The Rangers returned to practice today and had the following lines (Dan Rosen, NY Post)
- Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich
- Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Jesper Fast
- Phil Di Giuseppe, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
- Greg McKegg/Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden, Julien Gauthier
- Brendan Smith, Jacob Trouba
- Ryan Lindgren, Adam Fox
- Marc Staal, Tony DeAngelo
- Henrik Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin, Alex Georgiev
The rest of the Rangers taking part in training camp are skating in a separate group.
Rangers coach David Quinn spoke with the media and said (NYR):
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- On the goalie decision, “a lot is going to go into this decision because of the unique circumstance. I had a meeting with all three today telling them how important the next three weeks are going to be. That being said it’s not just about these three weeks, there are also a lot of other things to take into consideration, Henrik’s success against these guys, the seasons guys were having, what was going on when we left off. There is a lot that is going to go into it.”
- On how the practice groups were split, “this isn’t training camp, we are picking up where we left off and I want that to be crystal clear to everybody here. This is not training camp, we are trying to win a Stanley Cup. We really liked our team when this ended, we want to give people an opportunity to find their way.”
- On going from Lindy Ruff to Gord Murphy, “I didn’t know Gord well at all, really, the first time I got to know him was during training camp and I really liked his enthusiasm, approach, experience and we are fortunate that there is a lot of chemistry between what we are doing in New York and what Kris and Gord were doing in Hartford. Gord had the defensemen and the PK and he has years of experience of being an assistant in the NHL, so it was really a no-brainer in a lot of ways, he was really the first guy I thought of when this was unfolding and we are fortunate to have him.”
Rangers President John Davidson spoke with the media and said (NYR):
- The decision on who starts in goal will be up to the coaching staff
- He has not gotten word from the league on Brendan Lemieux’s suspension
- He doesn’t think Mika Zibanejad has hit his ceiling yet, “he can do anything, it was flat out amazing, in my opinion, as to how well he was playing prior to the pause.” The Rangers would take 80% of the player he was prior to the pause.
- On Gord Murphy being called up to replace Lindy Ruff, “the coaches have been meeting now for quite some time, there is a conference room in the training center and they can all spread out, wear masks and go over all kinds of things. Gord was in Hartford last winter with our farm club, he and Kris Knoblauch did a great job there, and we felt with Lindy going to NJ, and we wish him luck on most nights, he’s a terrific guy, I’ve known him a long time, great opportunity for him, we aren’t going to stand in his way, we did the right thing for Lindy and wish him all the best, we thought that bringing Gord here was the smartest thing because he knows our organization, was here for camp. We will see how it goes, I think it will be seamless, I’ve known him a long time myself, he has lots of NHL experience. I think it’s a win-win for Gord to be here for this and for Lindy to be a head coach in this league again.”
- “I’m thrilled for our group, I can’t tell you how happy I am for our group to be able to be in this whole thing, to go through what we are going to go through and put this on our resume.”
Henrik Lundqvist said after practice (NYR):
- When he was back in Sweden he was able to work on his game “technically, physically, mentally” and that he feels good in all three areas.”
- “I’m going to give it my all during camp and see what happens.”