It’s a sad time across the hockey world as a goaltending legend has retired from the sport. Henrik Lundqvist has decided to call it a career.
The future Hall of Fame goalie will go down as one of the greatest goalies of all time and arguably the greatest goalie of the post-lockout era.
He has put up remarkable numbers throughout his career: 459 wins, 64 shutouts, 27,076 total saves, 2006 Olympic Gold medalist, 2014 Olympic Silver medalist, 2017 World Championship Gold, 2013 Vezina Trophy winner, 2012 Hart Trophy finalist, five-time All-Star, nine-time Rangers Team MVP, six consecutive Game 7 victories, and the only goalie in NHL history to record 30 wins in each of his first seven seasons.
He was the face of the Rangers franchise ever since the 2006 season, and has been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, players in franchise history.
He was the backbone of some terrible teams and straight up carried them to places that they weren’t supposed to be. You can argue that if he had better teams in front of him, there is no doubt that he would hoist a Stanley Cup, most likely in the window between 2012 and 2015. Maybe he could challenge Patrick Roy’s 551 wins, which is currently 2nd best of all time among goalies.
There are many moments with the Rangers where fans would want to think deep and wonder what would have happened had Lundqvist had said stronger teams in front of him. The “What if?” game is a hard game to play, but everyone should wonder what would have happened if the outcome would have been different in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final or in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final or in the 2015 Eastern Conference Final.
Lundqvist was a generational talent, the face of a city, and the face of a franchise who devoted all his energy to doing all he can to lead his team to victory.
But sadly, his teams fell short at the worst possible timing.
He did everything except winning a championship in arguably the toughest team sport of all team sports where numerous Hall of Famers couldn’t do the same.
Age and injuries sadly slowed him down in his final two seasons with the Rangers, and the team started to look at younger goalies to potentially be his successor.
The Rangers made the playoffs in 11 of Lundqvist’s first 12 seasons, making it every season, with the exception of 2010. When his age began to show and his play started to slow down, it stopped.
The Rangers’ only playoff appearance since 2017 was in 2020, when they were swept in the qualifiers by the Hurricanes.
In the seven seasons before he came to New York, the Rangers missed the playoffs.
He made an impact on this team, both when he arrived and when he left.
When the Rangers bought out his contract after the 2020 season, the Capitals stepped in and offered him a one-year, $1.5M contract after Braden Holtby left in free agency as the team was looking to depend on two young goalies.
He might have played at least 25 games and be a mentor to the younger Caps goalies in Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek. He was always a leader with the Rangers, something that is rare for goalies. He would have been an important voice in the locker room and might have some playoff energy left in him. The Caps lost in 5 games to the Bruins in the 2021 first round, with the turning point being Samsonov misplaying the puck behind his own net.
Whether Lundqvist could have helped the Caps or not is all speculation by this point because he never dressed up in a Caps uniform after his announcement in December that he needed an aortic valve replacement. It seemed as if just one surgery might be good enough, but it’s easier said than done, as he announced that he probably would need another procedure.
While his retirement isn’t surprising, the reason he decided not to come back after an open-heart surgery in January was sad: He may still need more heart surgery at age 39.
This wasn’t the way he wanted his career to end, and it isn’t the way it should have ended.
But his life is far more than just stats. Larry Brooks of The New York Post nicknamed him “The King” early in his rookie season, and it is a nickname that stuck to him all his career. It’s not just with keeping pucks out of the net, but because of his style, his personality, and his looks. Remember that he was both patient and communicative with the media and fans.
He was not only the face of the Rangers, but the face of hockey in New York throughout his career. It’s not because the Islanders or the Devils were lacking star talent, but it’s because of the fact that the Rangers are and have always been the New York hockey team, similar to the Knicks being the New York basketball team despite the Nets currently having three All-Star players.
There is a lot to celebrate for Lundqvist and what he has accomplished in his career. The Rangers plan to retire #30 in honor of him and have his jersey number raised along the rafters.
Happy retirement, King.
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