As of now, the last season looks better than the poor performance the New York Rangers put up this year. After an almost decade-long drought, the Rangers won their first President’s Trophy by defeating the Senators 4-0. Naturally, it was a moment of elation. However, the postseason campaign ended abruptly after the Panthers defeated the Big Apple team in the 2023-24 Eastern Conference finals. But looking back, even that was a much better season than this one.
On Saturday, the New York Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs after taking a poignant 7-3 beating at the hands of the Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center. With that, Peter Laviolette’s boys became only the fourth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs a year after winning the President’s Trophy. However, knowing how a similar situation plagued the franchise almost thirty years ago, a silver lining might still be at the end of the tunnel.
Secret things brewing behind closed doors to make up for the New York Rangers’ current season?
The New York Rangers won the President’s Trophy in 1992. But the very next year, they were once again left tending to a broken heart after being ousted from the playoffs. While that was undoubtedly a difficult time, the team bounced back in remarkable fashion by winning the prestigious Stanley Cup in 1994, after a gap of 54 long years. Referring to the comeback of a lifetime, one New York journalist shared some optimistic thoughts, via an X post on April 12, after tonight’s defeat that ended the Rangers’ post-season hopes.
Trying to lighten the mood: The last time a #NYR team won the Presidents’ Trophy and missed the playoffs the next season, the very next season they won the Stanley Cup! pic.twitter.com/N4TKjSovkw
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) April 12, 2025
“Trying to lighten the mood: The last time a #NYR team won the Presidents’ Trophy and missed the playoffs the next season, the very next season they won the Stanley Cup!” The social media update tried its best to give the New York fans something to hold on to. What makes tonight’s result even more heartbreaking is that the Rangers lost to a team that was running on a 4-match losing streak before finding its groove again on home soil.
Last season, the New York Rangers finished its run with the best record in the league, 55-23-4, but things have been far from a reflection of that this year. With two games to go, the squad has only managed to put 81 points on the scoreboard (compared to 114 from last season), making things disturbing for the fans. Obviously, it has been a pretty tough pill to swallow.
A community, distraught but not entirely without hope
“It’s disappointing for everybody. That certainly wasn’t anybody’s plan coming into the year, especially coming off of last year. And yet here we are,” said New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette after tonight’s aching final result on the road. The sentiment was reflected by any of his team members, who were also struggling to come to terms with the reality.
“So many things went together to bring us here,” winger Artemi Panarin said with a long face. While the team’s star forward J.T. Miller, had vowed to try and improve his skills earlier this year, it seems like even he was unable to follow up on his claims. But it wasn’t only the players or the coaching staff who were feeling the pain.
“Please don’t,” one fan commented in the comment section of the New York Rangers’ journalist’s post. Another fan begged to differ and commented, “There is always hope!” Which side of the spectrum are you on? Tell us your thoughts about the Rangers’ next season in a comment!
The post NHL Journalist Gives New York Rangers Fans New Hopes After Wild 1994 Stats Revealed appeared first on EssentiallySports.
