HARTFORD, Conn – John Mitchell has always prided himself in being “a pretty fast skater” and proved it when he won a fastest skater competition with the Toronto Maple Leafs three years ago.
“I think I actually beat the time in the NHL All-Star Game, so I know I can skate,” Mitchell recalled Wednesday night after his first NHL action with the New York Rangers in a 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils in the preseason opener at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.
Mitchell was one of the first players used in all situations and also leveled Cam Janssen, one of the Devils’ tough guys, as he continued to center a line with pesky veteran Sean Avery and fuzzy-faced J.T. Miller, the Rangers’ first-round pick (15th overall) in June. The trio was cited as “probably our most effective line, as far as forechecking and having some offensive zone pressure” by Rangers coach John Tortorella, who watched in the upper deck with president and general manager Glen Sather and other team executives while assistant GM/assistant coach/Connecticut Whale GM Jim Schoenfeld ran the bench with assistant coach Mike Sullivan.
But Mitchell’s major asset Wednesday night was a quicker pace from last season, when he often skated at 45 rpm instead of 78 after he missed time with injuries both with the Toronto Marlies and with the Whale, whom he joined after being acquired on Feb. 28 for a seventh-round pick in 2012.
“Injuries heal,” Mitchell said, “and I felt like I could get back to my normal skating stride. I try to use my size (6 feet 3, 205 pounds) and my speed to my advantage.”
Mitchell had plenty of reason to smile after continuing his solid play since being traded. Schoenfeld considered Mitchell the Whale’s best player after his acquisition and said his steady play has continued in training camp. Some of the latter can be attributed to summer training with retired NHL veteran Gary Roberts, who is the player development consultant of the Dallas Stars and runs a gym in Mitchell’s hometown of Toronto where they worked out with NHL stars such as Steven Stamkos and Steve Downie of the Tampa Bay Lightning, James Neal of the Pittsburgh Penguins and reigning Rookie of the Year Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I did a lot more running and kind of sprint work, so that might help with cycling your feet through when you skate,” Mitchell said. “Gary is a great guy who does everything beautifully. He has a top-notch facility and is very good with his workouts. He’s (45), but he’s still huge, a real specimen. Nutrition for him is just as much as your workouts. It’s crazy how he deals with nutrition.
“Another great thing about working out with him was that there was a meal right afterwards, and it was all organic. There was no preservatives, no (potato) chips, none of that, zero. This was THE most organic meal you could possibly eat, and I like that because obviously you need to fuel the body right after you work out. So you have protein shake, go shower and do whatever for 20-25 minutes, and by the time you’re done that, you’re starving. That shake didn’t really do much for you, so you want to eat a meal.”
Mitchell said he gained a few pounds, weighed 208 at the start of training camp and is now at 204.
“That’s best for me for optimum strength and speed,” Mitchell said. “Even if I went down to 200, I wouldn’t be opposed to that. You might just be that much quicker.”
It’s all part of a kind of second lease on hockey life for Mitchell after the injuries and being discarded by the Maple Leafs. At the time he was traded, Mitchell had one goal and four assists in 10 games with the Marlies after getting two goals and one assist in 23 games with the Maple Leafs.
“At the end, it was tough (in Toronto) with injuries two years in a row,” Mitchell said. “Things obviously didn’t work out for me there. But it’s a new year and new season and a new training camp, so it’s an opportunity.
“Every time you get traded, obviously there’s some sort of chance. Of course I would have liked to come up and play with the big club last year and have an opportunity to show them what I could do in the regular season. But things obviously didn’t happen for me that way, so I re-signed here ($650,000 at the NHL level for one year) just trying to get myself an opportunity. They obviously showed interest in me, so that’s a good sign and you definitely want to want to sign at that point because they show interest in you and they like the way you play. So I thought there was a definite opportunity there, and I’m going to try to make the most of it.”
Mitchell has accomplished that objective so far, getting seven goals and five assists in 14 regular-season games with the Whale and then adding three goals and three assists in six playoff games. And he scored one of the first goals in team scrimmages while earning plaudits from Tortorella.
“I’ve felt pretty good in camp so far,” Mitchell said. “And I felt pretty good (Wednesday night) trying to use my speed and get some bumps in and checks and try to get some pucks to the net. The first game is always a little bit sloppy, but obviously you can’t use any excuses and you just got to go out there and play the game.
“Obviously it wasn’t going to be a finesse game with the ice being a little wet, so at that point it’s basically just try to get chips off the boards to your wingers or even to yourself with speed. Obviously if you chip it, they can’t hold you up, so that gives you a chance to get around them and get the puck and take it to the net if you can. That’s something that we tried to do.”
Mitchell smiled when reminded of knocking Janssen to the ice.
“I’ve played against Jannie a long time, all the way to the (Ontario Hockey League),” said Mitchell, 26, who played for the Plymouth Whalers in juniors. “He’s definitely a tough guy and likes to take runs at guys every once in a while, so I’ll give a run at him just to let him know.”
Mitchell also had one of the Rangers’ few good scoring chances before Dale Weise started and ended the play that tied the game with 4:21 left in regulation. Mitchell was denied the equalizer when Jeff Frazee gloved his 30-foot shot with 9:34 to go and the Rangers on a power play.
“The puck kind of came to me, and I just wanted to try and get a shot on the net,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t have a very good angle to get a rebound or anything crazy like that, so I just tried to get the puck on the net and see what might happen. (Frazee) kind of saw it the whole way.”
Mitchell said he has been happy with the way things have gone with Avery and Miller, who excelled in a prospects tournament last week in Traverse City, Mich., where the Rangers lost 5-2 in the final to the more experienced Buffalo Sabres.
“They’re both speedy guys who like to get in on the forecheck, and so do I, so we complement each other reasonably well with just how we play,” Mitchell said. “We’re all kind of in the same boat.”
Mitchell hopes his steady play earned him a trip to Europe for four of the Rangers’ seven preseason games, starting next Thursday at HC Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic.
“I most certainly would love to go, and it would be an honor and benefit me,” Mitchell said. “I’ve never played in Europe, so that definitely would be quite the experience for me. The thought of the bigger ice suits me well because I like to skate and use my speed. You’ve got wider boards and longer rinks, so it certainly helps.”
And it helps when you’ve performed the way Mitchell has the first week of the preseason.
“He has had a very good camp and followed it with a very good game,” Schoenfeld said. “He’s been skating well with more speed, is in great shape and has made some good plays. But it’s all about passing tests, and he’ll have more to come soon.”
But it’s not Friday at 7 p.m., as Mitchell is not scheduled to be in the lineup for the Rangers’ second preseason game against the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The lineup is slated to include goalies Marty Biron and Chad Johnson, defensemen Brendan Bell, Michael Del Zotto, Tim Erixon, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer and Pavel Valentenko and forwards Weise, captain Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko, Marian Gaborik, Carl Hagelin, Kris Newbury, Brad Richards, Mike Rupp, Derek Stepan, Wojtek Wolski and Mats Zuccarello.
In a 1 p.m. prelim that is closed to the public, the Rangers’ prospects will play their Devils counterparts. The Rangers’ lineup is scheduled to consist of goalies Jason Missiaen and Scott Stajcer, defensemen Stu Bickel, Sam Klassen, Tomas Kundratek, Dylan McIlrath, Jyri Niemi and Sam Noreau and forwards Bourque, Miller, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Jordan Hickmott, Shane McColgan, Matt Rust, Michael St. Croix, Scott Tanski, Kelsey Tessier, Christian Thomas, Jason Wilson and Andrew Yogan.
The Rangers play their third and final preseason game in North America when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday at 1 p.m. before flying to Europe for four games before their season opener Oct. 7 against the Los Angeles Kings in Stockholm, Sweden.
Story by Bruce Berlet of the Connecticut Whale
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