After their pre-season loss to the Islanders on Tuesday night, the Rangers headed up to the West Point Academy for three days of 'team-building' exercises. While the sessions were closed, coach Tom Renney indicated that the players would not have it easy:
"It's going to certainly tax them emotionally, it's going to tax them mentally and it's going to tax them physically."
Andrew Gross of The Journal News also talks about the army training, and notes that the exercises included some unorthodox hockey drills:
"First Sgt. J.B. Spisso, the Army Ranger overseeing the Rangers' training at Camp Smith, said the 38 players were to be broken into five teams with each expected to complete five tasks. That included establishing a one-rope bridge and rescuing a downed pilot; pushing a disabled jeep; pulling a Humvee up a hill; repelling down an inclined hill; and crossing a swamp while carrying a Zodiac boat above their heads."
Hey, skating drills haven't worked for the last seven years, so why not try something new.
The Rangers announced that 18 year-old defenseman Marc Staal was signed to a professional contract. Staal's surprisingly strong performance in camp prompted the Rangers to keep him around for the pre-season game, and he played better than several of the other blueliners Tuesday despite taking four minor penalties. Marc still has two years left of junior eligibility.
Colin Stephenson of the Star Ledger writes about the signing. When asked if Staal had a chance to make the Rangers this season, GM Glen Sather said he did, and that he is a "pretty composed kid".
Newsday is also reporting that OLN may lift the blackout on Cablevision subscribers so that they are able to watch the Rangers-Flyers season opener.
The NHL unveiled their new "My NHL" media campaign yesterday. The campaign takes a more cinematic approach to marketing the game. There will be five segments released at different times leading up to the start of the season. The league indicated that this is just the beginning:
"The unveiling of the new creative campaign is one of many activities fans can expect to see from the NHL. The initiative will include media relations activities, special events, unspecified non-traditional initiatives, and advertising. Additionally, fans can log on to www.nhl.com and explore the features of the revamped web site. Individual teams nationwide and in Canada also are coordinating marketing activities to further engage their fan bases."
Penguins phenom Sidney Crosby made his NHL debut yesterday in the teams first pre-season game against Boston. Crosby tallied an assist and hit a crossbar in the Penguins 5-4 loss.
Don't forget to check out Blueshirt Bulletin for great Rangers information.
Has anyone seen Larry Brooks? If you do, let him know that the Yankees already have plenty of reporters covering them. Thanks.
HDH
Posted by Jim at September 22, 2005 10:09 AMeMail this entry!
|
Recent Articles
|
|
|