Hey @BriBrows22, I just picked this up. Thinking I might wear it to our 1st game. Think @HLundqvist30 would approve? http://t.co/SNk94XTF—
Arron Asham (@TheRealAsham45) January 11, 2013
In the Daily News, Jeff Halpern said that Asham can have a big role on a team that likes to wear out their opponents. He described him as a “grinder with a good skill set.”
For more on Asham, CLICK HERE.
The Rangers signed Arron Asham to a two-year deal worth $2 million to help replace Brandon Prust who signed with Montreal.
On the day he signed 58% of readers said that they did not like the move to sign Asham.
His former teammate Mike Rupp told Blueshirts United that Asham plays a Rangers style of hockey “He has that no-nonsense approach, the style we like to play here. He also has a great shot and can contribute some offense, too, so I think it’s great we added him.”
On what he can add, Asham said earlier in the summer “I’m still capable of going out there and giving you a good 10 or 12 minutes and contributing offensively. I’ll fight when the team needs me to. I haven’t lost much of the fighting skills.“
Rupp admitted “I didn’t really like him at first, but once I played with him I really grew to like him and really respect the way he plays.”
Two seasons ago in Pittsburgh Arron Asham and Mike Rupp played on the same line and Rupp put up 9 goals and 8 assists in 81 games.
Last season for the Rangers, Rupp had four goals and one assist.
Rupp told Blueshirts United that he thinks playing with Asham again could get him on the score sheet more “if that’s the way the lines shake out this year, then I think we can have a fourth line that could add a little more production than we had last year.”
That season Asham had five goals and six assists.
In the offseason, the Rangers lost Brandon Prust, John Mitchell and Ruslan Fedotenko from their bottom six roles and replaced them with Arron Asham, Taylor Pyatt and Jeff Halpern.
Brian Boyle, who played consistently over the past two seasons with Prust and Fedotenko told Blueshirts United that he is excited for his new group of teammates.
On his new teammates, Boyle said “Asham is a tough player, protects his teammates,and we’re all about that here, we’re a very close group. Halpern, having gone against him on faceoffs, you know it’s a huge challenge. I watched Taylor Pyatt in the playoffs and thought he was great.”
Adam Rotter: I think that Pyatt will be on one of Boyle’s wings with the other winger still undetermined. Boyle plays the same kind of game no matter who his linemates are and he will just have to develop chemistry with them like he did with Prust and Fedotenko. Asham and Halpern are likely to be with Mike Rupp on the fourth line.
At Empty Netters, a blog on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s website, Seth Rorabaugh looks at the career of Arron Asham as a Penguin.
He writes that it was looked at as a puzzling move when the Penguins signed Asham, because they had Matt Cooke, but in the end, Asham proved to be a solid player for the Pens “Asham started as a question mark with the Penguins when he signed as a free agent. Over time, he became a surprising source of offense and ultimately served as the unquestioned enforcer who had his teammates’ back.”
He notes that unofficially Asham had a 10-1-3 record in fights as a Penguin.
On what he can bring to the Rangers, Asham said earlier in the summer, “I’m still capable of going out there and giving you a good 10 or 12 minutes and contributing offensively. I’ll fight when the team needs me to. I haven’t lost much of the fighting skills.”
Adam Rotter: Asham has the kind of reputation where you hate him if he is playing your team but you love him if he is on your team. Asham is going to have to endear himself to the fan base against his former teams in the division. When the bell rings, Asham needs to be ready against the Flyers, Penguins, Devils and Islanders. He is a fourth liner but replacing a fan-favorite in Brandon Prust, so he will have his work cut out for him.
On July 1, the Rangers signed Arron Asham as part of a plan to replace Brandon Prust.
When asked if readers liked the move to sign Asham, 58% said that they didn’t.
On what Asham can bring, he told a Pittsburgh newspaper, “I’m still capable of going out there and giving you a good 10 or 12 minutes and contributing offensively. I’ll fight when the team needs me to. I haven’t lost much of the fighting skills. “
Pro Hockey Talk wrote of Asham, “For a team looking for so-called “toughness that can play,” Asham could be a nice fit.”
Pensburgh writes of Asham, “Always one to defend a teammate, Asham is a willing scrapper and definitely a physical force to be reckoned with. He is a guy that will fight for his teammates, but he’s also capable of some Islander-level thuggery. Do we really need that on this team next year? “
On his signing with the Rangers, The Pensblog wrote, “He’ll def make the Rangers better”
Two years ago, while Asham was on the Flyers and it was written that Boston may have interest in him, I wrote “He is another guy made to play for the Flyers, a la Dan Carcillo, but he would be a good player for Boston to add. He is tough, doesn’t take anything and can get under the other teams skin.”
According to Josh Yohe, the Rangers have signed Arron Asham.
Yohe says that Asham has signed for two years and $1 million per season.
He had eight fights last season and five goals and 11 assists last season for Pittsburgh. He had 95 hits last season.
Yohe adds, “Asham really wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, but Pens didn’t make offer. Good deal for him. Has now played for every Atlantic Division team. All my favorite fourth-liners are in New York. Ash. Rupper. Time to move to New York, perhaps. Two of the best guys ever.”
Adam Rotter: Bias aside, and Asham historically has not been a player I have liked, I understand but don’t love this move. Asham is a veteran and most likely the replacement for Brandon Prust. He provides some toughness and was a teammate of Mike Rupp’s in 2010 in Pittsburgh. He has gone over the line in the past (see below), something that Prust never really did, but he is effective at what he does. It’s the cost effective option of keeping a similar kind of player to Prust in the lineup.
Asham was suspended four games in the Penguins first round series against the Flyers. One game will carryover from the suspension into next season.
Video of Asham To read more of this story, click here
