Saluting a Memorable Season and an Unforgettable Shootout Goal

The work stoppage that cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season and the subsequent rule changes that were adopted for the 2005-06 season created the feeling that when the league returned to play in the fall of 2005, it would be a “new NHL.”

For the Rangers, there was also a very real feeling that everything was new with the organization as it entered the 2005-06 season.

Through transactions the Blueshirts made late in the 2003-04 season, the summer of 2004, and the summer of 2005 – to go along with the development process of players in the organization’s prospect pool during the 2004-05 season, the group of players that took the ice in Training Camp in the fall of 2005 was vastly different than the one Rangers fans saw the last time the team played a game a year and a half prior.

“We had lots of time to plan for that season,” recalled Don Maloney, who was the Rangers’ Vice President of Player Personnel and Assistant General Manager. “We knew we had Jaromir Jagr as a star, so we had to get players who could play with Jagr.”

Several shrewd signings helped maximize the potential of Jagr and the team. In the summer of 2004, the Rangers signed Michael Nylander, a skilled, playmaking center who had been teammates with Jagr when the two played for the Washington Capitals. Shortly after the work stoppage ended, the Blueshirts signed Martin Straka – a Czech left winger who had played with Jagr for several seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins – as a free agent. The Rangers also signed Czech defensemen Marek Malik and Michal Rozsival during the summer of 2005 to add veterans to their defense corps; Jagr and Rozsival had been teammates with the Penguins, while Jagr and Malik were teammates with the Czech Republic at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

In addition to the signings the team made, the Rangers’ roster also featured several players who were drafted and/or developed by the organization. Dominic Moore (selected by the Rangers in the third round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft) and Fedor Tyutin (selected by the Rangers in the second round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft) were both on the team’s opening night roster and began their respective rookie seasons in the NHL in 2005-06. Another rookie, Petr Prucha (who was selected by the Rangers in the eighth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft), also quickly became a regular in the Rangers’ lineup.

Another Rangers draft pick would make the team out of Training Camp and begin the season as the Blueshirts’ backup goaltender – Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist had been selected by the Rangers in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, and – in looking backward years later – it was a bit of luck that led to the Blueshirts’ selection of the Swedish goaltender.

“We really didn't have any goalies in our system at that time,” Maloney recalled years later. “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?'

"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 (Rockstrom, the Rangers’ Head European scout) and his 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. The rest is history.”

Lundqvist continued to play in Sweden for five years after he was selected by the Rangers, but following the 2004-05 season – when he won nearly every award possible in the Swedish Hockey League (and did so playing against several NHL players as a result of the league’s work stoppage) and helped his team, Frolunda, win the league championship – he decided to sign an NHL contract with the Rangers and come to North America at 23 years old.

Before the 2005-06 season got underway, most pundits failed to give the Rangers a chance to make the playoffs. The Blueshirts won their regular season opener on October 5, 2005, as they rallied in the third period to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3, in Philadelphia. The Rangers lost their next three games (two of them in overtime), and goaltender Kevin Weekes, who was signed as a free agent in the summer of 2004 and expected to play most of the games in net for the Rangers in 2005-06, suffered a groin strain during a practice that would keep him sidelined for a week.

Lundqvist stepped in for Weekes during the Rangers’ three-game homestand, and over the course of those three games, the direction of the 2005-06 season – and the future of the franchise – changed.

On October 13, 2005, Lundqvist played in his first game at MSG and earned his first career NHL win, as the Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-1. Two days later, Lundqvist stopped 28 of 29 shots in a 5-1 Rangers victory over the Atlanta Thrashers, and The Garden Faithful began to chant his name; first, it was “Lund-qvist!”, then it was “Hen-rik!”. On October 17, 2005, Lundqvist earned his first career NHL shutout, stopping all 23 shots he faced in a 4-0 Rangers win over the Florida Panthers, and further endeared himself to Rangers fans.

He received the nickname, “King Henrik”, which instantly stuck. Lundqvist immediately became a fan favorite and was on the path to becoming an icon in New York.

“That was so much fun,” Lundqvist later recalled about his first few games at MSG. “I felt the support from the crowd right away, and that helped me relax, focus on the game, and not stress too much about the game.”

The Rangers received an unexpectant and pleasant surprise with Lundqvist’s play, but they were also getting a resurgent performance from Jagr, whose offensive production was reminiscent of the years when he won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy with the Penguins. The Blueshirts finished October with a 6-4-3 record – the best in the Atlantic Division – and Jagr was leading the league with 12 goals at the end of the month.

The Blueshirts continued their strong start through November, as they won 10 of 13 games during the month to improve their record to 16-7-3. And their triumphs were memorable as well. The Rangers began the month with back-to-back wins in a home-and-home set against the Devils. On November 9, 2005, Moore scored a game-tying goal from behind the net with three seconds remaining in regulation, which led to a 4-3 shootout win for the Rangers over the Panthers in Florida.

Then, on November 26, 2005, the Rangers hosted the Washington Capitals at MSG. The game was tied 2-2 after regulation and a five-minute overtime period, and the contest would be decided in a shootout. The shootout was one of many rule changes the NHL had implemented for the 2005-06 season; nearly two months into the campaign, fans were enamored with the new addition to the league and were highly anticipating the shootout that was about to unfold.

What The Garden Faithful witnessed that night was perhaps the most memorable shootout in the NHL’s history, as well as the start of a Rangers tradition.

After three rounds of the shootout, each team had scored one goal. The Capitals scored in the sixth round of the shootout, forcing the Rangers to score to extend to the shootout. Ville Nieminen did just that, extending the shootout to another round. Lundqvist and Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig continued to make saves against each shooter they faced. In the 14^th round of the shootout, the Capitals’ Brian Muir scored to put Washington ahead and once again put the Rangers in a position where they needed to score to prolong the game.

With limited options available, Rangers head coach Tom Renney selected Jason Strudwick, a defenseman who did not produce much offensively, to shoot in the 14^th round. Strudwick skated straight towards Kolzig and took a wrist shot that beat the goaltender on the blocker side. After the Capitals didn’t score on their attempt in the 15^th round of the shootout, the Rangers had another chance to score a goal and end the contest.

Renney selected Malik to shoot for the Rangers in the 15^th round. The 6’6” defenseman – like Strudwick – was not expected to provide much offense in his role with the Rangers. But when he took his shootout attempt, he pulled off a move for the ages, putting his stick in between his legs and beating Kolzig with a shot that hit the upper part of the net with enough force to send the water bottle sitting on top of the net flying into the air.

As Malik, the Rangers, and The Garden Faithful celebrated the memorable goal and victory, Darius Kasparaitis and Jagr – two of the Rangers’ three alternate captains – corralled the players before leaving the ice and led the group to center ice, where they all raised their sticks to salute the fans.

It was the start of the Rangers’ “Stick Salute” tradition. The words “Thank You Fans” had been painted on the ice throughout NHL arenas during the 2005-06 season to acknowledge the support that fans continued to show their teams following the work stoppage. The Blueshirts’ Stick Salute was the first of its kind for any NHL team, and it was a tradition the Rangers continued for the remainder of the season and for every year that followed.

“There was a connection there when we saluted the fans,” Moore said at the end of the season. “We appreciate them just as much as they appreciate us.”

The Stick Salute was just one of several ways that the Rangers and their fans connected during the 2005-06 season. Several team events – including a public skate at Bryant Park in Manhattan – reinforced and strengthened the love that Rangers fans had for their team. In addition, the relentless work ethic the team had – exemplified by the physical play and willingness to block shots that players such as Ortmeyer, Moore, and Ryan Hollweg displayed – resonated with Rangers fans.

Players became fan favorites throughout the course of the season. In addition to the team’s role players, Prucha’s performance endeared him to Rangers fans. A player who was smaller in stature but displayed tremendous heart, Prucha began a six-game goal streak in early December, tying a franchise record for the longest goal streak by a Rangers rookie. Jagr also took the 23-year-old Czech under his wing, helping his game on the ice while also easing his transition to North America and New York away from the rink.

The 2005-06 season paused for two weeks while NHL players participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Nine Rangers players represented their respective countries in the Olympics that season: Jagr, Straka, Malik, and Martin Rucinsky represented the Czech Republic (Prucha was also selected to go but ultimately was unable to participate due to a knee injury), Kasparaitis and Tyutin represented Russia, Lundqvist represented Sweden, Nieminen represented Finland, and Marcel Hossa represented Slovakia. Lundqvist only added to his superb rookie season with his stellar performance at the Olympics, as he helped Sweden win the gold medal.

The Rangers entered the Olympic break playing their best hockey of the season. They had won six consecutive games, with Jagr posting a multi-goal game in the final five contests before the break. With Straka and Nylander complementing Jagr’s style of play, No. 68 was having a record-breaking season for the Rangers. By the time the NHL paused for the Olympics, Jagr was leading the league with 40 goals and 88 points in just 58 games, while Straka was tied with Jagr for second in the NHL with 48 assists.

The Blueshirts came back from the Olympic break with the third-best record in the NHL, and even though several players continued to produce at similar levels as they did prior to the break – particularly Jagr, who recorded 23 points over a 12-game point streak that ran into early April – the team had difficulty maintaining the same level of success as they had throughout the first two-thirds of the season.

As they reached the end of March, the Rangers still maintained a four-point lead over the Flyers in the Atlantic Division, and in a game against the Islanders on March 29, 2006, several single-season franchise records were broken. Jagr tallied four assists in the game and recorded his 110^th point of the season, breaking Jean Ratelle’s single-season franchise record for points. By earning a win in the game, Lundqvist recorded his 30^th win of the season, breaking the franchise record for wins in a season by a rookie goaltender that was shared by “Sugar” Jim Henry and Johnny Bower. But after playing again the following night in a loss against the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators, Lundqvist was sidelined with a hip flexor injury.

The Rangers clinched a playoff berth with a shootout win over the Flyers on April 4, 2006, at MSG, and less than a week later, Jagr scored his 53^rd goal of the season to break Adam Graves’ single-season franchise record for goals. But over the final two weeks of the season, the Rangers – still without Lundqvist – struggled. Simultaneously, the Devils were surging towards the end of the regular season.

The Rangers finished the regular season in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind both the Devils and Flyers. The Blueshirts faced the Devils – the Atlantic Division Champions and winners of 11 consecutive games entering the playoffs – in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

As the series unfolded, the Rangers were unable to reach the level of play they maintained for most of the season, and the Devils continued the surge that carried them through the final stretch of the regular season. It also didn’t help matters for the Blueshirts that Jagr suffered a shoulder injury towards the end of Game 1 in New Jersey – he missed Game 2, came back for Game 3, and then left the contest in the opening minute of Game 4 – and that Lundqvist was also battling through migraines for most of the series.

The Devils won the series in four games, but the end of the season did not diminish what the Rangers had accomplished in 2005-06 and how special the year was for the organization and the fans. And perhaps that is why, in the final minute of Game 4 at MSG, The Garden Faithful chanted “Let’s Go Rangers” and gave their team a rousing standing ovation. In turn, the Rangers players gave their loyal fans one final Stick Salute to cap off the 2005-06 season.

Jagr, who finished the season with single-season franchise records in goals (54), points (123), and shots on goal (368), was the winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award), given to the NHL’s “Most Outstanding Player” as selected by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association, and he was also the runner-up for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. Lundqvist was also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, while Renney was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.

But even beyond the awards or recognitions that any individual earned, the Rangers’ 2005-06 season will be remembered most for the rebirth of Rangers hockey in the “new NHL”, the special connection that the team had with its fans, and how it laid the foundation for the next chapter in franchise history.