Hank mines for gold again
PITTSBURGH — Henrik Lundqvist and Team Sweden captured Olympic gold in Turin, Italy, in 2006. Four years later, though the Swedes finished a disappointing fifth in Vancouver, Lundqvist led all tournament goaltenders in goals against average and shutouts.
Friday night, after winning his fifth straight start to close the Rangers’ pre-Olympic break, Lundqvist, 31, finally was able to turn his full attention to his third career Olympics, and he was visibly excited.
He’ll be joined on Team Sweden this time by Rangers teammate Carl Hagelin, 25, a first-time Olympian, and they’re intent on claiming bragging rights both internationally and within the Blueshirts’ locker room.
“Mentally now I’m switching gears — I’m putting on the yellow and blue,” Lundqvist said of Sweden’s colors, grinning. “And I’m not going to talk to anybody on this (Rangers) team except Hagelin.”
Seven Rangers will compete in the Olympics, including the two Swedes, Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan (United States), Rick Nash (Canada) and Mats Zuccarello (Norway). They will be facing a different kind of pressure, with an entire nation counting on them as opposed to one city’s fan base, but Lundqvist said it’s important to stay measured as a player.
“You can look at it (like it’s a lot of pressure) and just make it tough on yourself, or you look at it as a great experience, a great challenge, and something that not a lot of people get to experience,” Lundqvist said. “You go out there and have fun, and you enjoy that moment. Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of pressure, but there’s a lot of pressure to play here as well. You just have to enjoy that moment. You don’t get that many opportunities to go, so you have to have fun, and that’s when you play your best, I think.”
Lundqvist and Sweden will play one of two matches at noon EST on Wednesday to start the men’s hockey tournament in Sochi, so there is little turnaround between Friday’s win over the Penguins and his push for a second gold medal.
The rest of the Rangers, meanwhile, will take quick vacations or just a stay-at-home break from the grind while their teammates compete overseas. Those players will resume optional practice in Greenburgh on Feb. 20, the day prior to the Olympic men’s hockey semifinals.
The gold medal game will be on Feb. 23, and then the Rangers will get back into gear on Feb. 27 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Garden. If Callahan and Dan Girardi remain unsigned and GM Glen Sather wishes to trade one or both, he will have the freedom to do so between Feb. 24 and March 5 at 3 p.m.
On Friday night, though, the focus in the winning visitors’ locker room was on sending off the Rangers’ magnificent seven to Russia, with love.
“The ones who are going, we just talked about, everybody, we wished them the best of luck,” coach Alain Vigneault said. "They’re going to have a lot of fans (behind them in Russia). The ones that are staying behind are going to enjoy the time off, and when they get back, they’re going to get worked and ready for the final push.”