PHILADELPHIA — The seeds had been sewn since the lockout, or maybe beginning with the 2004 Entry Draft that yielded Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, or maybe even as far back as June 2000, when in his first month on the job, general manager Glen Sather oversaw the selection of a Swede named Henrik Lundqvist as the 205th athlete chosen in the NHL’s annual grab-bag of amateurs.
The building had begun, the Rangers were becoming one of those model franchises building from within just like the dynastic Islanders, just like the mighty Oilers, just like the powerhouse Devils and the benchmark Red Wings, just like those franchises that wove hand-made tapestries made complete with the odd purchase of an expensive thread.
Yes, a model NHL franchise on Broadway.
Yes, the Rangers.
Everyone could see how far the Blueshirts had come when they gathered in September, everyone could appreciate the strength of the core represented by the likes of Lundqvist, captain Callahan, Dubinsky, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto and Artem Anisimov, not one of whom has ever worn another NHL sweater.
Yet it was impossible to forecast this group, buttressed along the way by vital free-agent acquisitions most prominently featuring Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Martin Biron, would sprout so quickly, it would climb the beanstalk all the way to the top of the East.
“When I joined this organization in July, I believed in the program and I believed in what Torts [coach John Tortorella] and [assistant coaches Mike Sullivan and Jim Schoenfeld] were teaching and in what Glen was building,” Brad Richards, who had won the 2004 Stanley Cup with the Lightning with Tortorella behind the bench, said after the Rangers clinched the Eastern conference title by defeating the Flyers 5-3 Tuesday night.
“The biggest question I had was whether a team this young would be able to maintain the level of consistency necessary to accomplish something like this, this year,” said Richards, who signed a nine-year, $60 million free-agent contract July 2. “You never know how a group of guys will react to different situations until you’re actually confronted with them, but we responded every step of the way, beginning with that month-long road trip at the start of the year.”
The “monthlong” trip to which Richards referred (and never tires of referencing) included a 12-day trek through Europe that featured four exhibition games in four countries within five days preceding the opening two regular-season games in Stockholm, quickly followed by five more games on the road while the Garden was being remodeled/renovated/transformed/made more expensive.
But the Rangers never used the schedule as an excuse, never used playing in the Winter Classic or being followed for a month by the cameras of HBO’s 24/7 as an excuse. Rather, they embraced each challenge as an opportunity to grow.
This was a no-excuses team from the start, one that slipped into its Blue-collared Blueshirts and wore skates as if they were work boots.
This was the team and this is the organization Rangers fans always wanted. This is the group whose Black and Blueshirt identity reflects the heartbeat of New York and the passionate following of the fan base that consists overwhelmingly of people who take the bus or the subway to work and work hard for their money each and every day.
First place in the regular season is no guarantee of success in the playoffs. It all starts anew next week, and when it does, there will be potholes around every corner.
Still, the Rangers have accomplished something here.
They know, as Callahan said, “We are one of the top teams in the league.”
They know, as Richards said, “That we don’t have to take a back seat to anybody.”
They are the Eastern Conference champions. They are the Rangers, New York’s and the NHL’s model franchise.
larry.brooks@nypost.com