First they looked lost, then they looked mediocre, and now they’re one of three teams left with a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
It’s been a wild ride for the Rangers this season, with a lot of transition, a lot roster reshaping, some showcase events — and a newly minted hope this can be a special team. The story will conclude with the franchise’s first Cup final since that iconic spring of 1994, and all of New York will be on edge to see if it results in a parade down the Canyon of Heroes.
In an effort to explain how they got here, let’s take a look back at some watershed moments throughout the year:
Tortorella out, Vigneault in
In a rare swap of coaches over the summer of 2013, the Rangers fired John Tortorella while the Canucks fired Alain Vigneault, then Vigneault was hired in New York while Vancouver hired Tortorella.
The enigmatic Tortorella was a key piece in the Rangers’ resurgence as a franchise, spending four-plus years on Broadway and bringing his team to the Eastern Conference finals in 2012. The façade of a hard-nosed team with an insatiable desire to block shots — or, really, Tortorella’s insatiable desire to bench players who didn’t — eventually wore down the team in the latter stages of the postseason.
It turns out, the Rangers won that trade in overwhelming fashion, as Tortorella flamed out in Vancouver and lasted just one awful season.
The Western Odyssey
Because of the final stage of the renovation to Madison Square Garden, the Rangers spent the better part of training camp and the first month of the season traveling around the western territories of North America. They held part of training camp in Banff, Alberta — near Calgary — and opened the season with a nine-game road trip.
Not only did that road trip end with a 3-6 record, but it included some of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory — a 9-2 hammering in San Jose on Oct. 8, followed two days later with a 6-0 drubbing at Anaheim.
“We had a very challenging training camp, and that might have put us back a couple weeks,” Vigneault said.
The King’s totters, Cam’s the Man
Henrik Lundqvist had been the backbone of the Rangers franchise for nine years, and in the final year of his contract, he wanted to get paid like it.
As offseason talks between his camp and general manager Glen Sather could not result in an extension, Lundqvist started the year with his future in the balance. He was open about how the overhanging negotiations bothered him, and his play suffered mightily. He also had to sit out two games in late October with the first injury of his career, allowing 26-year-old rookie Cam Talbot to get his first NHL start.
Talbot was a revelation, with the team winning eight games in his first 10 starts while Lundqvist had 10 wins in his first 27 starts. The King eventually got his ransom, a seven-year, $59.5 million deal signed on Dec. 5, but Talbot started three games in a row bridging the Christmas break over a healthy Lundqvist.
Since then, however, Lundqvist has settled his mind, counted his money and re-emerged as driving force of the team.
Outdoor Extravaganza
The NHL has found a wonderful new niche over the past six years for creating dramatic theatre with the hosting of outdoor games, and the Rangers got to play in two of them this season.
In late January, The Bronx was covered in snow and the infield of Yankee Stadium was covered with an ice rink. In frigid temperatures on a Sunday afternoon, the Rangers beat the Devils, 7-3, forcing Martin Brodeur from nets after two periods. They followed up three days later, under the lights, with a tight 2-1 win over the Islanders, with Dan Carcillo getting the game-winning goal.
It was not just a sweep in grand fashion, but it began a run of 5-1 that would take the Blueshirts into the Olympic break with some momentum.
Olympic (Non)-Break
Playing a compressed schedule because of the two-week Olympic tournament, most teams — the Rangers included — were feeling worn down when the break came in early February.
Yet the Blueshirts sent seven players to Sochi, Russia, to compete for their respective countries. A trio of American led the way in Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh. They also sent Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin (Sweden), Mats Zuccarello (Norway), and Rick Nash (Canada).
Nash and the Canadiens beat the Americans 1-0 in the semifinals, then cruised passed Lundqvist and the Swedes for their second straight gold.
Cap’t Cally gone, in comes the spirit of St. Louis
Callahan was a career-long Ranger, the captain of the team and part of a core group of players that came up through the system. So as unrestricted free agency beckoned after this season, Callahan was looking for a payday, and his demand was one Sather thought too high.
Instead of seeing him walk out the door for nothing, Sather sent Callahan and what would end up being two first-round picks to the Lightning in exchange for their 38-year-old captain, Martin St. Louis.
Playing for 13 years in Tampa Bay — including winning a Cup in 2004 with current Ranger and great friend Brad Richards — St. Louis decided to waive his no-trade clause only for the Rangers. He scored just once in 19 regular-season games with the Blueshirts, but wound up showing his value in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The long haul rewarded
The Rangers clinched their eighth playoff berth in the past nine years with three games to go in the season, actually wrapping up the postseason spot on a day their were idle, getting in by virtue of the Devils’ 1-0 loss to the Flames on April 7.
When the Blueshirts beat the Sabres on April 10, followed by a Flyers’ loss to the Lightning later that night, they wrapped up second place in the newly formed Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round.
“I don’t know if satisfied is the right word,” Richards said after the win, “but I’m happy.”
The playoffs
First round vs. Flyers
The longtime rival Flyers had a major resurgence under first-year coach Craig Berube, a former NHL pugilist, who encouraged his team to play in his likeness — on the edge, and always pushing the boundaries.
The Rangers responded by overusing the phrase “whistle-to-whistle,” meaning they would not get sucked into any of the antics the Flyers tried to get under their skin. Flyers starting goalie Steve Mason missed the first two games, but the Rangers only split them, and when they got blown out in Game 6 — with Henrik Lundqvist pulled midway through — a decisive Game 7 was set back at the Garden.
Lundqvist was outstanding in that one, pulling out a 2-1 win that got the Rangers into the second round for the third straight year.
Second round vs. Penguins
The Penguins were not the powerhouse this year they were in years past, but that didn’t stop Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang from forging a 3-1 series lead.
Going back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 seemed like the end of the line for the Rangers, and upon landing, the team found out Martin St. Louis’ mother had died of a heart attack. The veteran winger
flew home to Montreal, then returned the next morning for an emotional Game 5 win. That was followed by another win in Game 6 at the Garden on Mother’s Day, with St. Louis scoring the first goal, and then a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh, with Lundqvist making 35 saves in a 2-1 victory, setting a NHL record for five straight Game 7 wins.
Eastern Conference Finals vs. Canadiens
The Rangers had to return to their House of Horrors, the Bell Centre in Montreal, where Lundqvist struggled so mightily he hadn’t even played there in more than two years.
Yet with the Habs still hungover from their win over Boston, Lundqvist and the Rangers took both games to open the series up in Canada. A war of words was started soon after Game 1 when Montreal coach Michel Therrien accused Chris Kreider of “a reckless play” when he crashed into starting goalie Carey Price, causing a right-knee injury that would sideline Price for the rest of the series.
Yet through the many attempts at mind games that followed — along with multiple suspensions — Therrien’s squad could not match Lundqvist, could not overcome the Rangers’ mostly stout defense, and the Blueshirts advanced to their first Cup finals in 20 years.