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Dan Girardi recalls trying to ‘win that damn silver thing’ with Rangers
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- Dan Girardi recalls trying to ‘win that damn silver thing’ with Rangers
In the 100-year history of the New York Rangers, only one player appeared in more Stanley Cup Playoff games than Dan Girardi . But despite spending the better part of the 2010s chasing the Cup, Girardi never got to experience winning a championship in New York.
In fact, Girardi never won the Stanley Cup in his 13-year NHL career, including two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, after he left the Rangers following the 2016-17 season. He played 122 postseason games with the Rangers — only teammate Chris Kreider (123) appeared in more — then 21 with the Lightning.
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Girardi helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, and the Eastern Conference Final in 2012 and 2015. He fell one victory short of reaching the Cup Final in 2015 when the Rangers lost Game 7 at home to the Lightning. Then three years later, Girardi and the Lightning lost Game 7 of the conference final to the Washington Capitals.
That's a whole lot of near misses for the rugged defenseman.
"I just feel like so many things have to go right and line up and get figured out to win that damn silver thing, the Cup," Girardi told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast last month. "Lotta things need to go right. For some teams it does, for others it doesn't."
The 2014 memories hit hardest for Girardi, who recalls hugging Henrik Lundqvist in the "dying seconds" of the conference final clincher against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden as one of his most treasured moments in hockey. Then, the Rangers lost the Stanley Cup Final in five games to the Los Angeles Kings, beaten three times in overtime (twice in double OT, including the Game 5 clincher out in L.A.).
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"That Cup Final was tough on a lot of us," Girardi explained. "That freaking overtime winner pops up all the time when they're showing highlights, and I'm like 'C'mon man!' Listen, three overtime winners out of their four [victories]. A bounce here, a bounce there, who knows what's going to happen."
Dan Girardi recalls when Rangers 'had my back' after costly Game 1 turnover in 2014 Cup Final
Girardi wasn't on the ice for Alec Martinez's double-OT clincher in Game 5, but he was front and center when the Rangers lost Game 1 at Staples Center. The Rangers let a 2-0 first-period lead slip away, and thanks largely to Lundqvist's brilliance in net, made it to overtime tied 2-2.
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But early in the extra period, the puck slid to Girardi, who was defending against the Kings rush in his own end. Girardi lost his balance, dropped to a knee, and hurried a pass up the near boards, but not out of the zone. Mike Richards picked it off, quickly found Justin Williams with a pass, and the veteran forward zipped a snap shot blocker side past Lundqvist to hand the Rangers a tough-to-take 3-2 overtime loss.
"I feel like I did a lot of really good things throughout my career, and everyone's going to have their down moments, and unfortunately I think if I turned the puck over to anyone else, we're OK. But we've got 'Mr. Game 7' Justin Williams here and he's sniping. So, that was the first mistake," Girardi said with just a hint of sarcasm.
To his credit, Girardi faced the media horde after his costly Game 1 mistake. And at the next media availability too.
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"I just don't think the right thing to do was to go hide in the changing room and not talk [to the media]. I feel like you make a mistake, you own it, and you move on," he explained. "I did a lot of walking around the next day, down by the beach, we were near Santa Monica so I did a lot of walking around by the pier and I had my headphones on listening to music, trying to do my best to flush it out and try and think of all the good things I do out there."
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
What helped Girardi most was that the Rangers 'had my back."
"It's easier to move on and move past it when everyone's in your corner and willing to work with you and work through these things."
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Still, the Rangers lost three of the next four, including twice more in overtime, and ended a dream run three victories shy of winning that "damn silver thing," as Girardi called the Stanley Cup. The next year, the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy, yet dropped Game 7 of the conference final to the Lightning.
They haven't been that close to the Cup Final since.
"The reason why we had so much success on the ice is that we were such good friends. There was not one bad guy in the room," Girardi recalled. "Definitely some special times in New York. I can only imagine if we won in 2014."
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