RANGERS at BRUINS Today 3:00 – Ch. 5 WEVD (1050 AM)
BOSTON – He is tied for 18th among active NHL players with 379 career goals, got more than 40 three times, and has always been a go-to, big-game scorer. Always.
Introducing – or perhaps, re-introducing – John MacLean, an offensive weapon Jacques Lemaire worked hard to ban in New Jersey. Introducing Johnny MacRanger, current 19-goal-scorer, Wayne Gretzky’s right wing, and a very important piece of his team’s attack, which is a surprise to even his coach.
“When we were talking about signing him [as a free agent] I kept hearing about how dependable he was in all aspects, how solid he was defensively, rather than what he could do offensively,” John Muckler said yesterday before his team’s flight here for this afternoon’s match with the Bruins. “So if there’s any surprise, it’s his offensive contribution.
“At this point in the season, 19 goals is fantastic production. I didn’t think we’d get that type of offensive contribution from John. He’s been great offensively.”
If others are surprised by his offense, MacLean, who over the last decade has annually been one of the most underrated players in the NHL, is not.
“I will never say that learning and developing other parts of my game wasn’t good for me and my career, but I felt in my mind that I was still capable of contributing offensively, still capable of putting up numbers if I were given the opportunity,” MacLean said yesterday afternoon. “I thought that if I were put into an offensive role that I would do well with it.
“I didn’t want to go into an exclusively defensive role, not now, not yet. I didn’t believe that at this stage of my career that that’s where I belonged. Who knows? Maybe next year or the year after that, but not now. I had confidence that I could score.”
Which is why MacLean last year forced a trade out of New Jersey and away from Lemaire, who for some inexplicable reason never quite took to him.
“Two years ago, I had 29 goals and led the team [with Bill Guerin]. Was that a bad year? That was not a bad year. That was not a bad year,” MacLean, who takes great care to avoid controversy, asked, then answered with emphasis. “But then from the beginning of last year, and don’t ask me why, I didn’t get the opportunity to contribute offensively that I felt I had earned.
“No one owes me anything, I’m not suggesting that for a minute, but this is nice. It’s nice to get the opportunity, and it’s nice to contribute.”
Fact is, MacLean is probably getting too much of an opportunity. At the age of 34, MacLean got 25:51 of ice on Thursday against the Canucks, scoring twice on eight shots on net. It marked the seventh time in nine games since Todd Harvey went down with a knee on Jan. 13, that MacLean has gotten over 21:00, the fourth time with more than 24:00. He’s averaging 20:02 per game for the season, second among forwards only to Wayne Gretzky’s 21:37.
“The 26 minutes are too much for him, I know that, but we have to give it to him out of necessity,” said Muckler. “Hopefully, Harvey can come back and relieve some of that burden from John, because I know that if we have to keep giving him that kind of ice, somewhere down the line it’s going to hinder our hockey club.
“Right now, though, there’s not much choice.”
Harvey, wearing a brace on his left knee. skated lightly for the first time yesterday. The Rangers hope to have him back in the lineup during the last week of February. The Heartbeat Kid is hoping he can come back sooner than that.
The Rangers don’t play after this afternoon until Friday, when the Hurricanes come to the Garden. But that opens a stretch of three games in four nights, five in eight, and seven in 11 through the 22nd of the month. They also play eight games in 14 days during the first two weeks of March.
Muckler, who has shortened his practices and given the team more days off since Christmas than he had until then, is well aware of the special treatment his team of senior citizens requires in light of the marathon it’s been asked to run.
“I have never given a team this much time off in my whole coaching career,” he said. “I’ve tried to make a point of giving the team as much rest as possible, and I think I’ve done as well as I could with that, because, yes, [fatigue] is going to be a concern as we go forward.”
But as the Rangers go forward, they have MacLean, who leads the team with 137 shots on net, and whose next goal will make him a 20-goal scorer for the 11th time.
“Maybe another guy will come in here in two weeks and take the [offensive] role; who knows?” MacLean said. “But for now, as long as it lasts, this is great.”
