Confirmed with Link: Rangers Buy Out Contract of Henrik Lundqvist

[FIRE DRURY]

Same bro... Same...

This one especially hurts.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

I love Hank. I agree he is the 2nd greatest Ranger ever. Our best player for a solid decade. He couldn’t stay. He didn’t want to be the backup here and he wasn’t going to be the starter. I wish him all the best and will root for him whenever he isn’t playing against the Rangers.

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

We lost the Cup the second the Hawks lost in Game 7 OT. We would have taken them.

Same. The Rangers matched up better against the Hawks than the Kings. I don't know if the Rangers would have won, but they'd have had a better shot against them. The Kings were the worst possible matchup for the Rangers.

 

[Harbour Dog]

If he goes to Toronto, I'll root for them to win the f***ing Cup. f***.

 

[yada]

2014 should have ended differently. That will always be with me.

I would be much more ok with how 2014 ended had the rangers not changed how they played in the conf finals and stanley cup finals. Paying more attention to try and keep shifts short instead of trying to keep puck possession and possibly increase the lead meant la really tilted the ice which the rangers could never match once they went prevent mode.

 

[JCProdigy]

Get ready for the mouth breather threads on the main boards trying to denigrate his legacy. Don't let your self fall for the troll jobs.

What main boards? This IS the main board. No others exist to me...well except for the Islanders board after they lost to the Lightning. That was fun to read.

I will literally vomit and be forced to take the season off if that happens. Especially if I see any redneck f***ers here walking around in a Lundqvist Caps jersey. f*** me I would go insane.

Ditto....luckily any real Caps fans in our area hate Lundqvist so I don't think he would be accepted that readily.

Keeping the younger goalie is worth the feels we're feeling now.

Down the line we package Geo for a better return.

I hope Hank goes out with a winning team, wherever that is.

That's exactly what you'd have to do with Georgiev after this year. Package him ala Raanta because his being one year older, one year closer to UFA, and playing in circa 25 games as a backup isn't going to increase his worth. Talbot got more in a trade because of his run at the end of 2015 when Lundqvist was hurt.

Sad and sucks Lundqvist has to end his Ranger career this way. Appreciated his fire and that he actually hated to lose much more than he loved to win. A team needs players like that. Truly, one of the best goalies to ever play the game was a Ranger. We should all remember that.

 

[SML2]

This is so weird. When Sather traded Leetch, that was like top 5 most heartbreaking days or my life and I swore I would never forgive him for that.

Idk if that was just because I was 14 years old and it was hormones and that was the first true heartbreak I had ever experienced and now as a 30 year old I'm so jaded that I don't even care anymore, but the only thought is that I have immense respect for Gorton for having the balls to pull this off.

If he doesnt bring a Cup to NY his legacy will be "the guy who bought out the best player in franchise history".

Respect to Gorton.
The guy you have making the decisions has to be a hit man. A straight up mafia hit man. You know why the mob uses hit men? They're not emotional. They're not sentimental. They don't get attached. Whatever the job is, they do it, until you need them to do another one.
The team gave Henrik his choice when they wrote the letter. He made his choice. He didn't want to go. Respect to him, too. Henrik Lundqvist was as valiant and courageous a warrior who has ever put on this sweater. He came to the Big Apple and he made it his city. From the moment he took the ice, he was an absolute rock of dependability up until the time the franchise changed direction. The best looking "face of the franchise" we have seen around here in a long, long, time and a tough act to follow.
At some point, everything has an end. I'm sad that this is the way the story ends here. I truly think that Henrik Lundqvist, the 7th round pick out of Are, Sweden, is the greatest player in the history of this great franchise. I feel like he deserved more. I wish he got more, but you get what you get in this life, and he's done well for himself. He may not have won a cup here, but neither did John Davidson, and he's as loved a person who has ever put on the uniform here in NY.
I look at the future, and how bright it is, and I hope somehow there is a place for Henrik in it. I feel like the team made the hard choices that had to be made, for the name on the front of the sweater, not the ones on the back, and I respect the Hell out of how hard it is to make the right choice instead of the easy choice. I am hopeful that some day not too far off, we will see another cup go up high with a Ranger captain underneath it, and that in that celebration, somehow the King gets a chance to lift it too.
Long live the King.

 

[bl02]

If he goes to Toronto, I'll root for them to win the f***ing Cup. f***.

Nah I'll pass lol. Dealing with Leaf fans for eternity. Plus would rather see them pass our 54 year drought.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Thanks Hank, never a more fierce competitor who wore blue, yet just as classy, giving and loyal.

It’s hard to believe his career with the Rangers has ended. All of those post game interviews. He was always the true captain of this team in my eyes, almost since day one. He had such a calm, reflective and clear view of his and his team’s performance after each and every game.

Takes a lot of f***ing guts to go through what he did the past couple of seasons. He knew it was coming, but he stayed because he loves this city, the fans and this franchise. It’s his family.

Thanks for the memories Hank. Thanks for all of the effort and perseverance in practices. Thanks for showing up to play every single minute of every single game.

Long live the King

 

[Levitate]

If Lundqvist didn't want to be a backup then this buyout is even a "favor" to him and less a cold blooded business decision and more a way to let him move on and get a chance someplace else.

I hope he gets one more shot at it

 

[Inferno]

This was the only solution? Isn't this only saving 3 mil in cap space?

Sounds like it's what he wants.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Definitely a bit sad that this is how it ends.

But I assume it ended this way because Hank still wants to play. Good for him. Keep chasing that dream. That mentality is a big part of the person he is and why he was so great for so long.

As fans it stings, but I know in time this is going to be a miniscule blip on our memories of Henrik Lundqvist. One of the greatest players in franchise history. Truly a blessing to spend my college years and 20s watching him.

 

[Boris Zubov]

George Harrison said it so succinctly, "All things must pass".

Thanks for always being a consummate professional, Hank.

 

[broadwayblue]

Farewell Henrik Lundqvist

 

[MysticLeviathan]

I’m a Rangers fan above everything and I do feel this is the right move. He earned his contract, so he shouldn’t feel obligated to retire. He was great and carried the team on his back for many years. He just didn’t have the team in front of him to get it done. It’s time. Igor has supplanted him, and starting Hank gives us a lesser chance to win. We clear up a few million to get more flexibility.

I’ll miss Hank and the great games he played for us. He was the best in his generation imo and surely a HHOFer. I wish him well. I hope he comes back to the Rangers in sone capaciy at some point.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

This is hard. It’s a little depressing, for me especially. Hank is my favorite NHL player and athlete of all time. I fell in love with hockey because of him. I fell in love with the Rangers because of him.

It’s a bit of a numbing feeling to know that he’s going to be gone. But it definitely hurts. It hurts that they got so close with him and couldn’t achieve the ultimate goal. It hurts that he couldn’t get the ending that he deserved with this team. This team will never be the same without Henrik Lundqvist.

But it’ll always be the Rangers. It just is especially painful for me, seeing my icon go out like this. I want to rant endlessly about it but it’s hard to put together anything cohesive without looking stupid, lol.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

We lost the Cup the second the Hawks lost in Game 7 OT. We would have taken them.

People say this like it's a fact. The Hawks won in 2013 and 2015, why were we guaranteed to beat the them?

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

This is hard. It’s a little depressing, for me especially. Hank is my favorite NHL player and athlete of all time. I fell in love with hockey because of him. I fell in love with the Rangers because of him.

It’s a bit of a numbing feeling to know that he’s going to be gone. But it definitely hurts. It hurts that they got so close with him and couldn’t achieve the ultimate goal. It hurts that he couldn’t get the ending that he deserved with this team. This team will never be the same without Henrik Lundqvist.

But it’ll always be the Rangers. It just is especially painful for me, seeing my icon go out like this. I want to rant endlessly about it but it’s hard to put together anything cohesive without looking stupid, lol.

Oh, man, I hear ya. It's part of being a long-time, die-hard fan. I suffered with each of the Patrick/Turcotte, Zubov, Kovalev, and Leetch trades. But as time wound on, it became more and more "about the name on the front of the sweater" for me. You survive. And I'm glad we have a GM who is stone-cold when it comes to these decisions, because at the end of the day, that is what's best for the name on the front of the sweater.

Hopefully, the core that he's building now can have a great run and end it a la the Yankees dynasty of the '90s and '00s.

 

[GordonGecko]

Thanks for the memories!

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

and then there was Staal...

Huh? I think you may have missed some news...

 

[lawrence]

Sad to see him go like this. Hope it’s not the end for him.

 

[Baby Punisher]

Hank brought excitement and stability back to the Garden after a dark period in franchise history, and the lockout. He was an amazing player at his position and carried the team on and off the ice. It is a shame that for all he accomplished as a member of the New York Rangers he fell tragically short of the ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup.

 

[Baby Punisher]

That will always be a tough one for me. No doubt LAK deserved to win. They played better. Still, losing three in OT--a two goal lead, three two goal leads in another game--it was eminently winnable. You know you didn't "deserve" it, but with a bounce here or there and maybe you get lucky. I feel like lots of winners in sports enjoy some degree of luck when they win it all. Coulda been us. Wasn't meant to be.

The Rangers got screwed in game 1. Things would have played out a bit differently had they won that game.

 

[Baby Punisher]

Respect to Gorton.
The guy you have making the decisions has to be a hit man. A straight up mafia hit man. You know why the mob uses hit men? They're not emotional. They're not sentimental. They don't get attached. Whatever the job is, they do it, until you need them to do another one.
The team gave Henrik his choice when they wrote the letter. He made his choice. He didn't want to go. Respect to him, too. Henrik Lundqvist was as valiant and courageous a warrior who has ever put on this sweater. He came to the Big Apple and he made it his city. From the moment he took the ice, he was an absolute rock of dependability up until the time the franchise changed direction. The best looking "face of the franchise" we have seen around here in a long, long, time and a tough act to follow.
At some point, everything has an end. I'm sad that this is the way the story ends here. I truly think that Henrik Lundqvist, the 7th round pick out of Are, Sweden, is the greatest player in the history of this great franchise. I feel like he deserved more. I wish he got more, but you get what you get in this life, and he's done well for himself. He may not have won a cup here, but neither did John Davidson, and he's as loved a person who has ever put on the uniform here in NY.
I look at the future, and how bright it is, and I hope somehow there is a place for Henrik in it. I feel like the team made the hard choices that had to be made, for the name on the front of the sweater, not the ones on the back, and I respect the Hell out of how hard it is to make the right choice instead of the easy choice. I am hopeful that some day not too far off, we will see another cup go up high with a Ranger captain underneath it, and that in that celebration, somehow the King gets a chance to lift it too.
Long live the King.

This was perfect.

 

[TominNC]

Rangers legend. Future HHOFer. Number to the rafters ASAP.

But this had to be done. Time for the next set of Rangers to make their mark and take a shot.