Some Thoughts on Rangers Pre-Camp

As we know, the Rangers have been holding informal "pre-camp" sessions everyday since Monday, and the turnout has been quite large. Monday's group included Marc Staal, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Dan Girardi, Bobby Sanguinetti, Matt Gilroy, Corey Potter, Michael Del Zotto, Ilkka Heikkinen, Marian Gaborik, Chris Higgins, Donald Brashear, Ryan Callahan, Evgeny Grachev, Pat Rissmiller, Brodie Dupont, Andres Ambuhl, Brian Boyle, Enver Lisin, Jordan Owens, Dane Byers, and Wolfpack Goalie, Matt Zaba.

Some additions as of yesterday were Chris Drury, Steve Valiquette, and Sean Avery. According to Zipay, Kotalik will be joining the squad today, Prospal is on his way as well, and Lundqvist will make his appearance later in the week.

Obviously John Tortorella's letter that was sent to the players addressing his expectations put a bit of a scare into these guys, as what they have been holding throughout the last few days is not something we have heard about or seen in the past. Usually you hear about two or three players at the training facility early just working out, but this year they have pretty much the entire squad taking part in two hour practices and scrimmages more than a week before the beginning of training camp, which is pretty remarkable.

I, personally, feel like this is a great experience for the new guys coming onto the team this season. Last year, if you recall, the Rangers took the overseas road trip to Bern, Switzerland, and after, all of the players said that it was a great opportunity to get closer with each other and to get to know the new acquisitions. Well, it is a similar scenario with what the players have organized this year. It seems like a lot of planning and phone calls have went into organizing these pre-camp sessions, as the players really want to get to know one another before Tortorella's camp even begins.

This actually is more important than many think. Usually players are only introducing each other at training camp, while taking orders from the coach. This year, the players are electing to come early, working together to run these practices/scrimmages, and are really getting a feel for how some of the new guys play, and that has huge meaning going into camp. Players, I am sure, are developing chemistry before even seeing John Tortorella's face in person.

Now I know that Chris Drury is the one who is probably behind this whole thing. Something like this has Dru's name written all over it, and that tells me that he is ready to succeed more than ever, especially after his let-down season in 08-09. Also, John Tortorella must love what he is hearing, because he is all about dedication, and physical fitness, and by attending these sessions, the players are showing that both have meaning to them.

Stay tuned as I will continue to post the news from pre-camp as it comes in...