By: Kevin Dolan
Much can change in a year. Just about this time last year, I was anxious for the new season. A new coach. A new philosophy. A whole lot of new. The Rangers stumbled out of the gate. They dropped six of their first eight games. In those eight games, they were outscored 29-12 including brutal beat downs from the Sharks and the Ducks. It looked like a building year when the calendar flipped to November.
It was apparent that many of the guys remaining from the prior season were still playing the shot blocking game that ex-coach John Tortorella preached. Meanwhile, the new players seemed to be in their own world trying to figure out the team’s identity. A rough start could be expected in a new system under a new coach, but a fan base with high hopes could barely keep it together. As the pressure seemed to mount, a trio of three unlikely line mates brought the season out of a tailspin. Derrick Brassard, Beniot Pouliot, and the eventual leading scorer on the team, Mats Zuccarello began to click and found ways to put goals on the scoreboard. This wasn’t Tortorella hockey anymore. It was the birth of a new Rangers team.
With the contract talks finally behind him, Henrik Lundqvist snapped back to his usual dominant self. The Blueshirts began buying what first-year head coach Alain Vigneault was selling. The Rangers righted the ship and kept pace with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They used to be a team that would grind out a win by any means necessary with a strong helping of blood, sweat and guts. The grit still remained, but the Rangers added a lethal dimension: speed. Led by the wheels of Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider, they zipped up and down the ice at will. They’d win races to loose pucks. They’d catch you on the back check. And they’d break away from you during odd man rushes. But just when everything was in sync, nobody could predict what happened next.
On March 5th, after several months of contract negotiations, Glen Sather dealt Captain Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with a few picks in exchange for their captain, Martin St. Louis. It was a move that cut to the core of Ranger Nation. It was a sensation similar to that of Brian Leetch’s trade to Toronto a decade earlier. In the midst of their playoff push, the Rangers lost their heart and soul player. It also didn’t help that St. Louis had one of the longest scoring droughts of his career as he began his tenure in New York. But what a difference time makes.
The Rangers clinched second place in the new Metropolitan Division and had a first round playoff date with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers struggled to put away a tough Flyer team, but during a tenuous Game 7, they were lifted to victory by the play of the man the Garden Faithful affectionately call, “the King.”
After a hard fought overtime win in Game 1 against the heavily favored Penguins, New York was steamrolled in three straight games. The Rangers left the ice after Game 4 to a chorus of boos. Just when things couldn’t appear to get any worse, tragedy struck the Rangers organization.
On May 8th, France St. Louis, the mother of Marty, passed away at the age of 63. Nobody would’ve faulted him for choosing otherwise, but St. Louis decided to suit up the very next day to play in a must win Game 5 in Pittsburgh. The Rangers cruised to a 5-1 victory to send it back to New York.
Game 6 was that Sunday, Mother’s Day. Not even a minute into the game, St. Louis opened up the scoring. The place was electric as the Rangers grabbed precious momentum and eventually the win. A heartfelt post game speech from St. Louis to his teammates would spur the Rangers onto an improbable Game 7 win in Pittsburgh.
This was a position the Rangers and their fans were familiar with: the 3rd Round. They were only two years removed from their last trip to the Eastern Conference Finals and the Rangers seized the moment by lighting up the Montreal net with seven goals in Game 1 and shutting down the Habs offense in Game 2. A tough overtime loss in Game 3 at the Garden made it a series again, but Game 4 produced an instant classic. It was a game that made you angry. It made you hit rock bottom, and when it was all said and done, it filled you with pure unparalleled elation. Six minutes into overtime, Marty St. Louis answered the call and picked the top right corner on Dustin Tokarski to seal it. It was a moment that I am sure will be cemented in the memories of many Ranger fans, especially those under the age of 20.
The Habs won Game 5 with a spirited effort and played desperate in Game 6 at the Garden. However, they had no answer for Henrik Lundqvist. Moments after his most memorable save of the playoffs, Dominic Moore, playing his first season since the passing of his wife, would score the only goal of the game and send the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final.
As with all things, there had to be an end, and sadly, it ended just three wins too early for the Rangers. All of the ups and downs of a tumultuous year culminated painfully at the hands of a third overtime loss in five games. However you remember it, whether it by being outmatched or terrible penalty calls, the run that had rekindled New York City’s love for its hockey team came to a screeching halt.
Along the way, we experienced tremendous joy and euphoria and the hardships and heartbreak that come along with an undying love for a professional sports team. It was a long summer. I happily replayed the best moments of the run on YouTube ten times over. But with it came the same sting I felt after Game 5 of the Final.
It’s October again and we’re mere hours away from embarking on another journey. A lot can change in a year. A team can go from good to great. A team can go from overlooked to just agonizingly short of the ultimate goal. But as the saying goes, “Time heals all wounds.”
And it’s about damn time.