King ready for crown
Lundqvist expects big things from Rangers
Things are different now for Henrik Lundqvist. Whether the Rangers’ franchise goalie is hearing the ticktock of Father Time, or the echoes of past postseason opportunities fallen short, the man dubbed The King knows expectations abound for this coming season. And even though he will turn 34 in March, the mounting pressure that comes with those expectations is something he is embracing.
“You feel that walking in here — the expectations are higher now,” Lundqvist said on Monday after an informal skate with his teammates at the team’s practice facility in Westchester. “I like that. It’s a good thing.”
By the time training camp officially opens with onice workouts on Friday, Lun dqvist will have to continue to answer questions about the past two seasons, both coming so close to ending in glory. In 2014, Lundqvist and his mates made it to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the Kings. Last season, they lost a 20 heartbreaker in Game 7 of the conference final to the Lightning — a loss made more painful by the fact it was at the Garden, homeice advantage having been secured by winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season.
“Maybe the difference now, and maybe [over] the past three to four years, I feel like when you get there, you have different expectations on our team that maybe we didn’t have my first four or five years,” said Lundqvist, who made his debut in 2006 and has more wins than any other Rangers netminder in franchise history. “We were always hoping to be a contender, now we all expect to be up there. That being said, it’s still a lot of work to get to that point. I think it’s good though, to put a lot of pressure on yourself and the group — you want to be up there.”
At this time of year, with training camp still to start, it seems there is nothing in front of Lundqvist and the Rangers except opportunity for another run at their ultimate goal. That is an idea that can actually be acknowledged at this point, before the grind of the season begins to take hold.
“Now is the time to maybe look at the big picture here and see, OK, this is what we want to do — maybe you see yourself do it,” Lundqvist said. “But then you break it down and start focusing on just getting a good start.”