

Girardi endures pain to anchor Rangers' back line

Dec. 4, 2011

Ironmen on ice

Entering Saturday night's game against the Lightning, Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi led the NHL in average ice time per game. Here's a look at the top five in that category:
• Dan Girardi, Rangers, 27:41
• Ryan Suter, Nashville, 26:48
• James Wisniewski, Columbus, 26:44
• Brian Campbell, Florida, 26:43
• Kris Letang, Pittsburgh, 26:11
Note: Only Wisniewski (18) had played fewer than 22 games.


Dan Girardi's address should be 5 Harm's Way.

Because that's where he lives, at least for the NHL-leading 27 minutes, 41 seconds he averages on the ice each game as one of the Rangers' most dependable defensemen.

"Oh my God," teammate Brian Boyle said.

"The bruises he's come in with some days, it's just balls of colors on his body. He never says a word about it, never complains about it. He knows that's what he does. We're accustomed to seeing it, and he knows he's got to keep doing it now because that's his game. But it's tough. It's a tough job."

Unimaginably tough, for most of us. How does a person fling himself into flying frozen pucks at such great risk and with such frequency?

Entering play this weekend, Girardi was eighth in the NHL in blocked shots this season, though only one of the seven in front of him had played fewer games. He led the entire league with 236 (almost four per game) last season, and he was leading in the playoffs (26 in five games) when the Rangers were eliminated.

Girardi is glad that his 20-month-old son is too young to notice when Daddy comes home with a fresh new facial welt or zipped-up scar — Landon Girardi is just happy that his father's home — and that wife Pamela just laughs in disbelief.

But it's as much a part of his game as skating or shooting or defending.

"In juniors I blocked some shots, and over the years it's kind of evolved," he said. "You get better at something every year. ... You learn different positions of the stick and body positions, and you learn something every year that will help you.

"It's tough. It's almost easier to not think about it, because you're going down in front of a slap shot, a one-timer slap shot coming at you. If you're thinking, 'Oh, what if it hits me in a bad spot?' — that's kind of when you're not in the right position. You just go out there and do it."

This has become the Rangers' identity during the past season and a quarter. A one-for-all, selfless, whatever-it-takes grinding bunch, night after night. Ryan Callahan earned the captain's "C" by embodying that identity with his physical play. So does Girardi, who has worn the alternate captain's "A" since his defense partner, All-Star Marc Staal, has been sidelined with concussion symptoms.

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That's why coach John Tortorella, referring to Girardi not being on the All-Star ballot, said the league has it all backward (his actual terminology was a bit more colorful) when it comes to promoting its players, inferring that those with a pedigree and/or marquee statistics and/or those who were high draft picks get better treatment than someone who, oh, was never even drafted.

Girardi was not drafted. He has probably been the Rangers' MVP to date, playing those monstrous minutes each night against the likes of league sweethearts Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin — without Staal.

Callahan was Girardi's junior teammate at Guelph in the Ontario Hockey League, and said he didn't really think about it when Girardi went undrafted.

"But looking back at it, I'm really surprised he wasn't drafted," Callahan said. "Those things happen. Some guys get looked over. The big story with him was he started out in the East Coast (League) and got himself an AHL deal and worked himself up, right through the system. It shows if you're persistent and you stick with it and you believe in yourself, you can make it.

"He sacrifices himself; he does whatever it takes to win; he grinds down low; he gets dirty. And that's what this team needs to be successful. And he's part of that young core that they talk about that we're trying to build up through."

Girardi's 27 now and in his fifth full NHL season, and sixth overall. He's missed exactly two games. He lost a streak of 330 consecutive games — 357 including playoffs — when he sat out two games with a rib-cage injury just before the All-Star break last season. He wanted to play, but he feared that if he began the game and twisted the wrong way, he'd "leave the guys stranded with five defensemen."

Girardi's performance in the Rangers' playoff elimination game last season in Washington nearly brought the hard-boiled Tortorella to tears. Girardi, already playing with the rib-cage injury and a hernia that would require surgery in the summer, blocked a shot that hobbled him early — he'd need X-rays after the game — and later suffered a horrifying injury to his finger, which was mangled.

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"You're just so amped up in the game, and our lives are on the line," Girardi said. "That was pretty gross, actually. The bone was through the skin, and it was pretty hard to look at. They kind of popped it back in, sewed it back up and taped my whole finger up (and froze it with an injection) and said, 'Do you want to give it a try?' Well, yeah, why not? It's already through the skin. It's not going to get any worse. It's a tough injury, but you've got to play through things."

And to think, there was a time two seasons ago when Girardi's courage was questioned. In a game in Philadelphia, he froze and made a mistake. Then-Flyers thug Daniel Carcillo had hunted down the Rangers' Marian Gaborik during a fracas. Girardi wasn't sure if he should jump in and risk being ejected and costing the Rangers a power play. He stayed out of it — the wrong decision.

"For the first couple of days, they showed a lot of highlights of it," Girardi said. "It was a weird situation. I wanted to go in, but I didn't want to get kicked out of the game. But I know now, if it happens again, I'll be the first one in there.

"No matter what, no matter what the score of the game, or what the time is, no matter what, I've got to go in and take care of business when it's one of your top guys. If it ever happens again, it's not going to turn out that way. That was kind of a low moment for me, getting some flack that maybe I was not brave enough or whatever. That hurt ... because I know that I'm not scared to do anything."

That sure has become obvious these last two seasons.

Reach Rick Carpiniello at

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