Rangers Training Camp: 2nd scrimmage updates
Highlights from Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants: (click link for full story):
Goalies, Steve Valiquette (Team 2) and Chad Johnson (Team 3) both had strong outings, stopping potential scrimmage-winning shots in the final minutes. The rest of the teams were: (Team 2 Fs: Sean Avery, Vinny Prospal, Brodie Dupont, Paul Crowder, Andres Ambuhl, Devin Didiomete; Ds Wade Redden, Corey Potter, Ilkka Heikkinen, Brent Henley, Alexei Semenov), (Team 3 Fs: Evgeny Grachev, Brian Boyle, P.A. Parenteau, Donald Brashear, Tyler Arnason, Enver Lisin, Dan LaCouture, Corey Locke; Ds: Sam Klassen, Michal Rozsival, Nigel Williams and Tomas Kundratek).
And Rozsival knocked down Ambuhl as he tried to get to the net. Ambuhl tried a spin-o-rama around the veteran NHL defenseman in the slot and Rozsival, not budging, used Ambuhl's lack of balance on the play to push him to the ice.
Brashear, by the way, looked good and not in the way he's usually measured in looking good. He skated hard and was creating chances in front of the net, also going into the corner to retrieve the puck. I sort of thought a younger kid, like hulking Henley, would try to make a name for themselves by challenging Brashear but it never came close to that.
From the tweets:
After second group practices, Torts again stresses hard skating, picking out Girardi and Kotalik.
Evgeny Grachev beats Valiquette on penalty restart to tie scrimmage at one.
Vinny Prospal playing center in scrimmage with Brandon Dubinsky still absent.
Good physical play from Boyle, Lacouture and Brashear (shocker)
Higgins on Torts' intensity: "He comes as advertised"
I'll be taking your phone calls on Blueshirt Banter tonight, as well. Call in number is: 646-479-4692. Looking forward to talking Rangers! [Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 09/14/09 2:55 PM EDT I had to put this one in, shameless promotion]
