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Four Nations Faceoff, practice lines for the Rangers in the tourney |
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The Rangers - at least most of them - kicked off what should be close to a two week break Sunday. For six of the players on the team, practice for the 4 Nations Faceoff was the task at hand. Game play starts with Canada versus Sweden and Mike Zibanejad on Wednesday at 8 pm eastern.
Four of the 23 members of Team USA are from the Rangers: Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider, the recently added JT Miller and Adam Fox. Zibanejad, who has recorded 16 points in his past 20 games, 10 points in his last 10 contests and eight points in his past five, and looks to have been rejuvenated, is on the Swedish team while Urho Vaakanainen was a last-minute addition to Finland’s roster as an injury replacement for Miro Heiskanen.
Miller is the pivot on the third trio, flanked by Brady Tkachuk and Matt Boldy. Trocheck is centering the fourth line between Dylan Larkin and Brock Nelson. Kreider, who likely would have been off the squad if the nominations occurred a month later, is the 13th forward. Fox is on the first defensive pair opposite Jaccob Slavin. The US places Finland on Thursday night.
Not sure you can get much cooler than this:
Zibanejad is penciled in as Sweden's first line center joined by Rickard Rakell and William Nylander. Finland has an optional sakte Monday, so lines and pairings were not revealed. With the Finns decimated on the blueline, look for Vaakanainen to be one of the top-six.
The buzz has yet to really start for this tourney. Now that it's here and not just a concept, interest level has picked up slightly. Once the games actually start and especially as we inch closer to contests like Canada-US and the medal rounds, I expect there to be a significant rise in focus on the action on the ice and stories off it.
We know the players will feel a rise in emotions. Putting on your country's color will do that as it is an honor. Hockey is Canada's main sport, playing the games in Montreal always creates some level of excitement. In the US, the hope is the same in Boston.
The NHL did a very meh job at best of promoting the tournament, which has been reflected in the lack of interest. I expect the hype machine to kick in before too long, as articles on the various squads have been much more prevalent now that the league is on break.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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