NBC Sports’ play-by-play man Mike “Doc” Emrick talks about the emergence of the Rangers’ Derick Brassard, the reason he won’t criticize Rick Nash and the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: Did the Rangers’ trade with the Blue Jackets mold the team more into what John Tortorella likes?
A: It’s more John’s way, it’s more Glen Sather’s way. If you talk about one (of the three players the Rangers acquired), you really short-change the others. But I have been thoroughly impressed with (Derick) Brassard. In the games I have been able to see, he has been the best player — the best player in all the games.
Q: Was there any inkling when Brassard was in Columbus that he would be this good?
A: I didn’t get to do the Blue Jackets much, except when I was still calling Devils games, and that’s two years ago now. So he certainly didn’t stand out, but he has in this. … He’s turned out to be tremendous find.
Q: Is there a reason to be worried about Rick Nash’s lackluster first round?
A: I am a little reluctant to say anything because you never know until a team gets knocked out what guys are dealing with. Nash led me to be suspicious that there was an injury situation that they are dealing with and, of course, they don’t report them. But we have video on it and it was pretty obvious he was getting worked on.
Q: Did you leave the Penguins-Islanders series more impressed with the Islanders or discouraged about the Penguins?
A: Those of us who got to watch the Islanders more than we get to during the regular season feel like the program has gained immeasurably in credibility just because of how hard they played the Penguins, and how they scared them. You can go back through the years and find teams that struggled in the first round and went on to win the championship — the Flames in ’89 comes to mind.
Q: Can the Red Wings pull another shocker against the Blackhawks?
A: I was one of the few people that gave the Red Wings a chance to win a couple of games against the Ducks. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with 13 (Pavel Datsyuk) and 40 (Henrik Zetterberg) and what Jimmy Howard has done in net against Anaheim. I think they will win a game or two at least, but up and down Chicago is the best team in the West. When tested we will see how the goaltending is, but so far (Corey) Crawford has been magnificent, and right now Chicago is the favorite in my mind.