The origin of Chris Kreider’s postseason knack is believed to have begun in the spring of 2012, when he scored the game-winning goal of a Stanley Cup playoff game against the Senators before he even suited up in a regular-season NHL contest. It came just weeks after he signed with the Rangers.
But, really, it began years earlier, before the Boston product would help lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup finals and emerge as a powerful two-way force.
It was in his days at hockey prep powerhouse Phillips Andover Academy and later Boston College — where he would win two NCAA titles and was the 2011 Beanpot Tournament MVP — his heroics truly started.
Even as a college underclassman, Kreider raised his game when the opportunity called for it.
“He had a capacity to play bigger the more important the games were,” legendary Boston College coach Jerry York said. “Whether it was the Beanpot or NCAA championships, freshman year during the World Junior Championships, his game was raised up a notch for those types of what he thought were important games — trophy games.”
Rangers teammate Ryan McDonagh saw that first hand, before he would become teammates with Kreider. They were on opposite sides of the 2010 NCAA final, and McDonagh’s Wisconsin team ended up on the short end of a 5-0 score. Kreider scored a goal and made his mark, as he almost always does on the biggest stages.
“He was a beast out there,” McDonagh recalled after practice on Sunday. “He was the same kind of guy then that he is now.”
Kreider’s value is obvious to the Rangers since he returned from a fractured left hand that cost him the final nine games of the regular season and the first 10 of the playoffs. Kreider, 23, has four goals and six assists in 10 playoff contests — seven of them Rangers wins — after he established himself as a focal point of the Blueshirts’ attack, producing 37 points, 17 goals and 20 assists, in 66 regular-season games.
“The same thing we saw at the prep school level we’re seeing now at the NHL level,” Phillips coach Dean Boylan said.
Kreider developed that edge in high school. He was the New England Prep Player of the Year as a junior, registering 56 points in 26 games. Kreider led Phillips Andover to the New England Prep semifinals, but the team fell short because he hit a few posts in the final minutes of a one-goal defeat, Boylan recalled, in a game Kreider thoroughly dominated.
What stuck with Boylan most, and what he still fondly recalls, was Kreider’s personality — an elite player without an ego. He never talked about statistics or individual accomplishments. It was all about the team, wins and losses, not goal-scoring records or personal feats. He was a mentor to younger players, illustrating leadership qualities with his actions.
“He worked for team success. It wasn’t about him — it was never about him,” Boylan said. “He just cared about winning and losses. He had this will to win. I see the same thing [today]. I saw it at Boston College and I see it now with the Rangers, an incredible desire to success for his teammates.”
True to form, Kreider has dismissed the credit he has received. He has avoided questions about himself and his production, steering them toward his teammates. When pressed about his own knack for coming up big when everything is on the line, he finally relented. Somewhat.
“It brings out everyone’s best,” Kreider said, smiling. “It’s fun. It’s why you play, compete to win trophies. This time of year it’s just exciting to come to the rink, continue to play hockey. It’s why you play hockey.”
Kreider wasn’t a phenom, playing a variety of sports growing up before gradually developing into an elite player. At Andover, Kreider began to find that quick first step, the one he has used to burn the Canadiens and Penguins.
York sees two different speeds at the collegiate level — college speed and NHL speed. Kreider had the latter.
“He’s got another gear from that. He had that extra gear, and you’re seeing that now in some of those Stanley Cup [playoff] games,” York said. “It’s hard to believe watching him he wasn’t in Sochi [for the Olympics]. He’s playing so good right now.”
Despite his advanced skill level, Kreider was Andover’s hardest worker and it was same at Boston College, according to teammates. He didn’t take days off in the weight room and took each shift like it was his last.
Boston College junior Johnny Gaudreau, the 2014 Hobey Baker award winner, given to the top college hockey player, said he learned a lot from the Rangers forward.
“It was really contagious, seeing him in the gym, how hard he worked,” Gaudreau said. “That’s one of the things I took from Chris.
“He was someone to look up to, to see how committed he was to the game. He was a good person to watch.”
The NHL season ended weeks ago in Boston, when the Bruins were ousted by the Canadiens in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But there are a segment of Boston hockey fans who tuned into the conference finals and a group that will watch the Stanley Cup finals, rooting for the hated guys in blue.
“Coming from Boston, we’re typically not Rangers fans,” Boylan said, with a laugh. “But we sure are now. No question about that.”
After all, it was back in Boston where Kreider first developed this habit of being at his best when the stakes were at their highest. The Rangers hope history repeats itself.