I Hope Sam Is Wrong

The NHL was undergoing change in 1994: there was a new era of goalies, expansion (the Mighty Ducks and Florida Panthers joined), rearranging (the North Stars became the Dallas Stars), and renaming (the Divisions became Northeast, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific and the Conferences became Eastern and Western). But the biggest change was happening in New York City. 

“This one will last a life time”, the words echoed through so many TVs June 14, 1994.  The long wait was over, New York finally saw the Stanley Cup after 54  years.  Bringing the series all the way to a Game 7, the Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks both had everything on the line. 

We all know what happened, Rangers fans young and old reminice on that night, reliving that June night 17 years ago as if it was yesterday.  There’s really nothing left to say about this night that hasn’t already been said.  So many quotable moments:

• “Do you believe it? Do you believe it? He said we will win game six and he has just picked up the hat trick!”
• “We will win tonight”
• “Matteau!  Matteau!  Stephan Matteau!”

And possibly the most famous, the most tear inspiring:

No Truer Words Have Been Spoken

I’ve been a Rangers fan, to paraphrase the words of Tom Gabel, through the best of times, through the worst of times, through Troitter and through Slates.  And in the end, there’s an overwhelming pride when someone says, “Oh? Jersey? You must be a Devils fan!” and my answer can be “F&$# no!”

I can’t say any more without the tears turning on, so I’ll leave you with some photos:

A Hero's Welcome

Conn Smythe Winner

The Roster:

• Brian Leetch (2)
• Kevin Lowe (4)
• Doug Lidster (6)
• Adam Graves (9)
• Esa Tikkanen (10)
• Mark Messier (11)
• Ed Olczyk (12)
• Sergei Nemchinov (13)
• Craig MacTavish (14)
• Mike Hudson (15)
• Brian Noonan (16)
• Greg Gilbert (17)
• Mike Hartman (18)
• Nick Kypreos (19)
• Sergei Zubov (21)
• Jeff Beukeboom (23)
• Jay Wells (24)
• Alexander Karpovtsev (25)
• Joe Kocur (26)
• Alexei Kovalev (27)
• Steve Larmer (28)
• Glenn Healy (30)
• Stephane Matteau (32)
• Mike Richter (35)
• Glenn Anderson (36)

*Images found through Google Search

Day Seventeen: Manhattan

New York Rangers
aka Blueshirts, The Broadway Blueshirts
Founded in 1926
Stanley Cups: 4
Original Six Status: Yes

My heart and soul belong to this team, and I could careless what you think.

Founded in 1926, the New York Rangers were part of the Original Six and the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. While the past few seasons (including this one) have been plagued with injuries, bad contracts (ahem Wade ahem Redden ahem), and questionable playing, Blueshirt Nation still stands behind the team as strongly as they did in 1994 when the entire hockey nation learned:

In the 85 year they’ve been around, the Rangers have been host to many washed up super stars, traded many promising prospects too soon, gave loud mouth goons a second shot on a team, gave home to both Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, and filled their fan with hate, love, joy, passion, surprise, frustration, and disappointment.  Here’s hoping the next 85 are heavy on the love, joy, and passion.

Fact: On March 17, John Tortorella became the American-born coach with the most wins in NHL history.  His win surpassed, former NY Ranger and current Philadelphia Flyers‘ head coach, Peter Laviolette.

Notable Players:

Marc Staal

 

Mats Zuccarello

 

Brian Boyle