Colton Orr for AM New York, later picked up by Newsday

(Writer's note: I wrote this for AM New York, and Newsday picked it up and ran it on their site. I have included Newsday's URL to this entry. --Denis Gorman)

Rangers' Orr brings grit

By Denis Gorman

Special to amNewYork

February 13, 2007

The fourth-line forward was smiling as sweat dripped from his brow.

Why wouldn't he smile? He earlier scored a goal, the first of his career. He also fought twice, both times drawing cheers from the Madison Square Garden crowd. And for the first time since he was acquired off waivers last November, he was surrounded by reporters asking him positive questions instead of ones about his perceived shortcomings.

For one night, it was good to be Colton Orr.

Through most of the season, the Rangers right-winger from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been a whipping boy. Fans and media have criticized the 27-year-old for not protecting Jaromir Jagr from those who would take liberties with the Czech superstar. His lack of production was also fodder for those who are paid to critique and those who aren't.

Prior to Friday night's goal 4:28 into the first period of the Rangers' 5-0 rout of Tampa Bay, Orr hadn't scored a point since last March, against the Islanders.

Skating with Blair Betts and Ryan Hollweg -- who scored his first goal of the season midway through the second period -- left wing Orr crushed Lightning center Blair Jones with a thunderous check. Orr then came off the half boards, received a pass from defenseman Fedor Tyutin and wristed a shot past Johan Holmqvist.

Orr finished the night with the goal, a fight, a game misconduct, three hits and 15 penalty minutes. In all, it was a good night for the young forward, who was named the second star of the night and did a victory lap around the Garden ice."It was just a good start to the game. We had a good forecheck going and Toots [Tyutin] made a great pass, and I was able to get it on net and go in," Orr said. "It was amazing. We've got a great group of fans here, and it was great to be able to do that."

But as good as the evening was for Orr, it might have been a better one for the Rangers organization. With the recent addition of Sean Avery, the Rangers can now boast gritty forwards who play a north-south game on every line, linemates with the franchise's skilled players. Friday night, the Rangers skated Avery with future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan and center Michael Nylander on the second line, and iced a third line of Petr Prucha, Matt Cullen and Jed Ortmeyer.

Avery is an example of skilled grit. In his first game as a Ranger, last Tuesday against the Devils, actress Elisha Cuthbert's significant other spent the night screening Martin Brodeur and generally being a pest. He assisted on Karel Rachunek's first-period power-play goal before the Rangers fell 3-2 in a shootout.Friday night, Avery ripped a wrist shot past Holmqvist that increased the Rangers' lead to 4-0 and forced Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella to replace the Swedish goaltender with Marc Denis.Late in the third, while on the bench, Avery threw two jabs at Lightnings enforcer Andre Roy, who had paired off with Orr for the second time. Was Avery taking a cheap shot or was he standing up for a teammate?

"You have to be team tough, and these guys certainly are doing that, that's for sure," said Avery. "Any time I can get a little jab in on a guy like that, I'm definitely going to try and do it."

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/am-orr0213,0,7254404.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines