It is safe to say that Michael Grabner has had a tough couple of years. During this season he has battled numerous injuries, not least of which was a sports hernia (makes me wonder if there is a business version of a hernia for us regular folks). After scoring 34 goals and nearly winning the Calder trophy a couple of years ago, Grabner has not been able to put up anywhere near the same numbers as in his rookie campaign.
Last year when we were in New York to catch a couple of Islanders games I purchased three bobble heads: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and of course Michael Grabner. When I got home from the trip, Tavares and Okposo were fine, but Grabner had a rough go of it. Both of his legs were chopped off at the knees. It was almost as if they were surgically removed at the very same spot. It was ironic in the fact that he makes his living with his legs as arguably the fastest skater in the league. As the season wore on Grabner ended up getting hurt and missed the rest of the season. This year has been more of the same.
Michael Grabner is one of those players that is hard to find. A tremendously gifted skater that can change a game with his speed, an aggressive and effective penalty killer, a forward that is responsible in his own end, and a player with the potential to be a prolific goal scorer. It is the latter that frustrates coaches and fans alike. He has the ability to put up 30+ goals in a season, but his health always gets in the way. That being said, there probably is some thought to move him at some point, but that would be a huge mistake. Once he gets healthy and gets in a groove he will relive his rookie form.
For the past year "Legless Michael Grabner" has remained alongside Tavares and Okposo, however he did not have a very good vantage point of the game lying on his backside. That is why I thought it was time to fix the situation. Drastic times call for drastic measures. I had Kellie perform some emergency surgery to get Michael Grabner back on his feet. If he pulls through, then the next step is to put him back on his bobble head stand.
Maybe this is what the real Michael Grabner needs to get back on his own feet and show what a force he can be. If the Islanders are going to go on a long playoff run, Grabner will be an important piece to the puzzle. He creates offense out of nothing. Some might be critical that he does not finish off enough breakaways by putting the puck behind the goaltender. However, I would argue that the opportunities he gets are a sheer bonus; opportunities to score that the mere mortal players will never get. He has yet to put it all together, but perhaps that is right around the corner.
They say in the NBA that you cannot teach height, well in the NHL you cannot teach speed. You either have it or you don't. I guess that would make Michael Grabner the Gheorghe Muresan of the NHL. Muresan was a 7 feet 7 inch tall NBA player and could alter shots simply by standing still in front of the basket and stretching his arms towards the sky. Similarly, Grabner can alter games with just a few strides on the ice to create breakaways out thin air.
Both Michael and Gheroghe had or have the ability to change how teams approach the game. Muresan probably could never have beaten Grabner in a race, but I would not have doubted that Grabner would have beaten big Gheroghe in a three point shooting contest. That is reason enough to not give up on Michael Grabner.
The symbolic task of getting the Michael Grabner bobble head back on his feat hopefully will spur on the real life hockey player to start both wrecking havoc again on the ice and putting more biscuits in the basket. If that happens, Islanders nation will be very happy. No need to thank me, Islanders Nation can just thank Kellie. After all, she performed the emergency surgery free of charge. All it took was some tender loving care, a little bit of time, and a little bit of Locktite Super Glue in-between the knees.
Michael Grabner is whole and a force once again. Let Islanders Nation rejoice!
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