This will not be the Garden party envisioned by Alexis Lafreniere when the Saint-Eustache boy contemplated his NHL debut as soon as the ping-pong ball appeared with the Rangers logo in the second week of August.
Your parents will not be in the building. His sister will not be in the building. Not even the extended family members of the 19-year-old and his friends. In addition, Lafreniere’s closest and dearest people will not even be able to gather to watch television from a central location in their home province.
Current COVID-19 restrictions are strict in Quebec. There is a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am. Internal meetings are strictly limited.
“They all have to be separated, for sure,” said Lafreniere after the club’s final preparation on the ice for Thursday’s debut against the Islanders. “I’m sure that everyone will be watching, my friends, my family, it will certainly be exciting for them too.
“I can’t wait for my first game.”
The absence of media at the camp, coupled with the absence of exhibition games, may have contained the enthusiasm as Lafreniere prepares for his debut. In fact, as the camp evolved and K’Andre Miller threw his way not only to the squad, but also to a team with Jacob Trouba, the 21-year-old from Wisconsin became the new shiny toy.
Still, this does not detract from the spotlight that will be trained at Lafreniere, who is set to become the first general draft team chosen by Rangers to play for Rangers. The only other general choice in the franchise, Andre Veilleux in 1965, did not make it to the NHL.
“Obviously, I’m very nervous, but I’m very excited and looking forward to my first game in the NHL,” said Lafreniere. “It is something that I have been dreaming of for a long time, so it will be a special moment, for sure.
“My first shift, maybe, I’ll try to do a quick one and then we’ll go.”
Lafreniere is scheduled to play on the third row with Filip Chytil, 21, who has 144 NHL regular season games under his belt, and Julien Gauthier, 23, a veteran of 17 major league competitions in the regular season. Babies in the forest. But they are not alone.
In fact, the Blueshirts will open with eight players aged 23 and under, plus another half-dozen of 24 or 25. The training center in Tarrytown and the Garden have become youth centers. This recalls a couple of previous eras in the history of the franchise, when a group of children developed into a unit and was instrumental in the team’s rise.
In the 1970s, the group had Ron Greschner, Ron Duguay, Don Murdoch, Dave Maloney, Don Maloney, Pat Hickey, Mike McEwen, Lucien DeBlois, Dave Farrish, John Davidson (acquired in a deal after his second season) and Nick Fotiu.
The Post’s Rangers Podcast, “Up In The Blue Seats,” returns with the season premiere on Thursday.
And then there was Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Mats Zuccarello and Henrik Lundqvist to carry the banner for much of the 2010s.
Each of these eras culminated with a trip to the Stanley Cup final, the first in 1979, the next in 2014. This group, plus names like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Trouba and Ryan Strome, has the ultimate goal for the next step.
But first things first. A Lafreniere debut. Kaapo Kakko, the second general selection of 2019, in the second row, where he started last season with Kreider and Strome. Igor Shesterkin making his first NHL debut. A battle against the finalist islanders of the conference. In an empty arena.
“We are going to be one of the youngest teams in the league again, but the older guys we have and the ones who have experience have really helped the young people and I think it is articulating really well,” said Kreider, the club’s senior member service. “Something I saw are the guys who were supposed to be 18, 19, 20 last year and some guys in the first year seem a lot more comfortable on the ice and in the room.
“I think the group has been together long enough for everyone to be comfortable. The new guys are being welcomed and adapted immediately. The exciting thing is how much potential this group has and the potential of each individual to grow day by day during the season.
Lafreniere, who will share an apartment with Miller this season, said he made adjustments as the camp evolved and he and his companions became familiar with each other’s tendencies.
“I think I’ve improved since Day 1,” said No. 13. “The guys are a lot faster with you and you have to make quicker decisions, so you have to be ready to play as soon as you get the record.
“This is what I’ve been working on and I’m still trying to improve. I just try to get better and better every day. “
Thursday is the 1st for Lafreniere and the 1st for the Rangers. Manhattan parties will be postponed, but chances are one or two agitators will be heard in Quebec.