BOSTON — The Rangers enter the season looking to take care of unfinished business, confident the journey that begins tonight against the Bruins can conclude with a ride up the Canyon of Heroes.
“The ultimate goal is to compete to win the Stanley Cup and I think we’ve put ourselves in position to be able to do that as long as we don’t lose sight of our day-to-day responsibility,” captain Ryan Callahan told The Post yesterday.
“We need to focus on the day and game in front of us, but we’d like to win our division, we’d like to get home ice and overall we’d like to build on what we started last year, but ultimately didn’t finish.”
The Rangers went into first place in the Atlantic Division on Dec. 23 of last season and held it the rest of the way. The Blueshirts sat atop the east from Dec. 26 through the end of the season in which they went 51-24-7 for 109 points.
They won two Game 7’s to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, only to run into Martin Brodeur, who improbably twisted Battle of the Hudson history his and the Devils’ way.
“We got a taste, and it was valuable, and now we’re going to have to be even better just to get back to the same place,” Brad Richards said. “It’s critical for us never to forget that whatever we accomplish is through hard work and attention to detail, so we cannot afford to let that slip.”
“Everyone around the league knows who we are and how we play. In order to keep our identity, we have to be ready to work even harder. That’s a commitment we all share.”
The 48-game schedule will provide an unusual test. Will the Black-and-Blueshirts have an advantage as the year plays out because they’re less likely to wear down facing a shorter schedule? Or, given the truncated season, will more teams play to maximum effort on more nights, thus diminishing the Rangers’ work-ethic advantage? There is no way to know.
“It’s a sprint,” Mike Rupp said. “The way I look at it, the first team that can get out there and punch the other team in the mouth will have a good kick-start.”
Even though the Rangers led the NHL last season with 65 fighting majors (four more than Boston), Rupp was speaking metaphorically. It will take a village for the Blueshirts to replace Brandon Prust, but Rupp will be among the folks prominent in attempting to do so.
“We’re going to be grinding every night because that’s what we do,” Rupp said. “I think everyone here understands what it’s going to take for us to get to where we want to go.”
It’s not all about grinding, taking the body or blocking shots. The Rangers have added a massive talent in Rick Nash, who is ready for New York after nine seasons as far out of the spotlight as possible in the NHL.
Starting his seventh straight opener is goalie Henrik Lundqvist, reigning Vezina Trophy winner, King of his Castle, Master of the Boston Garden Domain with a career 8-3-2 record, 1.20 GAA and .960 save percentage while allowing two goals or fewer in his last 12 starts on the Bruins’ rink.
“I don’t know what to expect after such a short training period, I don’t know what kind of a game it will be,” Lundqvist said. “But I’m ready and I’m excited.
“We all are ready and excited.”