The New York Rangers may have missed the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, but they had a great run which included a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2014.
This is normally the time of year when the New York Rangers are preparing for the Stanley Cup Playoffs—the final week of the season, fine-tuning the machine for the most grueling tournament in sports.
Not this year. Depressing for so many.
Snap out of it, Rangerstown.
The Blueshirts have showcased an incredible run. Sure, we would have loved to see them hoist the cup as they traveled down the Canyon of Heroes in June. Sometimes you have to look beyond the ultimate goal, the goal every team has at the start of the season.
There hasn’t been a cup since 1994, but hey, it could be worse. You could be a Carolina Hurricanes fan or worse, a fan of the other New York team that reminds so many of fish sticks. Thank the hockey gods that never happened.
Rangers fans have been lucky, witnessing some great things along the way over the last eight years. Take a look at these numbers, courtesy of Kenny Albert of MSG Networks:
- Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the organization never played a single game while out of playoff contention until this past Wednesday’s contest in Washington. That’s 1,026 consecutive meaningful regular season games.
- 129 playoff games since the spring of 2006, which stands second in the entire NHL behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins. Six memorable Game 7 victories. Three trips to the Conference Finals, one Presidents’ Trophy, and one Stanley Cup Final.
The Rangers missed the postseason for seven straight seasons prior to 2005-06.
The Players and memories are Everlasting
The Rangers have has some special players wear the red, white and blue sweater. Here are some memorable moments in Rangers history over the past few seasons.
Martin St. Louis scores the overtime winning goal against the Montreal Canadiens in 2015:
Marc Staal‘s OT winner vs the Caps in 2012:
Derek Stepan‘s OT winner against the Capitals in OT in game 7 May 2015:
Coming back from 3-1 game deficits against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014 and against the Washington Capitals in 2015:
J.T. Miller’s OT winner in the 2018 Winter Classic against the Buffalo Sabres:
The 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia, Hank stops Daniel Briere on the penalty shot:
Ryan McDonagh OT goal in 2015 against the Washington Capitals:
Chris Kreider OT goal vs Boston Bruins in 2013:
Carl Hagelin OT goal that knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015:
What an incredible time New York has had watching the Blueshirts do battle with the NHL’s best.
Now we have the opportunity to watch the young kids of the organization skate with the pride and tradition fans are accustomed to seeing. The future is now and the names leading the way is impressive.
Neal Pionk, John Gilmour, Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil will join Brady Skjei, Chris Kreider, Jimmy Vesey, Kevin Hayes and Vladislav Namestnikov among other Rangers to lead the organization back to the playoffs.
Sometimes, a team needs to be broken down in order to be reborn. The Rangers are at this point now.
Conor McDonald might have said it best Friday night at MSG.
“To the future of the New York Rangers…This is NYC…we’ve been knocked down plenty of times before. We get up, we keep the faith and we keep going.”- @NYRangers
"To the future of the New York Rangers…This is NYC…we've been knocked down plenty of times before. We get up, we keep the faith and we keep going."
– Conor McDonald speaks before presenting the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award presented by @NorthwellHealth to Henrik pic.twitter.com/ciWFglwDcQ
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 31, 2018
The Rangers will rise again. This new team will bring the Rangers back to the playoffs and hopefully, another shot at a Stanley Cup. Stay strong fans and always remain Ranger Proud.
