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New York Rangers: On an anniversary, the streak of futility continues

By Steve Paulus

Canadian professional ice hockey player Stephane Matteau #32 (front row second from right) of the New York Rangers gives the #1 sign as he and his teammates surround the Stanley Cup championship trophy in celebration, Madison Square Garden, New York, June 14, 1994. Stephane Matteau played for the New York Rangers from 1993 to 1996. (Photo by Brian Winkler/Getty Images)
Canadian professional ice hockey player Stephane Matteau #32 (front row second from right) of the New York Rangers gives the #1 sign as he and his teammates surround the Stanley Cup championship trophy in celebration, Madison Square Garden, New York, June 14, 1994. Stephane Matteau played for the New York Rangers from 1993 to 1996. (Photo by Brian Winkler/Getty Images) /
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Canadian professional hockey player Mark Messier of the New York Rangers hoists the Stanley Cup championship award trophy over his head as teammates American Brian Noonan (#16) and Canadian Glenn Healy (#30) look on during the opening night of the 1995 NHL season, Madison Square Garden, New York, January 20, 1995. The 1994-95 Season was shortened to the 1995 Season because of a lockout in Fall 1994. The Rangers opening game was against the Buffalo Sabres and they lost 2-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images)
Canadian professional hockey player Mark Messier of the New York Rangers hoists the Stanley Cup championship award trophy over his head as teammates American Brian Noonan (#16) and Canadian Glenn Healy (#30) look on during the opening night of the 1995 NHL season, Madison Square Garden, New York, January 20, 1995. The 1994-95 Season was shortened to the 1995 Season because of a lockout in Fall 1994. The Rangers opening game was against the Buffalo Sabres and they lost 2-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images) /

It is the 25th anniversary of the New York Rangers last Stanley Cup championship.  25 years ago today, in the first game of the Finals, the Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, raising some doubts that a 54 year drought would actually end.

While 54 years is a long time, 25 years isn’t chump change.  The latest streak is the second longest in New York Rangers history and is the 14th longest currently in the NHL.  With a rebuild in progress, it’s likely that the drought will last at least one or two more seasons before there is a chance of ending it.

The 53 years that the Rangers didn’t win a Cup (they won in their 54th year) is the longest streak of its kind in NHL history.  That record of futility is within reach of two teams.  The Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues have gone 51 seasons without a championship, the longest current streak.  The Blues are the last of the original six expansion teams to never win the Cup, so they have a lot riding on their appearance in the Finals this season.

Toronto’s streak is very impressive.  Not only have they not won a Cup in 51 years, but they have not made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in all those years. At least the Blueshirts made it to the Finals three times in their stretch of futility, losing to Detroit in 1950, the Bruins in 1972 and the Canadiens in 1979.

As for the Blues, they made it to the Finals in their first three seasons.  The NHL, in its infinite wisdom, created a new Western Conference made up completely of expansion teams so despite making the Finals, they were completely overmatched.  They failed to win a game in three straight Finals, going 0-12, a streak that was finally ended when the Blues beat the Bruins in game two of the Finals this week.

In this latest run, the Blueshirts have only gotten to the Finals once, in 2014. While that was thrilling and unexpected, they still lost in five games.   It’s somewhat depressing that a Ranger fan born after 1990 probably has no memory of the Rangers as a championship team.   In fact, there are only 14 players on the current roster who were alive when the Rangers won their last Cup and only Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Kevin Shattenkirk and Brendan Smith are old enough to have any memory of that that event.  Lundqvist was all of 12 years old that year.

The good news

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?  Absolutely.  With the rebuild in full swing and the second overall draft pick looming, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic.  I’d be willing to wager that the Rangers upside is as good as or better than Buffalo and Vancouver (48 seasons), Arizona (39 seasons)  or Calgary (29 seasons).

Ranger fans should also take some degree of pleasure that some of the team’s arch-rivals are experiencing longer losing streaks including the Flyers (43 seasons),  the Islanders (35 seasons) and Montreal (25 seasons).

The last time

On May 31, 1994, coming off the miraculous double overtime victory in the seventh game of the Conference Finals versus the Devils (Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!), Ranger fans were convinced that the drought was due to end.

True to form, in the overtime, Brian Leetch rang a shot off the crossbar leading to an odd-man rush by Vancouver’s Greg Adams who beat Mike Richter.  Canucks’ goalie Kirk McLean made 52 saves in one of the greatest Finals performance by a  goaltender.   Leaving the Garden that night there were a lot of doubters in the crowd, a natural result of 54 years of futility.

The Blueshirts didn’t make it easy, blowing a 3-1 series lead, losing Game Five at the Garden, Game Six in Vancouver and eking out a one goal win in Game Seven.  Little did the Canucks know that by losing they lost a chance to end their losing streak at 24 seasons,  a streak that is now 48 years and counting.

Younger fans have not experienced the humiliation of the opposition crowd chanting “1940” each season as the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs.   With the optimism surrounding the future of this current Rangers team, the odds that we will be hearing a “1994” chant anytime soon are hopefully, slim.

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