Following Tuesday night’s game between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, MSG network is airing another episode of “Connections,” this one featuring Mats Zuccarello and Henrik Lundqvist.
In terms of New York Rangers history, the previous 13 years can be summarily referred to as the “Henrik Lundqvist era.” Much of the team’s success stems from the play of the goaltender from the small Swedish skiing village of Are, Sweden. During Lundqvist’s career, he has had several key teammates stick around for several years and help form a collective core.
One of these players, Mats Zuccarello, has had a long path to the NHL. The forward finally managed to break through and stick around with the Rangers for the 2013-2014 season. That year, the Norwegian managed to lead the team in points with 59 and spearhead its most effective line on a Stanley Cup Final run.
Now, with both players part of the old guard for a considerably younger team, their mindset as players is one of leadership. Part of that is pushing each other every single day to get better.
"Zucc: It really helped me, practicing against you all those years. I mean you’re a competitive goalie, you’ve been the best goalie in the league since I got here and for me to come in every day and make you mad, it gives me a lot of pleasure. And practice during the season can be, I mean, I’m not going to say boring, but like, you just have to be there because you’re focusing on the game. So it’s always nice to come in and have some fun. And while you have fun, it becomes a competition and makes you try a little bit harder."
If you’ve ever made it to Madison Square Garden early enough on a game day to watch warmups, you can witness this interplay. Zuccarello is always messing with Lundqvist and trying to throw him for a loop during breakaways.
On the other end of the spectrum, Lundqvist uses that competition to fuel himself to continue to get better.
"Yeah, I mean, that’s why I love this game. To compete in games, to compete in practice, and you got to find different things that makes you keep going. That you know, helps you work even harder every day, and part of that is to go up against certain guys at practice or in games. But it’s fun, I like that there’s always a couple guys every year that have that extra skill when you go one-on-one, and it definitely helps you stay sharp too."
This type of relationship between players is what makes long-term stability so important. The two veterans play off of each other and it has pushed them close together. Zuccarello feeds off of Lundqvist’s competitive nature and it makes him better as a player.
"I just admire how every day is a competition for him, or for you. His mindset is what I admire the most. Everything’s about winning. And I think that’s kind of grew on me a little bit too. Seeing you, how you compete every day, one win doesn’t matter if you sacrifice everything to win it. I think that’s the right mindset. I remember being a young guy, and you were here, how you learned, you taught me how this is all about winning, and I think that’s admiring to see every day. A lot of the young guys should look at you, this is what it takes to win."
As for Lundqvist, he sees everything that Zuccarello puts into the game on a nightly basis and it motivates him as a player.
"I think for years, it was so important for players to be big and have the size, and now I think you and a couple other guys show that you can play this game with a lot of will and a lot of speed and skill. So I think your determination is something that I admire. Determination and you want to win. Whatever you do, if you always want to get better and win, that’s something that I admire, so I like to see you come into the rink and be ready and pay the price and win. That gets me going. I get excited to play with guys who have that, and you have it."
Tune in for the full episode on MSG network following the conclusion of Tuesday night’s game.