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---I have a suggestion. This guy really does skate, and he's Canadian most of the time.
Getting these scrimmage-by-scrimmage reports from Westchester is great. It gives us all a chance to interject some valuable input to the team building.
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The Maven debunks the idea that a team can have two captains. He called the league office and was told that a team can have only one "C". The Maven voted and said:Gomez-Drury; Drury-Gomez. Either way, it's a healthy slate in an election year. My vote is for Scotty, but my gut feeling is that when the ballots are in, Chris will take the oath of office, with Gomer supplying the punch lines! And from that point on, it won't be a laughing matter.
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Another serving of that Winger Kiev please.The Rangers Report Poll (see below) certainly makes it clear what Rangers fans are interested in following at training camp: Nikolai Zherdev.
Forget Redden, or if the powerplay clicks, or the Shanny inaction. The big story is: will our new mercurial Ukrainian winger settle down and become a great player? I mistakenly labeled him as a Russian the other day. My bad. Let's make it clear, before anyone loses a body part, that Ukrainians aren't the same as Russians.
So a "Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev" line could be called the new "S-A-K Exchange." "S-A-K" standing for Sweden - America (or Alaska) - Kiev, Ukraine. That's if you use the birthplaces of the three players. Maybe a bit of a stretch? Too early to get excited? But it still sounds good.
Hey, it's just training camp, time to work out the moves and the grooves. Let's get a few shifts under our belt before anyone gets sent down to Hartford.
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Which Ranger are you most interested in hearing about this training camp?- Forward Nikolai Zherdev on coming to New York -- 398 -- 45% of all votes
- Prospects and their chances of making the team -- 185 -- 21% of all votes
- Returning Rangers reacting to changes to the team -- 117 -- 13% of all votes
- Forward Markus Naslund on coming to New York -- 52 -- 6% of all votes
- Just Exactly Why Sather insists on showing no class by letting Shanny and his Rangers loyalty hang in the wind while dreaming swedish -- 42 -- 5% of all votes
- How well the powerplay clicks. -- 34 -- 4% of all votes
- Defenseman Wade Redden on coming to New York -- 33 -- 4% of all votes
- How Sather used up all his cap space and now gives out clauses in every contract --22 -- 2% of all votes
- Who is the final defense man -- 2 - 0% of all votes
Total Votes: 885
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And the beat writers are obliging on that order for more Winger Kiev.However, Larry Brooks at the NY Post says this morning that the Winger Kiev is a slow cooker.
Rangers' Zherdev Off to Slow Start --
Nikolai Zherdev was the standout at yesterday's hyper-competitive second day of training camp, and no, that is not good news for the Rangers.update, but Sam Weinman at the Rangers Report comes in to quickly defend Zherdev. The Winger Kiev might just be under cooked:
The fact is that the presumptive first-line right wing the Blueshirts acquired this summer from Columbus to fill the slot vacated by Jaromir Jagr stood out for every wrong reason...
Zherdev displayed no urgency whatsoever...
Regarding Nikolai Zherdev and [Brooks] reports of his lackluster performance thus far, I, too, noted the giveaway yesterday that led to an opposing team goal. For the most part, though, I think Zherdev comes as advertised: an immensely talented forward prone to occasionally trying to do too much (see Kovalev, Alex for more). When Tom Renney was asked about Zherdev’s play, he acknowledged there have been some miscues, but he also said a player like that needs latitude to make plays...And Jess Rubenstein at Prospect Park agreed about being under cooked:
When it comes to Zherdev, I sound like a broken record because I repeatedly find myself having to defend him from those who I do not believe really know him. In a nutshell Nickolai Zherdev is a player who to this day have never been properly developed and is almost as raw and green talent wise as the when he first arrived 4 years ago in Columbus...Andrew Gross at The Record reported:
Rangers' first skate: All eyes on Gomez-Naslund-Zherdev --
Zherdev scored a goal as his Blue squad lost to the White, 4-3, in the team’s first intrasquad scrimmage. He also missed one shift after a cut opened on his lip after being hit by left wing Dane Byers’ shoulder.The Blue Line:
The goal showed the 23-year-old Ukrainian’s strong, yet so far inconsistent, offensive skills.
“He definitely has exceptional skill,” Naslund said. “He’s a game-breaker. He can make those plays and moves not a lot of guys can. I think he’s got a lot of upside.”
Gomez-Naslund-Zherdev looking to create top-line chemistry --
the amount of print dedicated to Zherdev today is an indicator that he will be the focus of a bunch of attention throughout the preseason...
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The early training camp reports and action raises the specter of injury. Can a relatively lightweight, fast Rangers lineup go through the entire season without being decimated by injuries? That has to be a concern. The NHL has gotten bigger as well as faster. Do you think that means fewer injuries?Remember the record when Avery was out of the lineup last year. Would anyone disagree that Lundqvist is our Tom Brady? Perhaps he is even more valuable to the Rangers than Brady was to the Pats. Lundqvist got dinged up last year too.
So one key player goes down and this Renney Rangers machine could grind to a sputter. It's the reality of team sports. The nightmare scenario is one big hit away. But let's put those bad thoughts away for now and enjoy the anticipation as a gaggle of beat writers keep us posted on ever burp and bump at training camp.
ICINGS:
So the inmates rallied today to get a victory for Jaromir Jagr's Avangard Omsk team and make a statement. This as the Calgary Flames reported that the new head coach of Avangard Omsk will be their former assistant coach, Wayne Fleming.
NYR prospect to watch: Dale Weise
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