I have stated time and time again that winning the Stanley Cup championship is the hardest trophy to win in all of sports. As if the 82-game season isn’t long enough, the eventual champion could possibly play an additional twenty eight games to hoist that coveted trophy. And they are brutal, physical games with very little rest between games (unlike the NBA). So it becomes not only a test of talent, but also the ultimate test of endurance and determination. This years playoffs are no exception. Enter the New York Rangers. The youngest team in the NHL, they have faced elimination in Game 7 of the series not once, but twice. And have come up big both times. First against Sid the Kid and the rival Pittsburgh Penguins after trailing in the series three games to one. And they battled back to win three straight games to advance to the next round. Next up was another talented team in the Carolina Hurricanes and after again facing elimination being down 3-2, they battled back and won the last two games of the series to move onto the conference final and face the 2-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. As the old saying goes….if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best! So that is what the young Rangers must do and they started out by winning game one. But you have to win four games in a series to saty alive in the quest for “The Cup”. And the defending champs won’t go easy. The series will most likely go another seven games and yet that is not the final hurdle, as the Western conference champs await the winner of this series. See a theme here? This why winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest title to win in all of sports! But the young Rangers are laying it all on the line and have a chance to reach their goal of raising a Stanley Cup banner to the rafters of Madison Square Garden. But they have to knock off the Lightning first before that is even possible. Whether they do or don’t prevail this season, this won’t be the last season this young, determined team will compete for this treasured trophy. Let’s Go Rangers!!!!!!