IGORRRRRRR

I don't devote entire posts to certain TTM returns even though I probably should since they've slowed to a trickle in recent times. But ever since I switched to a weekly monthly format, these TTM posts focused on one particular return have since turned into a brand called, "holy fuck is this special". 

And boy is today's return special indeed.
Igor Olegovich Shestyorkin (or sometimes spelt Shesterkin) is a goaltender from Russia. He is also one of the Rangers' top prospects at this very moment.

Shestyorkin was drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Player Draft. He then spent the next five seasons playing in the Russian KHL as a member of the SKA St. Petersburg. During which he went from a very promising goaltender to a brick fucking wall for one of the most dominant teams in the KHL.

In Goal Magazine's Greg Balloch described Shestyorkin's approach as mature and as a safe bet to transition well to the North American game (at least in context when stacked up against Islanders prospect Ilya Sorokin). The whole piece is great because it breaks down Shestyorkin (and Sorokin)'s game down to a very thorough and easy to understand level. Such as how Shestyorkin ties to go as low as he can and cover as much of the net as he can with his pads. Among other keen observations from someone who writes for a website that focuses on the craft we call goaltending.

For a while it wasn't clear when Shestyorkin was going to arrive in North America but then again the Rangers have King Henrik Lundqvist so it wasn't going to matter. It does matter now because exactly how much long Lundqvist stays around is a question mark. Whether or not Shestyorkin is his successor is the big question on everyone's mind.

IGOR SHESTYORKIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME. #NYR pic.twitter.com/B63MNJkWW1

— Alex Nunn (@aj_ranger) April 1, 2019

More Shestyorkin theatrics, this time on a save from a pass across the slot. pic.twitter.com/4K7orTBxIV

— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) April 1, 2019

Whether in the AHL or KHL, Shestyorkin has done nothing to really show that he's not a promising goalie in the making. This season he's playing in Hartford and getting adjusted to the North American version of hockey. The early reports on his performance in Hartford are very positive. Hartford overall is a lot more structured and better this season, but Shestyorkin's performance is a big boost no doubt.

Shestyorkin leads all AHL goalies with a 1.18 GAA and sits second in save percentage at .955 too. He's given up just six goals through five games. Like I said... it's not SKA. #NYR

— Alex Nunn (@aj_ranger) October 27, 2019

How will Shestyorkin affect the goaltending picture come the 2020-21 season? That's anybody's guess. It depends on three independent variables. What Lundqvist wants to do, how Alexandar Georgiev fares with more time and looks, and how Shestyorkin and press the issue going forward. Too many interesting goaltenders, this is a great problem to have.

One last note on the letter itself. Please know that I took the time to write the request letter in Russian. Why? Honestly I've long thought that I should put in more effort myself in my letters. And what better way than by writing it in the players' native tongue. Next year I'm going to do it with Spanish. Fingers crossed that that's what helps me get some notoriously tough signer somehow lol.

Anyway that was my latest special TTM as Shestyorkin joins a tier occupied by the likes of another fellow (then) top Rangers prospect Filip Chytil, an NPB hall of famer in Shigeru Sugishita, and a future basketball hall of famer in Vince Carter.

Best of luck to Igor going forward. I like Georgiev just fine and Hank's a legend, but I like Igor a little bit more now.

As always for stopping by and take care :).

Sources:
*http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=173069
*https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2019/3/1/18229921/igor-shestyorkin-henrik-lundqvist-benoit-allaire-new-york-rangers-prospects
*https://ingoalmag.com/features/sorokin-vs-shestyorkin-style-comparison/
*https://twitter.com/aj_ranger
*https://twitter.com/AdamZHerman

A Game That Came With A Job Fair

This past Tuesday (three days ago), I went to go see a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden for the first time since 2014.

The thing is that Madison Square Garden was hosting a career fair where various sports entities were participating. Even though my background isn't in sales, business management, marketing, sports communication or sports management, I figure I'd go for A). the sake of it, B). see if there is something in sports that lines up with my field, and C). because attending the job fair (and paying the fee) came with a New York Rangers ticket.

Alright so my background is in accounting. With my key interest being tax accounting (no, I will not file your taxes for you, yet). I suspected that none of the entities at the fair would have exactly what I was looking for, or really anything remotely close to it, and I was pretty much correct. By the halfway point I was more curious about if individual sports teams (or rather the ownership groups that own said teams) do their accounting work internally or outsource them to whatever Big Four accounting firm the ownership group has do their audits/tax prep. Most people didn't know because they're in different department. And it was pretty clear to both them and I that I wasn't exactly what they were looking for since I'm not in sales or marketing or that type of finance.

So in the end I basically bought a Rangers ticket that came with a job fair where I could at least practice the act people call "rubbing elbows" in preparation for future events that might actually have something. Alright, sure that's the spin.

Now onto the Rangers game.

The Rangers were hosting the Arizona Coyotes, who are off to a mixed start though I won't count them out as a wild card contender since, well, Edmonton is still in first place in that division. You expect me to think that that's going to last?

Regarding the Coyotes the only real interesting things to me going into the game were seeing Derek Stepan and Michael Grabner return to New York, as well as seeing if Clayton Keller is really as subtly terrible as advanced hockey metrics say he is.

Spoilers... all three were fairly unnoticeable.

Now regarding the Rangers I had a ton of things to look for.

The biggest being the defense, the Rangers' greatest weakness. They allow a lot of shots, their coverage reportedly isn't too great, and it results in even all time greats like King Henrik letting up a few goals because when he's forced to block like 40+ shots in a single game, the law of averages unleashes its wrath.

Yikes. Arizona had a clear edge in shot attempts (23-8) / shots (15-3) at 5-on-5 and in all situations (34-8 Corsi / 21-3 shots). Heat map via @NatStatTrick #NYR pic.twitter.com/MB8a8DryBc

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) October 22, 2019

The defense and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev managed to limit the damage in terms of actual points for most of the game, but those who're more hockey-minded (like Shayna Goldman of The Athletic above) know that it was pretty ugly. Even a moron like me can tell you that the Rangers defense allowing seven times as many shots as the Coyotes defense did in the first period alone is not great.

Georgiev allowed three goals across three periods and OT, but looked very competent. At least to my untrained eye. I'm sure there are more nuanced ways to approach his performance but as far as I can tell he's not really the problem. Benoit Allaire (the Rangers' goaltending coach) does wonders with goaltenders and Georgiev is no exception. He's a capable NHL level backup goaltender. That's all you could ask for.

Mike Zibanejad and Artemiy Panarin are a lot of fun to watch. I almost feel bad leaving out the Breadman in my dumb Rangers post, Panarin is legit. I also got the added benefit of watching Jesper Fast (a super utility guy) and Kaapo Kakko (the second overall pick in the 2019 NHL player draft). Both looked good, though I kinda wish their roles had been reversed in this game, but whatever.

Zibanejad and Panarin (and Fast) made up the first line. With Kakko and Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich behind them along with the rest of the squad. That's fine but it made me wonder what was going come out of the other lines. As it turns out not a whole lot. Even though the season is barely a month old, I'm starting to wonder if Filip Chytil really will have to stay in Hartford until Breandan Lemieux and Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider get traded.

On a non-game related note, I remembered how at my last Rangers game the people next to me spent the whole night yammering about football (the New York Jets specifically), the Yankees and the Mets. I might be a baseball fan but the last thing I needed were a bunch of middle age dudes talking about Ryan Quigley and Derek Jeter. Fortune favored me this time because the people next to me this time were a family from France or Québec since they spoke French (though the children spoke English, and by that I mean they had British accents even though the parents had French accents). The parents spoke French the entire time while the kids spoke English and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. Wonderful. I'd much rather have a family talking in a language I can't understand about stuff that's not my business next to me (though every other word was "Rangers") than some schlub in his 30's crying about how Geno Smith ruined his fantasy team.

All in all my first Rangers game in five years was an enjoyable one. Say what you will about hockey but the constant action pretty much means that it's never boring. I never left my seat once and when I did it took me forever to finish pissing in the bathroom. It was also pretty sweet to get to watch the young Rangers I only know as the really young prospects/rookies that are going to be the core of the team (ideally) moving forward. Kaapo Kakko, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, Jacob Fox, and Lias Andersson specifically. Although the five of them didn't get as much playing time as I would've liked. Would've loved to have watched Chytil too, but that'll have to be another day.

Oh and the Rangers lost 2 to 3 to the Coyotes in overtime. Sucks.

And no autographs because I was tired, and because MSG isn't that type of environment. I did get a program though.

So there we go, a job fair and a Rangers game. At least the game was fun.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).