Ray Emery is responding to his banishment from the NHL well, while playing for Mytishchi Atlant. While he is only allowed to play in 65% of his team’s games due to a Russian player development program, his stats are impressive. In 18 games, Emery has 11 wins, a 2.02 GAA, a remarkable save percentage of .932, and one shutout.
These stats help draft what is adding up to a made-for-TV coming of age story:
PROLOGUE:
After helping the Ottawa Senators reach the Stanley Cup finals in the 06-07 season, the hero of our tale suffered a miserable 07-08 campaign. Ray “Rayzor, Sugar Ray, Superman” Emery (take your pick from the nicknames) was bought out by the Ottawa Senators for various hockey citations: inconsistent performance, several altercations with fellow teammates – and management – over his attitude, and a not-so-super habit of arriving late to practice or missing them altogether. Emery was clearly a man lost on his ice journey of life.
Making matters worse, the Sens tried to trade their double-edged Rayzor before last year’s trade deadline, but not a single NHL team was willing to risk bringing his resume of distractions into their locker room. In a league that boasts heart, courage, toughness, and dynamic skill as the key elements to success for a player or a team, his faults in three of those four categories proved too much. Of those elements, Emery had shown mastery of one - skill.
Emery clearly needed some time and space to figure himself out. So, our hero bought a place ticket to Moscow, to spend some character building days on the frozen hockey tundra of Russia.
PRESENTLY:
Sugar Ray’s Moscow-suburban Atlant is at the top of the KHL in second place, and is second in goals against. Emery himself places third overall in save percentage, and would likely be among the leaders in other categories if he was allowed to play in more games.
Meanwhile, the NHL season charges on, though limping, without him. This season has handed NHL GM’s a rash of goaltender injuries, and they have been left desperate for a pair of pads with enough, well, skill, to keep their teams in the game.
Currently, key netminders Kari Lehtonen of Atlanta, Cam Ward of Carolina, Nickolai Khabibulin of Chicago, Rick DiPietro of Long Island, Martin Brodeur of New Jersey, Roberto Luongo and Curtis Sanford of Vancouver are all out with injuries. None of these teams can legitimately contend a playoff berth unless they secure a solid presence in net, and soon.
In Dallas, the Stars are pretty much falling from the sky, with their once solid Marty Turco seemingly unable to stop a limp beach ball this year.
And while our hero rides high on his team's successes, in his former home, his replacement Martin Gerber is facing time on the bench for his ineffectiveness between the pipes. The Senators are dead last in their division.
As early as October this year, at least one NHL team was reportedly inquiring about acquiring his rights, in order beat other NHL teams to the "punch for Sugar Ray." Our hero has found himself not so wayward anymore. Emery does remain content in fulfilling at least the first of what amounts to a two year contract, and both the NHL and KHL are for now quietly respecting player contracts.
According to his contract, Emery can sign with an NHL team next season, and you can bet all your rubles that he'll be welcomed back to North America by eager smiles.
EPILOGUE:
“Superman sits squeezed against a frosty window pane on a bus full of boisterous, fight-song-singing Russians. Under his finely-manicured eyebrows, his eyes dart about, nervously searching for meaning in the lyrics. No one is paying attention to him. Eventually, his darting eyes find a familiar face - his own, reflecting back at him from the window. He finally realizes that's where his problems are, and fixing them will provide for him the long map home. It is then, that his cell phone rings.”
The name of the GM at the other end of that call will have to wait for our next installment.
Scott Michalak - Scott Michalak was born in Buffalo, New York, and has since traveled and lived in places such as England, Belgium, Australia, and around ...
