One of my favorite rock ballads is Don’t Know What You’ve Got (Till It’s Gone) by Cinderella.
Along those lines, I’ve been watching the second-round Stanley Cup playoff series between the Rangers and Hurricanes with particular interest. In the battle of Metro heavyweights, one player has stood out to me above the rest.
No, not Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, although he’s been outstanding.
It’s former Pen Jake Guentzel.
Maybe it’s the fact that I watched him do his thing with the black-and-gold for so long. After a while, you kind of take players and what they do for granted. Even the special ones.
But now?
I feel like I’m watching Guentzel for the first time. What an amazing player he is!
Smart, crafty, clever…pick your superlative. To my eye, Jake thinks and reads the game as well as any player since Pens Hall-of-Famer Ron Francis.
He’s always around the opposing net, always in scoring position. He has an uncanny knack for finding the seams and openings and exploiting them. To say nothing of that magic wand of a stick.
