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Henrik Lundqvist walked out of the Madison Square Garden tunnel to the booming echoes of his name for the last time.
Making his way down the blue carpet laid out on the ice while gazing up into the sold-out crowd and across the way at all the other retired Rangers he would join shortly, all Lundqvist could do in that moment was touch his heart.
The very heart that needed some repairs and ultimately forced him to step away from the game he loves and to which he has dedicated his life. The heart that came through so fervently every time he took his place between the pipes. The heart that gave it’s all to the New York Rangers.
As Lundqvist later watched his No. 30 float up to the rafters Friday night, joining Rangers giants who were in attendance, such as Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Mike Richter and Mark Messier, it was as if a piece of his heart went with it.
“When I look back at my 15 years here, what gives me the most satisfaction is not the wins or the personal recognition,” Lundqvist, in a perfectly tailored suit as always, said from the Garden ice. “But it’s really the commitment — the commitment I felt to the New York Rangers.”
The way Lundqvist walked out under the flashing lights was just like someone who had walked through the front door of their own home. It was apparent how much he meant it when he told the Garden faithful, at the start of his ceremonial speech, how much he missed them.
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As he stood on the other Garden stage in the Hulu Theater hours before the ceremony and thought back to the fall day he got the call that the Rangers wanted to retire his number this season, Lundqvist said his first thought was how he’d finally have an opportunity to thank so many people.
His voice began to quaver in his throat and the emotions of the day pooled up in his blue eyes. Lundqvist needed a moment to compose himself.
“A lot of people asked me leading up to this night, ‘are you going to cry?’ ” he said with a smile. “And I said, ‘If I cry, I cry.’ I just want to walk out of here tonight, being in the moment and just feel as much as I can feel. This means everything to me and my family. Thank you so much.”
Lundqvist got to deliver his thank you’s to his family, the Rangers organization, the fans and New York City. The Garden crowd thanked him back in the only way they know how: relentlessly chanting his name as they have so many times before.
With those roaring cheers, they thanked him for the years he served as the backbone, heart and soul of the Rangers. For the countless games he proved to be the difference. For the six Game 7 wins, which is tied for the most in NHL history, the 64 shutouts and the 50 franchise records.
From his first game on Oct. 8, 2005 to his last on Aug. 3, 2020, Lundqvist was the ultimate example of class and professionalism.
“We want to be like Hank,” said Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury, who was Lundqvist’s teammate from 2007-11.
“He is, for me, the gold standard of what a New York Ranger is and what a New York Ranger should be for this generation of players.”
Rangers senior adviser and alternate governor Glen Sather recalled when he first watched Lundqvist, then in his early 20s, play in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2004. Lundqvist’s team, of course, won the game — and Sather thought to himself, “This is the next one.”
And so he was. Lundqvist became the one opponents had to worry about every time the Rangers came up on the schedule, the one who could inspire his entire team with a single blocker save, the one who became the face of the franchise for longer than any other player before him.
When it became apparent that he no longer fit in with the Rangers’ plans, Lundqvist just couldn’t see himself playing anywhere else. His love for hockey still burned, however, and he signed with the Capitals shortly after the Rangers bought him out in September 2020.
“And then in the end, the heart said no,” Lundqvist said.
His heart will always be here. His legacy will always be here. And now he has been immortalized, with his jersey hanging over Madison Square Garden.
Long live the King.
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