Day: September 18, 2010

It’s early days at the Rangers training camp, and what have we learned so far? The answer undoubtedly is not much. Aside from a number of reports from the various observers on how keen various players are on making the line-up, there’s very little of substance we have to go on.

With that said, there are a couple of nuggets here and there. Perhaps the most exciting for Ranger fans, is that it looks like John Tortorella and the Rangers hierarchy have been impressed with rookie Derek Stepan, who was second in scoring in the NCAA last season, and lead the Rangers at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.

Tomorrow they drop the puck for the first time in training camp, and it looks like rookie Derek Stepan will get the first chance to skate between Marian Gaborik and Alexander Frolov.

While Stepan has obviously caught some eyes early on, the subject of our Ranger Countdown profile – Sam Klassen – will have to work much harder to make and impression.

Day two of training camp started this morning at 8:00am for the Rangers, with more conditioning exercises expected. They won’t get to use pucks until tomorrow when the first scrimmages are expected to occur.

One player who will be no doubt eager to get on with the show is late season signing Tim Kennedy, the subject of today’s Ranger Countdown.

We’re over half way through the Ranger Countdown, and we’ve covered a number of veterans, as well as a good deal of the prospects under contract. The first preseason game is now just five days away and coach Tortorella will likely look to make some roster moves before then.

Tomas Kundratek, the subject of this Ranger Countdown profile, will be hoping that he can at least make the first cut and get a shot at some preseason action.