New York Sports Ultimate Christmas Gift Wish List
Revealing the Christmas presents I want for each of my four NY sports teams...
Santa Claus has been and gone and, hopefully, he left you everything you wished for this holiday season.
The older you get the more easily pleased you are. Underpants, stuff that makes you smell better and socks are all presents you come to appreciate even more the more trips around the sun you make.
However, there were a few extra gifts I asked for this year that I’m hoping are delivered over the course of the next several months or so.
I can tell you are all really intrigued now.
For regular readers of The Steele Sports Bar, you will know that I’m a diehard New York sports fans. For my sins.
It hasn’t exactly been a golden period for the myriad of teams based in The Big Apple, outside of an MLS Cup victory for New York City FC in 2021 and the Liberty making a run to the WNBA Finals in 2023.
Other than that, it has been a period of complete ineptness for the nine New York teams across the four major professional sports. And that would be putting it lightly. The Yankees and the Mets missed the postseason in 2023, the Jets and the Giants have both been eliminated from playoff contention in the NFL, and the Knicks probably need another star before they take that next giant leap.
And I’m writing this a night after the Islanders were embarrassed in their own barn, losing 7-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in an absolute blowout. Oh, and the Brooklyn Nets caused waves on Wednesday by sitting three of their key starters in Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas and Royce O’Neale for the final three quarters of their game against the Milwaukee Bucks, despite the fact it was a 32-31 game after the first quarter. Bridges wasn’t too happy with the bizarre load management tactic, and I can’t say I blame him. The Bucks went on to blow out the Nets 144-122 in Brooklyn, by the way. That does a pretty good job of summing up the state of New York sports right now.
However, the wait for a first major championship in New York since 2011 - no offense, NYCFC - may be nearing an end given that the Rangers look like an absolute juggernaut. It is coming up to nearly 30 years since the Blueshirts last won a Stanley Cup, and this year may be the best chance they have of finally breaking that long, miserable drought.
Now wouldn’t that be something.
On that note, it is time to reveal my ultimate Christmas gift wish list for each of my four New York sports teams.
I don’t want much, I promise…
New York Rangers - Win The Stanley Cup
Okay, okay okay. So, I know I said above that I don’t want much, but the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 2024 would be the best Christmas present I could ever wish to receive.
And the best thing is I don’t think it is that tall of an ask.
After all, the Blueshirts currently sit atop the NHL standings with a stellar 24-8-1 record. They emerged from the holiday break with a 5-1 win over the Capitals on Wednesday, playing the kind of near-perfect hockey in all three zones that has been the blueprint for success for this team so far this season.
This team is on an absolute heater heading into the second half of the season, winning five of their last six. The stars are producing at a high clip with Mika Zibanejad, who skated in his 800th career NHL game on Wednesday, currently riding an eight-game point streak (7G-8A). Artemi Panarin has points in seven of his eight games (3G-6A), and his 19 goals are tied for the fifth most in the NHL. He’s also tied for fourth in the league in points with 46. Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick are proving to be an elite tandem between the pipes, and this is a roster that seemingly has all the ingredients required to go on a deep run in the postseason.
The power play has been potent all season too, with the Rangers having now recorded a goal on the man advantage in eight consecutive games. They also have power play goals in 13 of their last 15 games, and in 27 of 33 games this season. Their 33 power play goals this year are the second most in the NHL, and their 31.1 power play percentage is ranked first in the league.
There are just so many things to be impressed about when it comes to this team, including their ability to hang in games and come back. After overturning a one goal deficit to beat the Capitals on Wednesday, the Blueshirts now have 12 comeback wins on the year, tied for the most in the NHL with the Dallas Stars. Being able to answer the bell and fight back in games, coupled with always finding new ways to win, are the hallmarks of any great team.
This Rangers team as it is currently constituted sure looks like a great team too.
And you could argue that this is the best chance the Rangers will have to take a real shot at winning Lord Stanley. Right up against the salary cap, the win-now window won’t stay open forever and that’s why the front office decided to hire Peter Laviolette as Head Coach back in the offseason. Laviolette boasts a reputation as a man who can turn teams around quickly. He took the Islanders to the playoffs in his first season behind the bench in 2001-02, before taking over the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and winning the Stanley Cup in his first year as Head Coach there.
Laviolette also prefers to lean on veterans - and this Rangers roster is full of those - and he’s the kind of coach you hire to win. Laviolette is known to grind on his players after a period of time, and he’s not exactly renowned for his prowess when it comes to developing prospects and young players. I just don’t think there is a lot of runway there, so there is only a two or three-year window for this team to really strike. Therefore, given how the Rangers are thriving under Laviolette during his first year behind the bench at Madison Square Garden, I think I can be fairly confident in asking for a Stanley Cup win in 2024.
The window for this group is rapidly closing and, with Alexis Lafrenière finally figuring it out and with a Head Coach who knows how to press all the right buttons, 2024 could be the year the Rangers finally get their hands on Lord Stanley again.
Plus, with the Vancouver Canucks the best team in the Western Conference, fate may well give us a tantalizing rematch of that 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
Let’s hope for the same outcome so my Christmas wish comes true.