Danny Wild-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/74d476db-616e-4cf9-bfaf-95f4f8d26c22.webp] Danny Wild-Imagn Images Igor Shesterkin is neither a rag doll nor a goaltender made of toothpicks. The Rangers ace is a big broth of a boy who should be able to play every single one of the remaining eleven games in the homestretch. He should not carry the "Too Much Work" alibi onto the ice. Eddie Johnston of the Boston Bruins once played 70 straight games without a mask and nobody wrung hands in fear over that. Glenn Hall of the Chicago Black Hawks played 502 straight games without a mask. (He would have played more but an injury intervened.) Those Original Sixers never wanted a game off; playing the entire schedule was a mark of stamina, courage and love for the team. So, when The Maven says Iggy owes it to his team to pull the boys into the playoffs by an 11-in-a-row slate, it's not like I'm asking the dear boy to climb the Empire State Building from the outside. But my hard-studying hockey man Jess Rubenstein disagrees. "I can find two games where Jonathan Quick can start and give Igor some rest," says Jess. "Igor can start tomorrow and then Friday against the Ducks, giving Quick the Saturday start in San Jose. "That gives Igor four days before he starts against the Wild on April 2d, followed by the Devils on April 5th and Tampa April 7th; then go with Quick against the Flyers on April 9th." The assumption there is that Quick will stump the chump teams while Iggy catches his breath. Rubenstein figures that Igor could finish the schedule with four games – Isles, Canes, Cats and Bolts. Who knows? Maybe that will work. Or maybe Quick will be too slow. The Maven insists that goalies today are spoiled into thinking that three hours work a night is an onerous burden. I hate to tell you what Glenn Hall would have to say about spoiled goalies these days. Something like APPLESAUCE!
