‘I have no doubts at all about Rick Nash. I think Rick put too much pressure on himself during the first round.’ —Glen Sather, Rangers GM on Rick Nash (above). (AP)
TIME TO STEP UP: Rangers GM Glen Sather (above) believes the Blueshirts will have to be better than they were in the first round to beat the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (Neil Miller)
TIME TO STEP UP: Rangers GM Glen Sather believes the Blueshirts will have to be better than they were in the first round to beat the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP)
TIME TO STEP UP: Rangers GM Glen Sather (inset) believes the Blueshirts will have to be better than they were in the first round to beat the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP; Neil Miller)
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BOSTON — So long ago, this was where Glen Sather started his NHL career as one of the supporting actors of the cast of “Bobby Orr and the Animals” that made life so miserable for the Rangers in the late ’60s.
But Sather never made it to the parade on Causeway that followed the Bruins’ 1970 Stanley Cup championship. He was a Penguin by then and, of all things, on the other side wearing the Blueshirt when the B’s captured the Cup again two years later by defeating the Rangers in the six-game, 1972 Finals.
“I grew up with those guys, with Bobby, Derek [Sanderson] — who called me today, by the way — and it was disappointing when they let me go, but I moved on,” Sather told The Post yesterday. “I enjoyed everywhere I played and tried to make the most of every experience I had.
“It wasn’t strange for me to be with the Rangers playing against the Bruins in the Finals that year. Once it’s over, it’s over. It was just tough not to win it.”
Now, it’s Sather as the Blueshirts’ general manager going into Boston for a second-round series against the Bruins, the Rangers still 12 victories away from the Stanley Cup, but four wins closer than they were when the tournament commenced.
“I know it’s going to be tough, but I’m confident in this group,” Sather said. “We were good enough to beat Washington, and we’ll have to be better than that in order to beat Boston.
“So much of a series like this comes down to the goaltending, you know all the clichés, but when you’ve got a guy there like Henrik [Lundqvist], you have to feel pretty good about your team.”
Other things Sather, who does not discuss his March prostate cancer surgery, feels pretty good about: a) Rick Nash, who failed to score a goal in the seven-game series against the Caps; b) the club’s depth in the wake of the deals at the deadline that brought Derick Brassard, John Moore and Derek Dorsett from Columbus (and the sidelined Ryane Clowe from San Jose); c) Mats Zuccarello; and, d) his coach, John Tortorella.
“I have no doubts at all about Rick Nash,” Sather said as he watched the Rangers skate at their practice facility. “I think Rick put too much pressure on himself during the first round, but by the time it came to the last game, he just played and let the game come to him, and it was his best game.
“He wants so badly to live up to the expectations everyone has for him; the fans, the media, us and the coaching staff, and the expectations he has for himself individually,” the GM said. “You can’t play with stress.
“But I think he’s past that. He’s going through a learning phase, too. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to be a big part of this for us.”
Nash skated yesterday with Brassard and Zuccarello on the unit constructed by Tortorella for the final two games of the first round. Neither of Big 61’s linemates were Rangers until late in the season, Zuccarello re-upping as a free agent on March 28 following his season in the KHL and Brassard arriving at the April 3 deadline.
“Look how confident and comfortable Zuke looks compared to before,” Sather said. “When I watched him during the [2010] Olympics, I could see how smart he was, but he didn’t have the experience his first two years here and he struggled.
“Now he’s relaxed. And he’s a different player.”
And the Rangers have been a different team since the deadline deals filled out the lineup and allowed the coach to fill holes with appropriately shaped pegs.
“We saw Brassard quite a bit, so I’m not surprised by what he’s been able to accomplish,” Sather said of the center who leads the team and is tied for fifth in the playoffs with nine points (two goals, seven assists). “He has solved a lot of problems for us.
“All the players we added are good guys. They want to compete. The moves gave us more depth, which gave the team more confidence we could handle different situations.”
There is, from time to time, external grumbling about the coach when the Rangers struggle. The grumbling does not come from the GM’s office.
“He’s such a competitive guy, but at the same time, he’s a tremendously confident guy and a calming influence on the team,” Sather said. “He gets his back up really quickly, too early sometimes, but he just wants to win so badly.
“That’s what you want. That’s what you need.”
That’s what Sather of the Rangers has.