There appears to be no enmity between Rangers coach Alain Vigneault and his former club. In fact, Vigneault, who coached the Canucks for seven seasons before being dismissed last spring, said he plans to give thanks in his first return to Vancouver since his firing.

"When I got let go, I didn't have a chance to say thank you to the people I was working with because I wasn't in Vancouver at the time," Vigneault said in a televised MSG interview Tuesday night. " All those people I was working with are there right now and I am going to take that opportunity to thank them."

That said, Vigneault also made it clear he wasn't headed back there simply to take a stroll down memory lane. In his first season with the Rangers, Vigneault has some important personnel decisions to make as training camp nears its end.

"It was a great time with Vancouver but now it's time to get it done with the Rangers," he said.

Whether his successor in Vancouver (and predecessor in New York considering the bizarre coaching swap) will express similar sentiments remains unclear. John Tortorella has not spoken with the New York media since his departure.

Should be an interesting pregame press conference Thursday morning...

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The Rangers announced that they have sent forwards Micheal Haley, Michael Kantor, Danny Kristo, and Andrew Yogan, defensemen Tommy Hughes, Aaron Johnson, Dylan McIlrath, and Danny Syvret, and goaltender Cam Talbot down to the American Hockey League.

This leaves the Rangers with 30 players on the active roster.