Snapshot of a changing NHL: The Rangers and Devils are lined up for the Sept. 22 preseason opener at the Garden, New Jersey’s pugilistically inclined Jordin Tootoo on right wing, New York’s similarly inclined Tanner Glass adjacent to him on left wing.
In the old days, the gloves would have dropped right off the opening draw and the night would have featured a long card of bouts. These days, the two men jostled briefly, then skated away to join their teammates in hockey.
“I was actually a little surprised,” Glass told The Post before the Blueshirts’ 6-3 victory over the Flyers at the Garden on Monday. “I wasn’t sure why I was starting, but then when I saw [the Devils’] opening lineup, I got it, and I definitely thought there’d be something, especially with him on a tryout looking for a job.
“But he didn’t really even say anything, and so we just played,” said the six-year NHL veteran who joined the Rangers over the summer as a free agent who played with the Penguins last season. “Definitely the thinking in this league has changed.
“You don’t see nearly as many heavyweights out there whose main job is to fight. Now you’ve got middleweights who fight, but who also can skate, kill penalties, and play a regular shift. That’s how it should be.”
And, owing to history, Rangers-Flyers just wouldn’t be Rangers-Flyers without at least one fight … which there was when Glass, who played a strong game during which he delivered punishing hits on Zac Rinaldo and Chris Vandevelde, recorded a first-period decision against Zack Stortini that featured a pair of stinging left jabs.
The game, after all, hasn’t changed completely.
Glass is one of those middleweights who can skate and kill penalties. He is a bigger, faster version of Derek Dorsett, who held the middleweight belt on Broadway for one year before he was sent to Vancouver in late June for a third-rounder.
This was about a week before the Blueshirts inked Glass — who had played for coach Alain Vigneault for two seasons in Vancouver — to a three-year contract worth $1.45 million per season. Glass was a staple on the 2010-11 Canucks team that went to Game 7 of the Cup finals before losing to the Bruins.
“[Glass brings] a lot of what Dorse brought,” Vigneault said. “He brought great energy, was a great team player, helped us on the penalty kill. I had Tanner three or four years ago, and [Rangers associate coach Scott Arniel] really kept up on his career and felt that he has improved in [certain] areas. We felt he could come in and contribute.
“That’s obviously in five-on-five in that fourth-line role and in penalty killing. I’m confident he’ll be able to do that for us.”
The Rangers aren’t timid. They aren’t going to be intimidated. But they’re not an especially big team and their truculence quotient doesn’t jump off the page. Glass will enter the season with 53 career fighting majors, according to the website hockeyfights.com. Ryan Malone, sidelined with a hip-pointer as he competes for a roster spot, has 43 career NHL fighting majors. Dan Boyle and Kevin Klein are next on the club with eight career bouts apiece.
“I try to be a good teammate; I take pride in protecting my guys whenever that’s necessary,” said Glass, who played at Dartmouth with current Ranger Lee Stempniak and with 2003 first-rounder Hugh Jessiman. “I think my game is pretty straight forward as an energy guy who plays straight-line hockey, kills penalties, is difficult to play against and does what’s necessary when it’s called upon.
“I know my role pretty well.”