Rangers Lonely No More
The New York Rangers are the Season 15 WCHL up Champions
For a while, Andrew Don must have been feeling like the jilted bridesmaid.
The New Rangers General Manager had spent several year forming a solid team built around a young, talented core of elite hockey talent. A few veterans were sprinkled in for good measure, such as Shane Doan, and it appeared all was in place for a Cup run.
But after several playoff failures, and two times being defeated in the WCHL Cup final, Don must have felt like maybe he was destined to be forever the bridesmaid; never the bride.
"It's hard not to doubt yourself," admitted Don. "We knew we had the right team but at times we started to wonder, are we missing something here."
If what was missing was consistency, the Rangers more than found that this year. After a bit of a bumpy start, the Rangers roared through the reagular season, destroying teams in their wake enroute to claiming the Presidents Trophy with a 126-point season. Unlike other teams who have had to face adversity in the playoffs, the Rangers dealt with none of that either, first besting the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games after taking a 3-0 series lead, then knocking off their cross town rival Islanders in round two. For the second straight year the Rangers swept the Islanders, this time using three straight overtime victories to seal the job.
"Even though we swept them, they were the toughest challenge," said team captain Shane Doan. "Usually you don't win three straight overtime games, and we could easily have lost one or two of those. We lose two of them, it's a 2-2 series, not a 4-0 sweep. We have to tip our hats to them, they re always a tough test."
The Rangers then topped the Ottawa Senators in five games before getting past the Calgary Flames in five games as well in the finals. Not surprisingly, the Rangers capped off their cup run with an overtime victory in game five against Calgary to seal their first WCHL title.
"This is incredible, I feel lik I'm on top of the world right now, I just can't describe this," said forward Tomas Flieschmann, who scored the cup clinching goal in game five.
Flieschmann was the teams top scorer in the post-season, scoring 23 points, including five goals. Of those five goals, three were game winners, helping to put him into consideration for the Conn Smythe award. But there was little doubt who would claim that award.
"Henrik Lundqvist, please step forward to accept the Conn Smythe award," WCHL Co-Commissioner Kurt Fulmore stated in front of a capacity crowd of 21,500 at the GWC Gardens. Outside of the roar which nearly blew the roof off the Gardens following Flieschmann's overtime heroics, the cheer for Lundqvist's Coon Smythe award was the loudest of the post-season filled with nothing but postives for the Ranger faithful.
The Flames had no answer for Henrik Lundqvist this time around, scoring just eight goals in the five game finals.
"This is amazing," said Lundqvist. "We've been striving so hard for so long to get to this point, this means so much to be a big piece of helping us get the WCHL Cup."
It is a season which will go down in the ages as one of the best of all time. Next year will be a hard act to follow.
"We're just going to enjoy the glow of this for a while, but then we'll get back to work. The WCHL never rests, so we can't either," said Don.
When asked about a possible repeat, Don was smug.
"I thought it would be hard, but I seen Ryan (McClanahan, Colorado General Manager) and Kurt (Fulmore, San Jose General Manager) do it, so it must be pretty simple."
The New York Rangers are the Season 15 WCHL up Champions
For a while, Andrew Don must have been feeling like the jilted bridesmaid.
The New Rangers General Manager had spent several year forming a solid team built around a young, talented core of elite hockey talent. A few veterans were sprinkled in for good measure, such as Shane Doan, and it appeared all was in place for a Cup run.
But after several playoff failures, and two times being defeated in the WCHL Cup final, Don must have felt like maybe he was destined to be forever the bridesmaid; never the bride.
"It's hard not to doubt yourself," admitted Don. "We knew we had the right team but at times we started to wonder, are we missing something here."
If what was missing was consistency, the Rangers more than found that this year. After a bit of a bumpy start, the Rangers roared through the reagular season, destroying teams in their wake enroute to claiming the Presidents Trophy with a 126-point season. Unlike other teams who have had to face adversity in the playoffs, the Rangers dealt with none of that either, first besting the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games after taking a 3-0 series lead, then knocking off their cross town rival Islanders in round two. For the second straight year the Rangers swept the Islanders, this time using three straight overtime victories to seal the job.
"Even though we swept them, they were the toughest challenge," said team captain Shane Doan. "Usually you don't win three straight overtime games, and we could easily have lost one or two of those. We lose two of them, it's a 2-2 series, not a 4-0 sweep. We have to tip our hats to them, they re always a tough test."
The Rangers then topped the Ottawa Senators in five games before getting past the Calgary Flames in five games as well in the finals. Not surprisingly, the Rangers capped off their cup run with an overtime victory in game five against Calgary to seal their first WCHL title.
"This is incredible, I feel lik I'm on top of the world right now, I just can't describe this," said forward Tomas Flieschmann, who scored the cup clinching goal in game five.
Flieschmann was the teams top scorer in the post-season, scoring 23 points, including five goals. Of those five goals, three were game winners, helping to put him into consideration for the Conn Smythe award. But there was little doubt who would claim that award.
"Henrik Lundqvist, please step forward to accept the Conn Smythe award," WCHL Co-Commissioner Kurt Fulmore stated in front of a capacity crowd of 21,500 at the GWC Gardens. Outside of the roar which nearly blew the roof off the Gardens following Flieschmann's overtime heroics, the cheer for Lundqvist's Coon Smythe award was the loudest of the post-season filled with nothing but postives for the Ranger faithful.
The Flames had no answer for Henrik Lundqvist this time around, scoring just eight goals in the five game finals.
"This is amazing," said Lundqvist. "We've been striving so hard for so long to get to this point, this means so much to be a big piece of helping us get the WCHL Cup."
It is a season which will go down in the ages as one of the best of all time. Next year will be a hard act to follow.
"We're just going to enjoy the glow of this for a while, but then we'll get back to work. The WCHL never rests, so we can't either," said Don.
When asked about a possible repeat, Don was smug.
"I thought it would be hard, but I seen Ryan (McClanahan, Colorado General Manager) and Kurt (Fulmore, San Jose General Manager) do it, so it must be pretty simple."
Great Article! Congrats to the Rangers!