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Zuccarello makes his linemates better

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SKS

SKS

Registered User
Jan 17, 2011
419
3
San Francisco
First of all. I am subjective as can be. Loved this guy ever since Olympics 2010.

However, the main thing about Zucc is how much better he makes his teammates. With struggling players (or successful for that matter) it seems that all you have to do is line them up with Zucc, and they will improve. Every single time.
He has corsi numbers at the very top of the league (small sample size though). His lines hardly let in goals - ever. (Sure, plus minus is overrated according to many, and sample size is still small). And at the moment, as pretty much a rookie when it comes to games played, he is posting .5 ppg while playing a majority of 3rd and even 4th line minutes. It is a stretch to say he has been unlucky with linesmates not generating enough chances in goal and that stats will always even out, but I'll cling to that one as well :) .

His major flaw is not necessarily an inability to finish, but his choice to too often carry a pass-first mentality. This is typical for many scandi players from my understanding, and I hope this may be amended with more steady NHL-time. The guy has hardly played a regular season in the NHL when it comes to total of games and should be considered a sophomore who for the first time seems to get a full season this year.

Yeah, he is 5'7 and probably weighs less than a victorias secret model - but what is it about Zuccs actual game that so many posters dislike besides a tendency to pass too often? The guy uses his body well, is above average fast, doesnt turn over the puck very often, and is hardly ever on the ice when we are scored on. I am still waiting for that defensive liability I hear about so often.

Brass was paired with him last year and in the early season, has played career best hockey. Richards was with him for a brief period last year. We suddenly saw glimpses again. Pouliot has been praised for his pre season game so far this year prior to last game.

I tossed in a comment prior to the game yesterday
SKS said:
I am already waiting for the surprise post game comments about Richards resurgence. And once again a vast majority will be dumbfounded as regards to the why.
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And while I do not at all claim that anyone are dumfounded (poor choice of words), suddenly Richards looked much more like his old self. Just a random selection of quotes here.

Fanned On It said:
Richy has been showing some flashes of his old self in this game.. pretty polarizing moment to moment.
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PK Pilot 76 said:
Richards is looking a lot better, IMO.
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Levitate said:
oh and I thought Richards actually played well last night, about as well as anyone else. He made several very good passes and created some chances,
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Oh Thats Nashty said:
Richards making some nice plays this game.
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I really look forward to see what this hobbit can bring when he gets a full season in a trusted role.
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JohnC said:
Crease is gonna hate you for this
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Are we not supposed to make player threads now?
Sorry if I broke any guidelines here.

Edit- I now read the updated rules. Apologies for inability to do so before I posted. I guess a light should have occurred since I have not seen a player discussion for a while

Edit2- If a moderator would be so kind as to remove player discussion label and rename topic to Zucc makes his teammates better or something fitting. Second apology after reading Crease stress this point in yet another post.
 
Last edited:
JohnC said:
Crease is gonna hate you for this
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:laugh:

SKS said:
...
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Ban.gif
 
MZA is probably the player on the Rangers roster I'm the most curious to see how he will do under a new coach and new system. It's pretty fair to say that his vision is at an elite level but he lacks the physique to perform with the top tier in the NHL. On the other hand, that's what people said about Martin St. Louis before he had his major breakthrough as well.

Not being overly familiar with AV's system in Vancouver, I get the impression that it's not as physical, and defensive-minded as Torts system was. I think Zucc can have a great year.
 
I'm not thrilled that he's been the most impressive player, Staal aside, this preseason. I was really hoping a bunch of these guys would force him out. Not because I don't like Zucc, because I do, I just was hoping to see some leaps and bounds of development from some of the newer kids that have potential to play a more all-around game.

Right now Zucc is one of the only guys on the ice that is elevating his line-mates. Sad, considering we have a few players that made their bones doing just that.
 
He seems to mesh well with almost anyone but it should not be up to him to get other guys going. I do think Kreider might gain some confidence by having Zooks pass to him so I'd rather have Kreider on his line than Pyatt or Boyle.
 
Love his vision of the game and his lack of fear. I think he'll continue to improve his game this season and end up round 50 points if he stay's healthy.
 
As I have said, I was really worried he would go elsewhere and become a star ala MSL out of Calgary.

He reminds me of Ozil. I think he is poised for a breakout year.
 
Gotta be happy with what we've seen from Zucc so far. Definitely has an extra gear in his skating and it could be the difference between him being a legitimate top-six guy or being one of those undersized tweeners who never quite made a difference.
 
Zucc has been the best forward on the team this camp. He made the Richards-Pyatt pair........tolerable. One of the only players on the team that makes his linemates better.
 
Richards himself commented on this exact thing before the game yesterday as well. He said he loved being back on line with Zucc, and it definitely helps him. Compared him to Marty St. Louis.

I agree completely with the pass-first mentality criticism. I think he just needs to shoot more. You can see that once he gets the puck, he instantly looks around him to see if anyone's in a better position to score, then checks the goal. He needs to find a balance, and maybe see if he might be in the best position to score before he checks for passing opportunities.

One more thing. I don't really agree with having Zucc stand center and in front of the goal during powerplays, like he's done the past few games he's played. It gives him very little room to maneuver and takes away his amazing vision of the game that could be much better utilized on point or even as a mobile wing. I guess Vigneault wants shooters on the point and not passers.

I live in Norway and met the guy a few times through a mutual friend many many years ago. Even then everyone knew he was a great hockey player. In comparison with the other Norwegian players at least, he was miles ahead.

Warning. This video contains graphic images of a young much thinner (and shorter!?) Mats Zuccarello Aasen showing off. If you knew Norwegian you'd understand how awkward the entire thing is :P
He'd probably kill me if he saw this posted here, but meh.
http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2008/02/18/527214.html

I love the guy. Not just because he's Norwegian. If you've seen some of the post and pre-game press conferences after Zucc got on the team, you realize how insane Norwegians are when our countrymen "make it" overseas. Especially the press loves him. I love him because he's one of those guys that embodies the Norwegian spirit. He's extremely humble and friendly and just loves the game. When you play in Norway, you have to. It pays like **** and you generally have to have a second job on the side unless you're on one of the top teams. Norway's goalie during the 2010 olympics was PÃ¥l Grotnes. He's a carpenter by trade, and hockey is his side-job. He couldn't do both and support a family. And that's why it's so nice to see someone who just loves the game and just such a nice guy do it well. You can see the ranger players agree. Every time I see an interview about him, they always comment about how great he is to just be around as well.

I'm rambling now, but I have some time while I'm warming the oven for a pizza. I'm getting off now, but before I do I want to say something to all you Americans out there who are trying to pronounce his name.

Mats Zuccarello Aasen. Aasen is not pronounced "Assen". Aa is an older way of writing the Norwegian letter Ã…. It shows that his family name is old basically. Ã… and AA is pronounced the exact same way. It's the same letter basically.

So when you try to pronounce Aasen, say the Aa's as you would say the A in Paul. The Norwegian name PÃ¥l and the English name Paul sounds exactly the same. So just extract the a from paul and place it before sen.
Here's a nice Norwegian lady explaining how to pronounce the three norwegian letters we have after z in the alphabet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l23CjariO0A
 
I'm thrilled with him. He kept the same skill, vision, and creativity, and developed some great speed, surprising strength, and a snarl to his game that guys twice his size don't have. How many times have we seen the tip of his helmet being surrounded by 4 opponents? He pisses them off. I'd kill for Boyle to have that aggression
 
Superstar Carwash said:
MZA is probably the player on the Rangers roster I'm the most curious to see how he will do under a new coach and new system. It's pretty fair to say that his vision is at an elite level but he lacks the physique to perform with the top tier in the NHL. On the other hand, that's what people said about Martin St. Louis before he had his major breakthrough as well.

Not being overly familiar with AV's system in Vancouver, I get the impression that it's not as physical, and defensive-minded as Torts system was. I think Zucc can have a great year.
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178705-0-600.jpg

MSL is a freak of nature, there is a very good reason as to why he is so successful even while being so small. When Zucc can get quads like that we can consider comparing the two.
 
Callagraves said:
How many times have we seen the tip of his helmet being surrounded by 4 opponents? He pisses them off. I'd kill for Boyle to have that aggression
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I saw that a couple times during last nights match.. It doesnt contribute a whole lot to scoring, but it makes me giddy nonetheless that he has the stones to do it repeatedly.

Has definitely been one of the better Rangers in the preseason. Tho I'm not sure if he's best suited on a line that can help him be better (Pouliot - Brass), or a line where he seemingly is the one that needs to help the others be better (Richards - X).
 
Some players make their line mates "look" better... by comparison.
 
Calad said:
178705-0-600.jpg

MSL is a freak of nature, there is a very good reason as to why he is so successful even while being so small. When Zucc can get quads like that we can consider comparing the two.
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That's a kind of weird picture in that he's obviously in the middle of flexing his legs to jump or land or something, they don't always look like that.

Also MSL is amazing because he's amazingly skilled, beyond what most bigger players are. He wouldn't be successful in the slightest if it was just because his legs were strong and he had OK skills.

Zucarello is also very very skilled and showing surprising strength for his size. He's skilled enough to overcome it IMO, I haven't seen it be a drawback for him by this point
 
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