Mike Richter will be representing the Rangers at the All-Star Game because he’s earned the honor, microscopic goaltending numbers or not. He has been the best and brightest Blueshirt all season, the reason his team has been able to accumulate a marginally respectable 38 points in 41 games.
“A good choice, a very good choice, an excellent choice,” John Muckler said following yesterday’s practice at Rye. “Mike has been on top of his game.
“It couldn’t have been anybody else.”
In joining starter Curtis Joseph and Martin Brodeur on Team North America for the Feb. 6 fray in Toronto, Richter is 10-16-7 with a 2.69 goals-against-average and .909 save percentage. Others — including Ed Belfour, John Vanbiesbrouck, Guy Hebert, Patrick Roy and Fred Brathwaite — have gaudier numbers, but goaltending statistics are comparable to plus-minus figures in that they’re a function of team performance. And not one of those aforementioned goaltenders has been more important to his team than Richter has been to the Rangers.
“I think Mike’s a little embarrassed about it because he only has 10 wins, but there’s a lot more that goes into a selection like this other than wins and losses,” Brian Leetch said. “I told him that he has nothing to be embarrassed about.
“We rely on him every night. He has to make all the big saves to keep us in games. Mike is as our important to our team as much as any goaltender is to any team.”
Richter, who missed five games in October with an ailing back, has started 32 of the Rangers’ 41 matches, including 19 of the last 20. He’s not only made the breakaway and odd-man rush saves routine, he’s dramatically reduced the number of spotty goals against from two years ago. Richter, who will be making his third All-Star appearance and first since taking home the MVP award in the 1994 Garden extravaganza, has brought his game back to where it was at the 1996 World Cup and in the first two rounds against the Panthers and Devils in the 1997 playoffs.
“The ultimate gauge is wins and losses, and as a professional athlete you have to live and die by that because that’s what we’re paid to do,” Richter said. “But goaltending is kind of like a game within a game, you have to be there to make the big save and keep your team within striking distance.
“That may come when it’s 2-2 in the third period or it may come when you’re losing 7-5 and the save you make lets you come back and win 8-7.
“I think I’ve played well. I think I’ve been fairly consistent but I expect to reach a higher level over the second half of the season just as I expect from the team,” he said. “We have to find ways to win games. There’s not a lot of margin for error right now, so the way I’m approaching it is that I want to raise my level so I’m not just giving us a chance to win, but actually going out there and stealing games.
“That’s the goal I have for myself the rest of the season.”
Leetch seemed somewhat discouraged that his broken right arm has not mended more quickly than it has. The target date for the captain’s return remains next Thursday when the Rangers visit Carolina, but there are no guarantees. “I hope it gets better by then because if it doesn’t, I won’t be able to play,” he said.
Muckler, meanwhile, hinted that he might break up the Rich Pilon-Kevin Hatcher pair upon Leetch’s return in order to play Hatcher with Leetch and move Pilon to his more preferred right side. As the Mathieu Schneider-Sylvain Lefebvre pair would remain intact, it appears as if Pilon would partner with left defenseman Kim Johnsson, with Stephane Quintal playing left-out.
When Leetch does come off IR, the Rangers will be one player over the roster limit, though they could resolve that temporarily by assigning Jason Doig to Hartford for two weeks of conditioning.
Manny Malhotra skated left wing on a unit with Tim Taylor and Eric Lacroix yesterday while Alexandre Daigle skated between John MacLean and Valeri Kamensky. The Mike York-Adam Graves-Theo Fleury unit remained intact, as did Petr and the Czechmates. With Muckler all but committed to that lineup, Mike Knuble and Kevin Stevens are the apparent scratches for tomorrow afternoon’s match at the Coliseum.