Brian Boyle almost balked yesterday when asked whether his playoffs would have been different if he had not suffered a concussion on a hit from the Senators’ Chris Neil in Game 5 of the opening round.
“Yeah, I would have played in all the games,” Boyle said, three days after his Rangers were eliminated by the Devils in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. “I’ve never had a concussion, so that was tough. It happens. It’s a man’s game.”
Boyle, who reported his head felt fine, said he was cleared by the medical staff to play and it was his decision to return to the lineup for Game 2 in the second round against the Capitals after missing a total of three games.
“You take time off and coming back it’s not easy,” Boyle said. “To get back to that level, it’s like jumping on a speeding train. That’s my reaction to it. That’s what I was feeling like. I was a step slow, and it was tough.”
Boyle was the star of the show scoring three goals in the first three games of the playoffs. But after the hit, he didn’t score again, and by the final two games against the Devils he was essentially a fourth-line center and penalty killer.
“He certainly wasn’t the player he was prior,” coach John Tortorella said. “I thought he was one of our better forwards in the first couple series, but after that, it was different for him. Whether it was the concussion or maybe it was too much, I don’t know.”
Michael Sauer went from being a top-four defenseman to being a ghost within the Rangers’ organization, and yesterday Tortorella confirmed lingering effects from a concussion are jeopardizing Sauer’s status for next season.
“It’s a huge question mark,” Tortorella said about the 24-year-old from Minnesota who has not played a game since sustaining the injury on a hit from the Maple Leafs’ Dion Phaneuf on Dec. 5 and has not skated with team since February.
“I just saw Michael for the first time today in months,” Tortorella said. “I don’t have a lot of update, but he’s certainly not where he needs to be to even start working out.”
When asked if he can rely on having Sauer back for next season, Tortorella said, “No. I’ll be honest with you, no. Can’t.”
All signs are pointing to Mats Zuccarello not being a Ranger next season.
“I know that I don’t want to do this next season the same way,” said the 24-year-old Norwegian winger, who played 10 games this season with the Rangers and 36 in the AHL. “I don’t want to be a two-way player or an up-and-down, so I have to decide what I’m going to do.”
Zuccarello showed signs of high offensive ability in the games he played near the end of the regular season and the 42 he played last season, but he fractured his left wrist blocking a shot on March 23 and did not return.
“I have some opportunities, but I haven’t decided yet,” said Zuccarello, who denied reports he had signed with a Russian team. “I’m not going to lie, there is some part of me that wants to go. But at the same time, this is where I want to be. I want to be a New York Ranger.”
Assistant coach Mike Sullivan is at the top of some lists for open head jobs around the league, most notably in Calgary. Though yesterday he said, “All my energy has been focused on the Rangers and helping them try to win,” it’s clear he has thought about other jobs, adding, “Do I have aspirations to be a head coach? Sure I do, I think we all do who are in this business.”
Tortorella was effusive in his praise of Sullivan: “If you’re asking me, he should be a head coach in this league. … If they ask me about him, there’s no way I would stand in front of him. No way. He’s too good a coach.”