A list of all to love about the Blue Shirts
There is no doubt that this season has been a disappointing one so far for the Rangers. After the Rangers started the season off better than any other team in franchise history, they started to fall off their game in the beginning of December and although they have been playing better hockey of late– they are 8-3-1 in their last 12 games– they are still a long ways away from playing at the level that they had played at in yesteryear.
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With all of that said. I love this team. I have been a Rangers fan since birth. My parents met at a Rangers game, so if you want to get technical, I probably wouldn’t be in existence if it wasn’t for the Rangers. I am lucky that, although I did miss them winning the Stanley Cup by two years, I have been able to watch winning hockey, or at the very least playoff hockey in the majority of my years as a diehard fan. Regardless if this team wins or loses, I am still going to love this team. It is an unconditional love that I cannot ever see going away.
Today is Valentine’s Day, and while most of us will be with our girlfriend or boyfriend, wife or husband or whoever your significant other is, our 1st true love as Rangers fans is our team—at least for me (hopefully my girlfriend doesn’t read this). This season with all the ups and downs, trade rumors, and troubling decisions that head coach Alain Vigneault has made, I thought it might be a good idea to remind all our wonderful readers here at Blue Line Station what exactly there is to love about this 15-16 New York Rangers team.
The Goal Hugs
This is probably my favorite thing about this team for the past couple of years. You could tell how tight knit this team is every time they step on the ice. Each player in that room genuinely cares about each other, which is a very good thing to have on a team. You see it every time a player scores.
Between Zuccarello, Brassard and Yandle, I don’t know who’s celebrations I enjoy both is, but if there was a ranking system for celebrations, all three of them are in the top 5 in the league.
J.T. Miller and Oscar Lindberg
The two young Rangers talents have been a godsend so far this season. Yes, the Rangers have other significant youngsters on their team like Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes, but they have under performed to this point in the year.
Lindberg was scorching hot out of the gate, scoring 10 goals in his first 28 games. He has fallen off pretty badly offensively, only having scored 1 goal in his last 24 games, but his defense is still right where it was right out of the shoot.
Miller has been out of this world for the past month. Miller has 9 goals in his past 11 games, and for much of the season has been the Rangers best player. The 22 year old already has 17 goals on the season 55 games in. It is logical to expect him to finish with a total of 25+ goals this year which is completely unexpected.
The way Miller has played to start this season has reminded me a lot of a young Ryan Callahan with more offensive upside. They both can turn on the physicality, and when they do, it creates turnovers and many other problems for opposing teams. If it wasn’t for these two, I guarantee the Rangers are not sitting in a playoff spot right now.
The King
Look, after starting this season off great, Henrik Lundqvist hasn’t been himself. Just like the rest of this team, Hank is starting to get back on track, and it is directly affecting the team in the standings. This team is just like any other Rangers team in the past 10 years, if Lundqvist is on his game, they will pretty much automatically make the playoffs, but the second he slips, so do the Rangers. King Henrik will have to carry this team if they want to make a deep playoff run unless their key players start producing.
Mats Zuccarello
I don’t know that there is a player in the NHL that I enjoy watching more than Mats Zuccarello. This little pest manages to get under everybody and anybody’s skin even if they are a foot taller than him and it is hilarious. The set of stones this kid has is unbelievable, especially when you consider the fact that this guy took a puck to the head and suffered a concussion so bad in last year’s playoffs that he couldn’t speak for a few days has been able to come out this season and be one of the team’s best players.
Zuccarello has already tied his career high in goals in a season 55 games in with 19. He is the heart and soul of this team for the past 2 or 3 years with the way he plays, and if there is anything to love about this team, it is this dude right here.
The Memories
Let’s face it, a big draw to this team is all the success that has happened to this team in the past couple years. In the past 4 years alone this team has made the conference finals 3 times with a very similar roster to this one (except for the 2011-2012 team which there is very little roster hangover). Like I mentioned above, this group is a very tight knit bunch, and they truly do play for each other and it shows. That is what makes the Rangers of the past few years so easy to root for and to like.
Eyes On Isles
Over the next year or two (and maybe even within a month at the NHL trade deadline) we are going to lose some guys from this team and prior teams. It’s in those moments when you trade a guy of importance (Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin and the retirement of Martin St. Louis) where you look back and enjoy the memories. We have to take in these moments while these guys are here and enjoy the ride.
This has been a great past decade for the Rangers, and hopefully this brand of winning hockey that they cultivated in that time will stick around here for a long while longer. I think there is a good chance that the Rangers have a few years left in them to fight for a Stanley Cup.
That’s why I love these 15-16 New York Rangers, and the teams in the past and in the years to come. I hope you love just as much as I do.
Happy Valentines Day all.
Let’s Go Rangers!