Monday, April 26, 2010

The NYR Facts Of Life: #22 Brian Boyle

For each player who suited up in a Blueshirt this season we will take the good, we will take the bad then take them both and see what we have. It is time for the biggest guy on the roster, 6'7 #22 Brian Boyle.

#22's #s: 71 games, four goals, two assists, -6, 47 PIM.

Take the good: Boyle had a few good moments that showed why the Rangers wasted a third round pick in the upcoming draft. When he was paired with Sean Avery and Aaron Voros, they were actually a solid unit that forechecked and caused havoc on the opposition. He saw an average of 8:24 in ice time and he had a career-high six points!

Take the bad: He had five points in '07-08 and five in '08-09 ... in eight and 28 games respectively. See a bad trend? And he had four goals in each of those campaigns too. Brought in to replace Blair Betts, Boyle couldn't win very many faceoffs, he wasn't particularly adept at killing penalties and he had 12 less points than Bettsy despite playing eight more games. For all of his extra size, he had all of three fights - two in the same game and none after November. He had 143 hits, roughly half that of Ryan Callahan ... for someone nearly seven feet tall on skates and playing on a checking line, getting two hits a game isn't a whole helluva lot.

Take them both and then we have: Someone who has one more season on a deal that went from two-way this year to one-way, meaning Boyle is prime to be dealt or waived. From the outside he seemed to be a good team guy with a good sense of humour and he roomed with MDZ, allegedly keeping the kid out of trouble. Of course, bringing the teenager to a college party and getting him beer isn't being a good role model.

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