Gaborik Update and More from Training Camp

I know all of the fans and readers are most concerned about the status of star winger Marian Gaborik, so I will start with that. Gaborik, as we know, has sat out of the first few days of training camp due to tightness in his groin. Unlike Saturday and Sunday, Gaborik did in fact hit the ice today, participating in a brief practice with his assigned scrimmage squad, which he did not play in, and also performed in some conditioning drills and skates later on in the afternoon.

Here is what Gaborik had to say, courtesy of Ranger Rants:

"It's a little tightness," Gaborik said. "The start of training camps are critical and a lot of times, the first couple of days it's tough skating. I don't want to push too hard, too quick."

"It was a good skate," Gaborik said. "I have to progress into stop-and-start things gradually."

"I want to prepare myself accordingly."

From reading that, it does not seem that Gabs is phased by his groin tightness, and will gradually work his way out of the minor injury. Marian is making it out to be an extremely light injury, that he would be able to play through if it was necessary, but for now, there is no reason to rush the recovery, and risk the tightness becoming a severe setback.

It is a very good sign that Gaborik skated today, and underwent conditioning laps at that. It is also telling that he is anxious to get some action, stating that he would like to get some playing time in several pre-season games, but for now, he will take it day-by-day. The hip, Gaborik mentioned, is fine and has not caused any problems.

Moving right along, Scrimmage two ended in a 1-1 tie. Goaltenders Chad Johnson and Steve Valiquette both had solid games (obviously), but the two goals that were scored came from skilled forward Evgeny Grachev and center Paul Crowder. Andrew Gross made it a point that the second scrimmage was much more physical when comparing it to the first earlier in the day, in his summary, which can be read HERE.

If you did not read my earlier post which included Gross's summary of the morning scrimmage, you can check that out in the post below.

Another thing worth mentioning is that newly acquired forward Chris Higgins got an ear-full from John Tortorella during the first scrimmage, which seemed to be for lack of effort. Here is what both Tortorella and Higgins had to say about the occurrence, once again, courtesy of Ranger Rants (Andrew has been on the ball with his camp updates):

Torts: "I think you can not use these scrimmages just to get through it," Tortorella said. "I felt some just tried to get through it. We need to get better on the veteran side of this team.

As for whether Higgins got the direct message, Tortorella said, "I hope he gets it quick."

Higgins: "I think it's pretty much what he expects anytime you're out there, whether it's a practice, a game, a conditioning skate," Higgins said. "I think it's easy to play for a guy like that. I think it'll be that way the whole year. I'm trying to get used to it as quickly as possible."

I, for one, am not worried, as Higgins seems like a guy that only has to be corrected once in order to get something right. He seems like a competitor and will take to heart what was said in Tort's ranting during the morning's scrimmage.

So that pretty much wraps up today's training camp, and we now will look forward to tomorrow's pre-season game against the Boston Bruins at the Garden. I am still waiting for the official line-up for tomorrow's contest, and I will be sure to get that up on the site as soon as possible. The minimum number of veterans you must play in a pre-season game is eight, so I expect to see just about that amount, or maybe a few more, but the rest will most likely be prospects and rookies, which I am also excited to see.
(Photo courtesy of Rangers Official Site)