Rangers Open Pre-Season Against Bruins

The New York Rangers will be hosting the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden tonight at 7pm for the 2009 pre-season opener. I know fans, including myself, have been anxiously awaiting this day, when we would no longer be deprived of Rangers hockey, after, what seemed to be, a very long summer. Training Camp opened up on Saturday for the Rangers, and since then, head coach John Tortorella has worked these players to their limits, and has this Ranger team in the greatest shape going into the pre-season than we have seen in quite a while.

Tortorella had a numerous amount of new faces to work with during the last couple of days, when comparing the team roster to last year, and to my surprise, we will see a majority of those new faces in the lineup tonight, along with the organization's top prospects. Here is tonight's projected lineup based on this morning's practice, courtesy of Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants:

Christopher Higgins-Chris Drury-Ales Kotalik
Evgeny Grachev-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-P.A. Parenteau
Dane Byers-Matt Maccarone-Enver Lisin

Marc Staal-Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Alexei Semenov-Mike Sauer

Steve Valiquette
Matt Zaba

Among the new faces hitting Broadway in a Ranger Sweater for the first time in their NHL career's are Donald Brashear, Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Brian Boyle, and Enver Lisin. I am especially excited to see Chris Higgins, who was acquired in the trade that sent Gomez to Montreal, and Ales Kotalik, signed as a free-agent in late July, play on this team. Higgins is a perfect fit for John Tortorella's offensive system, as he is great on the forecheck and in the corners, will crash the net, and has natural offensive talent.

Also on the first line is newly acquired winger, Ales Kotalik. Kotalik played with current Ranger Chris Drury back in his Buffalo years, and the two developed great chemistry together, hence the reason why they will be paired together on the same line. Also look for Kotalik to play on the point on the powerplay, as he has a cannon of a slapshot.

On the second line, which is very young, we have two of the best Blueshirt prospects in Anisimov and Grachev, along with Ryan Callahan, who had his breakout season with the Rangers in 08-09. In case you do not know, Evgeny Grachev is probably the most offensively gifted prospect that the Rangers have in their possession, so he is definitely worth keeping an eye on, as is Artem Anisimov. Anisimov, well known as AA, is pretty much a lock for third line center this season with the Rangers, but for tonight, he will get the second line gig, with Ryan and Evgeny.

The third line is probably the Rangers most intimidating line, with newly acquired enforcer, Donald Brashear on one wing, prospect P.A. Parenteau on the other, with the 6 foot 7 Brian Boyle in the middle. Look for this line to use their size and strength on the ice tonight to create chances, and work hard in the corners, something that Brashear has done very well in camp thus far.

On the fourth line, camp invite Matt Maccarone (also 6-7), will be centering the 6 foot 2 Dane Byers, and will have speedy Enver Lisin to the right of him on the wing. Lisin, brought to NY in a trade that saw Lauri Korpikoski going to PHX, is undoubtedly one of the fastest skaters in the league, and has great offensive prowess, but seems to lack on the defensive side of the puck, so that is something to look for.

On defense, we have the Rangers top defenseman Marc Staal paired with recently signed prospect Matt Gilroy, former Hobey Baker award winner in the NCAA. Gilroy has a decent shot at cracking the Blueshirt defense this season, so I expect big things from him, especially playing with Marc Staal. Look for both Staal and Gilroy to join the offense quite often in this game.

Another great defensive weapon that the Rangers hold is Mike Del Zotto, first round draft pick in 2008. Del Zotto has had an impressive camp, and will also be looking to make the defensive cut this season. DZ will be paired with returning Ranger Dan Girardi, who was one of the best stay at home blueliners last season in New York.

On the third pairing, veteran defensemen Alexei Semenov will be paired with prospect defenseman Mike Sauer. Semenov is with the Rangers on a try-out basis and will look to impress Glen Sather and John Tortorella in tonight’s contest. Mike Sauer, if you recall, played up with the Rangers last season for a few games, and proved to be sound defensively.

In net, Henrik Lundqvist's usual back-up, Steve Valiquette will play in the starting role tonight, most likely splitting time with Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba. We all know what to expect from Valiquette, as he seems to be solid in net when called upon, and Matt Zaba has been practicing with the Ranger team for about a month now, so I will expect to see improvent from him, when comparing his performance to last pre-season when he played up.

So that is basically tonight's lineup for the Blueshirts in a nut shell, specifically focusing on the new faces in Blue. Here is the Bruins roster for tonight's game, courtesy of bruins.nhl.com:

Forwards: Jamie Arniel, Byron Bitz, Chuck Kobasew, Mikko Lehtonen, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Max Sauve, Vladimir Sobotka, Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler, Trent Whitfield

Defensemen: Andrew Bodnarchuck, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Matt Hunwick, Adam McQuaid, Jeff Penner.

Goalies: Tuukka Rask, Dany Sabourin

Players of note for the Bruins are Zdeno Chara, Chuck Kobasew, Milan Lucic, Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler, Mann Hunwick, and goaltender Tuukka Rask. All who have NHL experience, and are a threat on the ice. Rask shut-out the Rangers in a regular season game last year, 1-0, which was quite embarrassing from a Ranger standpoint.

The Pre-season is more about trying to work with your lineup and get the most out of them, than it is about winning. It is critical for coaches to focus in on prospects that have a great chance at making the team this year, and the Rangers have quite a few of those playing tonight.

I don't really expect a high scoring affair tonight, but more of a hard working, back and forth contest between the two teams at MSG.

At the game's conclusion, I will be posting up postgame analysis, so be sure to check that out within an hour after the game. Oh, and one more thing, I am proud to announce that Rangers Hockey is Back, ladies and gentlemen!
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)