At the beginning and end of every season, there is that word again — window.
Unprompted, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault brought up the window of opportunity to win a championship during his opening press conference Thursday on the eve of on-ice training camp. Now in his fifth year behind the Blueshirts bench — the first coach to start there five straight seasons since Phil Watson from 1955-1959 — Vigneault knows every team only has so many chances to win a Stanley Cup.
It’s hard to tell exactly when that window is open or closed, and while saying he thought this year’s Rangers team “can compete for the Stanley Cup,” Vigneault remembered people writing off the Penguins after the Blueshirts beat them in consecutive postseasons in 2014 and 2015. That happened, of course, just before Pittsburgh won back-to-back championships.
“We’re in a good place,” Vigneault said. “I like our group. Nobody has talked about the window, but when we beat Pittsburgh two years in a row, who would’ve thought that Pittsburgh would have won the Stanley Cup back-to-back with [Matt] Murray in goal?
“We have a good team. We believe that we can compete for the Stanley Cup.”
In this era of Rangers hockey, the focus always is on the goalie. Henrik Lundqvist, 35, was terribly inconsistent last season while putting up his career-worst stats (2.74 goals-against average, .910 save percentage). Vigneault was not willing to put a number on how many games he wants Lundqvist to start, especially with unproven backup Ondrej Pavelec as a safety net. But he did make it clear he believes in Lundqvist, and with the help of goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, he should be more consistent. That process began with Lundqvist coming to camp in terrific shape.
“Hank is coming in lighter. He looks — I’d like to say younger,” Vigneault said. “He looks real fit, and he’s excited about this year. I’ve talked to him about the consistency. I’ve talked to Benny and him about that exact fact.
“We got a tremendous amount of ‘A’ games from Hank last year, which proves that he is still one of the elite goaltenders in this league. What we need from him is a little bit more consistency. He’s going to have some ‘C’ games now and then, and he knows this — he’ll be the first one to tell you he needs to be more consistent. He’s ready for that challenge.”
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Vigneault then has to worry about all the changes that were made in the offseason, notably trading away center Derek Stepan to the Coyotes, which has left a major hole both down the middle and with leadership in the locker room. The pressure now lies squarely on pivots Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes to take those top two roles — which Vigneault and management figured was going to happen.
“If we made that trade, it’s because we have faith in [Hayes] and Mika,” Vigneault said. “I think Hayesy is like J.T. [Miller], he’s not a kid anymore. They’re veteran players. They’ve got some years of experience, it’s their turn. There’s no excuses. We believe that they can get it done, and at the end of the day, they have to get it done.”
There was a big addition this summer, as well, with the signing of skilled defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is going to change the dynamic of the defense. Look no further than Vigneault saying stay-at-home veteran Marc Staal “is fighting for a spot and minutes.”
It’s another Rangers team gearing up for another run at the Stanley Cup, and who knows how many more times Vigneault can keep that window open.
“I can tell you, I met every player, and there is a good buzz here,” Vigneault said. “There’s a good feeling and everybody wants to do really well.”