The 2019 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs have been, in a word, unpredictable. Out of the eight first-round contests, the San Jose Sharks were the only pre-series favorites to advance to the second round and that was by the narrowest of margins with the help of a controversial penalty. Seeing the myriad of staggering upsets and flat-out Cinderella stories reminds of me of a past New York Ranger team that defied the odds, proved critics wrong and darn near made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The season was 1996-97. “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky left St Louis to check off the final item on his “bucket list” and that was to re-join his buddy from Edmonton, Mark Messier, and play for the New York Rangers.