I was at the 2002 game. For me, the 1999 Game 7 loss to the Penguins in the first round was a very bitter pill to swallow, and the guy who threw his jersey on the ice after the game felt the same way. Three years in a row as a #1 seed, and one playoff series win to show for it.
He can be a lot better, but he's drawing penalties as well as taking them. He's also wearing the villain hat quite well as far as the Rangers and their fans are concerned, ala Claude Lemieux. Now let's get some clutch goals to go along with that!
That 2006 loss was hard to take because of how hard it crashed. We didn't choke it away but personally, I found it harder to accept than the 2009 Game 7 debacle.
You gotta admit. The guy plays with men.
You could take that a couple different ways, I guess! But what I mean is that the Rangers are men. The Devils are boys. It hurts to see it.