Year-End Grades: Prokop and Rankin

Neal Prokop: A

Am I inflating Neal's grade because he's my favorite? Maybe. I know I'm including in his grade the off-ice work he did to come back to the team. What an inspirational story, eh? Broken femur last spring. Projected to be a year before he could even have full-contact. And yet he worked his ass off all summer and fall to come back earlier than anyone could have thought. That shows immense determination and passion for the game. It also shows the type of leadership Neal has provided for this team.

Prokes was just getting into his groove when a deep thigh bruise caused a big setback. The team never revealed much about why he was out so long, but I know it had something to do with the scar tissue from the broken femur that made the bruise take so long to heal. During that time a guy that sits by me said that Prokop was a waste of a 20-year-old spot. To which I replied he was a waste of a fan spot. Sure, Bob took a gamble at the deadline. But there's no way Bob or anyone could have predicted a thigh bruise that wouldn't heal. A lot of teams are one injury away from losing one of their top guys so to say keeping Neal was a waste is just silly.

Neal ended up only playing 17 regular season games (11 points) and 10 playoff games (2 points). But even with limited games he provided tremendous leadership to the guys and that can be just as important as scoring goals.

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Connor Rankin: A

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. What a stud. On the opposite end of the age spectrum from Neal Prokop we have Connor Rankin. Barely 16-years-old, he's had a huge impact. Statistically, he played 70 games and accumulated 19 goals, 25 assists. As a sixteen year old. Holy crap. He skates well and has good vision on the ice. He's been shuffled onto various lines and found the most success with Holland and Feser.

Rankin is, like all of the boys, nice as can be and it's so funny to chat with him. He's very poised and mature. At the same time it's like he doesn't realize what a big deal he is. Maybe he's just modest or maybe he's just a kid who hasn't quite grasped how good he is a a young player in this league. All I know is he's going to be tremendously fun to watch over the next couple years. A whole lot of fun.