NY Rangers Hockey: The Quietest Streak In Hockey

When springtime comes in the NHL, there are three types of hockey clubs. The club that is trying to make the Stanley Cup Finals, the club that is aiming to win the Stanley Cup Finals, and the club with rebuilding in its immediate future.

The Rangers are beginning to look like a club with an outside chance of winning the Stanley Cup Finals. For the last month, they have quietly been putting together the quietest streak in hockey. The Rangers have taken points from their last 13 matches, winning 6 of those outright, and another 3 in shootouts. The streak has seen the Rangers into 6th place in the Eastern Conference on 83 points and vaulted them into direct contention with the best teams in the east trailing conference leaders New Jersey Devils by

The big knocks against this Rangers team have been a lack of consistency, and a lack of production from its star players. It would seem that these deficiencies have been addressed. The streak itself is a testament to the improved quality of the Rangers' play as a club. Chris Drury, a high-priced free agent signing from Buffalo, had been having a difficult year. He is now tied for the club lead in goals with Brendan Shanahan with 22. Steady contributions from star players Scott Gomez, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Shanahan, defenseman Michael Rozsival, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and Drury are providing a steady base for consistent results.

In addition, a number of the Rangers' recently promoted young players, such as Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, and Dan Girardi, are stepping up with meaningful contributions in goal production and defensive play.

Sean Avery is 8th in scoring in team with 13 goals and 28 points. He is not simply around to dust it up with the leagues menacing agitators. Similarly, Colton Orr provides the same sort of police work for his teams' star players in addition to a supremely high work rate featuring tireless effort and two-way hockey. Blair Betts is a faceoff specialist and is also a top rate penalty killer for the Rangers.

The pieces are starting to fit together more closely and efficiently. The players believe in the system implemented by coach Tom Renney, and assistants Perry Pearn, Benoit Allaire, and Mike Pelino. The plans drawn on the training room white board are starting to become concrete reality.

The quietest streak in hockey, may end up yielding some Stanley Cup results that are anything but quiet.