Sharpshooter

Come on. The idea that Richter was "better" than Lundqvist because he won a cup is far too simplistic. It completely disregards all the minute details, puck luck and everything else that goes into winning a cup that is beyond the control of a single player. Firstly, the team in front of him was vastly superior. Secondly, he was a couple of bounces away from losing against the Devils. If the puck bounces in off Nichols shin pad instead of out, or when the puck ricochets off 3 or 4 players in front of the net and Sam yells "WHERE'S THE PUCK" - if one of those bounces go the other way no man alive even thinks about Richter in the same ball park as Lundqvist. Yes, those are ifs and buts, and at the same time the nature of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Lundqvist's performances in the 2014 run against Pittsburgh and Montreal aren't that dissimilar to Richter in 1994. They're just not as iconic because of the end result.

I mean, it's fine to say Richter holds a special place in our hearts because he was on the cup winning team and the way he played against the Devils. That's certainly true in my case. But winning the cup doesn't make him a better player, or a better Ranger, than Lundqvist.

Yes, I was agreeing with you with that statement. I guess it didn't sound like it. Sorry. Plus, if Richter never wins the Cup, probably the only thing people would talk about the 1992 floater goal against Pittsburgh. If that doesn't happen, the Rangers probably win the Cup that year. So, that's another example too about bounces and whatnot. Lundqvist is no doubt the best Rangers goalie of all time. There were times where the offense let him down, and times where I think the defense let him down, like the first two games of the 2014 Stanley Cup final. It's just how the game goes. It sucked what happened with Richter late in his career with that knee injury making the save, and then the concussions. It was sad to see. Thankfully Henrik was relatively healthy throughout his career.

What a weird but likely unbreakable stat.

Indeed. It's hard enough to even have the opportunity to play in four outdoor games, let alone win all of them.

All of these are great.

 

I'd also say any time he went up against Tim Thomas. Those were guaranteed snoozers but you also knew Lundqvist was going to keep them close.

Yes. Boston was another team he really stymied, maybe even moreso than the Devils in the Brodeur matchups. I think every game against Boston was 1-0 or 2-1, it was crazy.

- 15 round shootout win over Washington in his rookie season.

- Save on Briere's penalty shot in the 2012 Winter Classic

- Any time he went head to head with Brodeur. He always upped his game and it was glorious.

- Breaking Giacomin's franchise shutout record.

- Becoming the winningest European goalie of all time.

- The Game 7 wins against Pittsburgh and Washington.

Yeah and let's be real. His Game 7 ECF in 2015 vs. Tampa wasn't great - that first goal sucked. But the Rangers just could not score. Even if that one stinker doesn't go in, they're not winning lol

Correct. I know Bishop always gave the Rangers fits, but the offense also shit the bed that game too. It was just a really bad Game 7. lol

To what end though? Every one of those playoff runs ended in ignominy. I still blame Dan Girardi and the refs for 2014, but where was Hank when we needed him to keep up the one goal lead with 5 minutes left? How many times over his career do we remember the other team pulling their goalie and actually tying the game as a result, even as we could never do the same? I certainly felt sick to my stomach every time we had a one goal lead with 2 minutes on the clock. I just knew the game would get tied. I never had faith we'd get the stop we needed.

 

And yes, I know it's a team effort. A timely clearing of the puck makes all the difference in the world and likely wins the game. But I NEVER felt, even at his peak, that Henrik deserved the lable he had of being a clutch performer.

I get what you're saying, for sure. I'm not saying he's one of the best clutch goalies of all time, I just think he deserves a lot of credit for those series wins. Those were not easy triumphs. Like you said, I think the defense was more the culprit in 2014 than Henrik himself, though. Girardi was specifically bad as you mentioned. Is Lundqvist invulnerable from blame? Absolutely not. From a performance standpoint, the Lightning series was definitely the worse moment for him.

Leetch never willed bad teams to the post season. He was on all seven of those "Dark Ages" teams.

 

Hank did. Go look at the Conference Final rosters Hank has had. Look at his Stanley Cup Final roster. He's made chicken salad out of chicken shit in basically every single season he's played but for the last two years.

For sure. Listen, if someone said they thought Lundqvist was better than Leetch, I certainly wouldn't argue. lol Near the end of Renney's tenure into Tortorella's, those were some pretty mediocre teams, especially on offense. They absolutely had no business getting into the postseason. Henrik was one of the best players in the NHL post lockout, bar none.

A round of applause for Henrik the Great!

Yeah. Fact is the Rangers were fucking awesome for a long period of time. I don’t really subscribe to the idea that management failed to give him a good team. How many hall of fame players did hank play with in his career? 4? They won the division twice. They won the leave once. Went to the ECF 3 times and the finals once.

 

Yeah there were disappointing springs mixed in there but overall that’s one hell of a run. Hank was a part of some of the best hockey any of us have ever watched. Stinks they couldn’t close it out but that’s how it goes.

Indeed. There were definitely times where the offense could have been better, but it's really hard to complain about anything from that era. It was one of the better periods the Rangers had since the late 60's-early 70's probably. They did everything but win the Cup. They might even be setting themselves up for an even longer period of success. I think that helps and this hurts a bit less, but still sucks. It helps that the Rangers are in good hands in goal with Shesterkin and just in good hands in general with the front office and everything.

I was there when he won his 1st game at MSG, crowd would chant his name and he would wave to the crowd while play was going on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

That was a fun year. That '05-'06 team will always hold a special place.

It was necessary because of past shitty decisions like Pete said. Overall it's a pretty pathetic ending to his Rangers' career.

Edit: I remember when he got his first win at MSG and the crowd was chanting his name. 15 years ago. Wow. Where does the time go?

Aves. And he'll win a cup Ray Bourque style.

This is what I want. At this point, I would love for him to get a Cup and further cement his legacy. It will suck that it wasn't here, of course, but it's better than nothing. Even moreso than McDonagh, Girardi, etc., it would really cement him as an all time great. I mean, I think he is anyway, but a title would be the cherry on top, as that's really the only he hasn't done.