I am posting my thoughts on the Rangers prospects in the tournament in two posts. This first one is general and the next is about individuals.
First of all, if you can get to this tournament in the future, you should really think about it. It is gorgeous in the Traverse City area and you will never get this close to top prospects of so many teams. You can watch the action sitting about 50 feet from the ice and see everything. plus you often can get autographs and meet the team brass. They are at work and you don't want to interfere, but the access is amazing.
As for the cost, to fly from NY is under $400. A car is about $200. And the hotel is about $800 (which can be shared). If you drive, the cost is less. I would advise any Ranger fan to consider it. The tournament is great and the landscape is amazing.
Now on to the hockey. The play got better as the tournament went along, for obvious reasons. Certain kids really began to gel together, which was fun to see.
Frankly, the baby Rangers looked alot like the NHL Rangers in that there was not as much offense as would have been hoped for and games more often than not ended with a tie. And it was the goalies who really kept the team in the game during the first three contests.
There were only a few of the organization's top prospects in the TC tournament this season (many of the prospects that did not attend are experienced pros). The other thing is that, if I were ranking the prospects today, there would be two changes. One, Petr Zamorsky would be included toward the bottom of the top 20. Also after his performance in TC, I would include Sam Noreau in the top 20. Left off would be Tambellini and Fogarty.
Individual performance evaluations will be up in the morning.