For every No. 10 Artemi Panarin jersey you see, there is a No. 11 Mark Messier. For every No. 31 Igor Shesterkin blueshirt, there is a No. 35 Mike Richter.
Thirty years have passed since the Rangers last won the Stanley Cup, ending a 54-year drought, and that team is still remembered fondly. Part of why Rangers fans have fallen so hard for this group are the similarities to that team.
This year, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy with 114 points, given to the team with the most points, just like in 1994. They swept their opening-round series, took a 3-0 lead en route to winning the next round and, on Wednesday night, dropped the opener of the Eastern Conference Final, each just like they did three decades ago.
“It reminds me a lot of ’94,” said Gary Weingarten, a territory manager for Freemotion Fitness from Bayside, Queens, at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers lost Game 1 to the Panthers, 3-0. “[Coach Peter] Laviolette reminds me a little bit of [1994 coach Mike] Keenan, too. I just think he’s very tough, he’s got the resume that Keenan had. They remind me of one another. I didn’t like [former coach Gerard] Gallant too much. I think the leadership of the team, the leadership and the depth of the teams are similar. The Rangers had a lot of depth in ’94. They were great on the third line back then, and the goalies — the goalies remind me of one another.”
