{"id":422817,"date":"2026-01-23T03:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T03:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/422817\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T03:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T03:04:13","slug":"mike-sullivan-enforces-a-surprise-switch-up-in-rangers-practice-drill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/422817\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Sullivan enforces a surprise switch up in Rangers practice drill"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Rangers opened practice in an unconventional way Thursday afternoon in El Segundo.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t exactly jump out at first glance. After a closer look at the first drill of the day, however, there was something noticeably different about each Ranger on the ice.<\/p>\n

Artemi Panarin, a righty shot, was playing with a left-handed stick.<\/p>\n

Captain J.T. Miller, a lefty shot, was skating with a right-handed stick.<\/p>\n

Each player was participating in the drill with his off hand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a method Mike Sullivan has used a lot, the Rangers head coach said. Maybe once or twice a year, but it mostly depends on circumstances.<\/p>\n

\"NewJ.T. Miller shoots on goal during the Rangers\u2019 loss to the Kings on Jan. 20, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start a practice like that, I think it captures their attention,\u201d Sullivan said when asked about the unique drill. \u201cI also think it sets the mood for what\u2019s about to come. So it gives us a certain energy going into the practice that usually we can build on after it. The guys have fun with it. It\u2019s a little bit competitive. I also think that, from a coordination standpoint, there\u2019s value with the brain-body connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fascinating for me to watch it because you can tell some of the guys that are dominant on one side, and then you can tell some of the other guys that have a capacity to be able to execute both righty and lefty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Losers of 10 of their past 12 games, the Rangers looked primed to make at least one lineup change.<\/p>\n

Jonny Brodzinski, who took just two shifts in the second period and was benched in all of the third in Tuesday\u2019s loss, could be the odd man out for the first time since Dec. 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is just attention and detail away from the puck and a commitment to play defense,\u201d Sullivan said of Brodzinski\u2019s playing time Tuesday night. \u201cOne of the expectations of our bottom six is a certain reliability and a certain dependability, and being able to put them out in situations and making sure that their intentions are defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth line primarily rotated during practice Thursday, but it looked like Anton Blidh was set to replace Brodzinski.<\/p>\n

\"RangersRangers head coach Mike Sullivan Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Blidh skated in two games for the Rangers earlier this month against the Sabres and Mammoth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Bleeder brings a lot of energy,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI think he\u2019s got a physical aspect to his game. He can be one of those disruptive players. Get in on the forecheck, make it hard on our opponent\u2019s defenseman going back for pucks, playing a straight-ahead, north-south, simple, smart game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how much Matt Rempe\u2019s ongoing recovery from thumb surgery weighed into his continued scratching, Sullivan said it was \u201ceverything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why he\u2019s not in the lineup,\u201d he said. \u201cWe made a decision based on talking with Remps. He wasn\u2019t able to make an impact on the game the way he\u2019s capable of. And although he\u2019s in a position where he can practice with us all the time, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re prepared for game competition, and especially the game that he plays.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Rangers opened practice in an unconventional way Thursday afternoon in El Segundo. It didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,2310,35,4,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-422817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mike-sullivan-nhl","10":"tag-new-york-rangers","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115942200112748698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}