Who is the next Ranger to get his number retired?
- Thread starter JT Kreider
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SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
Thirty One
Safe is safe.
- Dec 28, 2003
- 28,981
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No chance for Callahan. There wasn't any kind of a hold on wearing it after him. 4 players have worn it since then lol.
I think the more interesting question would be who will be the second next after Lundqvist. And it's probably someone who hasn't made their impact yet.
I think the more interesting question would be who will be the second next after Lundqvist. And it's probably someone who hasn't made their impact yet.
JT Kreider
FIRE GORDIE CLARK
You are probably describing Kreider depending on how these next few years go and if he gets the C.
Jagr should go up IMO. We dont come out of the dark ages without him, his impact was felt years after he left, and no Ranger will ever come close to 123 points again.
319 points in 277 games. Is that not the best PPG in franchise history?
Crease
Chief Justice of the HFNYR Court
- Jul 12, 2004
- 24,767
- 27,709
Four seasons is not enough for immortality, without a championship.
In my perfect world, the Rangers would have a super exclusive jersey retirement list and a more broader museum honoring guys like Jagr, Graves, Hadfield, etc.
JT Kreider
FIRE GORDIE CLARK
Yeah. The jersey retirement has definitely lost its luster over the past years. Anders Lee is still wearing #27 despite it being retired for Tonneli.
hank is the only answer....unless we are going back to guys that should have been retired years ago
Thirty One
Safe is safe.
- Dec 28, 2003
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OK, you HAVE to retire exactly one player's number from after the 2005 lockout, in addition to Lundqvist.
Go.
Go.
Irishguy42
Mr. Preachy
smoneil
Registered User
Those years need to be put into context, though. They are probably the highest ppg years in league history. Scoring was WAY up because the refs were calling all the new rules every time. That doesn't mean that Jagr didn't use that extra space better than most, but it does mean that it's not really a fair comparison to hold those three years up against other three year spans.
Jagr was very good for us. So was Gartner. So was Pat LaFontaine. So was Eric Lindros. So was McD. You don't retire numbers for "very good." You retire numbers for jaw-droppingly absurd or for playing a key role in a Cup win. Other than Lundqvist, I think the only players on the roster who might be able to get to that level are Ziba and Panarin, but even then, they'll need to do it consistently enough and for enough years that they belong in MSG's rafters. Jagr had a great career but, like Gretzky, the vast majority of his claims to fame happened in other cities.
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
- Apr 11, 2011
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I doubt we ever see a number being retired league-wide. Jagr didn't really play enough to warrant a jersey retirement in my opinion. If it were me, I'd honor Brad Park. We have no 9 in the rafters twice, so why not no 2?
JT Kreider
FIRE GORDIE CLARK
This is kind of my point. That we have been one of the most successful teams since the lockout and yet only have ONE player (and a goalie of all positions) that is worthy of having his number retired????
How did that happen lol
smoneil
Registered User
No Cup. Without 1994, Leetch and Messier still go to the rafters (they are two all time NHL greats), but Richter is a maybe and Graves almost certainly doesn't go up. The only "all time great" we've had since the lockout is Lundqvist.
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
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As much as I loved Graves and Richter, I never really felt they deserved their numbers to be up in the rafters. But, at the time, before the big four went up, we only had 2 numbers up there. It's amazing that in almost 80 years of a franchise, only Giacomin and Gilbert got their numbers raised to the rafters.
Bob Richards
Mr. Mojo Risin'
Consistently icing rosters of solid-to-good players who never picked up harts, norris trophies, scoring titles or cups
JT Kreider
FIRE GORDIE CLARK
Jagr is an all time great. I understand the arguments against having #68 retired since he was only here for 4 years, but the complete lack of recognition he has gotten from the franchise that loves to tout its history is bizarre.
Amazing Kreiderman
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I think it's more likely for Beukeboom, Matteau, Kovalev or Zubov to have their numbers retired than for the Rangers to honour Jagr in any way
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
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Obviously 10, 24, 31 and 93 after we win 3 Cups this decade
smoneil
Registered User
Yeah, he was. In Pittsburgh. He was only here for three and a half seasons, though. Was he good? Yeah, especially in 05/06, but in terms of games played, Jagr spent less than 16% of his career in a Rangers sweater. He scored fewer than 17% of his career points in a Rangers sweater. In short, in terms of individual play, he was an all-time great mostly in other cities (primarily Pittsburgh). In terms of team success, the Rangers got swept in round 1 once, and dominated in round 2 twice while Jagr was here. They were never even close to a Cup. In contrast, Messier played nearly 40% of his career games with the Rangers, scoring nearly 37% of his career points with the Rangers. He took the team to the 2nd round of the playoffs 3 times, the Eastern Conference Finals once, and won the Stanley Cup once.
Frankly, if you remove the 1994 Cup, Messier is even a MAYBE as far as getting his number retired, and even with the Cup removed, he has a much better case than Jagr. If anything Jagr has more in common with Gretzky's Rangers tenure, and I wouldn't agree with individually retiring Gretzky's number at MSG either.
I really liked Jagr when he was here, but if we're going to start retiring numbers for players who did well for a couple of years and didn't win anything, then we're going to rapidly run out of numbers to assign to current players.
Thirty One
Safe is safe.
- Dec 28, 2003
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Those teams were built on depth. In 2014, they had three pretty equal lines to throw out there, but no line that stood out. So I think the only natural solution is to retire the numbers of Stepan, Richards, Nash, Callahan, Dubinsky, Hagelin, Brassard, McDonagh, Staal, Girardi, and Stralman.
JT Kreider
FIRE GORDIE CLARK
They were all traded or let go before they had the chance to accrue the longevity necessary to become all time Rangers. That might be the explanation.
Kocur Dill
picklicious
- Feb 7, 2010
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Lundqvist I get.
Other than that, can we stop making this an achievement for all but the elite of the elite?
Pretty soon there won't be any single digits or traditional goalie numbers left and that's terrible. Who the hell wants to see 24 shirts with 70 -98 skating on the ice?
After a while, it seems to be more of a cash grab/fan stroke job than an actual honor.
IMO, it adds to the lore when new, dynamic players carry on the legacy of a number. If Graves didn't wear #9 cuz Bathgate, or Leetch didn't hear #2 if we retired Park long ago. Heck, we have #1 and #35 in the rafters. If Hank goes at #30 what's left? 30/31/33? Cuz 32/34 are typical enforcer numbers.
To me, it starts to lose it's aura when teams retire soooooo many players.
I reiterate. The legacy is more honorable than the retirement.
Other than that, can we stop making this an achievement for all but the elite of the elite?
Pretty soon there won't be any single digits or traditional goalie numbers left and that's terrible. Who the hell wants to see 24 shirts with 70 -98 skating on the ice?
After a while, it seems to be more of a cash grab/fan stroke job than an actual honor.
IMO, it adds to the lore when new, dynamic players carry on the legacy of a number. If Graves didn't wear #9 cuz Bathgate, or Leetch didn't hear #2 if we retired Park long ago. Heck, we have #1 and #35 in the rafters. If Hank goes at #30 what's left? 30/31/33? Cuz 32/34 are typical enforcer numbers.
To me, it starts to lose it's aura when teams retire soooooo many players.
I reiterate. The legacy is more honorable than the retirement.
