Ex-Rangers goalies reflect on Henrik Lundqvists tenure in Ne

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Fifteen years and a handful of daysago, the lights went up on one of the greatest productions in sports history.
Fifteen years and a handful of days ago, a kid from Sweden pulleda white jersey with "New York" stitched diagonally on the front over his chest protectorbefore stepping onto the ice andbecoming a legend.
Fifteen years and a handful of days ago, Henrik Lundqvist made his debut for the Rangers and the rest is history.
"He was a rock star, right from the outset. It's like he was shot out of a cannon," recalled NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes, who was Lundqvist's goalie Nigel Warrior Jerseys partner for his first two NHL seasons. "He was lightning in a bottle. He just took over not only the franchise or the league or the position, he just took over New York. He took it all over. He just grabbed it and the ascension, like, his takeoff, it was like a space shuttle."
It hasbeen 15 years minus a handful of days since that debut, but after 886games, 459 wins (sixth-most all time) and 12 trips to the postseason, including one that ended three wins shy of a Stanley Cup,the curtain has come downon Lundqvist's careeron Broadway.On Sept. 30 which as the date honored the man who wore No. 30 .
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"He was so much a perfectionist about his game and demanded so much," said former Rangers netminder Mike Richter, whoseNo. 35 will surely be joined in the rafters by No. 30, in a phone chat with Sporting News."Your goal is always the same when you play: Be your best and improve.
"He really embodiedthatin a way that is truly impre sive and that heshould be proud of it, the owners should be proud of him. That's thetype of thing that rubs off on other people in a great way and you add value to an organization outside the wins and lo ses and shutouts that you produce and he certainly really had that done in a large way. So, when I think of him, I just think of a true profe sional."
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Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30) Lundqvist's tenure at the World's Most Famous Arena of course had its ups and downs from the Rangers'first postseason appearance since 1997 when they made the playoffs in 2006, to losing in a shootout on the last day of the 2010 season to putan end to playoff dreams, to that Stanley Cup run in 2014 that came up just a tad Landon Cohen Jerseys short. There was also the vascular injury after taking a puck to his neck that cost him a large chunk of the season in 2014-15, two more Eastern Conference finals and, when he finally hung up his jersey one last time after bubble hockey, more than 50 franchise records to his name.
"The overall body of work has to be this consistent high level and he's had that," said Richter, the guy he not only knocked off the top spot on the Rangers' all-time wins list but also surpa sed by 158 more. "Ithink one of the things you have to recognize is, he made that organization better by being that profe sional, by being that demanding, by demanding so much of himself andthose around him. That just makes people better and that'll help this group and everybody who's playing with him and working with him long after he's gone."
Between 2005 and 2015, Lundqvistwas one of the game'smost dynamic puck-stoppers not only in the regular season but also in the big games and big moments in the playoffs. In those 10 seasons, he earned a spot in the top six of Vezina Trophy voting every single time, including being a finalist in his first three NHL DK Metcalf Jerseys seasons before winning the award given to the league's best goaltender after a dominating 2011-12 season.
"Henrik had new skates that year and they were digging into his feet and his ankles," recalledMartin Biron, who backed up Lundqvist from 2010 through the first few games of the 2013-14 season, recalling the sixth game of the season in Edmonton. "He came to the bench in the third period of a 2-0 lo s and he says:'I can't, I can't stand in the net anymore. My feet are killing me.I've got togo,' and then he went out the Zamboni door behind the net on the next whistle. Then I looked over to head coach John Tortorella and Torts goes: 'Well, what are you waiting for ? Go in,' and I went in for like the last 10minutes of the game. That was the only time all year there was a goalie change in a game.
"It's very rare that a No. 1 goalie will come on in relief many times during a season but it happens often that the backup will come on in relief because your starter Duane Brown Jerseys will have some off nights. He never had an off night that year, like, if he started, I could have had eight hot dogs andtwo cheeseburgers and a bunch of milkshakes and it wouldn't have mattered because he was finishing the game that he was starting."
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Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) For those of us who watched him from the stands or the pre s box and those who knew him from the locker room, Lundqvist was not only ble sed with a God-given talent to stop pucks, he also worked day in and day out to perfect his craft. He epitomized the blue-collar mentality that is the lifeblood of New York City while also being debonair and rubbing elbows with the city's elite.
"The thing about Henrik is, there was steak and the sizzle," Weekes said during a phone interview with Sporting News. "He wasn't just focused on all the off-icestuff that New York City offers and letting in five goals at night. He was driven to be great and let his greatne s drive everything else ... and he never stopped.
"Alot of people got stuck on the hair wax and the hair gel and the suits and the skinny ties and everything else but that was the fashion side to him. That was the sizzle side ...but it was all based on a hyper, hypercompetitive spirit and hyperdrive to be great and a commitment to excellence."
What's next for Lundqvist is the elephant in the room.
According to Weekes, who has spoken "to some people close to the situation," Lundqvisthas "been on the ice in thepractice rink for the last little while, here in New York at the Rangers' facility in Tarrytown." Will the Lundqvist show hit the road? The biggest i sueis the goaltending free-agent market in 2020 is flush with high-end talent although, not many hold a candle to Darrell Taylor Jerseys Lundqvist's resume.
"Henrik is probably the best reaction goaltender I've ever had a chance to watch,"Biron,who thinks Lundqvist may return to Sweden to finish out his pro hockey career, said in an interview with Sporting Ne
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