There’s a greater sense of anticipation for this Rangers’ season than any since 1996-97, when Wayne Gretzky came to Broadway for a Sunshine Boys Reunion Tour with Mark Messier that lasted just one year. That was the last time the Blueshirts made it as far as the conference finals.
There’s a greater sense of expectation for this Rangers’ team than any since 1993-94, when Mike Keenan dragged the Blueshirts kicking and screaming to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1940.
The names are all a-glitter above the marquee-Jagr; Lundqvist; Shanahan; Drury; Gomez; Straka; Avery-for the NHL’s marquee American franchise and therefore its most important. As always, there’s an investment in star-power. But that’s not all. For beginning with the Great Purge of 2004, Glen Sather and Tom Renney have developed an organization and they have developed an infrastructure. The best news of all is that hockey is not different in New York any more, at least not the way it was different through seven consecutive playoff misses commencing with the 1998 tournament.
But wait. There must be some mistake. Because these can’t be the Rangers, can they, going into tonight’s opener at the Garden with 14 players aged 27 or younger (11 no older than 25) and only seven on the other side of 30? No; there’s no mistake. Yes; these are the Rangers, and this is the team on which New York’s winter sports’ spotlight will be trained this season.
“We all expect to be very good and to be a very difficult team to beat,” Sean Avery said. “And I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with talking about our expectations as long as we go out and back it up by being the hardest-working team on the ice every night of the season.
“We’re excited. The Garden’s going to be rocking all year. It’s going to be great.”
GOALTENDING
There’s royalty in the crease, with King Henrik of Lundqvist entering his third NHL season after gaining Vezina nominations in both his freshman and sophomore years. Evolving into a workhorse of Brodeurian proportions after starting 46 of his team’s final 47 games (including the playoffs) last year, Lundqvist is as proficient as they come in taking away the lower half of the net and controlling rebounds. Outstanding quickness, combined with an elite level of poise and fierce competitiveness, makes the defense appear greater than the sum of its parts. Could improve his glove and his puck-handling.
Stephen Valiquette is the back-up who’s expected to get 10-12 games if all goes well, though the club will monitor Al Montoya’s progress with the AHL Wolf Pack as the year develops.
DEFENSE
The Rangers don’t have a stud on the blue line, but then, who does in the East, where essentially every team other than Ottawa appears needy on defense, just the way essentially every team in baseball appears needy in the bullpen? That said, the upside for the Baby Blueshirts on the blue line could be immense, with 24-year-old, third-year man Fedor Tyutin and 23-year-old, sophomore Dan Girardi partnering on the second unit and with 20-year-old Marc Staal’s ceiling as high as your imagination.
Michal Rozsival emerged as a horse during the playoffs and Marek Malik will accept the boos while accumulating his usual plus-30 complementing Jaromir Jagr. While Staal, Tyutin and Girardi grow into more assertive offensive players, the Rangers don’t appear to have a puck-carrying threat on D. Neither do they have a great first-passer on the breakout.
FORWARDS
The keyword is, “chemistry,” for this group of talented forwards that features more than a half-dozen interchangeable parts and will allow Tom Renney to present a number of different looks to the opposition as the year evolves, though the map reads north-south rather than east-west as it did coming out of the lockout.
Healthier going into a season than any time in his tenure as a Ranger, Jagr will shoulder the burden of leading the team while going through a mating period with either Chris Drury or Scott Gomez as his center (or, more likely, both, though one at a time). Gomez brings a puck-carrying dimension of speed and creativity to the rink the likes of which the Rangers haven’t enjoyed in years while Big Moment Drury will provide leadership in the room and on both sides of the puck.
Brendan Shanahan, shooter, will have a center with whom to feed off of (and receive feeds from) after Matt Cullen failed to make it click last season. Sean Avery will bring his edge to team as a left wing on the Shanahan unit, but may move to the middle of the third line if matchups so dictate. The third line in its current form featuring Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan flanking Brandon Dubinsky will provide energy and straight-line scoring ability. Colton Orr and Ryan Hollweg will ride shotgun.
SPECIALTY TEAMS
Featuring all of the ingredients other than the big bomber from the point, the power play should be among the NHL’s most proficient once Gomez and Drury accommodate themselves and Renney decides how to apportion ice-time among his scorers. The penalty killing, too streaky in each of the last two years, should be bolstered by Drury and by a defense that seems more capable of clearing the crease.
COACHING
Renney and assistants Perry Pearn, Benoit Allaire and Mike Pelino have set the standard for preparation and communication, always recognizing the pulse of the team, never believing that the game is about them rather than the players. The Rangers will never have a more professional coaching staff.
OUTLOOK
The Rangers are going to be very, very good and very, very entertaining. First place in the Atlantic. A parade down the Canyon of Heroes, this one 40 years ahead of schedule.