Rangers prepare for the 2009-2010 season

The New York Rangers have opened their doors for players that want to get an early start this season. Camp doesn't officially until September 12th, but the team has opened the practice facility and are allowing players to come in and skate and use the facilities as often as they want.

Thus far, the list of early arrivals is quite deep as most of the team has decided to take advantage of the opportunity provied.

Ed Jovonovski commented "I wanted to get here early to work on a few things. I feel that my off-season conditioning program has me in great physical and cardiovascular shape and I wanted to get here to test my stamina and so far I have been pleased." When asked about the trade rumors, he stated that he "would loke to remain a New York Ranger, because we have, what I believe is the necessary ingreidents needed to win games and I want to be part of that. I understand that this is a business and I carry a high contract and cap strapped teams are sometimes forced to make moves. I just come to the rink. do my job, and hope that I remain a Ranger defenceman.

Marian Gaborik also showed up early "I think that this is a greta opportunity for the team to get together in a setting other than practice or any other structured atmosphere. Here, now we can skate, joke and generally get to know each other on a personal level. Since the majority of us are new to each other, it's important that we gain some of that understanding of who we are as people as that can help understand who we are as players. With the team that has been assembled here, it's important to build that chemistry early so that we can give ourselved the best possibly chance to win games on a nightly basis."

New Rangers Head Coach, Dave Baseggio is banking that his strength on the X's and O's will do more for the Rangers than any percieved negative that may be out there with regards to the way he handles and deals with his players. "They all know what is expected of them. As a coaching staff, it is my responsibility to get the most out of them. We think that by opening our doors early, we can all get a jump on becoming more familiar with each other and who we want what from."

Reporting from Greenburgh NY, I am Barry Looks