Trocheck, Vesey together again, helping Rangers in East 1st Round

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jimmy Vesey was fiery as a 12-year-old.

"He had a little bit of a fuse," Vincent Trocheck said.
At the same age Trocheck was yappy, always talking, which hasn't changed much. But he wore a neck guard.
"The neck guard was bad," Vesey said.
They're teammates now with the New York Rangers, Trocheck a center in the top-six forward group in the first season of a seven-year, $39.4 million contract ($5.63 million average annual value), Vesey the left wing on the fourth line who made the team after coming to training camp on a professional tryout (PTO) and parlaying it into a one-year contract Oct. 9, and then a two-year, $1.6 million contract ($800,000 AAV) agreed to Jan. 4.
They're battling in the Eastern Conference First Round against the New Jersey Devils, the best-of-7 series tied 2-2 going into Game 5 at Prudential Center on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN360, TVAS2, MSGSN, MSG).
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
Trocheck has one goal in four games. Vesey has four shots on goal and is averaging 9:11 of ice time in four games.
It's the third time Vesey and Trocheck, each 29, have played in big games together.
Nearly 18 years ago, Vesey and Trocheck played on the Boston Jr. Bruins '93 summer select team, going to tournaments across North America. They were 12 and 13 years old, coached by Vesey's father, Jim, a former NHL player who is an amateur scout with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Playing here with him, it's a full-circle moment, starting in youth hockey and now on the same team in the NHL and in the playoffs," said Vesey, who was born in Boston. "Full circle. It puts things into perspective."
Trocheck was from Pittsburgh and grew up playing in the Pittsburgh Hornets program. His family moved to Detroit when he was 13 where he also played for the Little Caesars hockey program. But the Jr. Bruins were in touch with his family and that's how he landed on that team.
"We'd go up to Canada and play the best up there," Jim Vesey said. "Somehow the Jr. Bruins were in touch with Vincent Trocheck and then it just became the norm that every summer we'd go up there and Vincent would show up. It was all Boston kids except Vincent. It brings back great memories seeing them now."
When they were 19, Vesey and Trocheck played together for the United States at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. Trocheck had six points (three goals, three assists) in seven games, Vesey had five points (one goal, four assists) in seven games and the U.S. won the gold medal.
"Then they go separate ways, but Vincent is tight with (Carolina Hurricanes defenseman) Brady Skjei and Jimmy is best friends with him, and it's a big circle," Jim Vesey said. "Then they both show up in New York this year and it just rekindled a relationship. I knew Vincent's father. I've gotten to know his mother. You heard the story of his grandmother having the entire team over this year for a big Italian dinner. They are super, super people, some of the nicest people I've met in the world."
The friendship and history that Trocheck and Vesey have made a big difference for each this season.
Vesey got to the Rangers without any guarantees that he would be on the team because he was on a PTO. Trocheck reached out immediately after he heard Vesey was coming.
"I went to send a message to him and I already had a text from him saying, 'Congrats, let's go,'" Vesey said.
They were put on the same line early during training camp.
"I've never told him this, but I really appreciate it because I thought he was trying to make me look good the whole camp," Vesey said. "He was trying to find me as much as he could, a couple times overpassing trying to get me the puck. I won't pump his tires to his face, but I really appreciated it."
Vesey relayed that story to his father.
"And I said, 'Jimmy, you know what, that's a real friend right there,'" the older Vesey said. "Here's Vincent on a big deal he just signed. You come in and you're on a PTO. Let's face it, on a PTO everything has to go good for you. It's tough to make a team on a PTO. But Vincent looking for Jimmy on the ice every time, trying to set him up, make him look good, I said, 'Wow, that's a good man right there.'"
Trocheck admitted that was his intent.
"Anything I could do that I thought could help him make the team I wanted to do," he said. "Obviously it wasn't me making the team. He had to do it himself. He played outstanding in preseason and in training camp. He did it. He deserved it. But I wanted him to be here."

Vesey reciprocated by helping Trocheck get acclimated to the area. He had played for the Rangers from 2016-19, so he knew his way around. Trocheck was new after agreeing to his contract July 13.
"It was awesome for me," Trocheck said. "I had somebody on the team that I knew. It was nice to see somebody that I knew and I was able to cling to him early on. He had been here before, so he helped me out with some things and eventually we got a little closer."
Vesey moved into an apartment in Manhattan. Trocheck, with a wife and two children -- their son, Leo, is 4, and their daughter, Lennon, is 2 -- moved into suburban Westchester, New York, near the Rangers practice facility.
They still see each other outside of the rink, and during training camp Vesey would be at Trocheck's house often.
"My kids love having Jimmy over to the house," Trocheck said. "My son wants to play mini-sticks with him any time he is over and Jimmy is great about it. My kids love him. They call him Uncle Jim."
Vesey's parents loved the fact that Jimmy had a home to go to and a friend to lean on.
"We knew Jimmy was in good hands with the Trochecks because they can eat good in that house," Jim Vesey said. "It was peace of mind for us back home."
He said the Trochecks consider Jimmy to be family. It goes both ways. It probably always will.
"I'm from Charlestown (Massachusetts) and I always say all roads lead to Charlestown," he said. "The Tkachuk family is from Charlestown. The Fitzgeralds. The Hayes family. The Yandle family. The Grzelcyk family. Vesey. We all grew up in Charlestown. Except the Trochecks, but he's more than welcome in there. He's an honorary 'Townie.'"