....before some young players report for training camp and =
prepare for=20
the Traverse City, Mich. tournament, then a shortened main training camp =
and=20
eventually, exhibition games.
Nothing's official, but the Rangers will play six exhibition games =
(three=20
home and three away), probably between Sept. 20th and 27th, before =
jetting over=20
to Switzerland for practice and two games in Bern, then to Prague for =
practice=20
and the opener on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 against Tampa.
I expect, and coach Tom Renney has suggested, that there will be two =
separate=20
teams for most of the exhibition games.
Essentially, the team that leaves North America is the opening-day =
squad, so=20
there's a shorter-than-usual period of evaluation time for youngsters. =
There=20
could be moves before then, so we'll see how it develops...
For discussion purposes only, two months out, the 23-man=20
roster?
Lundqvist, Valiquette, Gomez, Drury, Zherdev, Naslund, =
Dubinsky,=20
Dawes, Callahan, Prucha, Fritsche, Voros, Betts, Orr, Sjostrom, Redden,=20
Rozsival, Staal, Girardi, Mara, Kalinin---and here's where it's =
tricky---another=20
forward and a seventh defenseman.
(CLARIFICATION: Sjostrom hasn't signed, deadline is Aug. 4, this is =
projected=20
roster)
If he does't well, see below.
Rissmiller? Maybe.
He has the most NHL experience of the rest.=20
Korpikoski? Moore? Byers? Depends. Camp and Sjostrom issue will likely =
determine=20
that.
On D? Potter? Pock? Someone TBD by trade or waivers? Possible. =
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