At the beginning of the season, the Rangers were considered one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup. After 82 games, there are still some supporters out there, but the enthusiasm that abounded in September has given way to a more cautious general support. Not that that should surprise anyone.
Facing the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers square off against a long time nemesis that has continually found ways to win despite losing high level talent each season. The Devils, whom swept the last playoff series between the two teams, but were dominated by the Rangers during the regular season.
The question is, who will step up from the Rangers to become the next playoff hero?
Few would likely remember Stephane Matteau‘s career with the Rangers if it had not been for the goal in double overtime in game seven of the 1994 Eastern Conference playoffs. Matteau, who played just 85 regular season games, and 32 post season games with New York, has his name forever immortalized by Howie Rose’s call of “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!”.
Or how about Esa Tikkanen‘s performance in the 1997 playoffs, where he scored nine goals in fifteen games, two of them in overtime. Who will forget Tikkanen celebrating one of those game winners while the referees, and rest of the players continued to play for minutes, only to have the goal awarded on the next review. And admit it…you wanted to learn Tikkanese too.
How about Mike Richter‘s performance in those same 1997 playoffs, where he recorded three shutouts, including two against the Devils in the Semi-finals. Or perhaps more memorable, his stop of Pavel Bure‘s Penalty Shot in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of all though will of course be Mark Messier‘s Game 6 Guarantee against the Devils in 1994. The Rangers were down 3-2 in the series, and were heading to East Rutherford, NJ to try and even the series. Messier etched himself into NY folk lore by not only guaranteeing there’d be a Game 7, but scoring a hat trick in the process.
If the Rangers are again to make a challenge for the Cup, then no doubt there will be new names to add to Rangers folklore, who they’ll be, is yet to be determined.
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