Prucha to Play in Season Opener

Steve Zipay at Blue Notes reports that Petr Prucha will indeed be in the starting line-up for today's season opener against Tampa. There were a number of beat reporters (see here and here ) and fans (here) who were miffed at the possible snub, especially with Prucha being from the Czech Republic and having more than 20 family and friends invited to the game. Here's what Tom Renney had to say on the decision to insert Prucha into the line-up...

"I didn't change my mind, I made up my mind," said Renney. "I think Petr's had a good camp, he's been a little bit snakebitten offensively, but he's had chances as much as anybody on our team, and we need to score to win. The fact that he would be energized is not going to hurt us at all. But that's not unusual for Petr, we could be playing in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and he would play the game the same way. It was just one of those things, I contemplated it all day yesterday and last night."

...to tell you the truth I wouldn't have had a problem if Renney sat Prucha today. I'm not worried about hurting a player's feelings, I'm worried about wins. If Renney felt that Sjostrom was the better fit, then Prucha should have dealt with it like a professional. Not like a baby.

...having said that I'm glad Renney did put Prucha in the line-up. Despite not scoring in the preseason he did have a solid camp. Much better than Sjostrom who was originally getting the nod.

...and to go back to my original point when does playing in someone's hometown guarantee playing time? Does that mean the next time the Rangers play in Colton Orr's hometown he gets to play on the first line with Gomez and Drury? C'mon.

FYI - the Rangers are the away team tonight and will be wearing their white jerseys.