Why you should be thankful you are a Rangers fan

The best

The Detroit Red Wings had an unprecedented run of playoff success making the postseason every season in the last 25 years until the last three years, hitting rock bottom this season.  In that time, they won four Stanley Cups, the most of any team and had two additional Finals appearances.

The Penguins are next, missing only four times and winning three Cups.  That’s what happens when you have a string of superstars from Mario Lemieux to Jaromir Jagr to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  “Tanks” for nothing.

The Chicago Blackhawks are an interesting case.  They have missed the playoffs 11 times, one more than the Rangers. Yet, they have won three Stanley Cups and got to as far as the Conference Finals six times in the 14 years they made the postseason.

Similarly, the Los Angeles Kings have won two Stanley Cups despite getting out the first round only four times in the last 25 years.

The anomaly in the list are the Vegas Golden Knights.  They haven’t missed the playoffs in their first two years in the league and got to the Finals in their debut season.

Honesty

Okay, as a lifelong Rangers fan, I loaded the deck by including the 1994 Stanley Cup champions in this survey, but it did come within the last 25 years, a nice round number.   The good news is even if the Blueshirts end up finishing out of the playoff mix this season (and there is a good chance that ALL teams will miss the playoffs this season) they still have a pretty solid record when it comes to the postseason.  Take out the seven years of futility from 1998 to 2004 and their record from 2005-06 on has been one of the best.

Ranger fans should be thankful that the team management has their act together and are executing a plan.  And be thankful that as a youngster you didn’t decide to follow the Florida Panther or the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders.