Mike Ribeiro was drafted in 1998, 45th overall by Montreal. His quiet career in Montreal culminated in 2003-04 with 65 points. He fell off to 51 the following year. Dallas grabbed another mediocre center for their almost good team. His first year in Dallas saw an eight point improvement over his previous year, but nothing to write home about. He probably went undrafted in almost all but the deepest fantasy leagues. For those of you who still see him on your waiver wire, you must look to the heavens and smile. This guy has found a playing partner in Morrow. He is a seriously gifted hockey player. In the last seven games he has 7 goals and 5 assists. But that is not the thing I want to actually talk about here. It is his shooting percentage. Are your ready? Just over 38% of his shots are finding the back the net. Just to put that in perspective, Ilya Kovalchuk put 336 shots on net last year. If Ribeiro had done that with his shooting percentage, he would have scored 128 goals. Alright, there is no way a player can keep up that sort of percentage…right?
When you watch his game, you come to realize that he is instinctually a great passer. He sees the ice very well and tends to look for his teammates. When the pass isn’t there, he shoots or rolls the back behind the net to set up the play again. This guy is a high percentage shooter. He will hit the open net and with Morrow playing like a man on a contract mission, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ribeiro continued his career year with over 80-90 points by the end. I bet he will be drafted by almost every league next season. So, if an idiot in your league decides to make room for Voros by dropping Ribeiro, just laugh your way to the bank, or bar or whatever prize your league winner gets. The winner does get something in your league, right?
Usually, I reserve a small section in the blog for the New York Rangers. I would just like to salute the play of the 4th line tonight. Without you, the game would have been a real embarrassment. I’m also glad that Gomez, Straka and Jagr are finally finding some chemistry. It’s about time.
Until next time, keep your head up and your fists at the ready. Everyone should stick up for their teammates, be they enforcer or sniper. No excuses!
