Player Eval. 7: Blair Betts
Posted On Monday, September 10, 2007 at at 2:56 PM by Pucks on Broadway
After a major computer overhaul and some family business, finally have some time to concentrate on the Rangers. One of the more intriguing players of the past season was Blair Betts. While he was used as a third and fourth line center as well as a penalty-killer, Betts was the premier face-off man for the Rangers at over 52%. However, he was consistently behind the likes of Matt Cullen and Micheal Nylander and played in limited ice-time and only on certain draws. Despite this, Betts quietly had an effective season. He played all 82 games and wasn't really responsible for an major errors on-ice. At the same time, he showed flashes of offensive talent despite only putting up 13 points. With the acquisitions of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, Betts could be a third-line option and in that additional ice-time, could be a 15-20 goal scorer.
The Question: Can Betts become consistent and keep the offense at a high level? If he is put in the position at third line, can he skate and score with the likes of Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan? He hasn't had that break through season, but with a new contract and a little security, this could be that year.
The Definite: Betts is another heart-and-soul guy and he's effective in that role. With the loss of Jed Ortmeyer, his penalty-killing ability will be more necessary and pronounced. He won't hesitate to block a shot or dive into a corner, which will always be welcomed by his teammates.
The Intangibles: Unless Gomez or Drury comes out to be a top face-off guy (which is possible), Betts could take a lot of important draws this season. If he is not called on in that capacity, the Rangers could have three top-tier face-off-men, which is a rarity in the NHL.
The Stats:
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | SOG | PPG | GWG | SHG | % |
| 82 | 9 | 4 | 13 | -4 | 24 | 120 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 |
(photo from NY Post)
nice eval - tom said it best, "only dan could write this much about blair betts."
keep it up ak
I appreciate your showcasing others than Drury, Lundquist, Gomez and demystify the worker-bees on the team.
Looking forward to additional posts...next, Hollweg?
As much as I like Bettsy, I am not sure he is cut out for the third line center gig - he has the speed and the skill in the dot but there were plenty of occasions last season that we would see him make a nice run and either dump it away or shoot it into the goalie's logo. Even without hands, he has a great attitude and work ethic to anchor that fourth grind/checking/energy line.
Let one of the kids take the third line slot because they would have the freedom to get offensive, rather than smother their skills there locked into the checking role. Look at what we did to Manny Malhotra ...
btw - Dan, if you want to trade links, just lemme know ...
Guys, thanks as always for the comments and support. Special K and Tom, when are you guys going to do a Rangers vs. Devils fan piece for me? TDR, thanks for the compliments and the next evaluation will definitely be Hollweg for ya! Scotty, thanks for the link on your blog, I added yours as well. Real nice site. I see you're from Commack, shoot me an email as I am from right around the corner. In reference to the Betts thoughts, I am not sure if one of the rookies can handle that immediate ice time or if Betts is going to be able to productive in a minimal fourth line role. I agree that he may not be the best fit, but I think with the first two line going to be commanding much more time than in the past two seasons (and most likely rolling all 4 less) that Betts may be wasted in that role.
Betts is a perfect 4th line center, no reason to force a guy into a 3rd line role who has 11 career assists in almost 200 career games.
I think it would be a bad decision to even try that.