All Eyes on the Prize as Phase 3 Training Camp Kicks Off

Make no doubt about it: The Rangers had one singular focus when they officially restarted the 2019-20 campaign on Monday.
"This isn't training camp," said Head Coach David Quinn following the first day of Phase 3 practices at MSG Training Center. "We are picking up where we left off, and I want that to be crystal clear to everybody here. This is not training camp. We're trying to win a Stanley Cup."
The 2019-20 season paused on March 11, following an OT nail-biter in Denver in which the Rangers - true to the never-quit mentality that has come to define their season - forced extra time with a goal in the waning seconds.
Then: Nothing. For four months, nothing. Until Monday, that is.

On Monday, the quest for a playoff berth began in earnest. The Rangers' full roster and a handful of black aces reported to Tarrytown for the first day of a three-week camp that will eventually culminate in a five-game Stanley Cup Qualifier series vs. Carolina beginning on August 1st.
In the minds of this group of Rangers, their task is simple: Prepare. Get ready for a battle. Play to win.
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"I think there shouldn't be any limits in how we look at ourselves and what we can accomplish," said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "When you look at this challenge, you could lose the first round, but you could also go all the way, and I think a lot of teams feel the same way, especially in this situation. You've been away from the game for so long, you're coming into an environment where nobody's been in before. It's going to be crucial for every team to find that spark and commitment in every situation.
"It's important that as a group, we come together and mentally prepare for that. It'll be very different, but also an opportunity to try to accomplish something. So no limits."
That mindset - no limits - is universal across the board, from management to the coaching staff to the players. It's anyone's game. Might as well be theirs.
"We're not here just to participate and just be another team - we want to win," said Mika Zibanejad. "We're here to win, and obviously, we'll take it game by game and series by series, but we're here to win and we're going to do everything in our power to do so."

The Goalie Question

The Rangers have four goalies at training camp, three of whom are expected to compete for the starting job in the qualifying round vs. Carolina.
As far as who that will be, there are 20 more days of work that will help to decide it.
"All three goalies were very sharp," said Rangers President John Davidson. "This will be a coaching decision. It's going to be up to the coaches when they put their heads together and make that decision."
Lundqvist said he used the four-month hiatus to recharge, both physically and mentally - and now that he has returned to New York from his native Sweden, he's already seen the benefit.
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"It is a restart; I'm controlling what I can control," he said. "I feel really good; I'm excited to be back and I can train well. Mentally, I feel like I'm well-prepared, so we just have to wait and see.
"Going back to Sweden during this break gave me an opportunity to work on my game a little bit, technically, physically and mentally. I feel like coming back now, I'm in a really good place in all three areas there. I feel very excited to start the camp."
Whether it's Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin or Alexander Georgiev in net vs. Carolina, clear communication between the coaching staff and the netminders will continue to be top of mind.
"One thing that's been apparent, and we're very bullish about it, is the idea of communication with everybody involved," Davidson said. "We'll continue, just like we did prior to the pause, and have up-front communication with all the goaltenders."

Miller Joins Phase 3 Workouts

One exciting addition to the Rangers' Phase 3 roster: defenseman K'Andre Miller, drafted 22nd overall by New York in 2018 and signed in April out of the University of Wisconsin.
Though Miller won't be making the trip to Toronto for the Stanley Cup Qualifier, he'll practice with the group from now until they leave and begin to acclimate to life as a pro.
"He's a player that we think has a great future with the Rangers," Davidson said. "So when we found out we were allowed to bring one player that could come to your camp, work out with your camp and then would not be able to travel to the hub city, we talked about it. You can never have enough defensemen. We're going to have scrimmages as the training camp works along here, and he's a perfect fit for us.
"K'Andre Miller's a big part of our future. This is an ideal time to get him here to get him acclimated to how we play the game. We're quite excited about it, and he's excited about it."

Gord Murphy Added to Rangers Coaching Staff for Return to Play

When Rangers Assistant Coach Lindy Ruff was named the Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils last week, New York had a spot to fill on its coaching staff.
The Rangers didn't have to look far: Gord Murphy, Associate Head Coach of the Rangers' AHL affiliate in Hartford, was the first option.
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Quinn first met Murphy this past September during New York's original 2019-20 training camp, and he liked what he saw from the veteran, who - prior to joining Kris Knoblauch's staff in Hartford - spent parts of 16 seasons coaching in the NHL.
"I really liked his enthusiasm, really liked his approach, liked his experience," Quinn said. "We're very fortunate that there's a lot of chemistry between what we're doing here in New York, and what Chris and Gord were doing down in Hartford. Gord had the defensemen, and he handled the penalty kill, and he's got 10 years of experience. It really was a no-brainer in a lot of ways.
"He was the first guy I thought of when this whole thing was unfolding, and we're really fortunate to have him."

Wise Words

"I don't think our mindset is any different than what it was when we ended the season. I think our guys really believed we were going to make the playoffs. I think guys believed in each other, they believed in themselves, they believed in the way we were playing. There was a lot of togetherness, a lot of swagger. I think that's what we need to find again. We need to get to that point where, when the games start on Aug. 1, we have our swagger back, and that's going to take a lot of work between now and then." - David Quinn

Through Our Eyes

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Skaters

Forwards: Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Jesper Fast, Steven Fogarty, Julien Gauthier, Tim Gettinger, Michael Haley, Brett Howden, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Chris Kreider, Brendan Lemieux, Vinni Lettieri, Greg McKegg, Danny O'Regan, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Mika Zibanejad

Defensemen: Brandon Crawley, Tony DeAngelo, Adam Fox, Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren, K'Andre Miller, Darren Raddysh, Brendan Smith, Marc Staal, Jacob Trouba

Goaltenders: Alexander Georgiev, Henrik Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin, Adam Huska