The 80^th Anniversary season of the New York Rangers may turn out to be especially exciting this year with the NHL team heading off towards its first playoff berth since 1997 and within grasp of the best record in the NHL.

After seven consecutive years of never making it to the playoffs, the Rangers made a remarkable turnaround and now find themselves at the top of the Atlantic Division with a 35-15 mark with 8 OTL -- good for 78 points, three better than the second place Flyers.

The 78 points are the third best in the Eastern Conferences, coming behind Carolina’s 82 points and Ottawa’s 79 points. As for the West, only the Red Wings with 83 and the Dallas Stars with 79 have better records.

The Rangers’ about face is truly astounding especially since they have been the model for what was wrong with the NHL prior to the 2004-05 lockout and a primary example of how not to run a business since winning their first Stanley Cup in 44 years back in 1994.

New York’s Cablevision owns the New York Rangers as well as Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks. The company seems to have limitless financial resources, which, obviously, is a great asset when the money is spent wisely. The Rangers have used this financial backing to trade or sign for virtually every big name free agent they could find but, in spite of their notoriously generous payroll, the Rangers have not, until now, been able to produce a quality team. Even though the Rangers boasted such players as Theo Fleury, Bobby Holik, Pavel Bure and Eric Lindros, to name a few, (players that received some of the highest salaries in the NHL), the Rangers were unable to get to the playoffs, let alone another Stanley Cup.

If you had to point to one player that was most responsible for the Rangers’ miraculous recovery, it would probably be Jaromir Jagr. After a year off, the 34-year-old Czech came back rejuvenated and energized, playing like he did in his prime years in Pittsburgh. Jagir leads the NHL in number of goals with 40 under his belt and in points with 88. He is also the most likely pick for league Most Valued Player honors. The last time a player from the Rangers team won the Hart Trophy as Most Valued Player the team also won the Cup. That was in 1994 and the player was Mark Messier.

Rookie goaltender, Henrik Lundquist, is another reason that the Rangers have made such a fantastic turnaround. It is Lundquist, who entered the season as the backup, who now leads the league in save percentage and his 2.09 goals against average is second best in the league behind Dominik Hasek.

The 26-year-old Lundquist’s quality performance during the pressures of the Olympics can only be a source of encouragement for the Rangers as they make their final reach for the playoffs. As long as Lundquist can avoid the effects of fatigue, the Rangers’ chances look promising.

Finally, we cannot ignore the role that the Rangers’ Team President and General Manager Glen Sather has had in the team’s recent success. By stepping down as coach and letting Tom Renney take his place, Sather made it possible for Renney to help the Rangers develop a team chemistry that had been missing for a long time. Sather also realized that just throwing money after big names was not going to bring his team out of its hole so he started trading some of the higher priced, aging and under\-performing stars for draft picks and role players. (With a little luck, the Knicks will learn this lesson soon as well).

Some of the players traded or let go were Brian Leetch (and his six million dollar salary), Alex Kovalev and Petr Nedved. Anson Carter was traded to Washington for Jagr.

By trading these players Sather gained a little room with the salary cap and was able to sign four new Czech free agents. The Czech players, Martin Straka, Martin Rucinsky, Michal Rozsival and Marek Malik, played well on their new team and undoubtedly helped Jagr’s game to by making him feel more comfortable in his environment.