The team went seven straight years without making the postseason, had a lot of failed free-agent signings and ended up losing the likes of Brian Leetch, Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and Adam Graves to retirement or trade. For Blueshirt fans, it was a dark period.
The names mentioned above, however, all had terrific careers despite the bad times. As a result, each went down in Rangers' lore and ended up having their number retired and hung to rafters at Madison Square Garden.
This got to me thinking on the next Ranger that will have his number hanging from the rafters at the World's Most Famous Arena. As it turned out, it did not take me too long to come up with a player.
Henrik Lundqvist. This guy has done everything for this Rangers' franchise except win a Cup.
For starters, he is probably the second best goalie the Rangers' franchise has ever had. In fact, the "King" is second among Rangers' puck stoppers with 271 career wins, just 30 beyond franchise leader Mike Richter.
Secondly, he has been one of the most consistent players for the franchise. Not including this season, Lundqvist has seven straight seasons of at least 30 wins, a goals against average of 2.43 and at least two shutouts.
Lundqvist also help put the Rangers back on the map. Prior to Lundqvist's rookie season in 2005-06, the Rangers were practically irrelevant. When Lundqvist joined the team in 2005-06, everything changed for the better.
As a Ranger, Lundqvist has done the following:
- Won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top netminder (2012) and was nominated for the award on three different occasions (2006, 2007, and 2008)
- Played in the All-Star Game (three times : 2009, 2011, and 2012)
- Made the NHL's First All-Star Team (2012)
- Was named the team's most valuable player six straight seasons (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012)
- Was nominated for both the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player (2012) and the Ted Lindsay Award for the most valuable player as voted by his peers
While I certainly agree The King qualifies for such an honor, how about we focus on the task at hand? And no, I am not referring to just barely making it into the playoffs this year, but rather, finally providing Hank with an equally stellar supporting cast so that, at the very least, we are consistently a legitimate contender for the duration of Henrik's prime and beyond. Otherwise, we will be looking at yet another ex-Ranger who has to "come back" to MSG for the banner-raising ceremony b/c - like Gravy, Leetch and Giacomin - he inexcusably had to finish his career elsewhere.
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