Toggle sidebar

What was the hype around the Rangers before the 93-94 season?

pld459666 said:
fortified them as a playoff team, but I would think that team with the guys listed above do not generate home ice advantage in the PO's if they played as a team for a full season.

They were slow, plodding and predictable. Not nearly enough scoring.
Click to expand...

Its amazing that they won a Stanley Cup, yet Tony Amonte never did.

Same goes for Gartner.
 
Crease said:
I was only a kid at the time but there wasn't a lot of hype, IIRC.

As a poster mentioned above, the Rangers had an up-and-down start to the decade. After winning the President's Trophy in 1991-1992, they were ousted by Lemieux and the Cup-winning Penguins in the Conference Finals. The following season was a disappointing one. Finished under .500 and missed the Playoffs. In 1993-1994, they didn't have any big free-agent signings coming into the season. Though they were never shutout the entire regular season, they didn't have any notable offensive stars. Zubov led the team in scoring. They were very balanced, went about their business, had good leadership, and made some successful deadline deals. They won the President's Trophy, but we had heard that song-and-dance already in 1991-1992. I don't think people really thought it was going to be a special season until the Conference Finals.
Click to expand...

I believe the Pens beat the Rangers in the conference semi finals(2 round) not Conference finals(3rd round)....it all went downhill that series after Richter let in a Ron Francis slapshot from behind the blue line
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Its amazing that they won a Stanley Cup, yet Tony Amonte never did.

Same goes for Gartner.
Click to expand...

Gartner got close that same playoff year with the maple leafs getting to the conference finals against the canucks...at least the rangers traded him to a team that had a shot....but vancouver caught fire in the playoffs and who would have knew?
 
Oh the irony...

I remembered Messier getting booed at the end of the previous season after an incredible debut season. Also, there was a lot of questioning of Leetch and the young rookie's commitment. NY papers had rumors of him out partying, and that was how the ankle got hurt: "he was drunk"

So,here is the irony for my part: Sept of '93, a longtime buddy and hockey-guy (played in college, coached high school, etc), and Ranger fan, calls me to tell me he went in with 3 other guys for Devils season ticket (4 seats) and one of the guys dropped out at the last minute, would I like to get in?

Now keep in mind, after Messiers first year, Ranger tickets were almost impossible to get, even after they missed the playoffs. They were a LOT cheaper back then as well. So I go ahead with the devils tickets, rationalizing that It's for my company, taking out clients, yada yada yada.

I took a lot of abuse from my fellow Rangers fan....until the playoffs rolled around. Yes, I saw "The Guarantee" game...
 
Blueshirt Special said:
I remembered Messier getting booed at the end of the previous season after an incredible debut season. Also, there was a lot of questioning of Leetch and the young rookie's commitment. NY papers had rumors of him out partying, and that was how the ankle got hurt: "he was drunk"

So,here is the irony for my part: Sept of '93, a longtime buddy and hockey-guy (played in college, coached high school, etc), and Ranger fan, calls me to tell me he went in with 3 other guys for Devils season ticket (4 seats) and one of the guys dropped out at the last minute, would I like to get in?

Now keep in mind, after Messiers first year, Ranger tickets were almost impossible to get, even after they missed the playoffs. They were a LOT cheaper back then as well. So I go ahead with the devils tickets, rationalizing that It's for my company, taking out clients, yada yada yada.

I took a lot of abuse from my fellow Rangers fan....until the playoffs rolled around. Yes, I saw "The Guarantee" game...
Click to expand...

that's awesome...i was at the next game!
 
Petey Pucks said:
Gartner got close that same playoff year with the maple leafs getting to the conference finals against the canucks...at least the rangers traded him to a team that had a shot....but vancouver caught fire in the playoffs and who would have knew?
Click to expand...

My point is its difficult to win a Stanley Cup and it takes a complete team to do it.

The goal scoring was already there. The early 90's Ranger teams were missing grit and big game experience.

I refuse to romanticize what could have been with Tony Amonte, especially when I dont think it would've let to much future success.
 
Bleed Ranger Blue said:
My point is its difficult to win a Stanley Cup and it takes a complete team to do it.

The goal scoring was already there. The early 90's Ranger teams were missing grit and big game experience.

I refuse to romanticize what could have been with Tony Amonte, especially when I dont think it would've let to much future success.
Click to expand...

I agree with you...I was just saying it's funny how close Gartner got the Finals that same year with another team....imagine a maple leafs rangers finals? original 6 matchup? of course that would never be possible now after the maple leafs were realigned into the eastern conference after that...maple leafs used to be in the campbell while the rangers were in the wales....now with 4 of the 6 original teams in the eastern conference i would imagine seeing an original 6 final would be very rare
 
Last edited:
Someone asked how important was the Mustard Cup? It solidified that Keenan has the Rangers playing hard and were a cohesive tough team. It increased confidence in that group.

We bring it up time and time again here of if the Rangers would have won with Amonte, Weight, etc. The answer my friends and I came up with is that everything that led to 1994 had to be done, anything after was unnecessary.

The Rangers don't trade Amonte, Weight, Turcotte, Patrick, Marchant, Gartner, etc...they probably go on to be similar to what the Ottawa Senators of the late 90s/early 2000s were.

But there was no need to trade guys like Zubov, Nostrom, Lafayete, Laperrire, 1st round pick in 1996 (would have been Jay McKee per Neil Smith but was JS Gigure by the Whalers), Kovalev, Knuble, Zidlicky, and Savard.

Also, the Keenan breaking the stick thing was after they lost to the first year Ducks and that's when he pretty much kicked Turcotte and Patrick off the team. They were scratched and traded a few weeks later.
 
alkurtz said:
The previous season had left everyone disappointed and "deflated." If the boards had existed then, we would have all been ballistic.

I believe that was the season Brian Leetch got out of a taxi cab in NYC, slipped on the ice in a snow storm and broke his ankle (could be wrong on the year, it did happen but perhaps not that year). That was the only time I sort of believed in the "Ranger curse." A world class skater breaks his ankle on street ice? Really?

The mood after the the season was one of determination by management: they went after Keenan, who may have had other offers, quickly. He was brought in to add focus, discipline, and instill a sense of hard work in the team.

In training camp he began talking about the Cup right away, made up a famous video of what the Canyon of Heroes parade would be like for the team if they won.

Yes, the trophy they won in London was called the Mustard Cup (sponsored by a mustard company? French's?)

My own expectations was we'll wait and see. There were still lots of questions. Ironically, Mike Richter, who later got the reputation as a big game goalie, got lots of criticism for not being able to win the big game, perhaps because of his fiasco a few years earlier in the playoffs against the Pens. Some thought Glen Healy should get more playing time.

They got off to a slow start and in a practice on a game day, I think in Tampa, Keenan went nuts, broke his stick against the crossbar, and may have briefly sent the team off of the ice.

Rangers than went on a roll, winning I think 17 of 23. I remember them going into Toronto on a Saturday night and demolishing the Leafs. After the game, Leafs writers were effusive in the praise of the Rangers and their speed and skill. It was that point when I began to believe.

Trading for Larmer was such a key. His presence allowed everyone to slot into their correct line positions and he was such a classy player. Messier called him the smartest player he ever played with.

Can't believe Kovalev is still playing, the last active player from the Cup team. Seems so long ago.
Click to expand...

Smarter than the Great One?
 
I do remember that THN picked NYR as preseason cup favorites in their yearbooks that year...I think I still have a copy of it at my parents house.
 
NYR27 said:
I do remember that THN picked NYR as preseason cup favorites in their yearbooks that year...I think I still have a copy of it at my parents house.
Click to expand...

I think I remember that issue. Is that the one with the article about a really young acne-faced Byran Berrard?
 
The 91-92 team seemed to be going places. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong in 92-93 and Keenan got hired in the off season. Keenan had the rep of getting his teams in the playoffs but also stabbing his gm--wherever he'd been before in the back--that's why he never could last anywhere. Expectations seemed to be all over the map for the 93-94 team at the beginning--what got expectations going is the Rangers got off to a really hot start and were stringing together long winning streaks throughout the year.
 
Two years before they won the cup, the expectations were super high. Mark Messier and Adam Graves came to town. The results were almost instantaneous. They literally brought the whole team together. The change was dramatic. I had season tix at the time. You could feel the difference in the Garden. Fans were working themselves up into a frenzy. The offense was firing on all cylinders. The Power play was intense. Brian Leetch emerged as one of the best offensive defenseman in the game. I think he had over 100 points that season. Mess, Amonte, Turcotte, Nemchinov all hit the 30 goal mark. Gartner had 40. Rangers were a powerhouse. Even James Patrick had 71pts from the Blueline! Come playoffs, expectations were literally through the roof! WFAN was all over them. They were all over the NY Post. Full back page ad’s. Hockey was thriving! Then, playoffs…. Lemieux and Pens, the Curse. Seasons over, and general thinking was we are never going to see this Rangers team win a cup again!

Next season everything was in shambles. Messier and Neilson were at it. The team sensed the animosity between them. Players no longer bought into the system. Like most here mentioned Rangers missed the playoffs, and for the team they had should have never been in that position. Everyone was questioned, except for Messier who had another great season. Leetch going down hurt the team. The curse was back, the Rangers were in a complete downward spiral.

That offseason, was not a great time for Rangers fans. I think deflated was the best word to describe it. After a flat game Keenan who I didn’t like at all during this time, was very outspoken and somewhat unpredictable. He gave it to Leetch. Walked into the locker room and in front of the whole team told him "Chris Chelios is ten times the player than you are." Immediately the press was all over it. Brian Leetch is getting traded to Chicago for Chelios. After that, the Rangers looked like a different club. By the 20 game Mark Messier had them back. The team grew together. They had it all together early and it was like that for the remainder of the season. Offense was front loaded on the top line, however the top line was physically imposing and they always got the job done. The defense was like having two extra forwards with Leetch and Zubov. Teams couldn’t figure them out. Graves was vicious! If you so much as looked at Mess the wrong way you were eating knuckles. Beukeboom was the same way with Leetch. Take a run and him, and Sasquatch was gonna rip your arms off and beat you with them. Kocur struck fear into all the heavies of the time. They were big, physical, and they had each other’s backs. At the midway point the season before was forgotten. Everyone knew something special was happening. Everyone knew the team was legit. Expectations once again were high. So high, that my brother an I traved into Vancouver for game 6. We figured, if…IF they were going to win it there, we waited long enough and we needed to witness it first-hand. We even stayed in the same hotel the players did. If they would have won that night we would have 100% been in that room celebrating with them. In fact the Westin Bayshore where we stayed, had a whole banquet or wedding hall reserved. We walked into it before going to the arena. It was top notch. There was a place for a press conference. Two bars set up. A huge buffet table set up,. Like a Posh NY wedding. After seeing that we walked into that arena knowing the Rangers were going to win it. Then, things got a little crazy. I don’t think I even saw another Rangers fan in the building there. Literally, it was crazy. They allowed signs there. One big one rolld out from the rafters. It read…â€Messier, who beat you with the ugly stickâ€. The game was terrible, and the place took on a different feeling after the loss. Zero security, and some super rabid fans. Started turning into pack mentality. Someone swiped the hat off my head and took off. We got surrounded by a crowd that berated us pretty good. Started to feel like we should get out of there, and soon. We went home to the hotel. That night, up and down Robson street they paraded. Nucks fans literally painted Go Canucks Go on their cars! All night long they went up and down that street honking their hors, cheering and chanting. Being we stayed in the same place the players did you know those guys heard it. The flight home was long. Silence. Nothing was certain anymore. The curse was back. Back in NY on the day of the game I never felt more nervous in my life. Butterflies all day long. Counted the minutes until the game. The outcome of that game 7 I think changed the lives of Rangers fans everywhere. That guy with the sign said it best…â€Now I can Die In Peace!â€


For the record, I am starting to get butterflies again!
 
RangerBoy said:
Rangers-Pittsburgh winner played Boston in the Conference finals.



How did they lose this game?:pullhair::facepalm:
Click to expand...


amazing to think of much that choke job effected this franchise for the next decade...win the cup in 92 and we probably don't trade weight and amonte, keep those 2 and probably don't miss the playoffs 8 years in a row...the ripple effect was huge
 
CM PUNK said:
amazing to think of much that choke job effected this franchise for the next decade...win the cup in 92 and we probably don't trade weight and amonte, keep those 2 and probably don't miss the playoffs 8 years in a row...the ripple effect was huge
Click to expand...
I agree although i guess the franchise was desperate to end the curse
 
I have to say how happy I am that there are a bunch of people old enough to remember that team. Sometimes I think everyone on this board is a teenager and I feel old.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom