The heart of a Ryan
Callahan hopes he influenced Rangers
TAMPA — The profile is lower here than it was in New York, the role somewhat different, as well.
But Ryan Callahan of the Lightning is the same Ryan Callahan who was the captain of the Rangers from the start of 201112 until he was traded following a contract negotiation impasse at last year’s deadline as part of the expensive package that yielded Marty St. Louis in return.
In on the forecheck, taking the body, sliding to block shots.
And doing it within days — now more than a week — after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
“Well, what can I say? A little bit stupid, maybe?” Callahan said, laughing following Thursday’s optional practice in which he participated, his team up 21 in the Eastern Conference final that resumes Friday night. “There was never any risk in playing, it was just whether I could handle the discomfort. “You know me.” New York knows Callahan, and so do the teammates he left behind. Just last week, Chris Kreider told The Post it was Callahan who established even this current team’s tone through his leadership by example.
“I definitely think about what my legacy is with the Rangers, especially during their run last year,” Callahan, a Ranger for eight years before being sent away, told The Post. “I was part of the identity, part of the core, part of the new wave that came in with Torts [John Tortorella].
“I hope I had a good influence on the guys. I tried to work hard every day. Blocking shots, taking the body, doing all the little things, my preparation. That’s the way I tried to lead.
“I hope I had a good influence. I hope I rubbed off on some guys, but I don’t really know unless someone says something. “I definitely wonder sometimes.” Callahan never sought the spotlight, but he was in it, front and center, on Broadway. It’s different here by the Bay, where Steven Stamkos is captain and where “Triplets” Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov and emerging stud defenseman Victor Hedman are front and center.
“It’s a change for sure,” Callahan said. “When I came here, I just tried to blend in and be part of the team. It’s a different feeling, but I still have the same responsibility to contribute.”
Callahan responded, “Neither,” when asked whether he missed being on center stage or embraced his supporting actor’s role.
“When I was in New York, I didn’t put the outside attention on myself,” he said. “I knew what I needed to do, and I know what I need to do here.
“I was captain in New York, where there was so much media attention, so I had a responsibility there, but I tried to take the same approach to my preparation and my game regardless of the outside stuff.
“I didn’t put any more on myself because of that. It was selfevalua tion. That was the mindset there and that’s the mindset I have here.”
Callahan doesn’t have a goal through 15 games in this tournament. He’s 0for19 in the playoffs with the Lightning. When you’ve got the “Triplets” and Stamkos, the pressure on Callahan is diminished.
“That’s not the way I look at it,” said Callahan, who has three assists during these playoffs. “I need to contribute more offensively, I have to be able to put points on the board and I have to put pucks in the net.
“I’m trying to do everything else, taking the body, being in good position defensively, and it does make it easier on me that we’re winning. But when I evaluate myself, I know I have to do more and I know I can contribute more.
“Maybe there’s not that pressure from the outside,” Callahan said. “But I’m putting pressure on myself.”
That was Callahan then, and that is Callahan now.