My Ode To Henrik Lundqvist
I mean...If you clicked on this blog what else is there to say? I've never been the Rangers blogger at Barstool Sports because, if I'm gonna shoot y'all straight, I don't know all too much about the game of hockey. The New York Rangers have been beyond my favorite sports team since I got into sports around 15 years ago, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna sit on twitter and complain about who's hitting the forecheck and dumping the puck in deep. I simply just love the team and everything about it...and ya know who happened to come up around 15 years ago? Henrik Lundqvist. Before him I was a random fan in everything but baseball- I vividly remember as a young tyke trying to bust my dad & uncle's balls saying how big of an Eagles or Avalanche fan I was as a 9-year-old (shoutout Donovan McNabb or David Aebishcher) but then they took me to a Rangers game on October 15th, 2005. I had barely just turned 9-years-old yet something came over me watching one of this random 23-year-old's starts. I became addicted not only to more sports than baseball, including football & hockey, but simply a New York Rangers addict.
And when I say addict I mean ADDICT. Like simply life revolving around the New York Rangers to pretty much this day. A grand example of course is that I love my father but I still will always kind've resent him for out of the blue telling me I couldn't miss CYO practice for a Rangers game- which would up being the Marek Malik shootout game.
But that's neither here nor there! I wouldn't have given a flying fuck about this Marek Malik shootout goal if it wasn't for one man and one man only- Henrik Lundqvist. He really did get me into not only hockey, but sports.
This tweet couldn't be any more true. Or course growing up a New York Mets fan since birth I've loved David Wright & even more obviously off that being a Giants fan Eli Manning was my everything. I fucking love Eli- everything about him. The relentlessness, the determination, and being the iron man. If you any arguments about that just go watch the 2011 NFC Conference Championship game. BUT we're clearly not here to talk about Eli and simply here to talk about the man that has engineered my whole life of being a sports fan.
And of course there's a few final things I'd like to say. Whatever absolute peasants reading this blog of course will say is that Henrik Lundqvist is a King without a Crown and ya know what I say to that? Go FUCK YOURSELF!
The link below is what is needed to be argued which I find disgusting. May be shocking but the recent Cup winners have had (superstar) players like Toews, Kane, Keith, etc & Crosby, Malkin, Etc, & Kopitar, Doughty, etc, & Ovechkin, Carlson, etc winning so maybe you KINDA do need superstars which Henrik Lundqvist wasn't given until this year with Panarin & (thank heavens) Mika. If only our guy had a Scott Stevens in front of him for his whole career! Hahahahahahaha.
Advertisement
Either way- at the end of the day arguing a national hockey goalie in the history rankings might as well be as fucking dumb as rating Derek Jeter an all-time shortstop! And I know I'm infringing on a massive double fanbase there- but that's the hill you idiots die on! A shortstop & a goalie are smaller parts in a HUGE team. Listen…if ya ain't a basketball superstar or a generational quarterback I couldn't give a flying FUCK if you win or not. That above clip argues about who's a better goalie…Hank or Crawford. I listened once than stopped. Not worth it.
But that's the point- when all is said & done this man is the greatest player to ever put on a New York Rangers uniform. Of course people will say the Messiah! People will say Rod! People will say Eddie! and many will argue all over the place these legends are…but there's one answer & one answer only. It's Henrik fucking Lundqvist.
And I think hundreds of thousands of people feel the same way- obviously Hank simply doesn't fit into the future plans as we have a dynasty cooking with Igor & Goergie but man my fingers are crossed that our King retires or goes to a west coast team cause I could use another team to root for.
At the end of the day we all fucking love you Henrik Lundqvist. I cried writing this whole thing and, frankly, it's warranted. Goodbye to my childhood. All I've grown up hearing is how absurd these "EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!" chants were on Giacomin's first game back at the Garden.
Advertisement
God only knows what Hank's will be whether it's a save on an opposing team or a number retirement. I'm praying it's the latter but either way- I love you so fucking much, Henrik Lundqvist.