New York Rangers hockey is back, but not for real
By Steve Paulus
The NHL is doing everything it can to revive interest in hockey. The latest will be a tournament using EA Sports’ NHL video game and will pit players from each team in a round robin. The New York Rangers will be represented by Chris Kreider.
A videogame hockey tournament seems like a reach, but the NHL is going all out to make this a success. All 31 existing teams will participate and the newest franchise in Seattle will be represented as well. Fans of the New York Rangers can only hope that Chris Kreider is as good a videogame hockey player as he is on the ice as he is the team’s representative.
The NHL announced the details of the tournament on Thursday on the league website as well as on social media.
The NHL is partnering with ESL Gaming, the world’s largest organizer of esports programming. It will be a four week tournament with games televised live on the NHL Network, some on NBC Sports Network and streamed live on various social media platforms.
The final schedule and format is still to be determined, but it appears that featured games will be played on Thursday and Saturdays beginning on April 30. Los Angeles Kings broadcaster Alex Faust will be the host of the series, part of the NHL’s #HockeyatHome efforts.
The NHL will announce the match-ups, storylines, and television and streaming schedule at the beginning of each week. The league did announce that the first two marquee games will be Calgary vs. Ottawa and Columbus vs. Winnipeg starting on Thursday, April 30.
The players
There’s no explanation of how the players were picked to represent their teams and there is no word about Chris Kreider’s egaming ability. You can be sure that there will be a fair amount of trash talking and it is all for a good cause as the NHL and EA Sports will donate $100k to the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts.
Here are the players who will be participating:
Metropolitan Division
New York Rangers: Chris Kreider
Carolina Hurricanes: Warren Foegele
Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins, Zach Werenski
New Jersey Devils: Mackenzie Blackwood
New York Islanders: Matt Martin
Philadelphia Flyers: James van Riemsdyk
Pittsburgh Penguins: Zach Aston-Reese, Bryan Rust
Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins: Jake DeBrusk, Charlie McAvoy
Buffalo Sabres: Brandon Montour
Detroit Redwings: Madison Bowey, Anthony Mantha
Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau
Montreal Canadiens: Victor Mete, Nick Suzuki
Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk, Chris Tierney
Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson
Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Hyman
Central Division (Arizona joins Central Division after expansion)
Arizona Coyotes: Conor Garland, Clayton Keller
Chicago Blackhawks: Drake Caggiula, Alex DeBrincat
Colorado Avalanche: J.T. Compher
Dallas Stars: Stephen Johns, Jamie Oleksiak
Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Greenway
Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg
St Louis Blues: Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas
Winnipeg Jets: Anthony Bitetto, Kyle Connor
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler
Calgary Flames: Noah Hanifin, Matthew Tkachuk
Edmonton Oilers: Caleb Jones, Darnell Nurse
Los Angeles Kings: Michael Amadio, Blake Lizotte
NHL Seattle: Luke Willson, Seattle Seahawks (NFL)|
San Jose Sharks: Evander Kane, Marcus Sorensen
Vancouver Canucks: Thatcher Demko, Adam Gaudette
Vegas Golden Knights: Ryan Reaves, Alex Tuch
So, keep watching for more information about the games. Blue Line Station will try to stay on top of the Rangers’ participation in the tournament. If you are as hungry for hockey as most Rangers fans, this may help fill a void. Let’s go Virtual Rangers!