NHL

CUP TO THE TASK

The talent is as bountiful as the expectations. The Rangers want to be smart about this, and they want to be professional about this, and they know talk is cheap even if tickets to their games are not. Still, there is no disguising the anticipation as the Blueshirts open an eight-month quest for the Stanley Cup at the Garden tonight against the Panthers.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with talking about how we believe that we’re good enough to win the Stanley Cup as long as we back it up on the ice each and every game,” Sean Avery said following yesterday’s final off-Broadway rehearsal. “We’re all looking forward to playing at the Garden this year and being a part of it.

“We’re ready.”

The Rangers are ready, all right, going into the season as a popular pick to play for the Stanley Cup, if not win it. In three years, Glen Sather has done a 360 in taking this organization from laughingstock to contender, with the hiring of Tom Renney to run the operation on the ice proving to be the GM’s most astute move. Honestly, from the wasteland it was at the end of 2003-04 to what it is today, who would have believed it?

Believe this: These aren’t your older brother’s older Rangers. Yes, they are built to win now with 35-year-old Jaromir Jagr, 38-year-old Brendan Shanahan and 35-year-old Martin Straka among the top-six forwards. But there’s depth up front now – hello Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Petr Prucha, Brandon Dubinsky, and Mr. Avery – meaning there’s no need to pile up unsustainable minutes on the seniors.

What’s more, the Blueshirts enter the season with 14 players on the roster age 27 or younger, with 11 (including 20-year-old freshman defenseman Marc Staal, likely to make his debut tonight) no older than 25. This isn’t only about the 2007-08 team, this is about establishing a template.

Somehow, this is Jagr’s third opening night as a Ranger, and here he is, the captain, and the player with the most seniority on the club by about two weeks on Fedor Tyutin. Even in sharing a room with Shanahan, and now Drury, Jagr is the unquestioned voice of the team.

Two seasons ago before the opener, that voice was bombastic. Yesterday, it was muted, consistent with the low profile Jagr assumed throughout training camp.

“[Two years ago] I said we would make the playoffs, and I was right, so [now] I should say something huge,” Jagr said, knowing full well he had no intention of doing anything of the kind. “But only time will tell.

“On paper we look good, but only time will tell how good we really are.”

The Rangers look good on paper, they look good in the middle and on the wings, and they have enormous growth potential on defense with 24-year-old Tyutin, 23-year-old Dan Girardi and Staal all projected to be important.

And as good as the Rangers look on paper, they look even better than that in nets, where Henrik Lundqvist should reign for 70 games.

“We all know what the expectations are, but I don’t look at that as a problem,” the King said. “I look at it as a challenge. I know our whole team sees it that way, too.”

larry.brooks@nypost.com