Rangers Training Camp: Late Morning Notes
From Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants: (click link for full story)
Team 4 (Fs: Ryan Bourque, Artem Anisimov, Ales Kotalik, Daniel Bartek, Roman Horak, Jordan Owens, Justin Soryal, Ethan Werek; Ds: Michael Del Zotto, Dan Girardi, David Urquhart, Mike Sauer; and Gs Matt Zaba, Scott Stajcer) has just defeated Team 1 (Fs: Christopher Higgins, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Dane Byers, Patrick Rissmiller, Dale Weise, Aaron Voros, Matt Maccarone; Ds: Marc Staal, Matt Gilroy, Trevor Glass, Bobby Sanguinetti; and G Henrik Lundqvist), 3-2.
Matt Maccarone, a 25-year-old center, who came to prospects camps this summer as a tryout after playing last season for the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL, scored twice in the first period. Maccarone likely is playing his way onto the Hartford (AHL) roster and, befitting his 6-foot-7, 232-pound mature frame, he can play a physical game. At one point, he rode Werek hard into the backboards.
Meanwhile, Matt Gilroy continues to show some explosive skating ability and a hard shot. He rang one off the crossbar from the left past Matt Zaba in the first period and, in the second, went strong to the net only to be stopped by Scott Stajcer. The fifth-round pick, who did not participate in yesterday's session due to hip soreness, did not allow a goal in the second period after replacing Zaba.
Girardi had to skate gingerly out of his zone in the second period after Drury left a drop pass for Rissmiller, who slapped a shot from the left that struck Girardi in the skate.
From Jim Cerny on Twitter:
Standouts of first scrimmage: Gilroy, Del Zotto, Maccarone, and I liked the work of Rissmiller
Also, Jim has an article on the relationship between Chris Drury and John Tortorella: (click link for full story)
Highlights:
There is a commonly used phrase when someone joins something that is already under way and wishes to get up to speed as quickly as possible. It is called "hitting the ground running".
When John Tortorella was named head coach of the Rangers last Feb. 23, he not only hit the ground running, he was in a full-fledged sprint to make sure the Rangers reached the playoffs.
However, with so much to do, so much to accomplish, and so much to learn in such a short period of time, Tortorella did not have a real chance to forge relationships with his players. And just as importantly, they did not have the opportunity to really figure him out either.
So when the off-season arrived, Tortorella knew it was important for him to reach out to key players on the roster and begin fostering deeper relationships. He began by contacting team captain Chris Drury on a regular basis this summer.
We will talk to Jim about this and more tonight on Blueshirt Banter Radio at 7 PM