#Rangers mailbag: Why Stanley Cup eluded these all-time Blueshirt teams

Henrik Lundqvist playing for the Rangers in 2015.
Andrew Theodorakis

Larry, aside from the 2013-14 Rangers team, which I assume would be a pick, I’m wondering what your thoughts are on the other 3 best Rangers teams not to win a Cup, and what in your opinion was the missing ingredient(s) that prevented them from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup? — James Adams

I can tell you exactly what the 1971-72 Rangers were missing: a healthy Jean Ratelle for the final against Boston. Other than the 1993-94 Cup winners, that was the best Rangers team I’ve ever seen, 48-17-13, second overall to the B’s with 109 points, second in goals scored, third in goals allowed. Had it all — even enough toughness — except for No. 19 between No.’s 11 and 7 when it mattered the most.

The 2014-15 team was a machine through the guts of the season, going 33-7-3 over a 43-game stretch from early December through mid-March bridging Henrik Lundqvist’s 10-week absence with the vascular injury he sustained when struck in the throat by a shot. Significantly stronger than the ’14 finalists (who flailed around much of the season and had been booed out of the Garden after falling behind the Penguins 3-1 in their second-round series), the 2015 Presidents’ Trophy winners simply could not overcome the absence of the injured Mats Zuccarello and the ailments that hindered Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal in the conference finals against the Lightning. But by the way, no one yet has been able to supply a reasonable explanation for the Blueshirts being shut out in both Games 5 and 7 at the Garden after scoring 12 goals in the final two games at Tampa. No excuse for it.

The 1991-92 team that won the Presidents’ Trophy in Mark Messier’s first year on Broadway fills out the hat trick of the best of the franchise’s Cupless teams, though the 1970-71 squad also rates special mention. What did the ’92 team lack? A save from 90 feet.

With the recent GAG line number retirements, when will Rangers raise The Cat to his earned place in the rafters? — Tom Piselli

That’s kind of a tricky one, isn’t it, if the organization isn’t going to grant the same honor to Neil Smith, the only Cup winning Rangers’ GM of the last eight decades?

What was a better performance, Mike Richter’s ’94 Cup run or his MVP World Cup championship in ’96? Tough call, but I would say ’96 since the Canadian team was loaded with future HOF’ers. —Cosmo Leone

If you had to choose one goaltender to win a Game 7, you might go with Bernie Parent. You might go with Billy Smith or Grant Fuhr. You might go with Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur or Dominik Hasek or maybe even Ken Dryden. But you could not go wrong by choosing Richter, whose peak performances were the stuff of legend.

The Stanley Cup grind lasts for two months. Richter’s Game 6 at the Meadowlands not only lives forever, it changed the course of franchise history. A defeat in that one — and it could/should have been at least 5-0 New Jersey by the middle of the second period — and Messier is definitely buying his own drinks in New York. It’s for that reason I would elevate 1994 above 1996, when his decisive Game 3 performance was historic in itself, all but single-handedly keeping Team USA afloat despite being outshot 27-8 by Team Canada through the first 34 minutes.

By the way, his 1997 series against the Devils — and specifically, Game 2 in which Messier knocked Doug Gilmour upside the head in front of the New Jersey bench without a Devils’ response — wasn’t too shabby either.

Incredibly (or not, if you were paying attention), Richter did not play in an NHL playoff game after the age of 30.

Larry, as far as worst NYR trades go, how about trading rugged Kris King and Tie Domi for Eddie Olczyk? Eddie O was a great teammate it seemed but not much of an on-ice contributor. — James Sena

What? Heave-ho? I don’t see this one at all. The Rangers lost nothing but a Sideshow Bob act in Domi. They won the Stanley Cup with Eddie O, credited by his teammates for being a critical part of it.

In my formative years in the early 1960s, I cherished the Sunday night WHN radio broadcasts with Marv Albert. But was “The Big Whistle” on the radio or TV broadcasts? — Terry A. Gelfand

The Big Whistle, Bill Chadwick, did begin his broadcasting career with Marv on radio but became a legend while working on the TV side, primarily with the great Jim (“Chim”) Gordon.