New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist is going down with the ship

Despite the New York Rangers managing to eke out a shootout win over the San Jose Sharks, it’s pretty clear that the team has a long road ahead. Henrik Lundqvist is determined to stay the course and do all he can.

It’s often said that “sports do not build character, they reveal it,” meaning that it was there all along and it wasn’t developed over time. When it comes to Henrik Lundqvist, there are few characters more seminal to the arch of New York Rangers’ history.

From the very beginning of his tenure in net, the Swede has carried the hopes and dreams of an entire city on his shoulders every single time he skates out to the Seventh Avenue end of Madison Square Garden. The goaltender is on his fourth coach, captain and second general manager, even when the times are changing, there is one constant for the organization.

While it would have been easy for Lundqvist to abandon ship last year at the deadline when offered a way out, that’s just not who the goaltender is as a person. In spite of the mess that unfolded in front of the goaltender last season, he was able to keep the team afloat a lot longer than he should have been able to.

From November to January Lundqvist went 18-8-2 with a .932 save percentage and 2.32 Goals Against Average before the team cratered at the end of January.

Again, the goaltender was asked if he had any interest in leaving in hopes of chasing down a Stanley Cup and he declined any interest just yesterday. Somehow, someway, Lundqvist is determined to ride this out until the end.

Think about the journey of Lundqvist’s life in terms of where he came from to where he is now. He was born in Are, Sweden, a small ski village with a population of 1,400 people and had a long road to the NHL. The Rangers drafted him in the seventh round at number 205 overall and it took him five years of playing in the Swedish Elite League to make the jump over.

The organization took a chance on an extremely raw product in the seventh round and that commitment resonated with Lundqvist. I think there is a dutiful sense of loyalty stemming from the fact that the Rangers were the team that took a chance on him before he became one of the best goalies in the history of the sport.

Make no mistake about it, Lundqvist’s jersey will be hanging from the Madison Square Garden rafters in the not so distant future.

With the remainder of this year and the following two seasons on his contract, there is a very real possibility this is his last NHL contract. While he could still sign on at age 39 and play, the Rangers may be ready to move on by then.

There is an air of stubbornness to this decision because of the reality of the situation. Lundqvist has done nothing but carry the organization from one of the darkest points in its history to perennial contender. Whenever the team has thrived, it was due to his play.

In those brightest moments, Lundqvist was always a gamer. In elimination games from 2012-2017, the goaltender was 15-4 with a 1.52 goals against average. Simply put, when the Rangers lost deep in the postseason, it wasn’t Lundqvist’s fault.

The goaltender’s dedication to the organization is admirable. Even though Lundqvist is signing the death warrant for his chances at a Stanley Cup, his loyalty to the franchise is what everyone wants from a signature player.