Tribute Henrik Lundqvist Retires

[Deleted member 23124]

I only saw Tretiak in 30 games or so, so it's difficult to agree or disagree.

One thing in favor of Hasek is that he spent most of his career in front of not very good teams while Tretiak played in front of one of the very best teams in hockey history.

Agreed....watching Hasek, it's amazing the Sabres lost so many games.

 

[Chaels Arms]

The Zuccarello injury in the 2015 playoffs was a huge blow at a terrible time for the Rangers and Lundqvist. That team won the President's Trophy and had a lopsided game 6 7-3 victory in Tampa to force a game 7 in New York. The memory of John Tortorella's ghost was still strong enough for that team that they were 3rd best in the regular season in goals against per game and 3rd best in goals for per game in Vignault's offensive system. They had the best goal differential by far in the NHL. When a team like that drops 7 goals on the road in game 6 before coming back to MSG you expect a game 7 victory but they just could not generate any offense in game 7. Tampa was a .500 road team in the regular season also.

I remember watching that game and thinking I was all of a sudden watching Torts' "five goalie system" Rangers again. They had 23 total shots and most, if not all of them were junk shots from the perimeter. Zuccarello was the only player on that team capable of generating offense on his own other than Brassard and occasionally MSL.

 

[Rempe73]

Still can’t believe it. First time in my life I’m experiencing a legend of my team retiring after watching most of his career.

 

[eco's bones]

This site resetting all the time sucks.

Truth is Henrik’s game was declining. He was not going to be happy being Igor’s backup. That said Igor has the goods to be an excellent goalie but expecting him to be as good as Henrik was in his prime is a tall order and I have some real doubts about that. Two things that Henrik had that Igor might not—durability and an engine. Henrik rarely got hurt and for most of his career you could play him 65 games a year and all the playoffs however far the team went. Igor’s had less than 50 NHL games in two years and yanked his groin twice already. That’s why until we know how far he can take us we’ll need a good backup. It’s also why it was the correct call not to give Igor 8 years.

 

[EdJovanovski]

This site resetting all the time sucks.

Truth is Henrik’s game was declining. He was not going to be happy being Igor’s backup. That said Igor has the goods to be an excellent goalie but expecting him to be as good as Henrik was in his prime is a tall order and I have some real doubts about that. Two things that Henrik had that Igor might not—durability and an engine. Henrik rarely got hurt and for most of his career you could play him 65 games a year and all the playoffs however far the team went. Igor’s had less than 50 NHL games in two years and yanked his groin twice already. That’s why until we know how far he can take us we’ll need a good backup. It’s also why it was the correct call not to give Igor 8 years.

Uhh these were both shortened seasons, and in the first "year" he didn't get called up to the NHL until the 42nd game of the season. Then got into a freak car accident (which wouldn't be any indication of his durability) before the 62nd game of the season. The other games he missed weren't from injury they were because Quinn was rotating goalies. We all know he didn't pull his groin in a practise before the playoffs, they wanted to give Hank one last kick at the can.

In the second (also shortened) season, he played 35 of the 56 games; which would pace for 51GP in his rookie season; which is high. Only 2 games less than Lundqvist's rookie season. Quinn was also rotating goalies a fair bit much to the chagrin of our fanbase.

This narrative that he's injury prone is completely false. And when looking at his KHL starts, the KHL relies way more on old players than the NHL does, they don't like giving minutes to young guys. They rotate their goalies when they have such a young kid.

 

[EdJovanovski]

 

[TheKing30]

Wonder what game its going to be

 

[Chytilmania]

Wonder what game its going to be

Might risk it and buy all of the Capitals games and hope it's one of them before the price skyrockets.

 

[Chimpradamus]

This site resetting all the time sucks.

Truth is Henrik’s game was declining. He was not going to be happy being Igor’s backup. That said Igor has the goods to be an excellent goalie but expecting him to be as good as Henrik was in his prime is a tall order and I have some real doubts about that. Two things that Henrik had that Igor might not—durability and an engine. Henrik rarely got hurt and for most of his career you could play him 65 games a year and all the playoffs however far the team went. Igor’s had less than 50 NHL games in two years and yanked his groin twice already. That’s why until we know how far he can take us we’ll need a good backup. It’s also why it was the correct call not to give Igor 8 years.

NYR should hire Hank as a training coach for the goalies while doing something else as well. No one knew how to stay injury free as him. ALL Lundqvist's injuries were freak accidents from collisions and having McDonagh as a defenseman.

Heck, Hank could make a career out of helping hockey goalies how to train, stay fit and be injury free.

 

[Irishguy42]

Wonder what game its going to be

They should do it on his birthday, which is a home game vs the Blues.

That way we can get the double-whammy of losing on jersey-retirement night (pretty sure NYR have a losing record on jersey retirement nights) and then having Buch score a goal or two (maybe even the game winner) in his first return to MSG.

Gotta combine the emotions together as best as we can throughout the season, ya know?

 

[EdJovanovski]

They should do it on his birthday, which is a home game vs the Blues.

That way we can get the double-whammy of losing on jersey-retirement night (pretty sure NYR have a losing record on jersey retirement nights) and then having Buch score a goal or two (maybe even the game winner) in his first return to MSG.

Yay I get to cry twice that night, once during the retirement ceremony & then again during the Buch tribute video

 

[Bricho]

Might risk it and buy all of the Capitals games and hope it's one of them before the price skyrockets.

If it’s going to be a Capitals game, my money is it happens on Feb 24. They’re going to fly his family over from Sweden and I could totally see him saying “hey, come on over for the ceremony and we’ll celebrate my birthday after”

We know from previous retirment ceremonies that they always happen after New Years, they always happen midweek, and they generally happen against a non-division team. Given these criteria my rankings for when it happens is:

1) Mar 2 - his birthday
2) Feb 24 - against the team he signed with
3) Mar 15 - against Anaheim

The only way I think it doesn’t happen on his birthday is if he for whatever reason wants to keep it seperate. Remember he’s a twin and maybe he doesn’t want his brother’s birthday caught up with the retirement ceremony. Still people love having things coincide with their birthdays.

Don’t forget too we still live in a Covid world and I can’t imagine they would schedule it before the end of the year when there is so much uncertainty regarding spectators and Covid protocol. Schedule it late in the year and hope by then we live in a maskless world.

 

[eco's bones]

Uhh these were both shortened seasons, and in the first "year" he didn't get called up to the NHL until the 42nd game of the season. Then got into a freak car accident (which wouldn't be any indication of his durability) before the 62nd game of the season. The other games he missed weren't from injury they were because Quinn was rotating goalies. We all know he didn't pull his groin in a practise before the playoffs, they wanted to give Hank one last kick at the can.

In the second (also shortened) season, he played 35 of the 56 games; which would pace for 51GP in his rookie season; which is high. Only 2 games less than Lundqvist's rookie season. Quinn was also rotating goalies a fair bit much to the chagrin of our fanbase.

This narrative that he's injury prone is completely false. And when looking at his KHL starts, the KHL relies way more on old players than the NHL does, they don't like giving minutes to young guys. They rotate their goalies when they have such a young kid.

Two seasons—two groin pulls. I don’t believe I mentioned anything about the car accident. You did that. Some goalies have recurrent issues with groin pulls and they can have a negative impact on any given goalie’s career—even end careers prematurely.

 

[scott99]

Islander’s fan coming in peace to praise King Henrik. I always thought the world of him from his rookie season, all the way through his final Ranger’s season. Just an incredible, great goalie, who deserves to be inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, 1st ballot, and it would be a crime if he isn’t 1st ballot. That’s how great he was.

Obviously, like I said, I’m an Islander’s fan, but even more importantly I’m a hockey fan. I’ve had a couple of Rangers of whom I was a big fan of. I was a big fan of Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, and of course Henrik Lundqvist. Henrik, besides being an incredible player, was is class as a human being, who always played a major part in his community as a philanthropist. He was always looking to help people, and I admire that so much.

 

[Crease]

Wonder what game its going to be

The Rangers typically tack ceremonies onto poor selling weeknight games against random west coast teams.

 

[Peltz]

We all know he didn't pull his groin in a practise before the playoffs, they wanted to give Hank one last kick at the can.

wut

 

[Peltz]

Islander’s fan coming in peace to praise King Henrik. I always thought the world of him from his rookie season, all the way through his final Ranger’s season. Just an incredible, great goalie, who deserves to be inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame, 1st ballot, and it would be a crime if he isn’t 1st ballot. That’s how great he was.

Obviously, like I said, I’m an Islander’s fan, but even more importantly I’m a hockey fan. I’ve had a couple of Rangers of whom I was a big fan of. I was a big fan of Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, and of course Henrik Lundqvist. Henrik, besides being an incredible player, was is class as a human being, who always played a major part in his community as a philanthropist. He was always looking to help people, and I admire that so much.

I still hate every Islander, but thank you. This was great.

 

[GAGLine]

'I think we have a goalie here': Henrik Lundqvist's journey from seventh-rounder to Rangers legend

Sitting to Maloney's right was Martin Madden, the head of amateur scouting. On Maloney's left was Christer Rockstrom, the team's head European scout. Maloney glanced over at Rockstrom's notebook, and noticed a bunch of names crossed out except for one at the top: Henrik Lundqvist's.

"Christer," Maloney whispered. "Is that your top goaltender in Europe that hasn't been selected?"

"Yes," Rockstrom responded. "But Martin saw him and didn't like him, so don't bring his name up."

Maloney was incredulous.

"It was so illogical -- Christer has a great track record, why wouldn't we take this Lundqvist guy?" Maloney said.

So Maloney brought his concerns to Madden. "In Martin's defense -- and why I think Henrik fell in that draft -- Henrik wasn't very good in the last tournament that all the scouts see," Maloney said. "But Martin basically said, 'Fine, we'll take him.' Christer looked at me and was like, 'I can't believe it. Don -- why are you trying to get me in trouble with my boss?'"

And so goes the story of how the New York Rangers snagged one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history with the 205th overall pick -- after 21 other goaltenders had been selected.

 

[NYSPORTS]

The Zuccarello injury in the 2015 playoffs was a huge blow at a terrible time for the Rangers and Lundqvist. That team won the President's Trophy and had a lopsided game 6 7-3 victory in Tampa to force a game 7 in New York. The memory of John Tortorella's ghost was still strong enough for that team that they were 3rd best in the regular season in goals against per game and 3rd best in goals for per game in Vignault's offensive system. They had the best goal differential by far in the NHL. When a team like that drops 7 goals on the road in game 6 before coming back to MSG you expect a game 7 victory but they just could not generate any offense in game 7. Tampa was a .500 road team in the regular season also.

I remember watching that game and thinking I was all of a sudden watching Torts' "five goalie system" Rangers again. They had 23 total shots and most, if not all of them were junk shots from the perimeter. Zuccarello was the only player on that team capable of generating offense on his own other than Brassard and occasionally MSL.

that Zucs injury, imo, was the difference. His style was perfect vs Tampa.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Uhh these were both shortened seasons, and in the first "year" he didn't get called up to the NHL until the 42nd game of the season. Then got into a freak car accident (which wouldn't be any indication of his durability) before the 62nd game of the season. The other games he missed weren't from injury they were because Quinn was rotating goalies. We all know he didn't pull his groin in a practise before the playoffs, they wanted to give Hank one last kick at the can.

In the second (also shortened) season, he played 35 of the 56 games; which would pace for 51GP in his rookie season; which is high. Only 2 games less than Lundqvist's rookie season. Quinn was also rotating goalies a fair bit much to the chagrin of our fanbase.

This narrative that he's injury prone is completely false. And when looking at his KHL starts, the KHL relies way more on old players than the NHL does, they don't like giving minutes to young guys. They rotate their goalies when they have such a young kid.

Yeah, after practically shunning Hank and going with a Shesterkin/Geo duo down the stretch where this team made their run (Hank had what, 3 starts after Shesty got called up?) they pulled the mega conspiracy! Why not just start Hank and be done with it if he weren't hurt? Something like that wouldn't have stayed a secret.

 

[hi]

'I think we have a goalie here': Henrik Lundqvist's journey from seventh-rounder to Rangers legend

Martin Madden was out of hockey management for 5 years after the Rangers cup win, comes back to a cushy Director of Scouting position and is almost the reason why the Rangers didn't draft Henrik Lundqvist.

Can we hire and then immediately fire this guy again

 

[NYRangers3061]

Sorry for the bump...

Any update/leads as to which game the retirement ceremony will be? Don't think I've ever wanted to be at a regular season game so badly lol.

Bought 2 tickets for my dad and I to the 3/2 game against the Blues. Saw speculation about that game on Twitter since it's after New Years, a weeknight, against a Western Conference team, and also Hank's birthday.

But that essentially still only gives me a 1/41 chance of that game being the night they do it, or, if you believe those qualifications (after New Years, weeknights, against a Western Conference team), a 1/6 chance. Not that Dolan necessarily has a choice, but it would be such a Dolan thing to do to see that lots of people are already buying tickets for the 3/2 game and then decide to make it another night so they can sell more tickets to that game.

I've seen the Ducks game on 3/15 mentioned, as well as the Caps games (I guess bc he signed there, but they're a divisional rival and a hot ticket anyway, so idk if they'd do it that night), and the game against the Wild on 1/28 (Zuccarello).

Any other games being speculated about that I missed? Am I better off just spending $500 on tickets to a couple more games (in addition to 3/2) and hoping for the best and maybe reselling the nights they don't do it if I'm lucky enough to get the game they do?

 

[Bricho]

Sorry for the bump...

Any update/leads as to which game the retirement ceremony will be? Don't think I've ever wanted to be at a regular season game so badly lol.

Bought 2 tickets for my dad and I to the 3/2 game against the Blues. Saw speculation about that game on Twitter since it's after New Years, a weeknight, against a Western Conference team, and also Hank's birthday.

But that essentially still only gives me a 1/41 chance of that game being the night they do it, or, if you believe those qualifications (after New Years, weeknights, against a Western Conference team), a 1/6 chance. Not that Dolan necessarily has a choice, but it would be such a Dolan thing to do to see that lots of people are already buying tickets for the 3/2 game and then decide to make it another night so they can sell more tickets to that game.

I've seen the Ducks game on 3/15 mentioned, as well as the Caps games (I guess bc he signed there, but they're a divisional rival and a hot ticket anyway, so idk if they'd do it that night), and the game against the Wild on 1/28 (Zuccarello).

Any other games being speculated about that I missed? Am I better off just spending $500 on tickets to a couple more games (in addition to 3/2) and hoping for the best and maybe reselling the nights they don't do it if I'm lucky enough to get the game they do?

I’ve done just that and spent about 1200 on tickets to 4 games. 1/28 is a Friday night so I don’t think they would do it then. I really don’t believe with COVID still with us and uncertainty surrounding that they would do it early like October or Novemeber. Why risk scheduling it for then when there’s a possibility, however big or small. They can’t accommodate fans? The one game I don’t have tickets for where they might do it is 1/19 against the Leafs. Wednesday night game so that’s a maybe. At worst, I figure I can just go to the games I’ve bought tickets for or sell them for close to what I paid. It’s worth the risk.

What I fear and what has a high probability is if the season ticket holder renegs and is reluctant to give up those tickets to whichever game it is. Stubhub has a “guarantee” that if a seller “drops tickets” and refuses delivery, they can use that person’s credit card to buy comparable seats for the buyer to that event. But will Stubhub really go ahead and charge that person 5-6x to obtain tickets? I’m not so sure.

 

[NYRangers3061]

I’ve done just that and spent about 1200 on tickets to 4 games. 1/28 is a Friday night so I don’t think they would do it then. I really don’t believe with COVID still with us and uncertainty surrounding that they would do it early like October or Novemeber. Why risk scheduling it for then when there’s a possibility, however big or small. They can’t accommodate fans? The one game I don’t have tickets for where they might do it is 1/19 against the Leafs. Wednesday night game so that’s a maybe. At worst, I figure I can just go to the games I’ve bought tickets for or sell them for close to what I paid. It’s worth the risk.

What I fear and what has a high probability is if the season ticket holder renegs and is reluctant to give up those tickets to whichever game it is. Stubhub has a “guarantee” that if a seller “drops tickets” and refuses delivery, they can use that person’s credit card to buy comparable seats for the buyer to that event. But will Stubhub really go ahead and charge that person 5-6x to obtain tickets? I’m not so sure.

Thanks for the response. And yeah I guess if I want the best chance of getting tickets to that game, I may just have to bite the bullet and spend some serious money to buy tickets to several games and just hope it's one of them. As you said, worst case scenario, it's not, and I either still have tickets to a Rangers game or I can try to resell them.

But that's a fair point I didn't even think about for the tickets I bought to the 3/2 game. I thought they got them directly from MSG and didn't realize it was from a STH AND that the STH would have to agree to transfer the tickets. I think I bought them from SeatGeek, which sent me an email saying my tickets were confirmed, but I haven't received them yet, so I'm not sure what that means.

 

[NYR94]