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Rangers Hall of Fame goalie ranked No. 6 in Top-10 since 2000 list
By Jim Biringer,
23 hours ago
Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Henrik Lundqvist can add another accolade to his list of accomplishments. Bleacher Report ranked the legendary New York Rangers goalie No. 6 in their Top-10 players at his position since 2000.
OK, so this honor isn’t exactly equal to being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame or having his No. 30 retired by the Rangers. But it is another tribute to Lundqvist’s greatness, which spanned 15 NHL seasons from 2005-20.
Lundqvist owns almost every record for goalies in Rangers history, including wins (459), playoff wins (61), shutouts (64) and games played (887). His regular-season goals-against average was 2.43 and he had a .918 save percentage. He is the sixth-winningest goalie in NHL history.
He was at his best under pressure, winning an astounding six consecutive Games 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, an NHL record. The Tampa Bay Lightning got him and the Rangers in the 2015 Eastern Conference Final.
During his time between the pipes, the Rangers went to the conference final in three of four seasons from 2012-15, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
If there’s one rub here, it’s that Lundqvist never won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers.
He did, however, help Sweden win the Gold Medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics and carried a shutout streak 172:34, an Olympics record, between the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games.
Lundqvist arrived in the NHL for the 2005-06 season after being selected in the seventh round (No. 205) in the 2000 NHL Draft as an 18-year-old. He starred for Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League and eventually landed in New York, quickly being dubbed “The King.”
He won 30 games, most by a Rangers rookie goalie, finished fifth in the NHL with a 2.24 GAA and fourth with a .922 save percentage. From there, he was a consistent stalwart between the pipes for the Rangers.
Lundqvist provided that steadiness, recording 35 wins or more every season from 2006-07 through 2011-12, and again in 2015-16.
Despite being a consistent Vezina Trophy finalist, Lundqvist didn’t break through until the 2011-12 season, when he won his first and only Vezina Trophy as best goalie in the NHL. That season, he posted a record of 39-18-5 with a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save percentage. In addition, he also finished third in voting for the Hart Trophy as the League’s Most Valuable Player.
It’s fitting that he played only for the Rangers. Lundqvist announced his retirement on August 20, 2021, and the Rangers retired his number 30 on January 28, 2021. He was the 11th player in their history to have his number go to the rafters at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
Bleacher Report ranked the Hudson River Rival goalie Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils as the No. 1 goalie since 2000. The other goalies ahead of Lundqvist were Marc-Andre Fleury (No. 2), Roberto Luongo (No. 3), Andrei Vasilevskiy (No. 4) and Sergei Bobrovsky (No. 5).
Of that group, Brodeur and Luongo are also in the Hockey Hall of Fame. And Brodeur (3), Fleury (3), Vasilevskiy (2) and Bobrovsky (1) each have won the Stanley Cup.
Igor Shesterkin is an honorable mention by Bleacher Report in the best goalies since 2000 list. The Rangers netminder is currently ranked the No. 1 goalie by NHL Network , as well.
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