New York Rangers News: Traverse City Roster Released

As we get closer and closer to the Traverse City tournament, it means we are that much closer to the 2011-2012 NHL season. Earlier today the Rangers released their roster that will be competing against other prospect NHL teams.

The Traverse City tournament gives signed and un-signed Rangers prospects the chance to prove themselves. We saw it last year with Derek Stepan, who had an incredible rookie year with the Rangers. Some of the players on this roster may make a serious attempt at making the Rangers roster out of training camp come September. A few to name are Tim Erixon, Christian Thomas and J.T. Miller.

Follow after the jump for the complete roster and Rangers official press release.

RANGERS ANNOUNCE ROSTER FOR

2011 TRAVERSE CITY TOURNAMENT

The annual prospect tournament set to begin on September 10, 2011

New York, August 15, 2011 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today the roster for the 2011 Traverse City Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. The annual prospect tournament is scheduled to begin on September 10 when the Rangers’ prospects face-off against the St. Louis Blues’ prospects. This marks the sixth consecutive year that a team of Rangers prospects will be competing in the eight-team tournament.

A group of 24 prospects will represent the Rangers next month at the annual Traverse City Prospects Tournament, which the Blueshirts won in 2007. 19 of the 24 members of the 2011 roster are players whose NHL rights are currently owned by the Rangers. Ten players are Rangers draftees from the past two years, while 13 others have already signed their first NHL contracts with the team.

18 of the 24 players participated in the Rangers’ annual Prospect Development Camp earlier this summer. This includes 2011 draft picks J.T. Miller, Michael St. Croix, Shane McColgan, Samuel Noreau and Peter Ceresnak.

Forward Ryan Bourque, the Rangers’ 2009 third round selection, and goaltender Scott Stajcer, the Rangers’ 2009 fifth round choice, will be returning to the tournament for the third consecutive season. They will be joined by defensemen Lee Baldwin and Jyri Niemi, who were both members of the Rangers’ Traverse City team last summer. Five players from the 2010 draft class – forwards Christian Thomas, Andrew Yogan, Jason Wilson and Randy McNaught, and defenseman Dylan McIlrath – are also back from the 2010 team.

Competing in the tournament’s “Gretzky Division”, the Rangers will play round-robin games against St. Louis, Dallas and Carolina, beginning with a September 10 tilt against St. Louis’ prospects. Their placement in the round-robin will determine who they face in the championship round that concludes the tournament.

For the first time ever, MSG Network will telecast all four New York Rangers contests from the Traverse City Tournament. Jeep will be the title sponsor of the four telecasts on MSG Network. Below is the schedule for the telecasts. Please see the attached file for the New York Rangers roster for the 2011 Traverse City Tournament.

2011 Traverse City Prospects Tournament

Rangers Schedule

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Day	Date	Opponent	Location	Time	TV
Saturday	Sept. 10	St. Louis	Davids Rink	7 p.m.	MSG
Sunday	Sept. 11	Dallas	Davids Rink	6 p.m.	MSG
Tuesday	Sept. 13	Carolina	Huntington Rink	3:30 p.m.	MSG
Wednesday	Sept. 14	Placement Game	TBD	TBD	MSG

* - Unlinked players are no current property of the Rangers.