Via Twitter, @xoxomisoxoxo
With the New York Rangers dreaming of a Presidents’ Trophy down the stretch, the similarities between 2015 and 1994 start becoming more evident.
It didn’t quite start the way we envisioned.
After an epic run during the 2013-14 season, which saw heartfelt stories littered across the team (see Marty St. Louis and Dominic Moore), fans realized a few young New York Rangers would have to step up in 2014-15.
Eyes On Isles
After all, losing staples such as Brian Boyle, Benoit Poulliot, Anton Stralman and Derek Dorsett, a few step-ups were necessary.
For much of the season, the Rangers found themselves in that solid, but not fantastic category. They were discussed as a top 10 NHL team, yet lingered in the No. 3 spot of the Metropolitan Division which hovers just above a Wild Card spot.
Queue the name of Cam Talbot.
When Henrik Lundqvist went down with the throat injury (helped by a Ryan McDonagh stick), Talbot stepped in and marveled us all. More importantly, the team learned who they really were.
During that ridiculous stretch Talbot put up a 16-4-3 mark as the Rangers won 21 of the 25 games that were played.
It was almost two months of games which saw this team truly become the dominant version Alain Vigneault has always envisioned. They routinely displayed a free-flowing breakout with suffocating defense – a combination that becomes lethal in hockey.
They’ve been so good, that the Presidents’ Trophy isn’t just in their grasp, they’re the front-runners.
Presidents’ Trophy Race:
- New York Rangers – 107 points, 50 ROW, 78 GP
- Anaheim Ducks – 107 points, 50 ROW, 80 GP
- Montreal Canadiens – 106 points, 48 ROW, 80 GP
- St. Louis Blues – 105 points, 49 ROW, 79 GP
- Tampa Bay Lightning – 104 points, 48 ROW, 80 GP
- Nashville Predators – 104 points, 47 ROW, 79 GP
- Chicago Blackhawks – 102 points, 48 ROW, 79 GP
Not to mention The King is back and already playing at the usually high-level we’re accustomed to.
Should the Blueshirts capture the Presidents’ Trophy, it’ll mark the first time they’ve done so since, you guessed it, 1994.
Nobody is claiming the 2014-15 Rangers are the 1994 squad we saw take us from the brink of insanity to ecstasy, but major similarities do exist. These comparisons come much easier too considering some of their recent additions over the past 15 months.
Perhaps it was the magical stretch without the face of the franchise that has us starting to compare.
Regardless, here are five reasons the 2015 Rangers remind us of the 1994 Stanley Cup Champions:
Next: Reason No. 5