Tribute Henrik Lundqvist Appreciation Thread

[Joey Bones]

Honestly, this is a super sad day, but also I'm happy that Hank will be able to go for a run at the Cup again...

I was about 9 years old when I watched Hank play his first game on MSG. My family and I were at that shootout game where Malik did the unforgettable and I remember what a massive performance he put out and ultimately got the win. From then on he's been a mainstay in my, my family's, and I'm sure many Ranger fan's hearts. A complete force for them for years and easily one of the best to play the position in this great sport. A leader that showed that night in and night out. A true King!!

This was an unfortunate, but necessary decision that had to be made. I don't think he's a starter anymore, but surely a backup. Again, I'm rooting for him wherever he ends up and hope to god he wins that Cup.

Safe and happy travels Hank!! You'll be sorely missed.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Remember when Goldberg scores at the end of the third Ducks movie and he says "Charlie, don't ever do that to me again"?

That's pretty much where I'm at with Hank. Iconic, heart-warming, legendary, great, triumphant, everyone stood up and cheered. All those feelings.

But never do that to me again. Building around a goalie not only doesn't win, but it's frustrating to watch, and I know every Rangers fan feels that frustration of this guy trying his damndest to drag around teams that weren't good enough. The frustration that even in 2014 when we were pretty good, the better team still won despite the gap in net.

And that's not Hank's fault! The fact is, every goalie has inconsistencies game-to-game, even the great ones (I remember the Roy/Brodeur softy being a running joke in the 90's), and they're just not going to win by themselves.

I think we need to be careful about not being blinded again the way Hank blinded the FO to how terrible the defense was and we need to be careful about the dollars we're willing to commit to Shesty. Having our system and a guy like Lafreniere puts us right away in a better position than we were when Hank was a lad.

I disagree with this. Building around a goalie would have been perfect if we didn't make asinine personnel decisions every single year. Spending the amount of money & cap space that we did on Redden, Gomez, Drury, to a ever-so-slightly lesser extent Richards, letting Stralman walk for nothing, deciding that we were going to throw our chips on Rick Nash to be our offensive leader...

Change any one of those moves and building around Hank may have ended up in a cup or two.

 

[Joey Bones]

So many memories, so many great moments, but I thought I would share something very personal.

On May 18, 2012 I flew to New York to attend the Rangers playoff game the next day in New Jersey. My daughter was due any minute and sure enough soon after I landed, I got the phone call that she had delivered.

While we had discussions about what she would name the baby, I was stunned to hear his exact name was “Henrik Bob”. I cry pretty easily but that sure put me over the top. What a great name to carry through life. The next day The King pitched a 2-0 shutout at the pebble and (I thought) it put the Rangers in a great position to win the series.

True to his name, our Henrik has become a big fan of the “Hockey Rangers” as he still calls them. His room has all kinds of Lundqvist memorabilia. Our favorite is the picture (see photo a few posts below) which was taken while he was holding a sign saying “ Hi, Henrik, my name is Henrik too!

Coincidentally, Henrik and my daughter were at The Garden on March 7, when Henrik appeared for the last time in New York as a Ranger.

There are so many emotions, so many memories, so many things I’d like to say but it all can be summed up like this...

Thank You Henrik, you were truly “The King”

Love this story, but the big take away I got from this is that you called the Rock the pebble

 

[Cmox]

Holy shit! The stopped shot numbers. Actually all of these stats are insane. What a god. Thanks Hank.

 

[Joey Bones]

We're winning it under Gorton, Hank will be part of the coaching staff

Nah, he'll be an ambassador.

 

[MarkMessyay11]

No words can give justice to the level of appreciation that is owed to this man. So I'll just leave it at this.

Thank you, Henrik. You've been a model professional, a model human, and you put much more into this organization than you got out over the last 15 years.

 

[Rempe73]

Remember when Goldberg scores at the end of the third Ducks movie and he says "Charlie, don't ever do that to me again"?

That's pretty much where I'm at with Hank. Iconic, heart-warming, legendary, great, triumphant, everyone stood up and cheered. All those feelings.

But never do that to me again. Building around a goalie not only doesn't win, but it's frustrating to watch, and I know every Rangers fan feels that frustration of this guy trying his damndest to drag around teams that weren't good enough. The frustration that even in 2014 when we were pretty good, the better team still won despite the gap in net.

And that's not Hank's fault! The fact is, every goalie has inconsistencies game-to-game, even the great ones (I remember the Roy/Brodeur softy being a running joke in the 90's), and they're just not going to win by themselves.

I think we need to be careful about not being blinded again the way Hank blinded the FO to how terrible the defense was and we need to be careful about the dollars we're willing to commit to Shesty. Having our system and a guy like Lafreniere puts us right away in a better position than we were when Hank was a lad.

Yea that’s the thing. Without wanting to turn this into a Shesty thread, at this rate, we’re most likely going to overpay him. Anything more than 6-6.5 mil for a goalie, however good they may be, is too much imo. Hank earned and deserved his contract, as will Shesty when he signs his next contract, but it’s still most likely going to be an overpayment. I would almost rather keep Georgiev, who I doubt will ever reach Shesty’s level, but will cost a lot less. Even if Shesty is going to turn out much better than Georgiev, a goalie’s true impact, unless they’re prime Hank, isn’t worth the contract. But who knows how the contracts will play out?

 

[Kovalev27]

I just wish he’d retire and stay with the org right away. We need him still just not in net

 

[Machinehead]

I disagree with this. Building around a goalie would have been perfect if we didn't make asinine personnel decisions every single year. Spending the amount of money & cap space that we did on Redden, Gomez, Drury, to a ever-so-slightly lesser extent Richards, letting Stralman walk for nothing, deciding that we were going to throw our chips on Rick Nash to be our offensive leader...

Change any one of those moves and building around Hank may have ended up in a cup or two.

But a lot of our worst moves were predicated on:

1) We don't need that good player, we already have this bad player who Hank is making look good

or

2) We need a quick-fix because Hank might get hot at any time, can't waste his youth!

 

[mrhockey193195]

But a lot of our worst moves were predicated on:

1) We don't need that good player, we already have this bad player who Hank is making look good

or

2) We need a quick-fix because Hank might get hot at any time, can't waste his youth!

Right. But both those things are correctable and not at all proof that you can't win building around a star goalie like Hank.

 

[Tawnos]

One of the amazing things about Hank's career is how great he was, consistently for a decade plus.

A lot of goalies have had great 3 year runs where they get nominated as the goalie in the league. "The best right now"

For 12 years or so, it was

Hank's the best
or Thomas
or Rinne
or Miller
or Rask
or Bob
or Price
or Holtby

etc etc etc

It's amazing how long he lasted and against how many guys people argued about best goalie in the league.

One of the sad parts about his career is that he was basically the only goalie who stayed in the top-5, year in and year out, but there was always some goalie who happened to have a "holy shit" season, so he didn't win as many Vezinas as he might have.

 

[Machinehead]

Right. But both those things are correctable and not at all proof that you can't win building around a star goalie like Hank.

You can win with a star goalie and I do believe a goalie can be your best player (the Devils won 3 Cups with a goalie being their best player) but it's a mindset of "we can get away with more because Hank carries the team." We never could get away with it. We needed a legit #1 center. We needed better defensemen.

 

[mrhockey193195]

You can win with a star goalie and I do believe a goalie can be your best player (the Devils won 3 Cups with a goalie being their best player) but it's a mindset of "we can get away with more because Hank carries the team." We never could get away with it. We needed a legit #1 center. We needed better defensemen.

Absolutely, no disagreement there.

 

[JCProdigy]

I was watching all the highlight videos posted yesterday and today on youtube/twitter of all his ridiculous saves. Ya know people say this or that starlet or this or that supermodel but nah...without a doubt, Henrik Lundqvist flashed the sexiest set of legs I've ever seen.

Good luck to Shesty. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

You can win with a star goalie and I do believe a goalie can be your best player (the Devils won 3 Cups with a goalie being their best player) but it's a mindset of "we can get away with more because Hank carries the team." We never could get away with it. We needed a legit #1 center. We needed better defensemen.

We had the defensemen, but Torts ground them into the ice. Never did have the 1C we needed though...

 

[Machinehead]

We had the defensemen, but Torts ground them into the ice. Never did have the 1C we needed though...

Eh, I feel like we had the defensemen that were out there on the premise of "Hank will stop anything to the outside" and we never really cared about possession or zone time in regards to building our defense.

Lo and behold, every playoffs, we would watch Hank get beat repeatedly on rebounds, tips, and screens. It's almost as if you have to have the puck every now and then.

The 2012 series against Jersey really stands out. Every goal they scored was stupid because when you just keep shooting and shooting, pucks go in. And the thing about goaltending is, every goaltender is bad on rebounds/tips/screens.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Eh, I feel like we had the defensemen that were out there on the premise of "Hank will stop anything to the outside" and we never really cared about possession or zone time in regards to building our defense.

Lo and behold, every playoffs, we would watch Hank get beat repeatedly on rebounds, tips, and screens. It's almost as if you have to have the puck every now and then.

The 2012 series against Jersey really stands out. Every goal they scored was stupid because when you just keep shooting and shooting, pucks go in. And the thing about goaltending is, every goaltender is bad on rebounds/tips/screens.

I will always be grateful for the effort and leadership Girardi (and Staal) provided, and Girardi in particular will forever be one of my favorite players (much to the chagrin of most on these boards, I suspect). But it hurts to think about how Torts turned those guys into human punching bags instead of well rounded defensemen. Granted, it gave them notoriety and respect league wide (albeit for now archaic reasons). But I remember Girardi first getting called up in 06-07, and maybe it's rose colored glasses, but I remember being impressed with his poise and ability to make very simple but very sound plays with the puck. Staal also, in his prime, was quite decent with the puck. That all went out the window when we implemented the 6 G system with Torts. At the time I didn't quite realize how bad of a strategy that was.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't mean to derail this thread. We can get back to Hank. I'm an emotional wreck, I don't really know what I'm doing right now.

 

[Machinehead]

I will always be grateful for the effort and leadership Girardi (and Staal) provided, and Girardi in particular will forever be one of my favorite players (much to the chagrin of most on these boards, I suspect). But it hurts to think about how Torts turned those guys into human punching bags instead of well rounded defensemen. Granted, it gave them notoriety and respect league wide (albeit for now archaic reasons). But I remember Girardi first getting called up in 06-07, and maybe it's rose colored glasses, but I remember being impressed with his poise and ability to make very simple but very sound plays with the puck. Staal also, in his prime, was quite decent with the puck. That all went out the window when we implemented the 6 G system with Torts. At the time I didn't quite realize how bad of a strategy that was.

To an extent, it's really not their fault either.

You're absolutely right to say that Girardi had a more effective overall game when he first came up. He was surprisingly effective in the offensive zone even at an advanced age, and the analytics will actually bear this out. Transition was always a bit of an issue for him because he could never really skate and that would have been an issue at some point, but he could have been better in the defensive zone if Torts didn't coach him into being a meat sack.

Staal obviously had a lot of issues with injuries and -although I generally think this criticism is overplayed- I always had issues with Staal not playing to his size enough. Girardi became a bit of a meme but in retrospect, I probably appreciated him more than Staal, believe it or not. That being said, Staal also was effective at some point, probably more than Girardi ever was. He had more natural ability FWIW.

One criticism I will levy on Staal and Girardi is that they were never #1's and never guys that could anchor a defense corps. We needed puck movers who could compliment them. We had that with Stralman/Boyle/Yandle down the road but Staal and Girardi were already corpses by then. 2012 was probably a missed opportunity to add some skill to our defense. Del Zotto never developed like we hoped and that hurt.

Some people will point to letting Stralman walk but as I said, Girardi was already cooked. Plus, I'll maintain that Boyle was pretty good his first year. I think Tampa and Chicago were just a little bit better that year and AV was AV. At the end of the day, that's the guy I resent, not Staal or Girardi.

 

[rangers1314]

Well, this one did it. This one got a tear out.

A goodbye letter to the King, Henrik Lundqvist - Forever Blueshirts: A site for New York Rangers fanatics

 

[Machinehead]

Well, this one did it. This one got a tear out.

A goodbye letter to the King, Henrik Lundqvist - Forever Blueshirts: A site for New York Rangers fanatics

I shed a couple when McDonagh lifted the Cup. Didn't think I would but I did.

This is just sort of numb right now and Hank (no offense to him) hasn't been the most relevant thing on the roster the last couple of years with this new approach.

When he returns either as an opponent or to have his ceremony, that's when I think it'll all come back for me.

 

[End of Line]

Pens fan in peace and I'm going to miss seeing Lundqvist in Broadway Blue. Battles between Crosby/Hank will bring good solace for me at least. Never truly got the recognition he deserved bc of Torts system despite the fact Hank was the reason the Rags were so f***ing good.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Pens fan in peace and I'm going to miss seeing Lundqvist in Broadway Blue. Battles between Crosby/Hank will bring good solace for me at least. Never truly got the recognition he deserved bc of Torts system despite the fact Hank was the reason the Rags were so f***ing good.

I know I might get forever banned from these boards, but I'm somewhat hoping that you guys find a way to trade Murray and bring Hank in on a low $$ contract.

 

[End of Line]

I know I might get forever banned from these boards, but I'm somewhat hoping that you guys find a way to trade Murray and bring Hank in on a low $$ contract.

Consider the state of the world, I think both fan bases could make that work lol.

 

[Rempe73]

To an extent, it's really not their fault either.

You're absolutely right to say that Girardi had a more effective overall game when he first came up. He was surprisingly effective in the offensive zone even at an advanced age, and the analytics will actually bear this out. Transition was always a bit of an issue for him because he could never really skate and that would have been an issue at some point, but he could have been better in the defensive zone if Torts didn't coach him into being a meat sack.

Staal obviously had a lot of issues with injuries and -although I generally think this criticism is overplayed- I always had issues with Staal not playing to his size enough. Girardi became a bit of a meme but in retrospect, I probably appreciated him more than Staal, believe it or not. That being said, Staal also was effective at some point, probably more than Girardi ever was. He had more natural ability FWIW.

One criticism I will levy on Staal and Girardi is that they were never #1's and never guys that could anchor a defense corps. We needed puck movers who could compliment them. We had that with Stralman/Boyle/Yandle down the road but Staal and Girardi were already corpses by then. 2012 was probably a missed opportunity to add some skill to our defense. Del Zotto never developed like we hoped and that hurt.

Some people will point to letting Stralman walk but as I said, Girardi was already cooked. Plus, I'll maintain that Boyle was pretty good his first year. I think Tampa and Chicago were just a little bit better that year and AV was AV. At the end of the day, that's the guy I resent, not Staal or Girardi.

I always thought that Girardi had a pretty underrated shot and underrated offensive instincts. He didn’t have the puck skills though. Those two aspects of his game (poor puck skills but good offensive instincts) kind of remind me of Hajek.

 

[Machinehead]

Pens fan in peace and I'm going to miss seeing Lundqvist in Broadway Blue. Battles between Crosby/Hank will bring good solace for me at least. Never truly got the recognition he deserved bc of Torts system despite the fact Hank was the reason the Rags were so f***ing good.

The Pens and Rangers have rarely played a boring game against each other since Crosby/Malkin and Hank came into the league together and Hank always added a lot of color to those games. Gonna miss that.

Hopefully we can replace it with Crosby and Lafreniere dueling hat-tricks for a couple of years before father time rears his ugly head again.