Marc Staal Not Travelling To Europe With Team

Rangers head coach John Tortorella announced after Sunday's practices that Marc Staal will not be one of the people on the plane traveling to Europe following tomorrow night's pre-season game in Philadelphia.  This should not be a surprise give how limited Staal has been during training camp and the length of travel the team is making only makes this decision easier for the organization.  Flying with concussion symptoms, especially headaches, is not advisable and the Rangers goal with Staal has to be to have him as much as possible this season, not to focus on the season opener.  However, coach Tortorella did not rule Staal out of the opener on Oct. 7.  The next update on Staal is not expected for 4-5 days as he is going to continue working with specialists here in hopes of returning to the team for opening night.   


There is good news on Staal in that he was back on the ice practicing with the team today for the first time in three days, so hopefully he continues to improve over the course of the week.  The cautious approach is definitely the right one and while concern is certainly warranted, it is not time for panic.


"He will not be on the trip," stated Tortorella. "We are hoping as he continues his procedures with the specialists that I will have an update in 4-5 days. We're gonna try and get him on the trip. Once he's ready to do all the stuff we want him to do to prepare for the regular season, we'll have him come out." Tortorella did not rule out Staal---who has been experiencing headaches since the summer---from playing in the season opener in Stockholm October 7th. (NHL/Getty Images)