Why Rangers Fans Should Stop Comparing This Years Team to the 1994 Rangers

Going into this years All-Star break, the Rangers sit atop the Eastern Conference with 66 points, they are 2nd overall in the league only behind the Detroit Red Wings by one point, and they have already recorded over thirty wins, being one of only four teams to do such a feat so far this season. The Rangers are doing pretty well for themselves so far.

It is undeniable that there is a surge of giddiness pulsing through the New York Rangers fanbase with the recent success of the team. Fans are looking at statistics and comparisons from the magical year of 1994 when the Rangers won it all. That magical team from 1994 lifted the fanbase from 54 years of drudgery and gave them a reason to be proud of their hockey team once again. Now, it is 2012, a new team has been ushered in and is performing at the level that the team from 1994 played at. But this is nowhere near the same team that won the Cup in 1994.



People have every right to be proud of this team because of the way their playing, but it is not fair to the players when someone compares them to the 1994 team. The 2012 Rangers are a re-sculpted team, with a solid core, young talent, and a hard-working attitude that never quits. Head coach John Tortorella has implemented that mindset into this group of Rangers, and each player is being made better because of it. Let us take a trip back in time to 2008-2009. Tom Renney, now the coach of the Edmonton Oilers, was in charge of the New York Rangers. The team was slow. A gaggle of free agent signings followed up by a plethora of players who couldn't grind out the style of play the Rangers play under coach Tortorella today littered the lineup. Renney was let go in February of 2009, and Tortorella came in to take over the club. Seven players who played in at least one game on that lineup 2008-09 have survived the cuts made by Tortorella to reshape the team. When coach Tortorella came in, the first thing he mentioned that he thought was dreadful about the team was their conditioning. I strictly remember hearing all of the players refer to Tortorellas intense conditioning training for his teams. Go back and watch the team from 2008-09, you will see a drastic difference in speed, intensity, and grit in the lineup compared to the team of the past.

Should you compare this Rangers team to the 1994 team? No. This Rangers team is something special. This team of Rangers is filled with players who have come through the system, play for one-another, and aren't selfish players looking for the spotlight. This team has the potential to make big things happen, and by comparing them to the 1994 team, that is not fair to this group of Rangers who have worked tirelessly to form their own identity that is winning them games. This group of players is different from past Rangers teams. They're not a random collection of free-agent signings, strewn together with underachieving, selfish players who feel they can do better. That is the kind of player John Tortorella has done an immaculate job of weeding out of the team, and by doing that, he has created the potential for this Rangers team to win a lot more games in the future.