Czech & Balance

The 2005-06 season is one of the most magical in recent Rangers history, if not in the history of the franchise.
It was a season in which the Rangers earned 100 points and advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In addition, the season included several individual record-breaking performances by players young and old, the start of a post-game tradition that continues to this day, and the emergence of a franchise legend in Henrik Lundqvist.
The Blueshirts would not have had the success they had in 2005-06 were it not for the contributions of the Czech players the team had on their roster. Seven players of Czech nationality played for the Rangers during the season - Jaromir Jagr, Marek Malik, Petr Prucha, Michal Rozsival, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka, and Petr Sykora. All seven players had a significant impact on the team, whether offensively or defensively.
Six of the Rangers' seven Czech players had 30 or more points during the season; it was the only time in NHL history that six different Czech players recorded at least 30 points for the same team in one season. In addition, Jagr, Malik, Rucinsky, and Straka all represented their country at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where they earned a bronze medal (Prucha was originally selected to the team but missed the tournament due to injury).
Here is a look at how each of the Rangers' seven Czech players in 2005-06 helped make the season a magical one.

Jaromir Jagr - 82 GP, 54-69-123, +34
The Rangers' success in the 2005-06 season starts with Jagr. While Lundqvist was the biggest surprise of the season and showed that the Rangers had a franchise goaltender in net for the foreseeable future, Jagr's dominant performance from start to finish made his individual season one of the best that any Ranger has had.
Jagr established single-season franchise records in several categories in 2005-06, including goals (54), points (123), shots on goal (368), and power play goals (24), and he tied the Rangers' single-season franchise record for game-winning goals with nine (Chris Kreider eclipsed Jagr's power play goals and game-winning goals totals in 2021-22). Jagr ranked second in the NHL in goals and points in 2005-06, and although he didn't win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, he did receive the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award) as the "most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players' Association."
Although he didn't wear the "C" as the team's captain in 2005-06 (the Rangers did not have a captain during the season), Jagr was unquestionably the team's leader. Among his fellow countrymen, he continued to serve as a role model for players such as Rozsival and Straka (who he took under his wing when they were younger players and teammates in Pittsburgh), and he helped Prucha, who was in his rookie season, get acclimated to the NHL and New York.
Expectations were not high for the Rangers entering the 2005-06 season. In their season opener on October 5, 2005, Jagr led the Blueshirts' comeback from a 3-2 deficit entering the third period, as he scored two power play goals in what turned out to be a 5-3 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia. It proved to be a microcosm of the season, one in which the Rangers defied the odds and (more often than not) relied on Jagr to lead the way.
Jagr's Magic Moments in 2005-06: There were no shortage of magical moments in a season that included setting franchise records, three hat tricks, a 12-game point streak, and a six-game goal streak; Jagr's two most magical moments in 2005-06 came on March 29, 2006 against the Islanders (breaking Jean Ratelle's single-season franchise record for points) and on April 8, 2006 at Boston (breaking Adam Graves' single-season franchise record for goals)
Marek Malik - 74 GP, 2-16-18, +28
Malik signed with the Rangers as a free agent on August 2, 2005, joining the team after playing parts of two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. In 2003-04, Malik tied for the NHL lead with a plus-35 rating. Malik continued to be a reliable player in his first season with the Rangers in 2005-06; playing on the team's top defense pair with his countryman Rozsival, he posted a plus-28 rating and led the team in shorthanded ice time per game, averaging 3:38 per game on the penalty kill.
Malik's memorable moment of the season - and of his Rangers tenure - of course was his highlight-reel between-the-legs shootout goal in the 15th round of the shootout to help the Rangers defeat the Washington Capitals in a shootout at MSG. The 2005-06 season was the first year that the NHL had a shootout to decide games that were tied at the end of overtime. With the shootout still relatively in its infancy when the Rangers faced the Capitals, the fans at MSG were on their feet for the duration of the shootout, hanging onto the result of every attempt. The length of the shootout, and the way in which Malik scored, made his goal arguably the moment that is remembered most from the 2005-06 season.
Malik's goal also led to the Rangers' first-ever center ice stick salute to the fans following the game, a tradition that the team continues to this day and has been adopted by the majority of the NHL.
Malik's Magic Moment in 2005-06: November 26, 2005 vs. Washington (scoring the game-deciding goal in the 15th round of the shootout)
Petr Prucha - 68 GP, 30-17-47, +3
Prucha was selected by the Rangers in the eighth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and came to North America for the 2005-06 season with little to no fanfare. So, the fact that he became just the seventh Rangers rookie in the modern era to score at least 30 goals in a season was just another feel-good story in a season that was full of them.
Prucha spoke virtually no English when he showed up at Training Camp in the fall of 2005. He relied heavily on Jagr, who became a mentor for him both on and off the ice. Playing with Jagr on the Rangers' first power play unit, he scored 16 power play goals during the season - the second-most by a Rangers rookie in one season in franchise history - and his infectious personality made him an instant fan favorite. By the middle of that season, after Prucha scored a goal at home, MSG's event presentation team would play the song Dschinghis Khan over the loudspeakers in the arena, and the "hoo-ha" lyrics were replaced with "Pru-cha" by Rangers fans.
Unfortunately for Prucha, who had 25 goals through his first 48 games of the season, his season was altered by a knee injury he suffered on February 4, 2006 at Philadelphia. The injury prevented Prucha from playing in the 2006 Winter Olympics, and he only scored five goals in 19 games after returning to the Rangers' lineup in mid-March.
Prucha's Magic Moment in 2005-06: December 5, 2005 vs. Minnesota (scoring both of the Rangers' first two goals in a 3-1 win at MSG; the game was part of Prucha's six-game goal streak, which tied a franchise rookie record)
Michael Rozsival - 82 GP, 5-25-30, +35
Rozsival signed with the Rangers as a free agent prior to the start of the 2005-06 season. He was the only defenseman who played in each of the Rangers' 82 games during the season, and his 22:27 average ice time led all players who spent the entire season with the Blueshirts.
Rozsival was paired with his countryman Malik on the Rangers' top defense pair, and he also played on the team's top power play unit and top penalty kill unit throughout the season. Rozsival's 25 assists and 30 points during the season led Rangers defensemen, and his plus-35 rating during the season was tied for the best plus/minus rating in the NHL.
Rozsival's Magic Moment in 2005-06: January 19, 2006 at Pittsburgh (scoring the game-winning goal with 4:12 remaining in regulation to help the Rangers defeat his former team, 4-2)
Martin Rucinsky - 52 GP, 16-39-55, +10
The 2005-06 season marked Rucinsky's third stint with the Rangers; he played with the Blueshirts for part of the 2001-02 season and part of the 2003-04 season, and he re-joined the Rangers when he signed as a free agent on August 3, 2005.
Rucinsky spent the majority of the season on the Rangers' second line and first power play unit. Although he missed 30 games due to injury, he was one of the team's consistent contributors offensively when he was in the lineup. Rucinsky's 1.06 points per game average during the season was second-best on the Rangers, only trailing Jagr.
Rucinsky's Magic Moment in 2005-06: December 10, 2005 at St. Louis (tallying three points (two goals, one assist), including the game-winning goal in overtime that ultimately went into the net off the back of Blues' goaltender Patrick Lalime)
Martin Straka - 82 GP, 22-54-76, +17
The rule changes that went into effect for the start of the 2005-06 season resulted in teams placing more of an emphasis on speed than size. Martin Straka fit into the "new NHL" - and the Rangers' lineup - perfectly.
The Rangers signed Straka on August 2, 2005. The combination of Straka and Jagr produced a unique chemistry between them, the origins of which had begun during the years they were teammates with the Penguins. Straka and Jagr, along with Swedish center Michael Nylander, formed the Rangers' top line, and the speed, creativity, and size that the trio had enabled them to create havoc in the offensive zone. Straka ranked third on the Rangers in assists and points in 2005-06.
Straka's Magic Moment in 2005-06: March 29, 2006 at NY Islanders (recording a natural hat trick in the Rangers' 5-1 win at Nassau Coliseum; Straka had significant success against the Islanders in 2005-06, tallying 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in eight games)
Petr Sykora - 40 GP, 16-15-31, +5 (stats only from games with the Rangers)
Sykora was acquired by the Rangers from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on January 8, 2006, and immediately fit in with his new team. Sykora had a goal and an assist in each of his first two games as a Ranger, and played on one of the team's top two lines for the second half of the season.
Sykora was also a major contributor to the Blueshirts in the shootout; Sykora, typically with his patented move of quickly moving the puck from his forehand to his backhand and shooting the puck over the goaltender's glove, was 5-for-6 (83.3%) in the shootout during the season and tallied three game-deciding goals.
Sykora's Magic Moment in 2005-06: April 4, 2006 vs. Philadelphia (scoring the game-deciding goal in the shootout to help the Rangers clinch a playoff spot; instead of shooting on the backhand, he fired a wrist shot that beat Flyers goaltender Robert Esche high to the glove side)