Warm welcome for heir to throne

With King Henrik sitting, Shesterkin makes his debut in New York

NEW YORK— His every move has been chronicled and touted on social media. And this week, the night finally came for 24-yearold Igor Shesterkin to make his much anticipated debut in goal for the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist, 37, who has more wins than any other goalie as a Ranger, was on the bench, possibly a first step toward a changing of the guard.

Shesterkin balanced on his blades in the crease as the national anthem played before Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden, while his idol, Lundqvist, with 458 career wins as a Ranger, sat impassively on the bench.

Shesterkin had a sterling 154-3 record with a 1.93 goalsagainst average and three shutouts with Hartford of the American Hockey League before being called up to the struggling Rangers, who had lost three straight games on a road trip to Western Canada.

“On my way to the arena, my hands were shaking and I couldn’t even drink water,” Shesterkin said through an interpreter after the game.

Wearing No. 31, Shesterkin heard loud cheers when he led the team out for warm-ups and skated a few solo laps, a customary honour for rookies. Teammates then peppered him and Lundqvist with shots in front of a large contingent of fans looking on with eager anticipation. The two goaltenders crisscrossed momentarily at centre ice.

“As I stepped on the ice I felt everyone’s support and energy, and it really helped me,” Shesterkin said.

Short choruses of “Igor, Igor” sprouted from the Garden crowd during the game, akin to the chants of “Henrik, Henrik” that Lundqvist has heard since he replaced Kevin Weekes as the starter early in the 2005-06 season.

The Rangers faithful, who have been largely patient with the team’s rebuild, showered Shesterkin with a prolonged cheer when he was announced as part of the starting lineup for the first time in a regular-season game.

But the first minutes of Shesterkin’s debut surely were not what he envisioned. He allowed a goal to Colorado’s J.T. Compher on the first NHL shot he faced, four minutes and 44 seconds into the game, then gave up a breakaway goal to its leading scorer, Nathan MacKinnon, two minutes later.

Shesterkin was getting a crash course in the Rangers’ bugaboo, a porous defence, a weakness that is not always a problem because of their high-scoring star, Artemi Panarin. Lundqvist and the team’s third goalie, Bulgarian-born Alexandar Georgiev, have faced barrages many times this season.

“We didn’t hesitate to give him a taste of Rangers hockey,” New York coach David Quinn deadpanned after the contest.