The New York Rangers recently announced their Quarter-Century Team and it may raise a few eyebrows. Overall, the Rangers have had solid rosters from top to bottom and have had some of the best players in league history play at Madison Square Garden.
While most of the players listed below are not yet Hockey Hall of Famers, thy do hold a special place in Rangers hockey history. With that said, below is the Rangers Quarter-Century Team, along with their stats during the last 25 years in New York.
Rangers rosters are filled with elite talent
First Team
Forward- Chris Kreider (855 games 319 goals-250 assists-569 points) Forward- Artemi Panarin (396 169-342-511) Forward - Mika Zibanejad (615 239-317-556) Defenseman- Adam Fox (405 56-292-348) Defenseman-Ryan McDonagh (516 51-187-238) Goaltender- Henrik Lundqvist (887 459-310-96, .918 save percentage, 2.43 goals against-average)
Second Team
Forward -Jaromir Jagr (277 124-195-319) Forward Derek Stepan (515 128-232-290) Forward- Mats Zuccarello (509 112-239-352) Defenseman- Dan Girardi (788 46-184-230) Defenseman- Marc Staal (892 43-145-188) Goaltender- Igor Shesterkin (247 152-74-19, .920 save percentage, 2.47 goals against-average)
The first-and second-teams are loaded with talent and some are on the brink of greatness
Igor Shesterkin is one of the best in the NHL between the pipes. Kreider, Panarin, and Zibanejad are offensive stars, and Fox is one of the best defensemen in the league. These players will go down in Rangers history as the best players in the organization.
However, the players before them, like Jagr, Lundqvist, and Mark Messier have set the bar extremely high. Of course, playing for New York is an honor to begin with but if a player can exceed expectations and carry this team to greatness then they put themselves in a special group of hockey players to play on Broadway.
New York has had some incredible teams in its history and to be placed on a first-or second-team over a 25-year period means something. None of the players above won a Stanley Cup during their tenure in New York but that does not mean they did not make an impact.
Lundqvist will go down as the best goaltender in New York history but he did just as much off the ice. The same could be said about Kreider, Shesterkin, Panarin, and Jagr. The players above went above and beyond but left everything on the ice and that is the way it should be.