Birth of a Rangers Legend

"I had no idea he was going to be this good."
That is how Christer Rockstrom, who worked with the Rangers' scouting staff for over two decades, described his thoughts about an 18-year-old Henrik Lundqvist. Rockstrom was the Rangers' Head European Scout at the time of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, when the Rangers selected the Swedish goaltender in the seventh round with the 205th overall pick.
Nobody could have foreseen then that Lundqvist would turn into one of the greatest players in Rangers history and have his jersey raised to The Garden rafters.

Rockstrom had seen Lundqvist play at various times in the years leading up to the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. And while he liked what he saw out of Lundqvist, Rockstrom said that Lundqvist "made me look smarter than I am."
Lundqvist was not considered a highly rated prospect going into the Draft, and he had struggled in games he played in international tournaments in his draft year. Fortunately for Rockstrom - and ultimately the Rangers - he had seen Lundqvist play with his club team in Sweden, which was Frolunda's Under-20 team.
"I was lucky to see him when I did," Rockstrom recalled. "I remember he played one game against another Swedish club that season, and that team said after the game that they just could not score a goal against him.
"And I was fortunate to watch him in practice on a few occasions. With his work ethic and focus, I thought there could be something there with him."
Jan Gajdosik, who has worked with the Rangers for nearly three decades as either a part-time scout or full-time scout in Europe, recalled watching Lundqvist at a tournament in the year prior to when he was eligible for the Draft. "It was in early March of 1999 at the European Youth Winter Olympic Festival in Poprad-Tatry in Slovakia," Gajdosik said. "That tournament included many players who were drafted a year later, but I remember one name stood out for me for the whole tournament - Henrik Lundqvist.
"I still remember young Henrik being ultra-competitive, hungry to stop every puck, and showing great composure for age," Gajdosik said. "It was so obvious how badly he wanted to help his team win. In every game, every situation, and every moment, he wanted to be their best player. His competitive approach was something I never forgot."
The observations from Rockstrom and Gajdosik played a pivotal role in what happened in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Don Maloney, who was the Rangers' Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel, oversaw the draft table for the Rangers that year. As Maloney recalled, the Rangers were consciously looking for a goaltender in the later rounds of the Draft.
"We really didn't have any goalies in our system at that time," Maloney said. "As we were progressing through the later rounds of the 2000 Entry Draft, we were asking the staff 'Is there any goaltender still out there we should consider?' We were thinking about taking a college or European player, since he would have a little more time to develop than a North American player.
"As we were talking, everybody had their draft lists in front of them, and as players get selected, you cross those names off the list. I happened to be sitting at the head of the table and glanced over at Christer's list where he had his European goalie list out. When I looked at it, it was so unusual as all of the names on his list had been crossed out except one, the top name on his list. And it was Henrik Lundqvist.
"I pointed Henrik's name out to our Head Amateur Scout, Martin Madden, who was on board with the pick and the rest is history. My sole role on Henrik's selection was pointing out we wanted another goaltender, Christer had a very good track record, and Henrik was the number one guy on Christer's list.
"Long story short, that's how we picked him."
As Maloney said, the rest is history. Lundqvist arrived in New York in the fall of 2005, and early in his first season with the Rangers, he became the team's number one goaltender and never looked back. Throughout the next 15 years, over 50 franchise records would become Lundqvist's.
And, on January 28, No. 30 becomes Lundqvist's forever in the rafters of MSG.
"In hindsight, it's a funny story of how it all worked out," Maloney said. "Arguably the greatest goaltender in Rangers history (happened) basically because of a glance to my left."