2006-2007
New York Rangers - Storybook Season
by Gord Tep
Chapter 1
2005-2006 was a season that saw a
drastic change for the New York Rangers. A franchise so rich in
history had become the laughingstock of the National Hockey
League. Nine straight years without a playoff berth, despite
outrageous contracts and superstar-laden squads. In 2005-06,
the dark cloud that hovered over Madison Square Garden vanished
as a new era dawned for the Blueshirts. Jaromir Jagr set
single-season records in goals (54), points (123), shots (368),
power play goals (24), and game-winning goals (9). Henrik
Lundqvist may have won a gold medal in the Olympics for Sweden,
but he won the hearts of Rangers fans all over New York.
Lundqvist’s thirty victories established a rookie Ranger
record. His thirty wins paired with Petr Prucha’s thirty goals
marked the first time in NHL history that a team had first year
players achieve both feats on the same team. Players like
Martin Straka and Michael Nylander were rejuventated. Nobody in
the world could have predicted that Marek Malik and Michael
Rozsival would become the most solid and stable New York defense
pairing since Leetch and Beukeboom a decade earlier.
Exceptional coaching from Tom Renney and his staff of
outstanding assistants helped bring respectability back to an
organization that so desperately needed it.
Unfortunate injuries,
inexperience, and lack of depth forced the Rangers out of the
playoffs in a short first round at the hands of the rival New
Jersey Devils. Although the Rangers didn’t go quite as far as
some had hoped once things got rolling, they went far beyond
what anybody could have imagined prior to the start of the
season. Before it began, Sports Illustrated predicted New York
to finish in 30th of 30 teams. The Hockey News and
Sporting News didn’t give them a snowball’s chance in hell at
even competing for a playoff spot, let alone battling up until
the last day for the division title. 2006-07 would be different
however. New York wasn’t going to sneak up on anybody. All
around the league, the Rangers were considered contenders for
Lord Stanley’s Cup. Off-season acquisitions of Carolina Cup
Champions Matt Cullen and Aaron Ward added to the core of
important role-players. Bringing on Brendan Shanahan after his
forty goal year in Detroit was a phenomenal move by GM Glen
Sather as well.
Training Camp began with
not just a goal of making the playoffs, but this team had a
division championship well within their reach. Certainly,
aspirations of a Stanley Cup Championship were legitimate this
year with pundits predicting that they could contend for the
silver chalice come playoff time. Nigel Dawes earned a spot on
the team after leading the Rangers in pre-season goals. Jagr
was back after having his shoulder surgically repaired, and
Lundqvist appeared to be in tip-top shape after finally
overcoming headaches brought on by grinding his teeth while he
slept. Shutting out the opposition for the 8 straight periods
and finishing up with a 3-0 record had everyone in New York
expecting an even better year from King Henrik in between the
pipes for the Rangers. With the anticipation built to a fever
pitch, it was time to drop the puck for real.
A storybook season began on
October 5, 2006 at MSG. Twenty-nine seconds into the first game
of the year, Jaromir Jagr cut to the slot and scored a goal on
the first shot, of the first shift, of the year. Moments
earlier, Jagr was welcomed with a standing ovation after being
introduced as the new Captain of the Rangers. The fairy-tale
evening continued as Brendan Shanahan scored not one, but two
goals. Shanahan’s first was a beautiful breakaway in which he
beat Olaf Kolzig between the legs. His second was a slam-dunk
rebound off a Petr Prucha shot. Not only was there special
significance in simply scoring a goal in his first game as a
Ranger, but the two goals took his career total to 600. 18,200
fans celebrated Shanahan’s mythical milestone in fitting
fashion. Henrik Lundqvist was back to usual self, stopping
pucks from all angles in the opening night 5-2 win over the
Washington Capitals.
