Daily News from New York, New York • 54

54 Thursday, December 10, 2015 DAILY NEWS NYDailyNews.com LIKE FIRE AND ICE Viggy, Derick run hot cold Brassard must "lead the ship," and he delivered with two goals in Monday night's 4-1 home win over the Ottawa Senators. He had three goals and five points in his last four games entering Wednesday's match. Lately if opponents shut Brassard's line down, they shut down the Rangers, so Monday was Vigneault's first game experimenting with Kevin Hayes on the left wing of Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. That got Rick Nash on a new line with Chris Kre-ider and rookie Oscar Lindberg. No matter how this week plays out, Brassard was bound to enjoy Western Canada more than he did last year's trip.

That was cut short after one game when he was sent home with mumps and missed a week. Expectations remain high for Brassard, though, no matter how he played in his last game. And that doesn't just go for him, but for the whole team. "You've got to improve," Vigneault said of his Rangers. "The teams that improve are the ones that are gonna get in (the playoffs)." fairly regularly, probably because Brassard is such a crucial part of this Rangers team: Brassard performs to his first-round draft pick potential, but then eventually slides and is met by the hard stare or harsh words of Vigneault, who picks his spots on when to light a fire under his center.

In Game 6 of last spring's Eastern Conference finals, for example, Brassard lit up the Tampa Bay Lightning for five points in a 7-3 win to force a Game 7. But the next morning she showed up a few minutes late for a media availability at the team hotel, and Vigneault quipped: "Guy gets one good game and he's late." Then early this season, Vigneault chewed out Brassard at a practice in Chicago and challenged him and his linemates to "compete harder." A stern Brassard in the locker said in so many words: We're winning, and it's early. So their relationship brings them to moments of tension sometimes, but always in the best interest of the team. Vigneault said after center Derek Stepan (broken ribs, out until after Christmas) went down that BY PAT LEONARD NEW YORK DAILY NEWS VANCOUVER Derick Brassard said Tuesday that Alain Vigneault's most notable quality as a coach is the level of his "expectations for the players and the team." Brassard would know, because if Vigneault is constantly monitoring and motivating anybody, his focus often seems trained on the highly-skilled French Canadian center. "He has expectations for me.

He wants me to play to my full potential," Brassard said Tuesday at Rogers Arena as he prepared for Wednesday night's game against the Canucks. "And he does it for everyone in the room." Vigneault and Brassard seem to have a unique relationship, and seem to understand each other. Perhaps it's because they can communicate in both English and French, or maybe it's because Brassard hails from Hull, Quebec, where Vigneault has lived a large portion of his life. The theme of their interactions is consistent, though, and it happens Alain Vigneault often points his finger in direction of fellow French Canadian Derick Brassard, corey sipkinnews 1 You can also e-mail your entry by submitting the required information to 2016registrationnydailynews.com DAELYNEWS 89 ANNUAL FEMALE Weight Divisions 106 lb. 112 lb.

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