Who Are These Guys?

There’s something happening with New York sports, and for the first time in a long time, it has nothing to do with the Yankees. While the Yankees are out working on their golf games, there is an unexpected buzz still coming out of New York City. For the first October in as long as many of us can remember, the New York Rangers are actually the team to keep an eye on. It’s been seven years since the Rangers last made the playoffs and ESPN.com analysts picked them to continue the trend as they predicted that they would finish 27^th out of 30 teams. Yet, last night’s victory has landed the Rangers atop the Atlantic Division – alone.

Sure, it’s only five games into the new season, but the Rangers are undeniably a different team with different priorities, with different personnel, and with a different makeup. But it’s not even where they are after the few games, it’s how they got there. On opening night, it was a battle between the “lowly” Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers, who were picked as the second-best team in all of the National Hockey League. The Rangers shocked them with by erasing a 3-1 second period deficit with 4 straight goals to snatch the 5-3 win. Then after back-to-back overtime losses, the Rangers finished their first week taking 4 of the first possible 6 points. And after a setback loss to the Washington Capitals, the Blueshirts did something that they have only done 4 times in the last 42 regular season matchups, they beat the New Jersey Devils. And they did it handily. They spanked the Devils and goaltender Martin Brodeur 4-1 and upped their season record to 2-1-2 in what has to be considered a statement game – the Rangers just might be here to stay.

There’s a new brand of hockey being played on Broadway – a game of speed, discipline, and grit. It’s a method of play that has been widely affected by the 2006 rule changes. The larger zones, the allowance of two line passes, and the limitation that goalies now have to face when handling a dump-in all promote speed and excitement. The faster, harder-working players are now rewarded with the room to skate. And the youth on the Rangers roster plays right into that. One of the biggest downfalls of the Rangers seasons recently has been that they have had too many Generals and not enough Soldiers. This young, talented team seems to have the perfect amount of diversity and they have a coach who is feeding off it. Coach Tom Renney’s team bonding trip to West Point just before the season opener is sign enough that something different is brewing behind the bench. They are playing complete games, they are getting scoring up and down the roster, and they keeping coming at their opponents, even with a lead.

It is unbelievably early to be making any predictions about the Rangers fate this season, especially when even star winger Jaromir Jagr ducked the question about whether he expects, or just hopes, the Rangers make the playoffs. However, one thing that everyone can buy into is the fact that hockey is one sport that you don’t win games by accident. And even though the Rangers have only won a couple, they have taken 5 out of 6 points against the premier teams. Wins in hockey are a product of hard-work, talent, and fundamentals. There’s no interception or fumble to change the outcome of a game. There’s no pitcher putting forth a surprise start to shutdown the opposition, and there’s especially no star shooting guards going cold to let their team down. There are very rarely any fluke wins in hockey.

There’s a long way to go before any Rangers fan can even dream of contending for the most beautiful trophy in all of sports, but one thing that no one expected has already proven that it should hold true for the remainder of the NHL season – the Rangers will actually be exciting to watch again.