Henrik Lundqvist a Proven Backbone and Cornerstone for the New York Rangers

The Rangers have been known in the past decade as a team loaded with superstar marquee names up and down their roster. Coming back from the lockout in the 2005-06 season, the only recognizable name on the team was Jaromir Jagr.

In my book a superstar is a single player whose presence, successes, and slumps can determine whether the team wins or not, night in and night out. In the fall of 2005, another superstar was born.

The Rangers had experienced some inconsistencies in goal since the departure of Mike Richter. Dan Blackburn was supposed to be the Rangers ‘next’ starting goalie, but his career was cut short after experiencing nerve damage.

So in fall 2005, the two Rangers goalies were Kevin Weekes and little-known Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist got a start and caught everyone off-guard with how good he was. Each of the following three years, the no-namer from 2005 was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the top goaltender in the league.

Fall 2008 saw the Rangers first post-lockout refresh. Jagr, Straka, Shanahan, and Avery were all gone. Gomez and Drury remained, along with free-agent signing Markus Naslund.  All great players, but none of "superstar" status. The lone remaining superstar was homegrown Henrik Lundqvist.

The Rangers to date have played 14 games, with 10 wins, three losses, and one overtime loss (to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings—a game that could have yielded a win for the Rangers barring a questionable penalty call).

They are off to the best start in team history, which I believe this is a product of every player on the team doing their job. The Rangers have played excellent as a team this year. There have been a few defensive lapses, but Lundqvist made some mind-blowing saves when called upon. In the eleven games he started, he has held opponents to two goals or less in all but two games.

Statistically, Lundqvist currently leads the league in games played (11), wins (eight), and minutes played. He is third in the league in saves and goals-against average (1.99). He’s sixth in save percentage (.928). There have been a few goals that slipped by that "the King" could have stopped, but none have been game breakers yet.

For the past few seasons, Lundqvist and the Rangers have slumped in the middle of the year, between starting and finishing strong. In Henrik’s first season, he was injured just after the Olympics. In '06-07, the Rangers slumped as a team, with Jagr’s production down until the arrival of Sean Avery. Last year, Lundqvist’s slump directly correlated to his father’s brain aneurysm.

At this point, with what is known about the Rangers based upon the games that have been played, Lundqvist’s game play and health will determine which seed the Rangers will get more so than whether they’ll make the playoffs.

In the event that he gets injured, backup Stephen Valiquette has shown he can stop his fair share of pucks too. However, Saturday night’s meltdown has shown that, although Valiquette has been solid for the most part, he can have bouts of flippancy—which Lundqvist has not had since a game against Toronto 23 months ago.

If Lundqvist stays on the same track, the Rangers have the potential to win the division, conference and go deep into the playoffs.