John Tortorella (Paul J. Bereswill)
BLUESHIRT BEGINNING: As new Ranger Rick Nash (above) and some of his teammates held an unofficial skate yesterday, Blueshirts coach John Tortorella (inset) said he can’t wait to get together with his team. (
)
Brian Boyle sat with his skates on, pushed his hair back, pulled his hat on backwards, and summed up the lockout in two words.
“That sucked,” Boyle said, smiling, knowing now that the Owners’ Lockout III is on the verge of being resolved, his Rangers can get back to chasing the Stanley Cup.
That’s the plan, at least, as the NHL Board of Governors gets ready to meet in New York City tomorrow to ratify a Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed to in principle early Sunday morning. Once cleared by both the league and the NHL Players’ Association, teams can start training camps by this weekend.
“This is what we do. This is the only thing I know how to do,” said Rangers coach John Tortorella. “The players wanting to be together, the coaches want to be with them, too. We want to get back with them. We feel like we’re a tight group, and quite honestly, I miss them.”
Yesterday, at the MSG Training Facility in Tarrytown, N.Y., 15 players took the ice in what was technically considered a players-organized event. Without coaches, the group was headed by captain Ryan Callahan, alternate captain Brad Richards, and new addition, power forward Rick Nash. The two nets were occupied by local high-level juniors, as both Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron are expected to show up today or tomorrow.
“We’re talking about waiting four months to finally get a chance to play for New York,” said Nash, acquired from the Blue Jackets in a July trade. “I’m excited.”
It could have happened earlier had the owners not pushed the players for huge concessions in money and contract rights. But Don Fehr, the executive director of the NHLPA, held strong on certain issues, and although it took a long time — and may have alienated many fans in the process — a deal that seems equitable for both parties is now on the verge of going into action.
“I totally understand if fans don’t come back, that’s very understandable,” Richards said. “But for those that do, we can’t wait to go and play our hearts out and get back out there and make the game the way it’s supposed to be.”
But no matter how fast a training camp can start, it will not be what Tortorella is used to — the three-week torture chamber he annually insists on in order to play his hard-nosed and sacrificial style.
“I have the model that we’re going to use,” Tortorella said about the abbreviated camp. “Throughout the whole situation here, it’s been adjusted just with the amount of time off. We have to be real careful there as far as what we give them, when we give it them, how we give it to them.”
All signs are pointing to a 48-game season, to start on or around Jan. 19. The Rangers’ style seemed to drain them late last season, so the shorter time frame could be beneficial to their hopes of getting past the Eastern Conference Finals — where they lost to the Devils in six games in 2012 — and on to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1994.
“I think we play a particular style that’s different and little unique in this league,” said veteran forward Mike Rupp. “It wins us hockey games, but at the same time, it’s one that last year, it’s a long season. So I think this could work in our favor. But that’s just a ‘could.’ ”
After finishing the regular season atop the Eastern Conference, the Rangers won two seven-game playoff series, against the Senators and Capitals, before finally cracking against the Devils.
“We’re not sneaking up on anybody [this year],” Richards said. “It’s going to be harder. We’re going to have to play better than we did last year to finish in the place we did.”
Richards will now have the addition of another big-time scorer in Nash, whose personality Tortorella said “is going to fit.
“He wants to be in this type of situation,” Tortorella said of Nash. “So as anxious as he is, I am double that to get with him and get going.”
For Nash, the drop of the puck couldn’t come soon enough.
“It’s not going to be much time at all to get ready for games,” Nash said. “It’s so important right now what everyone has done the past few weeks to be ready for the start of the season. It’s an exciting time, no matter what. It’s right around the corner and we have to be ready.”