucc on the ice in his 7th game with 6 pts on the board instead of 2 pts on the board. No matter if those pts were all BS pts, not that they would have been, but still.

Get a real positive buzz around him etc.
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He has been playing great. The points will come. We have to keep in mind Nash's line was really the only one that scored last night. He has set up guys like Richards, Clowe, McD, Stepan. So far Nash is the only guy that has finished one of his passes. Stepan might have if his stick did not break. I really like seeing Zooks carry the puck instead of just dumping it in. He is usually a .5ppg guy. He is one point off that pace right now. I think he will catch up and pass that pace. We have not been getting a lot of power plays lately but in the few that we have got Zooks has looked good. A huge thing is that he has not been on the ice for a single goal against in 6 games.
 
He looks a little speedier compared to his previous time here. If thats an improvement to his game and not just some short lived adrenaline, he'll start producing some points.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
He looks a little speedier compared to his previous time here. If thats an improvement to his game and not just some short lived adrenaline, he'll start producing some points.
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Agreed. I also don't find it a coincidence that the teams offense has looked much better almost immediately since he was added. He adds creativity and puck control to a line-up that was lacking it prior to him coming back. That is why I think Brassard has looked good as well. Nice to have a couple of skilled guys on the top-3 lines. Stepan/Nash, Richards/MZA, Hagelin/Brassard.
 
NYR Boyler87 said:
Agreed. I also don't find it a coincidence that the teams offense has looked much better almost immediately since he was added. He adds creativity and puck control to a line-up that was lacking it prior to him coming back. That is why I think Brassard has looked good as well. Nice to have a couple of skilled guys on the top-3 lines. Stepan/Nash, Richards/MZA, Hagelin/Brassard.
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Definitely. I wasn't all satisfied with the deal for Gaborik when it went down, but now I'm thrilled. Both Brassard and Moore look good, and Zucc and Clowe look great aswell.

I love to watch Zucc with the puck, his vision is elite and you never know what he's gonna do.
 
He was a little too much tazmanian devil last time around, where as now he looks like he's playing more disciplined and definitely with some speedier legs.
 
I'm a big Zuke fan (disclaimer) but as goes with his point production I'm not too worried as long as he plays like he does now. I think his smart plays, also defensively when aimfully clearing the puck out along the boards out of the zone, helps the team gain or sustain momentum in many of the shifts and periods during the last games. Seems like Torts sees his contribution as well dudging from icetime lately. His passing game is stellar, and when Richard gets some self confidence again that line will be a great producing line. Don't see any point in putting Zuke with Nash now, as long as Nash is producing like he is.
 
Zuke with a huge point for the Rangers. Hopefully this will be a boost for him, he needs to start producing in the games too.

His shot was just amazingly quick. How about using those hands in the games, Zuke? Nice to see that he also has more moves up his sleeve in the SO other than his "signature move". Goalies in the NHL no longer can rely on that he uses his same move every time :)

7 games since his return. And 7 good games, some of them really good. It´s so not deserved that he only has 2 points in 7 games.......


Btw, This was Zukes 60th NHL game (59 regular season + 1 PO), which means he is waiver eligible..... He will never see the city of Hartford again :)
 
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BlueshirtBlitz said:
What a coincidence that Torts the Devil hasn't stopped MZA from looking really good so far.
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I thought he was mostly terrible last night, definitely his worst game since being back. Needs to produce more points to keep getting minutes. Nice shootout goal though - very sneaky.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
I thought he was mostly terrible last night, definitely his worst game since being back. Needs to produce more points to keep getting minutes. Nice shootout goal though - very sneaky.
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His whole line struggled. When he was moved off that line (First to play with Brass, then with Stepan), he was fine. He sucked when most of the team sucked - which was pretty much the first half of the game.

But he does need to produce, no question.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
I thought he was mostly terrible last night, definitely his worst game since being back. Needs to produce more points to keep getting minutes. Nice shootout goal though - very sneaky.
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Terrible? He got u two PP. First one was a great pass to Brassard. Brassard couldnt shoot the ****ing puck and thats not zukes fault. The other one was a high stick by Phaneuf.

Atm Zuke reminds me a little bit of Fedotenko. I mean he dosent produce, but he checks hard and steals the puck. If he can continues doing that, im sure Torts will be patient with him.

Its not about having the most awesome stats, but about winning games. Players like Zuke and Boyle may not be great goalscorers, but they can contribute in other ways.
 
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