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.
