Joe's Reaction of the Week (Eric's Version): How the Other Half Lives

Joe is on sabbatical from Joe's Reaction of the Week until November. Until then, other Blueshirt Banter's writers will be filling in for him. Today, it's Eric Kohn.

Oct. 6, 2005.

That night, the New York Rangers faced the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden. Dominic Moore scored a late power-play goal to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime, where Michael Ryder buried his second of the night to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win.

There was nothing particularly significant about this game when the final horn sounded. The next contest on the schedule, at the Meadowlands against the New Jersey Devils, however, was a momentous one: Henrik Lundqvist's first start in the NHL.

But for our purposes today, we're looking at the game prior to Hank's debut. Because that was the last time the Rangers and their fans lived like the vast majority of the rest of the hockey world.

The starting goaltender in that game against Montreal was old friend and NHL breaking news announcement perpetual tease Kevin Weekes. It was significant because it was the last game in the interregnum between when Mike Richter manned the Rangers net (when he was healthy) and when Lundqvist took it over—21 years ago.

Twenty-one years is a long time. Enough time to forget just what it's like when you're not expecting constant greatness in net.

As plenty of people have noted, the Rangers have been spoiled when it comes to goaltending. Richter was a very good goalie. Lundqvist was a generational player. Igor Shesterkin is an elite netminder and arguably the best goaltender in the NHL right now (when healthy, of course). For a long time, quality goaltending was a given. We've taken it for granted.

So, let's revisit that time between Richter and Lundqvist.