Traverse City

...which is apparently pronounced "TRA-verse," not "tra-VERSE."  So, an anonymous tipster (my father) read my complaints about not being able to see any of these games and told me that he caught part of one on the NHL Network the other day.  So, I did some very complex investigation to the tune of visiting a website or two for about three minutes.  Turns out that not only is MSG Network badass enough to broadcast all the Ranger games at the tournament, they're also the only network badass enough to do so (or, really, to even notice that it's going on).  This leaves NHL Network two choices: pick up the Rangers feed for all these Traverse City games, or don't, and don't show any of the tournament at all.  So, NHL Network has is broadcasting every Ranger game of the tournament.  And here I was, bitching about not watching hockey, instead of just cold watching some hockey.

So, I watched the Rangers' prospects lose to the Canes' 4-3 in the second overtime yesterday.  (Overtime at this tournament is 4 minutes of 4-on-4, then 4 minutes of 3-on-3, all sudden death.  Following that, a 5-man shootout.)  It was fun!  Real people (granted, they all looked 12 years old, but real nonetheless) in real NHL jerseys playing real hockey!  The season is coming!  It's worth noting that because I watched NHL Network's rebroadcast, at 7:00 (the game was at 3), they cut out large swaths of the 3rd period to make it fit in a 2-hour broadcast.  So, with that caveat, here were my 1-game unenlightened first impressions.

Up front, I really liked a lot of the first line.  Left wing Tommy Grant (who was apparently acquired as an undrafted free agent back in March) struck me as a guy who knows where he's supposed to be.  He kept being right in front of the crease creating traffic on offense, and he kept getting back to his position in time to go the other way.  He also found himself in the right place on the penalty kill a few times.  A 6'2" forward who crashes the net and is defensively responsible?  Yes, please.

Right wing Christian Thomas (whom you'll recall from last year's training camps - he was our 2010 2nd-round pick) was one of the two real stars of the night, for me (the other was Erixon).  He's really fast - with the puck, not just on his feet - and he made a lot of good-looking passes.  Yeah, I know that's fool's gold in a kids' game, but still - shift after shift he kept making smart, pretty plays.  Thomas playing opposite Grant made an ideal tandem of wingers, but Thomas stood out more as the forward with the best shot of making the big squad (based on me watching one game).

The other standout forward for me wasn't Grant and Thomas's center, it was the third-line center, some guy named Jonathan Audy-Marchessault.  He's not not under contract to the Rangers, but he's in the system, on a 2-way contract with the Whale and the ECHL's Greenville Road Warriors, which was only signed 3 months ago - he was an undrafted free agent (source in French).  I noticed him early in the game as a good 2-way player, a smart forward with real defensive responsibility, but as the game progressed he also made a number of clever offensive plays and kept the puck on his stick a little more than you expected him to.  I liked this kid a lot.

Other forwards worth mentioning: first-line center Shane McColgan (our 5th-round pick this year) got a lot of Zuccarello-esque praise for being good at his job despite being very small.  Meh!  2nd-line left wing Carl Hagelin (I mentioned him a couple of months ago when talking about potential cap hits added to the team this season; he was drafted in the 6th round back in 2007) made a few nifty moves throughout the night (though he wasn't nearly as dynamic as Grant, Thomas, and Audy-Marchessault).  Finally, this year's first-round pick, J.T. Miller, played second-line right wing and was not particularly remarkable.

On the back six (is that a real thing I'm allowed to call the defense?  The back six?), let's all throw a parade for a kid named Tim Erixon.  I mentioned him in that same post about possible additions, and man is he ever one.  Early this summer, Sather made yet another one of his increasingly frequent smart prospect moves when he traded away dead-end prospect Roman Horak and two 2nd-round picks to the Flames, in exchange for a 5th-rounder and Erixon.  This is one of the reasons we only had one pick between #15 and #106 overall this year.  Erixon is another solid young defenseman with a real chance to make the team: he made smart, quick moves at the point on the power play, showed a real ability to keep the puck when by all rights he should have lost it, was in the right position every time I noticed, and put up a lot of PK time.  All while he had to spend some time covering for his defensive partner, who was out of position sometimes.  Oh, and he plays forever.  I don't think the dude came off the ice for the last 5 minutes of the game or the first 3 shifts of overtime.  Major minutes.  If yesterday's game was any indication, Erixon should have the best chance of any of these guys to make the team.

I also want to call out giant child Samuel Noreau.  This dude is 6'5" and was born after The Pixies broke up.  What the fuck.  Noreau was drafted this year just two picks after McColgan, and while Gordie Clark talked about how he was a project and the team needed to work on his 2-way responsibility, I just loved everything the guy did.  He's huge.  If he wasn't defending our crease then he was taking up space in theirs.  His stick is longer than a 5k.  I like him, I want him in the system, I can't wait to see how big he is when he hits puberty.

Dylan McIlrath (you remember him - last year's first-rounder, nickname "the Undertaker" or something) was named the Captain of this squad, and you could see why - he defended his teammates constantly, and was often in Canes' faces.  Unfortunately, this didn't always mean he was defending the puck - in fact, at one point in the first, Jared Staal (yes, there's another fucking Staal) hit Ranger winger Jordan Hickmott late.  McIlrath skated right over and got in his face for it, which was great.  He also left his position wide open right in the slot, which led to a Carolina goal.  But still, it's great to see these guys defending each other like that after only being on a team together for a week.

Other players worth noting: defensemen Jyri Niemi (part of last year's camp as well, acquired the previous May from the Islanders for a 6th-rounder) and Collin Bowman (totally non-roster, invited to camp a week ago) both made defensive mistakes and did very little to make up for them.  I know, it's only one game, but I notice what I notice.  Finally, goaltender Jason Missiaen has an unspellable last name.  He, with every one of his vowels, was signed as a free agent back in March (he had originally been drafted by the Canadiens in 2008, but went unsigned and became a free agent).  He looked pretty good!  I know it's just a prospects game, but the dude had to make a lot of saves last night, and more than a couple of them were hard saves to make!  So, a gold star for the kid who has raised the bar for diphthongs everywhere.

Tonight at 7:00, the Rangers' prospects will play the Sabres' for the 2011 Traverse City Tournament championship.  And, as it turns out, I'll be watching it!  Let's Go Rangers' prospects!