Rangers Review: Alex Auld
Well time to continue our Rangers season in review. Let's kick off what will probably be the most interesting position to be filled this season, the back-up goaltender.
Alex Auld:
What We Liked: Really hard to get a good read here, mainly because he played in a grand total of three games for the Rangers. In those three games he was 0-1-0 with a 2.52 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Simply by the numbers those aren't bad, but again those numbers are only indicativeof three games. Auld--who has now played on seven different NHL teams, has obviously lost the skill level to start for an NHL team, but as a back-up he appears to be capable. On a pretty bad Dallas Stars team he posted up a 9-6-3 record with a 3.00 GAA and a .894 save percentage in 21 games. Again, not fantastic numbers (or even good ones for that matter), but they were posted on a poor team and he did prove to be valuable with the Rangers in his short time.
Join me after the jump for more.
What We Didn't Like: Again, really hard to get a good read on this stat either. It's hard to find something to dislike about him, simply because he didn't play. Honestly I can't think of anything to put in this spot aside from the fact that he has to get that GAA down, but even with the 3.00 GAA his save percentage was at 90%. Yeah, that's all I have.
Final Thoughts: This position all depends on John Tortorella. We all know that he likes to ride his top horses, and we all know that he loves to ride his starting goaltender; but that needs to change. Henrik Lundqvist cannot be demanded to start 70+ games a season, every season. A capable back-up is neccisary for all good teams, and as of last season, the Rangers didn't have one. Well they did, they just didn't use him. Just to prove this point, there is NOT ONE AP or Getty Image of Auld as a Ranger.
