Day Three Scrimmages
September 14, 2009 | Posted by Leslie Treff This is the “final” day of three-day Rangers training camp, according to the schedule. There will be a practice tomorrow before the game against Boston tomorrow night, but decisions should be made later in the day as to who will play tomorrow.
Team 1 (blue) played against team 4 (red) in this morning’s scrimmage, which contained two 25-minute periods. The final score was an unexpected “3-2″ (with the blue winning), however, it does seem that blue was spotted a goal, because no one rinkside saw the team’s first goal. Both red goals were netted by tryout Matt Maccarone, a 25-year old, who is 6′7″ tall and most recently played in the Central Hockey League, after an unremarkable CIS career at Wilfred Laurier. A funny guy, with a big mustache, who first made an appearance during development camp in July, Maccarone may just have some talent. Not sure he’ll get a contract with the Rangers or Hartford, but he deserves a longer look after today’s scrimmage.
Although more prospects played on the blue side than the red, it was an even match, as the real score 2-2 indicated. Henrik Lundqvist played for the red, and Matt Zaba and Scott Stajcer shared the duties (one period each) between the pipes for the blue.
Matt Gilroy had an interesting 50 minutes. He can really rush up the ice, but clearly defense is his weakness. He looked more like a forward than a blueliner, and his communication with his defense partner, Marc Staal, was iffy at best. Bobby Sanguinetti looked to still be recovering from yesterday’s skate, and unfortunately, Trevor Glass, who had such an impressive Traverse City rookie tournament, was overmatched at this level this morning.
Michael Del Zotto and Justin Soryal got the blue team’s goals, and both looked quite good. In fact, Del Zotto has looked better and better over the last week, getting more confident with each appearance. The team’s top line of Ryan Bourque, Artem Anisimov and Ales Kotalik did not seem work though. All three of the line members had a difficult game, and despite the mixing up of the lines during the scrimmage, none of the three ever really shone.
Two players did stand out. First was Ethan Werek, who was excellent in the offensive zone, particularly around the net. Time after time, he took the body and created chances. He is very good at centering passes to the front of the net, even as he is falling to the ice.
Also worthy of mention was the play of Daniel Bartek. He was once again on a line with Roman Horak, and, in this scrimmage, it was Bartek rather than Horak that really shined. He has good speed, and can handle the puck well. He is also good along the boards. Toward the end of the game, Bartek seemed to tire a bit, but in all, a very good showing for him.
Finally, Scott Stajcer was not scored upon, even with the top line of Chris Higgins, Chris Drury, and Ryan Callahan coming at him. Stajcer was a wall, and it was a pleasure to see.
The second scrimmage ended in a 1-1 tie, with Sean Avery stealing the show. He did not score any goals, but his skating, passing, positioning and vision were far superior to any other skater on the ice. The actual goals were scored by Paul Crowder (white team), who except for scoring the goal had a tough time keeping up with the play, and on a penalty shot of Evgeny Grachev (green team), awarded when he was taken down in front of the net.
As for afternoon standouts in addition to Avery, Enver Lisin was very strong on the puck and skated well during this scrimmage. He was a pleasure to watch skating up the ice and weaving between opposing players, but was unable to finish.
Nigel Williams was very aggressive in his hits and strong on his skates, but he had positional issues at times. It did not help that he was paired with Tomas Kundratek, who did not have a good scrimmage. Kundratek’s bad day was topped off by being hit in the face with a puck, which required repairs from which he did not return.
Chad Johnson and Miika Wiikman shared the net for green, and both were excellent. Steve Valiquette was between the pipes for white and was his usual steady self.
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7 Comments »
Leslie please list those who from their play/physical condition are not yet ready for NHL(you can include vets that look like crap so far)
BTW I love this blog. Easy to post, you provide very detailed reports, keep it up.
Also why do you think Luke Walker did no make the camp? Does he lack speed or what?
While I understand your desire to have a quick answer to who is NHL-ready and who isn’t, things are not so black and white. And frankly, without seeing the players in preseason games, it would be unfair to make such a list. Actual game situations are so important and some players just don’t show well until then (especially the vets). If you keep reading over the coming weeks, this blog will address these issues, if not in a list format.
Hey Leslie,
It seems like Paranteau (sp?) has potential in Hartford, but never do we hear about him. He’s not even listed in the Hockey’s Future rankings. Why is that? Is he simply a career AHLer?
Love the blog, the in depth coverage is greatly appreciated.
Luke Walker is a 1990 born prospect, who did a good job in Traverse City. He has good skills, however, the only options for him were to be signed and play for the Rangers or be returned to his junior team (i.e., the WHL Portland Winter Hawks). It was clear from before Traverse City that Walker was not ready for NHL play (and that he would be returned after TC), but the Rangers wanted him to have the experience of being with them in Traverse City. They expect Walker to have a good season during 2009-10, and having had him in TC would make it more likely that he will sign with either the Rangers or Hartford next Spring.
Besides,(1) he needed to be returned as soon as possible because the Winter Hawks need him to start their season (which for Portland starts Saturday), and, (2) with Torts wanting to limit the number of guys in camp, there was no way Walker (who is not a rangers draftee or under contract) was going to be a participant.
Bill, PA Parenteau is too old to be included by HF in our standard coverage. The definition of a prospect who has CHL experience only includes those players who are 24 and younger (actually up until the end of the season when they turn 24).
I think that this is a critical year for PA. He admits that other teams were not banging down his door last spring, and that he resigned with the Rangers because they have promised to give him a real shot. He will be competing for a fourth line spot in the next few weeks, and he has some hefty competition. That said, he is playing tomorrow night, and will get his first real shot to show what he’s got. I am unsure if PA has what it takes to be a regular NHLer; but if I was rating him using HF’s guidelines, he would be a 7.0C.
The problem is that he is a “C” at age 26.5, when by this time, almost all players are “A”s and “B”s. The jury is out on PA, but we should know within the next two months as to whether he really has a future within this organization.
Parenteau just isn’t really an NHL material, sure he could have a decent career on a weak team, but here he does not stand a chance. Way too many bigger, younger, stronger, more hungry players and way more physical that him.