from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

It’s a childhood friendship reunited, and the Rangers look to be the beneficiary.

Eric Staal had this in the back of his mind when he forfeited his no-move clause and accepted the trade to the Rangers two weeks ago. Rick Nash was hurt, but the thought of playing alongside his old running mate from their teenage years with Team Canada was one of the first things that came to Staal when the trade went down.

Now, with Nash likely to return to the lineup for the game at Detroit on Saturday afternoon after a 20-game absence, all signs point to the two big bodies lining up together again.

“It’s been a long time; it’s crazy how fast time goes,” Staal said after Friday’s practice, when he centered a line with Nash on the left. “We were fortunate to kind of grow up together through junior hockey and some of Team Canada teams. Nasher has always been a great player, a power-type forward who gets to the net hard and can score goals. Funny how we’re here now, within our careers, it’s a great opportunity for both of us and for the team to have a good run down the stretch.”

That is the hope from coach Alain Vigneault, who seemingly had this duo pegged from the moment Staal packed his bags for Broadway. With the speedy and aggressive Viktor Stalberg on the right, Vigneault has created a line that is worthy of matchup consideration from the opposition.

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