Player Check-Up: Ryan Callahan

After getting off to a relatively slow start to the season in the months of October and November, Ryan Callahan has recently been playing like the grinding goal-scorer that we have come to know and love. The 24-year-old is currently ranked third place in the league in hitting with 121 in 36 games played, and has the most goals on the Rangers with nine behind Marian Gaborik who has 25. These stats explain what I mean when I say "grinding goal-scorer" because unfortunately many have the misconception that a grinder is automatically a fourth liner, but with Ryan, that is not the case even though he is a spark plug willing to throw around the body.

Coming off of a 22-goal season last year, which was probably his breakout season, expectations were set high going into 2009-10. However, when the forward began to struggle, on scoring just two goals in sixteen games, fans were beginning to doubt him. Callahan was simply trying to do too much with the puck. He is not the kind of player that is going to carry the puck in himself, make a strong move to the net and bury a pretty goal. Well, that was the type of player Cally was trying to be and all it ended up in was frequent turnovers and built-up frustration. Cally is more of a scorer who finds the open areas of the ice, is fed the puck, and finishes efficiently.

Once Callahan again began to fight to get to the dirty areas, find open space, and allow for others to create the play and for him to finish, the goals have started to come at a more frequent rate. Five goals in the past ten games, seven points in the last five contests and a positive plus/minus in three of the last five are just some of the areas in which Ryan has shown improvement in when comparing his recent game to that of the beginning of the season.

For example, of his recent goals, Callahan has been set up on three of the past five. In the two-goal game at the Coliseum, Marian Gaborik fed Cally for both of his goals right at the goal mouth. His goal in Buffalo came off of a perfectly placed shot by Sean Avery skating down the wing. If Ryan finds those open, but dirty areas on the ice effectively, he scores goals. It is as simple as that, but when he tries to move the puck himself, or attempts to be somewhat of a playmaker, it is not pretty and likely will not work out for the Rochester native.

One part of his game that is always consistent, though, is his hitting and grinding. Besides maybe Dubinsky and Avery, there is probably no others on this Ranger squad willing to throw around the body like Ryan does. I have noticed that John Tortorella uses him in more and more situations as he gets to know him better, including on the powerplay, and that is because of the way in which Cally plays. If there is an extra amount of effort, the battle level is up there, and he keeps his feet moving, that right there will land him a lot of ice time in a Tortorella system. In fact, Callahan is pretty much the perfect fit for this offensive minded system as long as he does what he does best.

Now it is not only on offense where Ryan is effective, but he is also an excellent backchecker, again going back to the effort factor. Some of the backchecks this guy makes literally has me sitting with my jaw dropped. At least if he is not putting the pucks in the net, he still is noticeable on the defensive end, something that cannot be said of all of the players on this club. Callahan, along with Captain Chris Drury, have become a dynamic duo on the penalty-kill, just as effective as maybe Fred Sjostrom and Blair Betts were for Tom Renney last season.

If the Rangers are going to rely on secondary scoring beyond Marian Gaborik at times, then there is no question that Ryan Callahan needs to play a role in that. He is the main player I wanted re-signed by Glen Sather and the Ranger Brass this past summer, knowing he is a big part of this team's future moving forward. With the new "Play the kids" motto going around, Callahan is definitely one of those kids that needs to be played even though he may not be a rookie. A combination of will, effort, and skill earned Callahan the Alternate Captaincy, and there is no real other player I would like to see wearing that "A" other than Cally.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)