New York Rangers Conclude Training Camp With Scrimmage

New York Rangers Training Camp concluded Sunday. Day four saw Groups A and B combined to form an inter-team scrimmage at the MSG Training Center. It was an end to an exciting four days of training camp. Coaches and fans got their first look at a some much-talked about players and possible line combinations heading into pre-season.

Perhaps, the most interesting part was the opportunity to combine different players and have them play together that you would only imagine. Players such as Anthony Duclair on a line with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. Or the Team USA line with Kevin Hayes paired with Danny Kristo and Chris Kreider. These combinations would normally not occur during the regular season. The closest thing to it would be in a video game. However, it is still fun to learn about.

“The second part of our evaluation really starts tomorrow.  The first three days you go through conditioning.  You got through certain parts of your system you want to get in place, which we have done so far…Tomorrow night we’ll start to have a good read on where certain players are and where our team is.”-Alain Vigneault, blueshirtsunited.com, September 2014.

As the scrimmage concluded today, the White team came on top with a 6-4 win over the Blue team. Goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot started for both teams. Each had yielded two goals in their time on the ice. The Rangers prospective number one center this year Derek Stepan did not play in Sunday’s scrimmage. He suffered a foot injury while blocking a shot in yesterday’s practice. He was listed as day-to-day and will probably see light duty this preseason.

Four of the Rangers free agent acquisitions made a statement today by scoring a goal. Dan Boyle, Tanner Glass, Matthew Lombardi, and Chris Mueller found the back of the net during their time on the ice. Lombardi and Mueller drew high compliments from Jim Cerny of blueshirtsunited.com, who has been covereing the Rangers Training Camp all weekend. He complimented Lombardi for “…his skating, on-ice vision, and creativity.” Also, Cerny gives high praise to Mueller and describes him as being”… solid at both ends of the ice…” and should be a good candidate for a center position.

Players such as J.T. Miller, Ryan Haggerty, and Anthony Duclair all drew praise from head coach Alain Vigneault. Each showed their potential and made a strong case for a spot in the lineup this preseason.

A player to watch this pre-season is defenseman John Moore. Not only did he get a contract extension this offseason, but he showed why he wants on this team. Today, he was seen elevating his play on both ends of the rink. During the scrimmage, Moore led the rush up ice and setup Miller for a goal. On the defensive side, he played like a defenseman wanting a job and mucked it up with a couple of the youngsters. With that said, Moore meant business and wasn’t getting to get outplayed by anyone this day.

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A name which did not come up at all this training camp was Dylan Mcllrath. It is not known if he may have a injury or not, but the fact that he has not been mentioned is a little curious. At one point, he was thought to be a candidate for the Rangers defensive blue line. It is still early to make assumptions, but curious nonetheless.

For the pre-season games, Groups A and B will alternate starts each night. The Rangers will get their pre-season underway tomorrow night as they host the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. Group A, led by Lundqvist, will get the call tomorrow night. While they are playing, Group B will be at the MSG Training Facility going through drills and practices in preparation for their opportunity on Friday night.

Regular season is almost upon us. Who will be part of the team that will defend the Eastern Conference Championship? Fans should have an idea as time ticks down to October 9 against the St. Louis Blues to open up the regular season.

For now, we’ll just sit back and observe.