What will lead New York Rangers to Greatness in Playoffs -NHL Special
Some teams work towards greatness and eventually get better with time but then, there are some teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) that are bound to be great no matter what happens.
New York Rangers are one of those teams that have always seen greatness and achieved what no other could. They are one of the original six teams in the North American major league and have kept their heads high ever since they joined.
The 2011-2012 NHL regular season could be breakthrough for New York Rangers in terms of Stanley Cup contention as their headed towards ending a great hockey year off as the leading team in the Eastern Conference and maybe even the entire league.
At the moment, New York is leading the league with 107 points, above Western Conference toppers, St. Louis Blues, by one.
Under the leadership of head coach, John Tortorella, New York has reached the 50 wins in a season mark for the third time in franchise history, but for them, it is nothing compared to what they are really hoping to achieve which is definitely a Stanley Cup
championship.
"It doesn't mean squat. I will tell you right now it means absolutely nothing," New York coach, John Tortorella, said after their fourth straight win against Montreal Canadiens on Friday, March 30. "It's about how we're playing as we go through these next
four games against tough opponents. It's about our game going into the playoffs. You get measured by the playoffs."
Without a doubt, New York is a proud team and such achievements do not affect their thinking, let alone their game-play. Rangers are not going to become lazy after finding out they have achieved the 50 win mark, instead, they will use it to get even better.
Every team has a deciding player or a duo that can lead them to greatness. So, after all, what is that x-factor for the New York Rangers that will eventually lead them to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1994 after they won it against Vancouver
Canucks in the finals?
The surprising part is, New York has not even managed to get back into the Stanley Cup Finals ever since winning it back then and being a team which always has an All-Star line-up, it is easy to see now why they get so frustrated when they do.
When New York Rangers enter the playoffs later on in April, they will not need a certain player, a strong defensive line-up, a special power play attack team or anything else except one very simple thing, which is a healthy team in total.
Rangers are at their best when their all ready-to-go and fired up. They are at their worst when their missing a few players and the chemistry just is not right. New York might not be the best team in terms of going over regulation time, but one thing is
for sure, they are unbeatable when it comes to going head-to-head in the first three minutes.
New York has shown some impressive performances against the top teams this season like Philadelphia Flyers and defending Stanley Cup champions, Boston Bruins. One of the major reasons for Rangers success is their ability to physically deflect shots, minimising
the chances of the puck facing goalie, Henrik Lundqvist.
Seeing New York go far this time with Marian Gaborik on fire, Brad Richards on the line-up strong and healthy along with goaltending at its prime, Rangers should not have a tough time reaching the Stanley Cup Finals at all.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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