Dear New York Rangers fans,
This upcoming Tuesday, October 11th, represents a welcome sight for us and our city as the Broadway Blueshirts return to MSG for a new season and a clean slate of ice. While there’s no greater way to pick things up right where we left off 122 days ago, as our nemesis, the Tampa Bay Lightning, is the first tilt on the 82-game journey, the most important thing is the boys are officially back in town.
Last season happily surprised Rangers fans as one of the youngest teams in hockey fearlessly promenaded to the Eastern Conference final. Before our eyes, we witnessed the emergence of what former GM Jeff Gorton’s letter said on that fateful day in 2018. “Our promise to you is that our plans will be guided by our singular commitment: ensuring we are building the foundation for our next Stanley Cup contender.”
We, as loyal fans, readily embraced our four-year absence from the playoffs, rejoiced as the luck of the draft lottery bounced our way twice, and antedated the future stardom of what was to come. Little did we know it would take cleansing the house one more time or saying goodbye to the legendary #30, a number that hangs proudly in the Garden rafters, synonymous with a man who’s a new part of our front office.
Although the 2021-22 regular season had its challenges, with our defensive inefficiencies, we roared at each save our Vezina-winning goaltender made and each victory he stole from Rangers opponents.
We saluted a 52-goal spree from a homegrown Rangers veteran.
We even had some slices of bread, marveling at the sorcery the “breadman” displayed nightly to the tune of a career-high 96 points in 75 games.
However, as the wins were stacking up and the team plowed through the “soft” and “Tough” parts of their schedule, despite enduring injuries along the way, it was discovered that while lethal, they were also “Hard to play against” as our newly-minted enforcers made their marks. It allowed for a staggering 27 exhilarating comeback wins of our 52, including an April 8th victory that formally punched the city’s long-awaited ticket to the postseason.
As only Rangers fans could, we packed Madison Square Garden on May 3rd, energized, anxious, but most of all, thankful we were waving towels and wearing our playoff t-shirts and wristbands.
Our rivals from Pittsburg possessed the experience, the recent cups, and the depth to pop the balloon on our joyride, displaying a plausible sign when they took game one in triple overtime despite the 79 save heroics of CZAR Igor.
One week later, the boys were 24 minutes from extinction, trailing 3-1 in the series and 2-0 in game five. Despite a memorable regular season, they lacked the fortitude to deliver in the sport’s most profound state, as the Penguins had rattled everyone down to the core, including #31, who looked helpless in the net.
But just when they seemed dead, these vibrant Blueshirts potted three quick tallies, eliciting the crowd into a frenzy. As they showed in the first season, there was “No quit in New York.”
Shades of the 2014 run to the Cup final reconciled as the team rallied epically, and as we all know, the game seven overtime winner will go down as a top 10 goal in franchise history.
The second round began with the controversial and unsportsmanlike move, as top-seeded Carolina “banned” fans outside their zipcode from attending in person.
Yet, we still managed to pack their house in unison. The hosts took care of business, improving to 7-0 in their dungeon, but we held our firm in our jungle and sent it back for a decisive seventh game.
The fourth time was the charm, as we rocked them like a Hurricane in all aspects of the contest en route to a clinical 6-2 win, ensuring there would be more New York Rangers hockey to come in the final four.
The dream died there as Tampa “bolted” to their third straight Cup finals, rallying from an 0-2 series deficit with four straight, but not without enrapturing moments from the “Kid line,” which consisted of the organization’s gems touched upon throughout our rebuild.
This offseason, weaknesses were addressed as a center was signed and a captain was appointed, setting the stage for what should be a “Rangertastic” 2022-23 season as the dream continues.
As a teenager, I have yet to see the Rangers lift the chalice, but the youth of last year’s team resonated with me because it felt like I was growing with some of them who weren’t much older than i. The rebuild is done, expectations are high, and the window has opened. It’s time for the players, coaches, city, and fans to seize the moment. Let season #97 of New York Rangers hockey commence!
– Let’s Go Rangers