It was Chrisanity, that’s what it was when Chris Kreider scored five goals in 18 playoff games for the Rangers upon joining the team fresh from winning the NCAA championship as a junior at Boston College.
Now, as Kreider looks back on the hysteria while attempting to nail down a spot with the Rangers in this unique training camp … well, that’s just it; he doesn’t look back on it at all.
“That’s something to just put away,” Kreider said yesterday. “It doesn’t enter into this training camp or what I have to do to earn a spot here and improve as a hockey player.
“Even over the summer, it was almost hard for me to believe that it happened the way it did, being in college one day and then playing in New York in the playoffs pretty much the next day.
“It’s such a blur.”
Coach John Tortorella said: “Chris is still fighting for a [roster] spot.” And while that’s technically true, it’s all but impossible to construct a scenario in which Kreider isn’t in the lineup for Saturday night’s opener in Boston.
The amount of ice time Kreider commands and the situations in which he is used, are, however, other matters. Nothing there is guaranteed.
Tortorella also said Kreider “better not [have] any illusions” regarding his status, before adding, “I don’t think [he does].”
Well, he doesn’t.
“I have to show them that I belong,” Kreider said. “And I know the only way to get ice time here is to be responsible on the defensive side of the puck and not cheat the game.
“Being here in the spring was a stepping stone, but no one has to tell me that I have a lot of room for improvement.”
If the Rangers are healthy up front (Brad Richards missed his second straight day because of the flu), Kreider is likely to open at left wing on a unit featuring a pair of defensively responsible big-bodied linemates in center Brian Boyle and right wing Taylor Pyatt.
“As a center, for sure I feel responsibility for my wingers, so that’s no different as far as Chris,” said Boyle, also a BC product. “What I want to do is get him the puck as much as possible so that he can shoot it.
“His shot is his bread-and-butter, so we don’t want to make this too complicated — just let him go straight ahead and rip it. As far as the defensive zone, he just needs to simplify his game.
“If I can help by pointing things out to him, of course I’ll pull him aside, but I think I’ll leave the coaching to the coach.”
Kreider scored just five goals in 33 games for the AHL Whale during the lockout, but no one in the Rangers’ organization seems the slightest bit concerned over the lack of production.
“I don’t think the game down there is as conducive to Chris scoring as it is here,” general manager Glen Sather said. “He’s one of those guys who’s better in the NHL than the AHL.”
Tortorella, who essentially adopted a hands-off approach to schooling Kreider during the playoffs, will be hands-on now.
“We’ll see where it goes, we’ll see what happens,” Tortorella said. “He’s going to have to help himself, and I think he has — I think he’s practiced very well.
“He has some gifts, and we hope they come to the forefront. Then it’s our responsibility to teach him other things.”