Lundqvist, Gaborik get passes from opening drills

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Some youngsters, like 22-year-old Mats Zuccarello Aasen, bent over the bench, gassed. Others dropped to their knees following a sixth series of laps. A few, like weary goaltender Jordan Parise, managed to offer quips afterward: "It was easier than I made it look."

Sixty players ground through grueling conditioning tests on the first day of Rangers training camp Friday, but two were conspicuous in their absence: Henrik Lundqvist and Marian Gaborik.

The two stars were given passes by head coach John Tortorella: Lundqvist had tweaked his groin; Gaborik has a sore back. Both participated in the annual medical tests and are expected to be on ice Saturday.

Lundqvist's issue is apparently unrelated to the sore knee that the Swedish goaltender had at the end of the season, for which he received treatment and a cortisone shot two months ago. Lundqvist has looked sharp in informal scrimmages for the past two weeks and was in Manhattan for an NHL players' publicity tour earlier this week.

Gaborik skated onto the ice with the first group of players at around 9:15 a.m., loosened up, but went off before the conditioning began. Tortorella said that the first-line right wing had suffered a sore back for a few days and would go through the laps, during which the players wear heart monitors, another day. Gaborik also was allowed to delay some tests last fall, in his first camp as a Ranger.

Another player who cannot avoid scrutiny here is veteran Wade Redden, 33, who struggled last season, and thanks to his $6.5-million annual contract, is on the bubble.

"Obviously, I've got to come in and play well and show I belong," he said. "I know there are a lot of defensemen in camp, a lot of young guys coming in. They've got some choices to make. I've got to feel good about what I do."

The former Ottawa Senator said the front office told him he has an opportunity to stick with the team, but declined to assess his play last season. "I don't want to go back and dwell on the past," Redden said. "I want to come in with a clear mind. My focus all year has been coming in fresh and trying to have some fun, do what I can . . . They're going to make the best decision for the team. I want it to be with me in the first lineup of the year."