Slow and steady wins the race
Nearly one third of the way through the season and the New York Rangers find themselves in a familiar position, in the rearview mirror of the division’s top teams. The difference? After being able to handily win against both Boston and Washington, after weathering the storm of missed man games, those top teams may soon be concerned with who they see in their mirrors. The Rangers have started to learn what it takes to win.
It has been and will continue to be a bumpy road. That is the nature of a young team finding its own identity. But a fully manned Rangers team, with each player tugging on the same rope, is a dangerous team. A team that can score against and shut down the best the division has to offer. Though, maddeningly enough, they can play down to those teams in distress or below them.
The idea of this rebuild is to win the Stanley Cup of course. But it is also to be a perennial contender where each year the team has a legitimate chance to hoist that beautiful cup. They do not want to be a one and done team as they were in 1994, they are building a winner for the long haul.
The road to get to the top of that mountain is long and daunting, and the hard work and patience now will pay off in the end.