Monday, September 16, 2002

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Darius Kasparaitis has had an eventful training camp with the Rangers.

When he isn't piling up points during intrasquad scrimmages -- two goals and two assists in three games -- the defenseman is putting people on their rear ends or into the glass. It's the latter activity that is most expected from Kasparaitis, who was signed over the summer to provide the Rangers with toughness and attitude in front of the net. He is trying to cut down on his penchant for wandering from that space to make an even bigger physical impact.
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"I think here, they want me to be myself. I don't want to run around anymore, but I'm playing my game, trying to play hard," Kasparaitis said. "It's hard to play against teammates, especially guys that are in the top lineup. You don't want to hurt anybody, so you don't want to be too physical."

Sometimes, accidents happen. Early in his team's scrimmage against Mark Messier's red squad yesterday, Kasparaitis plastered forward Dusty Jamieson into the boards from behind, a booming hit. Jamieson got up and continued playing, but Ryan Hollweg, Kasparaitis' teammate on the white squad, was not so lucky later on.

Kasparaitis targeted Mikael Samuelsson for a hit, but Hollweg got caught in the middle and took the worst of the collision. The forward prospect was helped off the ice with a knee injury that ended his camp experience after three days.

The unfortunate incident raised Kasparaitis' profile even higher. After the Rangers signed him, Kasparaitis said he was glad to get a fresh start. His experience in Colorado at the end of last season left him wondering whether he'd ever play his hard-hitting style again. Kasparaitis says the Avalanche asked him to tone it down for the playoff run, which he found difficult. Rangers head coach Bryan Trottier, an assistant in Colorado at the time, remembers it having a positive effect on Kasparaitis.

"We didn't do it in Colorado to the degree that the perception is out there. The whole idea of playing within the system is being disciplined, it's not toning down," Trottier said. "It's being aware of positioning. There were certainly key times where Darius still stood up and stepped up, and still was very aggressive and meted out some solid, solid hits.

"When we start setting up systems and things like that, I'm very comfortable that Darius is going to be one of the leaders."

"In the beginning in Colorado, yes, I was upset because I couldn't play my style," Kasparaitis said. "Then I realized that I became a better player playing the way they wanted me to play."

Notes:
Hollweg suffered a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee on the collision with Kasparaitis and was knocked out of camp early for the second straight year. Last September, Hollweg sprained his ankle in a fight the first day of camp and never got back onto the ice. The 19-year-old center is likely to be named captain of the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western League this season. He was headed back to junior regardless of his performance. He will be off the ice for 10 days.

"It's just frustrating. I'd like to get through one camp without getting hurt," Hollweg said. "It's nice to be well-thought of by the organization, and I've been told they think I'm the steal of the draft from 2001. So we'll see what happens in the future."