Rangers open camp tomorrow, no better time to get back to blogging

September 15, 2008   ·   Lenny   ·   Jump to comments

Well the offseason is officially over, as is my break from writing. It’s been a long time, but I’m back and ready for the 2008-2009 campaign.

I have to admit though, I have some mixed emotions heading into the new season. On one hand, not having Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka will open up more options for the Rangers on offense, as fans will no longer be treated to a long game of east-west hockey. The shoot more mentality should open up more scoring chances, plus there will be more opportunity for players like Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan and Petr Prucha to shine. Newcomers Nikoli Zherdev, Markus Naslund, Patrick Rissmiller, Dan Fritsche and Aaron Voros will compete for spots on the opening day roster. Players like Lauri Korpikoski and Greg Moore should also get long looks this camp as well. And don’t fall over, but even everyone’s favorite number one draft pick Hugh Jessiman isn’t a lock to start the season for the Wolfpack, and with a good training camp, could find himself on the fourth line at the big level.

On defense, Marek Malik is out, finally, as is Fedor Tyutin and Christain Backman. Sent together for Fritsche and Zherdev, Tyutin and Backman will certainly be missed more than Malik, but all three departures should be sermountable for the Rangers’ defense. Paul Mara, Michal Rozsival, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal all return for the new year. Dmitri Kalinin and Wade Redden were added via free agency and should provide a little more speed on the blueline. If Redden can return to the time where he was not only shutdown on defense, but and extraordinary powerplay quarterback and offensive machine for the Ottawa Senators, the offseason will immediately be a success. If we get the Redden of late, injury prone, a step behind and posting less than stellar numbers on offense, then we didn’t solve anything.

Also in the loop, possibly, is Brendan Shanahan. The ever-spirited winger is practicing with the team and if he’s on the ice tomorrow, he’ll have some kind of agreement worked out with the Rangers. Whether it be a contract or the same deal as what the Blueshirts are doing with Petr Nedved and give him a tryout with the club out of respect, will be seen tomorrow.

One good thing coming out of this offseason is that we have official moved into the Scott Gomez and Chris Drury era on Broadway. Gomez looks as though he could start on the first line, with Drury on the second. Brandon Dubinsky was great with Jagr, but he is much better suited for third line duties right now.

So, before the first practice of the new season, here are my line predictions for Opening Day:

Zherdev – Gomez – Dawes

Naslund – Drury – Prucha

Shanahan – Dubinsky – Callahan

Rissmiller – Betts – Sjostrom

Bench: Voros, Orr, Fritsche

Defense:

Roszival – Girardi

Staal – Redden

Mara – Kalinin

Lundqvist and Valiquette

Notice how there are no extra defensemen, which bothers me a little. But Corey Potter and Michael Sauer will be call-ups if injury strikes or lackluster play occurs. Things will certainly be less interesting with Sean Avery and Ryan Hollweg gone, but Voros and Rissmiller should provide physical play. Korpikoski and Moore will likely be on the move back and forth from Hartford to New York should the same things happen on offense.

The roster’s different, the style of play will be different, so hopefully the result will be different. A solid playoff push would make New York fans extremely happy. I’ll check in during the week to keep everyone up to date on the latest news. Let’s hope it doesn’t include a Mats Sundin signing.