Coming off a career season and about to get a large increase
in salary it would be easy for Brian Boyle of the New York Rangers to lost a
little of the motivation that drove him last summer just to save his spot on
the roster. That is certainly not the
case this summer based on what he told Blueshirts
United.com yesterday during the Rangers Summer Youth Hockey Camp.
"It's great that we got Brad (Richards), and I'm super excited about that. But we all need to work even harder this off-season and be even better next season. We have to do this as a team, not rely on only one guy."
Having already begun his off-ice conditioning and restarted
his power skating training with Barbara Underhill there is absolutely no
relaxing for Boyle this summer. While
last season’s motivation was about proving he was an NHL player who could have
an impact and deserved to stay, this summer is all about proving that last
season was for real and not just a fluke.
Boyle is absolutely right in terms of how every player on
the team should be looking at the Brad Richards signing. There should be a level of excitement to add
a top quality player to the roster and the statement it makes from management
about how close they believe the team is to competing for a championship. Beyond that though it cannot be just about
Richards as the Rangers do not stand a chance to compete if all the players who
had breakout years last season, like Boyle, do not continue to have that same
or even more impact next season.
