Quick Practice Notes

It is a bit of a slow day here in Rangerland, but there were some tidbits of information from practice to chat about, courtesy of Andrew Gross.

First, Brandon Dubinsky and Brad Richards sat out of practice today. As per Gross, Dubinsky was sick and Richards required a maintenance day. These are common occurence, and shouldn’t really be a cause for alarm. Hockey players need days off.

“Over 162 games even tough guys get sprains, sore arms, muscle pulls”
“It’s only temporary. Besides, these guys weren’t playing that good when the equipment was workin’. If I could get anybody to come and watch this team, none of this would be necessary. You oughta be grateful I can still pay your salaries.”

Also, it doesn’t look like Anton Stralman is going to get into the lineup any time soon. Gross notes that he is still working hard in practices, but is still learning the system. It’s tough for someone to learn a new system and get into hockey shape. So for now, it looks like Steve Eminger’s job is safe, despite is horrid play. 

Expanding on this a little bit, I don’t think it’s a matter of Stralman needing to get on the coach’s good side, it’s just a matter of him getting into hockey shape and learning the system. Players have a full month of preseason and training camp to do this. Stralman has no scrimmages and a few practices. It takes time.