MEH Awards!

Hey - It's early November and time for the BlueShirt-Brothers Monthly Excellence in Hockey awards! Otherwise know as MEH!

So without further delay - the October 2011- MEH awards:

Award 1: Pleasant Surprise of the Month:

Nominees:

A- The Ranger Defense without Marc Staal

B -Ryan McDonagh - the offensive defenseman

C - MSG construction finishing On Time!

And the Meh goes to:

The Ranger defense. Take away their all star defenseman Marc Staal - let the Rangers get out shot on a nightly basis - have the Blueshirts lose the puck possession battle every night - and what do you get? A goals-allowed per game average that is BETTER than last year! Nothing short of stunning. And how about that stellar workhorse Dan Girardi - I think he's toiled in the shadow of Staal long enough - Dan is the man on defense.

That being said - Ryan McDonagh has been playing first line defense and has played at a much higher level than any of us expected. And when is the last time any heavy construction project in the history of New York ever finished when it was supposed to? So honorable mentions to our runners up.

MEH award 2: best Goalie

A: Henrik Lundquist

B: Marty Biron

Well, come on - it's gotta be Hank, right? Let's take a quick look at the October stats to lock this down....

October Records:

Hank 2-3-3

Marty: 2-0

Uh, really?

But wait - save percentage, right? That's the pure measure of a goalie's work:

Hank: .929

Marty: .963

Wow. So - reluctantly, the October MEH for best performance by a Ranger Goalie goes to the only Marty B we don't despise: Mr. Biron!

And finally - MEH award 3: comeback "playa" of the Month:

Nominees:

1 - Marian "The Gifted One" Gaborik

2 - Michael "+7" Del Zotto

3 - Sean "back from the dead" Avery

And the winner is:

We'd pick Seanny "gloves down" but his miraculous return was really an November event - so he loses on a technicality. And Gabby looks like his old self this year - skating faster - getting free and finding the back of the net. But we're giving the award to Michael Del Zotto.

Last year MDZ played his way off the team with uneven effort and more than his share of bonehead plays. And this year - given a small sliver of daylight by the Marc Stahl injury - has made this one count. His home run passes are much better chosen this year - his turnovers are way down. He's playing with intensity and (for him) relative smarts. And to top it off - Michael Del Zotto leads the Rangers with a mighty Plus 7 in October!

So there you have it - all winners are eligible for a free slice of Pizza at the Pucks homestead.

Thanks for reading friends and - Let's Go Rangers!