“And this one will last a lifetime!” screamed Sam Rosen, after the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup vs. the Vancouver Canucks. Well… he still isn’t wrong. It is 2026 and we have not been to a Stanley Cup Finals game since 2014 against the Los Angeles Kings but even then, we still took the loss. Our last playoff appearance was in 2024. We had an exciting run, sweeping the Washington Capitals, and then beating the Carolina Hurricanes in a nail-biting series. What made this series so exciting for me, was the game I personally attended. It was Game 2, double-OT, Vincent Trocheck scores the game-winning goal on Pyotr Kochetkov. But at the end of the day we still didn’t get the job done.
After that disappointing, heart-wrenching loss led to a disappointing season, which led us to trade our Captain, hire a new Coach, and pick up a new Captain. Things were looking bright with an ex-Ranger veteran obtaining the C for the Rangers, J.T Miller then getting a Stanley Cup winning-coach, ex-Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. But disappointment is still roaming NYC, leading the GM of the team to come out with a letter saying they will be re-tooling. After this letter was sent out, not even a few weeks later the Rangers traded their all-star player Artemi Panarin to the Kings for Liam Greentree, a new up-and-coming prospect, and also a 3rd round pick in next year’s draft. Hopefully the Rangers get it together soon, but it seems as if this season is over with.
