By Christopher Decker (@HockeyGuy_Chris)
(Photo Courtesy of USA Today)
Typically, around the midway point of an NHL season, it’s relatively safe to say which teams are for real and which teams are frauds. As the New York Rangers hit their official mid-season point tonight in a tilt against the Ottawa Senators, one thing is for certain: They are indeed legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
Geez. When is the last time a Rangers fan even uttered those words? Let’s just say it’s been awhile. This team is eerily reminiscent of the 1994 team that saw New York bring home its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. That team consisted of players who battled in the trenches, leaders who vocalized both on and off the ice, and a hard-nosed coach who was not afraid to let even the best player know when he was having a bad game.
Hmmm. That sounds a lot like this year’s club.
Granted, the argument nowadays that would typically go against the Rangers making any sort of plunge deep into the playoffs, would be that their grind-it-out style of play throughout the season would ultimately wear them down just a couple of rounds in to the Big Dance. But let’s not discount them based off of what one might typically be led to believe when enduring an 82-game season. When you have players like Ryan Callahan who live the grinding lifestyle, it’s hard to believe that a player of his caliber would shut down in the playoffs.
It’s also important to note that Coach John Tortorella is notorious for putting his players through some of the most grueling conditioning drills in the league. In fact, before the season even started, training camp was coined “CampTorturella” by fans and analysts across the board.
Tortorella continues his regiment, to a lesser degree obviously, during the season to keep his players ready, focused, and energized. Keeping the players physically ready is a critical component toward continuing the push through the season as well as the playoffs. Under Tortorella, this is definitely doable. See: Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
The Rangers are also one of the most well-balanced teams in the league. They utilize both veteran leadership and an infusion of a talented youth core as recipe for success. Seven of their players have 20 or more points in just 40 games, which may not seem like a lot to the average individual, but is actually a very well-rounded statistic.
The Rangers’ team defense is clearly elite status. After Marc Staal and Michael Sauer went down with head injuries, the Rangers scrambled to find chemistry between their remaining defensive pairs. It didn’t take long. Dan Girardi has been, by far, the most underrated defenseman on this club, and perhaps, throughout the entire league. Both Girardi and second year man, Ryan McDonagh, have led this team on defense since the injuries and as a result, Girardi has earned an All-Star nod. The play of these two has clearly sparked the games of Michael Del Zotto, who is having a career year, as well provided confidence to recent acquisitions, Jeff Woywitka and Anton Stralman. And now that Staal is back in action, the Rangers’ defense is really a force to be reckoned with and is a major reason why the team sits sixth in the league on the penalty kill.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect for an NHL club to hammer down is its goaltending. Many teams throughout the league have had tremendous success offensively, but have lacked a solid starting goalie to compliment that offense, thus resulting in a top-heavy team. Henrik Lundqvist has carried the Rangers for years. Unfortunately, his Rangers team has not been able to reduce the load he carries on his shoulders night in and night out throughout those years. That is, until now.
This is the first year in recent memory that Lundqvist has not had to stand on his head on a consistent basis. He’s had to come up big in many spots and has definitely proven to the world that he deserves a Vezina trophy, but he now has the pleasure of being able to perform with a solid group of guys in front of him that, if needed, can bail him out if he has a bad game. Because let’s face it, every goalie has a bad game now and then.
There are obviously still some concerns and things that need to be rectified in time for the playoffs, though. One of their biggest issues is their inability to convert on power play opportunities. The Rangers currently sit 20th in the league on power play conversions and without it, seriously hinders any chances of going deep in a playoff situation. Many felt the power play woes would diminish after Assistant Coach Perry Pearn left the squad a few years back. Unfortunately, they haven’t. But the Rangers do have half a season left to right the ship on the power play.
The team also has some issues when it comes to the first drop of the puck. More often than not, the Rangers have come out flat for games. Luckily, they’ve been able to overcome a poor start with a tremendous finish – displaying their resiliency.
The Rangers are learning to be a consistent team. They’ve been on multiple five game winning streaks, and one seven game winning streak. They’ve been able to rack up many other winning streaks after losing one or two straight. And they’ve only lost three in a row once all season – which happened to be their first three games of the year. Elite teams are consistent. Consistency wins your championships.
So as we approach the midway point of this NHL season, the Rangers sit on top of the world, or the league, whichever you prefer to call it. At this point, are the Rangers frauds? That is highly unlikely. Are they contenders? They sure are.
Let’s see what the rest of the season holds for these New York Rangers. There is no reason whatsoever to believe this team will implode.
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