Training Camp – Day 2
The buzz around this year’s training camp is that things are a little different this year. The roster is just two thirds the size of last year’s total of eighty, and the consensus is that camp under Glen Sather is more about work and skills and less about meaningless scrimmages. That’s not to say that the lines didn’t match up today, but it was clear that this was about hard work with the players working on skating, defense, breakouts and simple repetition that had many hanging their heads, sucking deep breaths as the whistle went to end the session.
Eric Lindros sported a new, sleeker look and it appears that he has already put last year’s disappointing season behind him and is enjoying once again playing with Martin Rucinsky on his wing. The Rangers #1 center was amongst the hardest skaters today and looked particularly comfortable feeding the puck to his wingers as he broke into the offensive zone. Greg de Vries is another who worked hard in today’s camp, outshining his defensive partner Tom Poti by working hard and carrying the puck on a couple of occasions. There were however still a handful of Rangers that have yet to break out of their summer vacation and these included Alexei Kovalev, Tom Poti and Chris Simon, all of whom looked as if their timing was off and their minds perhaps not fully focused on playing yet. The good news is that it’s early and there’s still plenty of time to get into the groove.