Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week compares modern New York Rangers goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin with a post-World War II pair of earlier heroes, Chuck Rayner and "Sugar "Jim Henry.
Now that the New York Rangers have begun celebrating their Centennial season, several outstanding personalities inspire discussion and comparison, but none more than goalies then and now.
Ever since Henrik Lundqvist became the starter in 2005, the Rangers have been blessed with superior puck-stopping up to the current era of Igor Shesterkin, a 29-year-old who won the 2022 Vezina Trophy voted as the best goalie in the NHL. He's maintaining his excellence in the first weeks of this season, going 2-3-1 with a 1.17 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and one shutout.
Their respective resumes say it all very positively.
Lundqvist is the only goalie in NHL history to win at least 30 games in 11 of his first 12 seasons and his 459 victories are most at his position born in Europe. He won the 2012 Vezina Trophy and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Class of 2023.
"Henrik was both a prize catch and a gamble when the Rangers drafted him (seventh round, No. 205) in the 2000 (NHL Draft)," wrote George Grimm in "Guardians of the Goal: A Comprehensive Guide to Rangers Goaltenders, from Hal Winkler to Ed Giacomin, Henrik Lundqvist, and All Those in Between."
A year after Lundqvist was drafted, Lundqvist began tearing up the Swedish Elite League and finally graduated to the Rangers in the fall of 2005, at first as the backup to Kevin Weekes.
"But Henrik came on strong in a hurry," Grimm said, "and by early November he had taken over the No. 1 spot."
It was now Lundqvist's net to keep and he kept it by playing 53 of 82 games, becoming a 2006 Vezina finalist and named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.
"Henrik went on to become the standard against which every future Rangers goaltender would be judged, breaking almost every franchise goaltending mark," Grimm said.
Lundqvist remained monarch of the Rangers crease through the 2019-20 season; a period of excellence that included being voted the team's most valuable player 12 times and three trips to the Eastern Conference Final. He was hailed as a series star in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final despite a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Playing for a Stanley Cup winner is the challenge for Lundqvist's successor. Like "King Henrik," Shesterkin was selected by the Rangers late, in the fourth round (No. 118) of the 2014 NHL Draft, although Grimm wrote he was "one of the best young goaltenders outside of the NHL."
Shesterkin relentlessly improved his game. His dazzling numbers (36-13-4 with a 2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts) earned him the Vezina and made him third runner-up for the Hart Trophy given to the NHL most valuable player behind Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
"Igor has the ability to make the difficult look easy with great crease command," said Rangers MSG Networks radio analyst Dave Starman, who was co-creator of the USA Hockey ADM Goalie Development Program. "He plays at situational depth with excellent athleticism and the ability to square up even on dead angle shots."
Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract 2024 ($11.5 million average annual value) with the Rangers on Dec. 7, that made him the highest-paid goalie in the NHL in salary and AAV.
"Shesterkin gives his teammates confidence," Grimm said. "He steals games by covering up for mistakes and is expected to do that."
Said Starman: "Igor's key is his elite rebound control. That helps his defensemen who otherwise would get pounded in goalmouth scrambles. Plus, he uses his stick well to block passes and move pucks."
The Lundqvist-Shesterkin duet recalls an earlier Ranger goaltending tandem, "Sugar" Jim Henry and Charlie Rayner, who became teammates after serving in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War II. Rangers coach Frank Boucher launched what was the NHL's first two-goalie system by dressing Henry and Rayner for each game. He even alternated them every few shifts.
"Frank switched us every third line change or so for a short time," Rayner recalled. "But since the team only had one pair of goalie gloves, when I skated off to the bench and Sugar Jim came on the ice, we would meet at the blue line so we could exchange gloves in front of 15,000 fans."
The Rangers traded Henry to the Chicago Black Hawks for forward Alex Kaleta and goalie Emile Francis on Oct. 7, 1948. Rayner then became an enormous fan favorite, culminating with a trip to the 1950 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We upset the (Montreal) Canadiens in the first round," Rayner said, "and had the (Detroit) Red Wings on the ropes with a (3-2) lead in the Final. But they rallied, tied the series and we went to a seventh game. The score was tied 3-3 after regulation time and after the first sudden death."
In the second overtime, just past the eight-minute mark, there was a face-off deep in the Rangers zone. It was then that a fatal mistake ended New York's Cup dreams.
"Edgar Laprade was one of our best centers and he had been on the ice a long time," Rayner said. "So, I told my defenseman, Frankie Eddolls, that maybe (coach) Lynn Patrick should take him off the ice. Eddolls told Patrick and the next thing I saw Laprade going off and Buddy O'Connor was coming on. Poor Buddy. He lost the face-off and (at 8:31) Detroit's Pete Babando scored."
Then, a pause: "Maybe if I'd kept my mouth shut I might have won a Stanley Cup."
