In the past year or so, he had become almost a forgotten part of the equation.

Active goaltenders in an elite field? Those who have proven their mettle and won a Stanley Cup?

Don't forget Mike Richter, who was part of that equation along with Patrick Roy and his two Cups each with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, Martin Brodeur with his three Cups with the New Jersey Devils, Ed Belfour, Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek, one apiece with the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, respectively.

Richter's Cup was perhaps even more memorable than the rest, because in 1994 he backstopped the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup since 1940 -- ending 53 years of frustrating hexes and jinxes.

The Rangers took us fast-forward through time from 1940 to 1994 as they defeated the Canucks, 3-2, in a heart-pounding Game 7.

"The last seven minutes seemed like a lifetime," Richter told me in a frenzied Rangers locker room in June of 1994. "I could feel my heart beating when Martin Gelinas hit a post and then Nathan LaFayette hit another post. It wasn't until there were 1.1 seconds left that I felt relieved. I could feel the weight of 1940 off my shoulders.

"Still, I never thought we were running from 1940. It always felt to me like we were running toward the Cup."

In a city that enjoyed Reggie Jackson's Mr. October performances for the New York Yankees and Broadway Joe Namath's brash prediction that the New York Jets would beat the powerful Baltimore Colts to give the old American Football League credibility, Richter and the Rangers finally gave Rangers' fans reason to beat their chest in triumph.

"Remember, this is a city where you are competing daily with the Joe DiMaggios, Joe Namaths and Babe Ruths. Rangers' fans finally had their moment in the sun," New York Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin once told me.

And Richter, small in stature, but big in the nets, was as responsible for that historic victory as anyone -- overcoming a fragile psyche and trip to the minors the previous season to supplant John Vanbiesbrouck as the Rangers' No. 1 goaltender and win a league-high 42 games.

Coach Mike Keenan's arrival in the Big Apple made Richter a better player, a better athlete and a leader.

"He had that bulldog mentality when you played against him, a real competitor." -St. Louis Blues center Doug Weight

"I did a few extra sit-ups the day I heard Mike Keenan was going to be our coach," Richter said in training camp that year as he expected to be confronted by the hard-driving style of the team's new coach.

And Keenan made Richter the kind of driven player that the Rangers needed to lead from start to finish that season -- and drive the demons that haunted the Rangers for so many years from Madison Square Garden.

"He had that bulldog mentality when you played against him, a real competitor," St. Louis Blues center Doug Weight said of Richter on Sept. 4, when word leaked that Richter was about to announce his retirement after 15 seasons -- all with the Rangers.

Defining moment? The 1993-94 season was a defining year for Richter from being ready for the sometimes tyrannical Keenan to grabbing the No. 1 job with an exclamation point. After losing his first four games of that season, he went 17-0-3 through mid-December. He stopped Pavel Bure what seemed like a half-dozen times on breakaways to become the Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game, out-dueled Brodeur as the Rangers rallied to beat the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals and then backstopped that unforgettable Cup triumph -- underscoring his performance in Game 4 at Vancouver when he had four key saves, including a momentum-turning stop of Bure on a penalty shot that spurred the Rangers to rally for a 4-2 victory.

"Ricky kept us in every game -- all season," defenseman Brian Leetch said back then. "You have to have great goaltending to win a Stanley Cup and he was extraordinary."

Maybe we forgot about Richter's heroics in these past couple seasons when knee injuries cut short his season and last year when he was limited to just 13 games because of the recurring effects of a couple of concussions.

Richter's glove was sharp, but his ability -- for a smallish netminder -- to go from side-to-side accentuated his style of play.

Richter, born in Abington, Pa., made his way onto the world stage in 1988 when he was the No. 1 goalie for the United States in the Olympic Games at Calgary. Next to the Stanley Cup, his biggest claim to fame was leading the U.S. to the World Cup of Hockey Tournament to a 2-games-to-1 victory against Canada in 1996. He tried to rekindle that glory in 2002, but lost to Canada in the gold-medal game at the Olympics at Salt Lake City.

"When we won the World Cup, Ricky was incredible, beyond incredible," Weight said. "Great save after great save to keep us in the games -- until our offense was able to rally for the gold medal."

Richter's glove was sharp, but his ability -- for a smallish netminder -- to go from side-to-side accentuated his style of play.

"I'm proud of the fact that I made it to the NHL, but even more proud of the fact that I learned to be a better goaltender," he told me early in the 1997 season. "Times change and if you don't change with the times, you're lost. I remember playing for the famed Eddie Shore in the American Hockey League and having him tie me to the crossbar so that I couldn't leave my feet and had to stand up and face the shooter.

"But I wouldn't be in the game anymore if I was still a standup goaltender all the way with the way the game is played today -- so much east to west with the European influence we have seen in the way the puck in passed from side to side. Look at the flow of the game, from up and down the wing to a criss-crossing skating and passing game -- especially the quick passing game in front of the net that has forced goalies to go from side to side. Let me tell you, you can't do that if you stand up."

Stand out is what Richter did in his career. Seven games, three stretching to double overtime against the Devils in the conference finals in 1994. If not for Richter, there may not have been a double-overtime winner by Stephane Matteau.

"I've won five Stanley Cups before this and I've never experience anything like the last two months," captain Mark Messier said of that stretch run. "I thought I'd seen it all and I wasn't really saying much, but in my own mind, I was saying, 'This is absolutely incredible.' "

In recent years, Richter has had to face more shots than any goaltender should be asked to. No Playoffs in the last six seasons. But not because of any fault by Richter. Even though his body may no longer allow him to play at the elite level he achieved with the Rangers, you have not heard the last of Mike Richter. You can bet he'll get a job analyzing games somewhere.

Always engaging, I don't know of a goaltender anywhere who would spend the time Richter did talking about his trade, his game or any subject, for that matter.

There is no masking what a credit Mike Richter was to hockey.

Larry Wigge is a frequent contributor to NHL.com.