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They come to work at the rink every day, strapping on their hard hats, putting on their Black-and-Blue shirts, committed to improving, not even needing to proclaim that they’re All In, because that’s evident to anyone who watches the way they play.
A year after Tim Mara bought the Football Giants in 1925, Tex Rickard bought the Rangers. The Giants, the Rangers and Yankees, here since (or before) Jimmy Walker was Mayor, they are our historical franchises.
And now, the Rangers could make history again.
Now the Blueshirts could follow Big Blue one more time.
The Rangers may skate under the radar through most of the calendar, but they have the pedigree that grants them the ability to own this city the way they did when they won it all in 1994 and even when they went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979.
The way they have a chance to own this city this spring.
Look, this is not a powerhouse team. This is not a group glittering with stars like the one featuring Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter and Adam Graves that put an end to the 54-year Stanley Cup drought by looking history in the eye until it blinked.
But it is a team that is greater than the sum of its parts operating in a sport that rewards fabric more than any other. There are talents who do get their name above the title on the marquee, specifically Henrik Lundqvist and Marian Gaborik, and that is required of teams that go all the way, but more than the commitment to grind on every shift, to block every shot and to finish and play through every check, there is the commitment to one another.
All In, on the field.
All In, on the ice.
“Definitely a big part of our success and identity is the way we battle for each other every night,” captain Ryan Callahan said yesterday. “It’s one guy taking a hit for the next guy to the point where it’s pretty hard not to do it and then feel good about yourself.
“There’s accountability in the room. … It’s not so much that you’d be letting down the coaching staff as that you’d be letting down your teammates.
“A lot of us have grown up together in this organization. I think the fact we care about each other so much is the reason our commitment is so consistent.”
There are no prima donnas here — no power play either at the moment, but holes in the attack are far more operable than failure of the heart — and there are no high-wire acts either.
“There’s an across-the-board level of sacrifice needed for success in this game,” said Mike Rupp, who augmented the core this year. “I’ve been on teams where you have 15 guys who sacrifice every night but there are also five guys floating looking for their cookies, and that doesn’t work.
“We don’t have that here. We’re all in this together.”
The Rangers have to improve toward the finish the way the Giants improved when they Finished. The Rangers will need an unexpected breakout, maybe speed demon Carl Hagelin as Victor Cruz.
They will need their King, Lundqvist, to elevate his team the way the Giants’ King, Eli Manning, elevated that one.
Once champions in this town were bombastic. The Yankees of the ’70s and the Mets of 1986 come to mind. But not lately.
The latter-day dynastic Yankees have been understated. The Giants have done their talking on the field the way the Rangers, who aren’t much for saying cheese even when they have a mouthful of it, do their talking on the ice.
More eyes will be on the Rangers now. They are worth a watch. They are worthy of your attention. They are no lock to win anything, but who is? The Giants sure weren’t.
larry.brooks@nypost.com