Blackburn tried to shoulder the load for the Rangers

Welcome to another edition of Blueshirts Briefs, a series highlighting individuals who worked a short shift for the New York Rangers.

Dan Blackburn and the New York Rangers appeared headed for a bright future together when the Blueshirts took the Montreal-born goalie with the tenth overall selection of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

The teenaged phenom was fresh off two exceptional seasons with the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League, having won the league’s playoff MVP award in 2000 and “Goaltender of the Year” honor in 2001 with 33 victories.

He then made the Rangers as an 18-year-old following a strong training camp and preseason in 2001-02.

The timing couldn’t have been better for him to claim the starting job, either.

The 2000-01 Rangers were a defensive mess. They allowed the most goals in the 30-team league, had the second-worst penalty-killing unit, and the third-lowest save percentage. Worse, 34-year-old goalie Mike Richter suffered a torn ACL in February 2001 that resulted in his second knee surgery in less than one calendar year.

Blackburn seized the opportunity. Following his NHL debut on October 10, 2001, in which he allowed five goals on 42 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, Blackburn permitted three goals or fewer in nine of his next 13 starts. In fairness to Blackburn, who then was the fourth-youngest goalie to appear in an NHL game, his debut wasn’t as bad as it looks on paper.

Washington had the league’s third-best power play in 2001-02. In Blackburn’s debut, the Capitals scored four of their goals with the man-advantage. Meanwhile, the Rangers that season remained one of the NHL’s worst defensive clubs. They had the league’s poorest penalty-killing unit, permitted the third-most shots, and allowed the second-most goals.

Blackburn finished his NHL rookie campaign with a 12-16 record, 3.32 goals-against average, and .898 save percentage. He was one of two goalies in the top-10 in voting for the Calder Trophy, placing ninth with 32 more votes than Miikka Kiprusoff. And he made the league’s all-rookie team.

Blackburn accomplished that despite playing behind a defensive unit that included 32-year-old Igor Ulanov, Vladimir Malakhov, 33, and Sylvain Lefebvre, 34. The Rangers appeared to have found a successor to Richter.

In his second season Blackburn started 18 straight games and was just the fourth goalie to do that in NHL history as a teenager.