Think about it for a moment: No Stanley Cups before Mike Keenan -- and none since. Not even close. That will show you how important having the right coach means.

''It's like having a five-star restaurant without the right chef,'' Rangers GM Neil Smith said, even though Smith despised having to deal with Keenan's daily demands to get rid of another player ... and another ... and another.

''It's all about making players mentally tough enough so that when the going gets tough in the Playoffs they are prepared to handle the charge, it's about having a grit and passion to reach out for the Holy Grail,'' Keenan, now the coach of the Florida Panthers, told me recently. ''You look for players who are willing to enter into that zone, where they give everything they have -- and then some more. It's getting into the mind of 20 players to the point where they refuse to lose the little battles that win games.''

We said earlier that winning a Stanley Cup is a three-month marathon. But it's all that only after auditions are held throughout the season for that Broadway show.

It's seeing long-time finesse players like defenseman James Patrick and Darren Turcotte leave New York before the season and seeing the Rangers sign holdout right winger Steve Larmer. It's seeing this team post the best record in the NHL all season, but then need a refueling of grit and determination that brought forwards Glenn Anderson from Toronto, Craig MacTavish from Edmonton and Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan from Chicago in separate deals at the March trading deadline.

The Rangers went 8-2-2 the rest of the season after the trades, but the ultimate test would be the Playoffs.

First round? No contest. The Rangers embarrassed the Islanders in a sweep, outscoring their rivals 22-3 and practically pushed a defeated Al Arbour into retirement. The Washington Capitals put up a better fight in the second round, but they simply couldn't match the Rangers' talent and went down in five games.

''The Rangers top six players were exceptional,'' said St. Louis Blues GM Ron Caron. ''It's often a matter of inches that decides the champion in baseball, and our sport is no different. New Jersey and Calgary could have been in the Finals, but in the end the attitude of the Rangers' top six guys was the key.

"It's difficult to face down Mark Messier when he's on his game and Adam Graves, Glenn Anderson, Steve Larmer and Alexei Kovalev were dangerous every time they were on the ice -- as were Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan and Greg Gilbert.''

Depth. Caron said it was six top forwards, but then named nine of them.

Then came the Devils, who had not beaten the Rangers in six tries all season. But they were more confident after outlasting the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins in some classic playoff games (one went four overtimes), and rookie goaltender Martin Brodeur was playing like Patrick Roy by the time the Rangers faced him.

The additions of Glenn Anderson from Toronto, Craig MacTavish (right) from Edmonton and Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan from Chicago in separate deals at the '94 Trade Deadline helped bring the Cup to New York.

What transpired in the Eastern Conference Finals brought hockey to the forefront. Seven games, three stretching to double overtime. Richter and Brodeur were impeccable. The series was scintillating and exhausting. Mark Messier guaranteed a win for all the headline writers in New York before Game 6, with the Rangers down in the series -- and he delivered a performance for all ages. And Game 7 forever will be etched in the minds of those who watched at the Garden and held their breaths with every shot until Matteau ended the angst at 4:24 of double overtime and set the Rangers up for another battle, this time against the surprising Vancouver Canucks.

''The focus was clear from the time we got here on March 21,'' Matteau said. ''All everyone talked about was winning the Stanley Cup.''

The rest of the newcomers also contributed mightily to the cause.

Although Anderson struggled on the scoreboard, he ended up with two game-winners against the Canucks in the Finals and played hard, physical hockey. And it was MacTavish who won the most important faceoff of the season from Pavel Bure with just 1.1 left in Game 7 to secure the victory.

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 said. "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."