[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 04/27/11 11:03 AM EDT Cross one of my upcoming stories off the list, Caerid did a better job than I would have anyway. Great work, enjoy!] 

  The New York Rangers 2010-2011 Season was an up and down year, filled with excitement, heartache, frustration, and hope. While I'm sure the Blueshirt Banter Staff will have a player-by-player review of the season, I'd like to submit my own abbreviated version for each player, regardless if they'll be returning or not for the '11-'12 season. The stats are from the Rangers.NHL.com website, though I removed a few non-significant players (any gripes about the lack of Todd White and I'll piss in your ear).

    It's a simple format of a short summary (what I saw from that player during the year), notables (anything that stood out about the player), and improvements (what I'd like to see that player work on for next season). I tried not to take this too seriously and injected some goofy anecdotes at times. I also apologize for some formatting issues near the end, this thing isn't very Excel friendly. Feel free to post any comments or critiques or if you have something funny to add to any of the players, hope you enjoy it...

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  With all of the media attention surrounding the NHL and their intention to significantly reduce the amount of head-shots in the game, the Matt Cooke elbow on Ryan McDonagh is a gift to the NHL in my opinion. There is nothing the Matt Cooke apologists can say to even have a remote chance of excusing this attempt to severely injure another player. It's his objective on the ice, to hurt other players. He deliberately doesn't hit people in the body (unless it's in the back, of course), he cuts across them hoping to catch their head. McDonagh didn't turn his back, or suddenly move, he was slowly gliding backwards dumping the puck into the zone and Matt Cooke conducted a drive-by elbowing. He could have easily hit McDonagh from the side, into his shoulder, and it would have been a clean, hard hit. But no, Cooke had to cut in front of him to throw an elbow.

  Let's look at the NHL's current 5-step process to eliminate head-shots and diagnose concussions.

Here's step 3 of their new plan

"The Board will be approached to elevate the standard in which a Club and its Coach can be held accountable if it has a number of 'repeat offenders' with regard to Supplementary Discipline."

  Continue after the jump....

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    Brandon Dubinsky was born in 1986, in Anchorage, Alaska, and was eventually selected 60th overall in the 2nd round of the NHL Draft by the NY Rangers. He spent 4 years in the WHL with the Portland Winter Hawks where he would amass a total of 82 goals, 148 assists, for 230 points in 234 games played. During the 2006-2007 season, Brandon spent most of his time with the AHL's Hartford Wolf-Pack (now known as the Connecticut Whale) where he would total 21 goals, 22 assists, for 43 points in 71 games played, while playing 6 NHL games with the Rangers (6 PIM). After his one year stint in the AHL, Brandon joined fellow rookies Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal in becoming one of the young building blocks of the future for the NY Rangers.

     In Brandon's first 3 seasons as a NY Ranger, we, as fans, witnessed a player who had the potential to become many things for this team. Join me after the jump (which around here should really be called "The Cliff") for more of what was, what is, and what possibly may be....

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