Judging The Coaching And Mishandling of Rangers Rookies

If you're wondering why the prize rookie Gabe Perreault has received less – some would say much less – ice time than had been anticipated, the coach has the answer.

He can learn a lot by watching games from the press box.

And that makes sense – but only to a point; and not a very good one at that.

"Peter Laviolette should have played Gabe in every single game," says The Old Scout. "That's how he'd learn what NHL hockey is all about. Raw, live action is necessary to learning. He's been watching on tv all season."

The handling – or mis-handling, if you will – is not the only player issue perplexing the fans. There's also the case of Brett Berard.

"He looked like a winner from the get go," adds The Old Scout, "Brett hustles; he can score and he's a positive stimulant to those on his line, if not the whole team. Yet, he's in and out of the lineup like a yo-yo."

Easily the most perplexing rookie of them all is Brennan Othmann, the big left wing who was supposed to make the big club out of camp, but failed.

Since being recalled from Hartford, he's shown some signs of fulfilling his scouting report: "sharpshooting winger and solid forechecker."

That said, Brennan has not lived up to his reputation so far.

More than the others, Perreault has good cause to beef – which he has not, at least not out loud – about his limited ice time. This is especially so as he press box-watched his future team miserably fail in the homestretch.

It will be interesting and instructive to see how Pistol Pete handles his prize rookie in the final three games of the season, starting today in Raleigh.

For Perreault's sake, The Maven hopes he gets a good chance to strut his stuff!