Read: Jokinen Has Strayed From His Bread And Butter
The Rangers acquired Olli Jokinen in February to add a scoring punch to a team severely lacking one. In his 13 games with the Rangers Jokinen has two goals and seven assists, but he is now situated on the top line with Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal and is still trying to get comfortable:
“Three games now we’ve played (together), and I’m starting to get a little feeling with the guys. Obviously they have chemistry because they’ve been playing on the same line all year. As a new guy coming in, I just have to try to fit in.”
Jokinen also told Michael Obernuaer of the N Y Daily News that in the past he has tired to adapt to the players around him, but is now only focused on playing his game:
“I’ve always been a shooter and a guy who likes to take shots. In Calgary I tried to be too much of a passer, playing with Iggy (Iginla). Once you start doing that, it’s going to affect your own play,” Jokinen said. “For me, I just have to try to play my game.
…Jokinen has been good, but not great so far with the Rangers. He has chances and takes shots but hasn’t found the back of the net that consistently. It was still a great move to get him and rid the team of Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins.
While putting him on the top line makes it even more dangerous, I still think he should be on another line. At this point in the year you can’t keep moving guys around, but maybe putting him with Erik Christensen, who worked well with Gaborik, could get him going.
After the jump, Jokinen tells Obernauer who he sees Gaborik resemble
“We have Gabby, and with his speed he has a similar style to Pavel Bure. He’s very sneaky, he sees the ice well, and a lot of times he likes to take off and looks for breakaways and I have to try to find him with a pass. “
…It’s true. I have written many times before how Gaborik looks like Bure with the puck and is the Rangers most dynamic scorer since Bure’s short tenure with team. Bure was probably faster, but Gaborik bigger. Both are excellent scorers.
