Big Playoffs for Lundqvist's Legacy
Jake Emen at Yahoo! Sports has Barry Melrose's less than complimentary comments regarding Henrik Lundqvist on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption on Wednesday...
"They've been in the playoffs five times with Henrik Lundqvist, they've only won two rounds in those five tries. So it's not like Henrik Lundqivst is money come playoff time. He hasn't had great playoffs. So, that is something I'm going to be watching for. He's had a great year, but what you do in the regular season makes you money, but it doesn't help your legacy. What you do in the playoffs determines how you're going to be thought of when you retire and you're old and gray."
...i hate to say it, but I sort of agree with Melrose. One of the few, very few, criticisms I've had of Lundqvist is his inability to put the Rangers on his back in the playoffs. We've seen goaltenders such as Halak, Roloson and Ward take average teams to either the brink of the Stanley Cup or winning it and Lundqvist has yet to do the same.
...this year is different than in the past for Lundqvist, however, as he's going into the playoffs on a much better team, so he doesn't necessarily need to stand on his head for the Rangers to advance. But if this team fails to advance to the Conference Finals you'll begin to hear even more whispers from around the league that Lundqvist isn't a money player.
H/T to reader Frank H.
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"They've been in the playoffs five times with Henrik Lundqvist, they've only won two rounds in those five tries. So it's not like Henrik Lundqivst is money come playoff time. He hasn't had great playoffs. So, that is something I'm going to be watching for. He's had a great year, but what you do in the regular season makes you money, but it doesn't help your legacy. What you do in the playoffs determines how you're going to be thought of when you retire and you're old and gray."
...i hate to say it, but I sort of agree with Melrose. One of the few, very few, criticisms I've had of Lundqvist is his inability to put the Rangers on his back in the playoffs. We've seen goaltenders such as Halak, Roloson and Ward take average teams to either the brink of the Stanley Cup or winning it and Lundqvist has yet to do the same.
...this year is different than in the past for Lundqvist, however, as he's going into the playoffs on a much better team, so he doesn't necessarily need to stand on his head for the Rangers to advance. But if this team fails to advance to the Conference Finals you'll begin to hear even more whispers from around the league that Lundqvist isn't a money player.
H/T to reader Frank H.
When asked if Lundqvist will be defined by his performance in the playoffs, John Tortorella said this during his press conference yesterday...
Torts reiterates that "all players are defined by what they do in the playoffs...no one is exempt from that"
— New York Rangers (@thenyrangers) April 11, 2012
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