STOCKHOLM — Ryan Callahan will step onto the ice here tonight for the first time as Rangers’ captain, comfortable with his role and confident his team is prepared to start the season against the Kings.
“We’re where we need to be,” the captain told The Post following yesterday’s no-nonsense practice. “It was a different kind of training camp with the travel and the exhibition games on the big rinks, but we’ve done a lot of talking as a team about having the mindset we need to have and being geared up to go.”
* Brian Boyle, who seconded the notion that the Rangers are ready to go (“We’re pretty antsy”), said the objective is to win the Stanley Cup, a goal that is “more realistic this year.”
“I think we have the team that can be and should be a top-four seed instead of being the fight somewhere between sixth and ninth,” the center told The Post.
* Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik, who must evolve into a dynamic duo in order for the Rangers to reach the heights, continue to get familiar one another following a preseason that was skewed because of the games on the larger rinks and the lack of practice resulting from the club’s travel schedule.
“There’s still a lot to learn, but we’re working on it,” said Richards, whose line will include Brandon Dubinsky on the left when the puck is dropped tonight. “I wish I could tell you that we’re firing on all cylinders, I hope we will be soon enough, but we’re not.”