The Rangers are poised for the future, with young players like Brennan Osman, Brett Berard, Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue set to join the Broadway band in the not too distant future. That means even if this year’s team falls short, the opportunities for this group remain open.
But that’s not a rallying cry, as the playoffs begin Sunday afternoon at the Garden with an 8-1 opener against the Caps. There is an urgency here. There is a sense that the time has come.
30 years is enough.
“I think we showed what we can do,” Mika Zibanejad told the Post after Saturday’s practice. “We don’t need to make any changes to our systems or approach.
“We’ve been working toward this all year. I think we’ve done a pretty good job. You never know what kind of challenges you’ll face, but we’ve worked hard toward this all year long. I think he accomplished some good things and gave me confidence.
“We are as prepared as we can be for this.”
This isn’t about last spring’s game against New Jersey, or the remaining four games in the 2022 conference finals against Tampa Bay. We’re not talking about the debacle against Carolina in the bubble in 2020, but the Bruins’ shutout loss in Game 6 on Garden Ice in 1972, as well as Game 7 on Garden Ice in 2015. And it’s not like the Lightning lost a shutout. .
This isn’t about the series of disappointments that have all too often flowed into your blood. This is about the 2023-24 Rangers, who won more games than any team in franchise history dating back to 1926. This is about a Blueshirt who overcame every obstacle he faced in six months of his 82 years. Game marathon.
This is a story about the Rangers, who took the lead in the Metro in the fourth week of October and never looked back, going 4-0 against the Devils and becoming the best version of themselves to make the playoffs. . And against the Islanders he went 3-1. And yes, enter Boston in the third week of March and complete a 3-0 sweep against the Mighty B’s. Then, 48 hours later, he returned to the Garden to kill the panther.
And yes, I will be back to outdoor games. Yes, that’s what makes Matt Lempe an integral part of NHL parlance.
When captain Mark Messier led the Blueshirts to the promised land. NHLI (via Getty Images)
“I think being a Presidents Trophy winner is something we should welcome,” Jimmy Vesey said. “This franchise has been around for about 98 years, and we just set a winning record.” [55] and the point [114] I think we should embrace it because we’re in season.
“No matter how you look at it, I think coming through the final stages winning the games we had to win to finish first overall will give us more confidence.”
Yes, we are talking about the regular season. But when the Blueshirts took the ice in Game 82, with a Metro title, No. 1 seed in the East, and the Presidents Trophy all in the balance, they went about their business and won three titles. Earned everything. Now there is a fourth.
From his introductory press conference last June, when he was hired behind the bench to replace Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette knew it was critical to have a playoff-style mindset from the first day of training camp.
The coaches talked the talk and the players walked. I’ve been doing this for 60 years and I’ve never seen a team practice so productively. The Rangers have taken on a new look this season. We have been preparing for this day since mid-September.
“I think we’ve worked hard every day, not just in the playoffs, but in games and practices, to be ready for the day ahead of us,” Zibanejad said. “The approach was very focused on getting the details right.
“Our practice went well. Obviously, the competitive nature of the training and the combat level prepared us for this in a different way.”
The Rangers have to get to the front of the net. They would need to reach inside. They must protect the area in front of their own goal. They will need to be careful not to be tempted to lack discipline on either line.
These are all general principles, but they apply especially to how the Blueshirts must approach this eighth-seeded opponent. The No. 8 seed focused more on disrupting than creating, fitting into the league’s best teams with a lock on the neutral zone during the season.
So the Rangers will have to be patient. They will have to discipline themselves. They need to go out and run errands. He one shift at a time. One period at a time. One game at a time.
They started this seven months ago. It’s time for the best performing team in hockey. Thirty years have passed since 1994, and the time has finally come.
30 years is enough.
