Thanks For Everything, Hank
The day New York Rangers fans have been dreading has finally arrived: “The King” Henrik Lundqvist has been bought out of the final year of his contract and will no longer be a Ranger. It’s a day that’s seemed inevitable given the young talent they have lined up. But just as well, a day that seemed like it would never come given the longevity of Lundqvist’s competitive nature and mental toughness. No true Rangers fan wanted this to happen, but the writing was on the wall, and well, here we are.
To go from immortal Cup winner Mike Richter to the ill-equipped — evident in both their statistics and their gear — carousel that made up the Rangers’ netminders post-Richter injury was a tough pill for the New York faithful to swallow. Every NHL fan knows you are only as good as your goalie is hot, and these goalies (Kirk McClean, Dan Blackburn, Mike Dunham, Kevin Weekes, the list goes on…) were never great during their time with the Rangers. Enter Lundqvist. The post-Cup blues had been cured following a single playoff series sweep against the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers in the ’06-07 season. Selected in the seventh round (205th overall) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Lundqvist made a name for himself immediately, subbing in for an injured Weekes early in the ’05-06 season and never looking back. During his ’08 season in New York, the Rangers signed Lundqvist to a six-year, $41 million deal, and another seven-year extension in 2013 worth $59 million. Lundqvist was going to be a Ranger for life.
Henrik was one of those athletes that fit in New York, not only in terms of athletic greatness, but also in professionalism and leadership, and the fans of this great city embraced him with open arms. He became the face of the franchise. He became a New Yorker, riding the subway (a chance encounter I had with him on the E train was a particularly surreal moment), opening a restaurant, and giving back to the community.
Yet, the hardest trophy to win in sports eluded the grasp of the fiercest competitor this town has ever seen. He’s Eli Manning or Derek Jeter without the championships — same professionalism, same loyalty, no ring. That’s not to say he wasn’t close; Hank always had them on the brink. He was the Rangers’ best postseason performer throughout his tenure, had them in the conference finals three times in four years, and fronted a Stanley Cup appearance in 2014. When the chips were down, he delivered; he won an NHL record six straight postseason Game 7s and had New York in the playoffs in 11 out of 12 years between 2006-17. Cup or not, Henrik was and will remain among the greatest athletes New York has ever seen.
But after fifteen seasons with the Rangers, endless franchise records (including wins, shutouts, and postseason victories), a Vezina trophy (and a finalist four other years), the sixth-most wins in NHL history, and the only goalie in NHL history to record 30 wins in each of his first seven seasons, King Henrik will don the famous Blueshirt no more. Unless, of course, the Rangers do the right thing and sign him to a one-day contract when he’s ready to walk away for good so he can retire as a Ranger. This is something I’ve wished would happen more times than it has, and with Lundqvist seemingly willing to test the free agency market, it will not be any time soon.
Now the question remains: Will Lundqvist continue his career elsewhere? It seems likely that he will end up as a backup on a contender who needs depth at the goaltending position. Should Hank make a deep playoff run somewhere other than New York, the Blueshirt faithful with be rooting him on in hopes of finding Cup glory. And much like Ray Bourque winning in Colorado after a long run with the Bruins, “bittersweet” will hardly be the word to describe it. For 15 years he was OUR goalie, without question, beating the NHL’s best (Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin) when it counted, and as long as Hank was in net, all of New York felt like the Rangers had more than a chance to win it all. And now he’s gone, testing the free-agent market in hopes of playing again. Until the day we get to see the white and red No. 30 against the Rangers blue backdrop lifted up to the rafters at Madison Square Garden, we’ll be rooting for him. Thanks for everything, Hank.