Dawes Called Up

Nigel Dawes has been called up from Hartford and will play tomorrow night against Atlanta. As I talked about in an earlier blog and in the first podcast, I thought Dawes deserved some time with big club while Sean Avery was injured. That didn’t look like it was going to happen with the recent play of Marcel Hossa. But, Hossa is also injured now, only skating for a short period of time during practice this week. Dawes is the logical choice to play on the first line with Gomez and Jagr.

Fans can also breathe a sigh of relief that Renney didn’t go with Dave Scatchard instead of Dawes. Scatchard’s best year came with the Islanders in the 2002-2003 season (81 GP, 27 G, 18 A) but hasn’t played a full NHL season since. Many speculated that Renney would try the veteran before Dawes but thankfully The Scatch was sent packing for a 5-day tryout with the Wolfpack.

If all goes well with Dawes, the Rangers are put in quite a predicament. If both Dawes and Hossa have played well enough to deserve more time, what happens when Avery comes back? That’s a question that may need to be answered soon but right now its time for Nigel Dawes to show what he’s made of on Thursday night.