Camp Day 1 Recap: Avery, Rookies Impress In Conditioning; Sauer, Anisimov Injury News

Reports out of Day 1 of Camp Torturella are all relatively positive in terms of the conditioning of the New York Rangers, which tells you how committed the team is to being prepared for a big season.  Sean Avery was cited as one of those who was the most impressive to start the day, but the conditioning of Avery has never been in question.  

Beyond Avery the standouts were rookies trying to make the team with Tim Erixon, Ryan Bourque and Carl Hagelin making their turn at the conditioning drills look relatively easy.  It is impressive to see how driven these rookies are in trying to earn their way on the club from opening night.  There could be some advantage for these guys having played in Traverse City this past week so their conditioning level could be slightly higher than those who have scrimmaged at best.  The Rangers veterans better be ready to fight for their spots on the roster because these rookies are certainly ready to take them away.

While the news on the conditioning front was good there was injury news with Michael Sauer and Artem Anisimov sitting out today with knee injuries.  For Sauer the injury is something that was sustained during the summer and earlier today I looked at whether it is a cause for concern.  With Anisimov the injury is something that was discovered during a physical and he not only sat out, but had a precautionary MRI that came back negative.  Sauer is expected to be on the ice tomorrow, but no timetable was given for Anisimov. 

Rangers Prospects Chris Kreider, Ryan Bourque On Team USA WJC Prelim Roster

In a shock to absolutely no one Rangers 2009 1^st and 3^rd round picks Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque were named to the 2011 USA U-20 World Junior Championship preliminary roster.  Expect both to make the team and for Bourque to wear a letter for the tournament, possibly the Captain’s ‘C’ as he has for other tournaments for Team USA.  Kreider and Bourque will be returning to the team hoping to repeat last year’s thrilling performance all the way to the Gold medal which including fellow Ranger Derek Stepan.  The task of the repeat will not be easy as once again Team Canada is loaded with talent and looking to avenge last year’s disappointment, but team Russia is also one of the favorites as they showed in the Canadian Subway Super Series against the different Canadian junior leagues.

It was at this tournament last Chris Kreider turned around what was a disappointing early Freshman season at Boston College going from 5 points in 15 games to 6 goals in this tournament and 18 points in his last 23 games for the Eagles.  So far this season Kreider has 5 goals and 6 assists in 16 games. Kreider is no stranger to being on a winner as he won gold in this tournament and the NCAA title last season.  When announcing Chris Kreider the general manger of Team USA, Jim Johannson, said he has “unparalleled speed” and is “one of the best skaters in the game.”  Those attributes were certainly on display when Kreider scored this goal last Saturday against BU while shorthanded.

As for Bourque he will be asked to be more of an offensive threat this year than the checking line player he was last season.  The great thing about Ryan Bourque is that he can do both as he is a tremendously talented two-way player.  Bourque is have a superb season in the QMJHL for the Quebec Ramparts putting up 16 goals 19 assists in just 24 games played.  Look for this tournament to be a breakout for Bourque on the national stage in much the same way it was for Kreider, Stepan and others on the USA team a season ago.

The final roster will be announced Dec 23 with the tournament happening Dec 26-Jan 5 in Buffalo.

Prospect Roundup:Scoring Race Contestants And Huge Friday Night (Thomas, Horak, Bourque, etc)

So far this season the New York Rangers prospects have been putting on a tremendous effort, particularly those in the CHL as there has been a scoring race going on between Roman Horak and Christian Thomas since the very beginning, then Ethan Werek climbed into it as his game rose and theirs slipped slightly and now red-hot Ryan Bourque is right in the mix for the lead.  The other guy who is in the running right now is not Rangers property in Brandon Manning the free agent defenseman who is destroying the WHL and Glen Sather must sign.  Other than Werek all of these guys in the race had huge nights on Friday night and even some Hartford guys got in on the act.

Prospect of the Weekend 10/22-10-24

I decided when I started this that I wouldn’t write too much on the prospects because I feel there are those out there more qualified to do so, but I would find ways to chime my opinions in through various forms and so now I have decided while I wont do daily prospect recaps I am going to do a weekly prospect of the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday).

Keep reading to find out who this weekend’s winner was.