Comments (0) Best New York Ranger - 2008
Henrik Lundqvist
The best player on the Blue Shirts last year and the year before wasn?t Jarom?r J?gr, who will play in Russia this year, or Sean Avery, who will line up for the Dallas Stars, but All-Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The Swede net minder led the league last year with 10 shutouts (third-best ever in a single season for the team) and was fourth in the league in wins, with 37, despite the fact that the Rangers didn?t get it going until the end of the year. After playing not even three full seasons, Lundqvist is already starting to put up all-time numbers for the Blue Shirts. The 37 games he won both last year and the year before rank second and third all-time for Rangers? goalies in a single season. Only Mike Richter, with 42 wins in the magical year of ?93-?94 and the Rangers? last Cup, is ahead of Lundqvist on that list. His career record is an impressive 104 wins, 58 losses, and 27 ties. Of the seven Rangers goalies with more wins than Lundqvist all-time, three are in the Hall of Fame, including Gump Worsley and Ed Giacomin?and two others, Mike Richter and John Vanbiesbrouck, will probably end up there one day. But consider this: At his current win pace, Lundqvist, now 26, could break Richter?s team record of 301 wins in less than 10 seasons?a feat that took Richter 15 years.
