In 1998, at the Rangers’ annual team Halloween party, Scott Fraser showed up in a ski mask, holding a bag.

“Who are you supposed to be?” his teammates would ask.

“My agent,” said Fraser.

And everybody cracked up. Fra…

Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather talks about the six-player trade that brought Chris Higgins to New York while sending Scott Gomez to Montreal.

Chris Kreider, the Rangers’ No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, takes reporters’ questions for the first time at the MSG Training Center on June 30.

Rangers prospect Evgeny Grachev takes part in on-ice drills during the second day of the Rangers’ 2009 Prospect Development Camp on June 30.

We learned to today from Steve Zipay that Glen Sather extended qualifying offers to Dubinsky, Callahan, Korpikoski, Potter and Boyle.  The minimum offer tendered has to be a ten percent increase to keep some of these players over the $660,000 minimum. 
Brandon Dubinsky ($633,333), Ryan Callahan ($575,000) and Potter ($535,000) all earned less than $660,000. The [...]

RANGERS ON DEMAND

Tortorella’s Remarks to Media on Monday
Watch

• Prospects Development Camp Roster

By Jim Cerny, newyorkr…

With Prospect Development Camp in full swing at the MSG Training Center, we invite Rangers fans to submit questions for 2008 first-round pick Michael Del Zotto, 2009 Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Gilroy, and 2009 first-rounder Chris Kreider.

The Rangers Prospect Development Camp takes place this week at the MSG Training Center, featuring 16 players whose NHL rights are held by the Blueshirts. It includes Ryan Bourque (above) and four others drafted over the weekend in Montreal. 

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather, along with Director of Player Personnel, Gordie Clark, oversaw the club’s activity in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Q…

So who was the intended recipient of the message sent at the Rangers’ practice rink today: the 26 kids who dragged their legs through a 40-minute bag skate, or the returning Blueshirts who will get their taste in September?

Development camp opened today with a sprint test that some of the prospects said they weren’t quite expecting and all (at least those we reporters chatted with) said they had never quite experienced before. And it not only gives the young kids an idea of what to expect here if they’re invited to the fall camp, it was also a neat little warning to a team John Tortorella called “soft” today.

“I think we’re soft. I’m not trying to insult anybody physically or anything like that, but I think we’re soft thinkers, and that’s where it all starts,” Torts said. “I think we need to grow in what we feel we have to do in preparation, our practice habits, and that leads us to the game to being a tougher team to play against. That’s not being soft physically, that’s being soft thinkers. That’s a huge part of winning is your mental toughness. That’s something we are going to try to improve on, and if it isn’t there, someone else is going to get an opportunity.”

Some of those guys were likely on the ice today. Torts watched from the upstairs box (along with Glen Sather and Jim Schoenfeld) as players took their sprints in two sets of 13. (when the first group came huffing off the ice and passed the second group waiting its turn, one player in the first group, I didn’t catch who, said, “Have fun with THAT.”) Impossible to make judgments about players based on some sprinting, but the coaches were looking for those players who came in ready to work, and who showed that they have prepared to stake their claim to jobs.

Among the players’ goals: 1. Make a good first impression. 2. Don’t vomit.

“Definitely was the first time I’ve ever gone through something like this,” said Michael Del Zotto. “But it’s a new philosophy they got going here. It’s tough, they want to see how hard we work, and it’s gonna be a good test.”

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said Matt Gilroy, who has been skating near home on Long Island leading up to this camp. “Coach Tortorella wants what he wants, you just gotta give it to him.”

What he wants is to “change the attitude of our club,” and he elaborated on that quite colorfully: “We got two hot meals a day waiting for you here, we got a great practice facility, we got limos flying all over the place, we got New York City, the theaters, I need this, I need that - it’s time to put your hand (away), instead of asking for more, take it away and start getting things done. That’s the attitude I’m talking about.”

Among the players in attendance at the five-day camp are new draft picks Chris Kreider (who in a helmet looks like he could be Ryan Callahan’s little brother), Ethan Werek, Ryan Bourque, Scott Stajcer and Daniel Maggio, along with Del Zotto, Gilroy and Evgeny Grachev. Quick first impressions here are that Kreider and Bourque, while not very big, can fly.

And all of them will be considered for roster spots in a decision process that “is going to be done on merit,” Torts said. “As far as the lines are concerned and where it all sits with the makeup of our team, it’s wide open. And that’s with everybody - from Scott Gomez right on down. The only guy I know is going to be there and be a starter is Hank. Other than that, where everybody sits within the picture is wide open. And I’m not afraid of youth.”

OLYMPIC TORTS: USA Hockey tabbed Torts and Isles head coach Scott Gordon today to serve as assistants under Ron Wilson at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Tortorella was the Americans’ head coach at the world championships in 2008, where the U.S. bowed out in the quarterfinals. He also was on Peter Laviolette’s staff for the sixth-place finish at the 2005 worlds.

“It’s an honor. Anytime you get to represent your country, it’s an honor. It’s very exciting because we’re going to Vancouver, we’re not going across the pond, we’re playing right in a Canadian city.

“It’s a bit of a turn for USA Hockey, it’s going to be a really young team. I was fortunate enough a couple of years ago to deal with them in the world championship; now to deal with them in the Olympics, I’m really looking forward to it. … USA Hockey is something that I haven’t really been totally involved with over the years, but it’s something I’d like to be involved with now. This is a great opportunity.”

USA Hockey will conduct its orientation camp Aug. 17-19 in suburban Chicago. The final roster will be announced in late December.