THE emergence in nets of King Henrik of Sweden has been one of the feel-good stories in modern Ranger history. Rarely, if ever, has a Ranger freshman been able to create the impact Lundqvist has both on the ice – where he is a legitimate contender for the Hart, Vezina and Calder Trophies – and with the fans, with whom he has been adopted as the linear descendant of Ed Giacomin and Mike Richter.
But there has been another side to the saga, unfortunately, and that’s been the irrational vilification of Kevin Weekes, the veteran goaltender who began the season as No. 1 before losing the job to the 23-year-old Swede. Never before has a Rangers backup in nets been subject to the type of abuse Weekes has had heaped upon him from the fans.
They didn’t boo Gilles Villemure back in the day when he started in place of Giacomin and they didn’t boo Glenn Healy when he got the nod rather than Richter. Meanwhile, this year, they couldn’t wait to boo Weekes.
Let me tell you, there’s something terribly unsettling about it; something terribly disconcerting about the nature of the venom directed at the goaltender from people who have otherwise fallen in love with this engaging club.
It’s unsettling and it’s disconcerting and, bottom-line in a bottom-line business of wins and losses, it’s counter-productive if the head coach has to think twice about giving his goaltender a start at home because of uncertainty (or worse) over the way the Garden crowd will react to the fellow’s name being announced in the starting lineup, never mind a goal-against.
The Rangers moved into a first-place tie with the Flyers last night, defeating the Islanders 5-2 at the Coliseum in a game in which Weekes got his first start since Jan. 16 and second since Jan. 5. It marked the first victory for the 30-year-old since Dec.10, a period in which he had gone 0-4-1 while Lundqvist had gone 10-3-3.
It hasn’t been easy for Weekes to adapt to a backup role on the fly after having been signed to get the bulk of the work; and the booing sure hasn’t been easy, either.
At the same time, however, he must feel good to know he has earned the utmost respect from his teammates.
“I’ll tell you what, we’re a pretty fortunate team to have someone like Kevin who’s always positive and always behind everyone 100 percent,” Steve Rucchin said. “There are so many pieces to the puzzle on our team, and Kevin has been a huge one.
“I have so much respect for Kevin as a person and a player, I can’t stress it enough.”
This is not phony stuff. When Petr Sykora got the shootout winner in Boston on Jan. 21, he raced to the bench to first embrace Weekes. When the Rangers win, it’s commonplace to find players embracing Weekes in the locker room. If at this point he isn’t the go-to guy, he’s a holler guy; a team guy.
Last night, the team did everything it could for him. They blocked 25 shots and they killed two Islander power plays in the first 10:06 without surrendering a shot. Indeed, the Islanders, who would finish with 25 shots on goal, didn’t get their first until 9:02 remained in the first.
“There’s a genuine care for each other on this team,” Tom Renney said. “There’s respect.”
If only that would spill over into the Garden stands.