Confidance, man

To say Dmitri Kalinin is in a defensive slump - minus-2 in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win at Atlanta, a minus-2 in a 3-0 loss to Calgary, a minus-3 in a 6-2 loss at Montreal and minus-17 for the season - would be putting it mildly.

The problem may be as simple as a square peg in a round team. The stronger part of Kalinin's game has always been what he brings to the rush, not the way he defends against it. You can see it when he's on the ice, he's looking for chances to go forward, he likes venturing deeper into the opponent's zone. Unfortunately for him and for the Rangers, that's not what the Rangers' system is asking him to do.

But on top of that, or maybe as a result, it could be that much of the confidence an NHL player needs on a game-to-game basis, as eroded for Kalinin. Just speculation here but it would make sense.

The confidence factor can't be overlooked in assessing any individual's play.

"It's always big, whether you're a forward, a defenseman, a goalie or a coach," defenseman Michal Rozsival said. "Confidence is something that's really hard to gain and easy to lose."

"It's huge," defenseman Wade Redden said of the need to play with confidence. "When you're playing with confidence, you're not thinking. You're just playing and being aggressive. When you hesitate for a split second, that's all it takes."

Redden said the way to build confidence back up is by simplifying your game, concentrating on the small areas you need to take care of. For the most part, every player instinctively knows that. The downside is, it's not something that another player can instill for you by giving you a pep talk.

"It's got to come from within," Redden said. "I don't think you want to tell a guy how to do things a certain way. It's just a mindset. You have to draw from experience. Guys go through it all the time."

(By the way, if you've read this far and noticed there are no Kalinin notes, you would be correct. While many, including me, might consider Kalinin quotes vital for this topic, I missed Kalinin in the dressing room today because I also needed to talk to Markus Naslund.)

Kalinin is currently paired with Paul Mara but has also played with Rozsival and Dan Girardi this season.

"Maybe it's moving around through partners, it's hard to say," Rangers coach Tom Renney said of Kalinin's recent play. "I can't reallly put my finger on it. Some of it is bad luck but you create bad luck, too. The bottom line for him is to keep his game simple, move the puck and quickly position himself within the dots, work off his partner well. It's the fundamentals of playing the position, quite honestly. It doesn't just come to a needlehead to Dmitri. As five skaters over the ice the last five or six games, quite honestly, we have been up and down and we have compromised each other. As long as we play a more complete game, collectively, as five people, we'll certainly give him an opportunity to climb out of that minus section and that's what we want to do."

Comments

[decarse]

He has been horrible! He gives the puck over at least once a game leading to a really good scoring chance against. What we need is a decent, physical stay at home defenseman. When they signed him in July I didn't expect him to be the answer & he hasn't been.

BTW - Paul Mara has really improved this season, glad to see someone back there not afraid to play the physical game

[Jess]

You know it is really funny to see all this talk from Renney about confidence when we are watching him destroy Pruchas and possibly damaging Potter's.

Prucha got 3 games after all the nonsense we heard from the "coach" about what Prucha is like and now Renney is acting as if we have seen the last of Prucha.

Who are we kidding about Kalinin's confidence?

There is a reason why the Sabres were not at all interested bringing him back, heck Ranger fans have 17 of them.

IF the Sabres who need every affordable player they can get wanted no part of him then shouldn't that have been a clue.

The way things are headed then we are walking the same path as those teams in 1998 and 1999 where money was spent and results did not match up to the money spent.

[Keith]

Jess-I am not going to go as far as your conclusion in the end there, but it does seem much like Andrew wrote in the beginning. Kalinin seems like a square peg in a round hole. I remember him when he played for Buffalo and he would make plays against the Rangers-he has offensive skills but in the Blueshirts system he isn't using them and I think he was a bad fit for this team. At this point I don't know what they would do but Potter may be a better option. He played well and they should give him more of an opportunity-Kalinin has not played well at all

[Keith]

It makes sense to me that some of these guys are expendable if they indeed are going to get serious with Sundin. Kalinin, Prucha (whom I want them to keep), Dawes and Fritsche maybe. Personally I don't think Sundin is the answer but we'll see what the brain trust decides.... At this point I keep reminding myself that they are in first place for now-but the Penguins and Flyers are coming..... Home Ice would be nice this year

[ntb]

Andrew,
Thanks for reporting on this. I think we can all help Renney put his finger on the problem: Kalinin is bad. Stop over-analyzing it and just bench him already.