A Rivalry Restored?
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Tonight, the Rangers and Islanders face off at Madison Square Garden in the third meeting between these two teams in the last nine days. For longtime metropolitan area hockey fans, those words mean only one thing: widespread fisticuffs and mayhem. However, the sideshow violence that typified this rivalry in years past has apparently gone by the wayside in the “new” NHL; in its place is a tamer, faster-paced, brand of hockey. Can this historic rivalry maintain its luster?
So far this season, the Rangers have characterized themselves by employing a blue-collar approach to nearly every shift, and the result has been a team that has at least temporarily recaptured the attention and imagination its longsuffering fans. Right wing Jaromir Jagr has returned to All-World form, and his 10 goals and 15 points are both NHL bests. Complementing Jagr are fellow Czech forwards Martin Straka and Martin Rucinsky, both of whom have tallied 11 points.
Fans should be cautioned before jumping to irrational conclusions regarding the team’s playoff hopes, but it’s worth pointing out that the Rangers currently sit atop the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Islanders and two points ahead of the Flyers. While that’s really no cause for celebration at this early juncture, it is a sure sign that head coach Tom Renney and GM Glen Sather have the Blueshirts on the right track.
Despite the surprising early-season results, however, this team is still very much in a rebuilding mode, and the best decisions Sather and Renney can make right now are the ones that will ensure the team’s long term success. It’s tempting to doggedly pursue a playoff berth – it would be the Rangers’ first since 1997 – but diverting from the current course would demonstrate the type of shortsighted thinking that the Blueshirts desperately need to avoid.
For one shining example, rookie netminder Henrik Lundqvist has gotten off to an excellent start between the pipes, but Renney would still be well advised to keep veteran Kevin Weekes in the starting role. While Lundqvist might be a better option right now, rushing him into the lineup could have tragic consequences. If the team collapses around him, Lundqvist will suffer the same fate as predecessors Mike Richter and Mike Dunham, who were all eventually hung out to dry by underachieving teammates. Alternately, keeping Lundqvist hungry – and desirous of the starting job – can only be a good thing at this stage in the young netminder’s career.
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The Islanders, on the other hand, are in a very different position. Their rebuilding effort is essentially complete, and they have begun adding the pieces necessary to make a run at the Stanley Cup. Top-line center Alexei Yashin is playing like a man on a mission, finally justifying the enormous financial commitment the Isles made to him back in 2000.
Yashin is complemented for the first time by an elite-level winger in Miroslav Satan, and the two players have begun to generate fireworks together. Satan started off slowly, but he has scored five goals in his last four games and is rapidly emerging as a star for the Islanders.
On Tuesday night against Atlanta, Yashin and Satan combined for three goals in a 4-3 victory, demonstrating excellent chemistry while playing alongside grinding winger Arron Asham.
Asham, who is clearly willing to do the work in the corners and in front of the net necessary for success even in today’s obstruction-free NHL, has proven to be the perfect complement for his flashy linemates.
Of course, the Isles’ success begins and ends with young netminder Rick DiPietro, who has matured tremendously over the past two years. DiPietro has made a number of stellar saves, but remains a bit of a hothead. Toward the end of Tuesday night’s game, he took a run at Thrashers forward Marc Savard and was lucky the Isles weren’t forced to protect their one-goal lead while shorthanded for the game’s final 30 seconds.
Assuming DiPietro continues his upward trajectory, the Islanders should emerge as a solid playoff team, while the Flyers can be expected to run away with the Atlantic Division. The rest of the division, however, remains largely up for grabs, meaning the Rangers’ faithful do have reason to hope.
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Across the river in New Jersey, the Devils have devolved dramatically, as new arrivals Vladimir Malakhov, Richard Matvichuk, and Dan McGillis have thus far shown themselves to be poor substitutes for the departed Scott Niedermayer and the retired Scott Stevens. Martin Brodeur has looked alternately spectacular and pedestrian thus far, but he’ll likely fade as the season progresses, especially if he backstops Team Canada in the Winter Olympics in Turino, Italy.
Last night, the Devils looked every bit the second-rate team in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Adding injury to insult, Brodeur left the game with a knee injury with 6:50 to play in the third period. Back-up Scott Clemmensen promptly gave up two power play goals to put the game away, serving notice that the Devils’ fortunes this season rest almost entirely on the shoulders of Brodeur. If his knee injury proves to be serious, their playoff hopes will be all but crushed.
So tonight, the first-place Rangers take on the second-place Islanders. Even if the standings don’t remain that way for the entire season, it’s a moment New York hockey fans should cherish, for it’s a sign that this longstanding rivalry might once again be about the hockey rather than the thuggery.
While it’s true that the mayhem dates back to the late 1970s, when a borderline check on Rangers forward Ulf Nilsson earned Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin a lifetime’s worth of derogatory chants, it’s also worth noting that the hockey played between these two teams was once some of the most exciting in the NHL. If both teams manage to stay on track, the Rangers-Islanders rivalry might soon again be one of the most compelling in professional sports.
Mr. Greenstein is the editor-in-chief of InsideHockey.com.