New York Rangers’ 5 Best Teams of the 21st Century – The Hockey Writers – Rangers History

Heartache and disappointment are part of being a New York Rangers fan, and that’s especially true in this century.

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Expectations are almost always high under the bright lights of New York, with all 32 teams’ goal to win the Stanely Cup. The Rangers have, without question, had some great runs over the past decade-plus but have failed to win the championship. Not only has that goal not been met in the 2000s, but the organization has just one Stanley Cup in the past 80-plus years.

Of course, the task isn’t easy. Just about everything must go right from staying healthy to elite special teams. But let’s look back at some of the best Rangers teams of the 2000s and see which had the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup.

2011-12

Before the 2011-12 season began, the Rangers mainly were a team that would barely squeak into the playoffs once the Henrik Lundqvist era began. John Tortorella, who took over for Tom Renney in 2009, created an identity that made them known around the league as a hardworking, forechecking team that would block shots. It was a fearless mentality that players bought into. Unfortunately, the Rangers’ talent wasn’t even close to competing with some of the top contending teams.

However, the dynamic changed when Brad Richards signed with Blueshirts as a free agent. For the first time in a while, fans were instilled with hope that the Rangers might have a team built to win the Stanely Cup for the first time, perhaps since the 1990s. The 2011-2012 regular season was a fun one, as they won 51 games and secured first place in the Eastern Conference. That would guarantee themselves home ice through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

The one concern with the 2011-2012 team was the depth at forwards. Marian Gaborik was the leading scorer with 76 points (41 goals), and Richards was second with 66 points. Everyone else had 54 points or less. This was apparent after the Rangers in the playoffs in the first round against the Ottawa Senators were shut out on home ice in Game 5 to fall down 3-2 in the series. Notably, the dept on the wings was a concern behind Gaborik. It was thin with rookie Carl Hagelin, Ryan Callahan, and Ruslan Fedotenko. It wasn’t ideal.

However, the Rangers had one big reinforcement on the way—and that was Chris Kreider, the Rangers’ top prospect at the time. He signed with the team just before the playoffs began out of…