Don't get me wrong: I'm not jumping (back) onto any New York Rangers bandwagon anytime soon. While I'm glad to see them make the playoffs (squeaking in with 4 days left on the schedule), it was still a frustrating season that featured very little in it to brag about after about the 1/3 mark. But after those long 7 years without a postseason appearance (1998 - 2005, not counting one year in which no one made it into the playoffs!), having them make it for the 4th year in a row definitely counts for something.
In fact, I got curious today about just how many times the Rangers have missed the playoffs since I started following them (1973/74). I was actually surprised, when I tabulated the results, to discover that, over the first 25 years of me favouring them with my attention they only came up short 5 times! In other words, 80% of the time over that stretch I got to see them compete in at least one postseason series in April. No wonder 7 consecutive disappointing seasons hit me (and other Rangers fans) so hard! They missed as many playoff appearances during that short period, in fact, as they had over the preceding 35 years!
Of course, another franchise that's done pretty well over the past couple decades also had a long playoff drought to live down. The Red Wings, back in the 1970s and into the early 80s, slapped together 7 bad years in a row, and 11 out of 12! To make matters worse, over those dozen seasons the only playoff series they won was against the Atlanta Flames! And yet today they're not only the defending Stanley Cup Champions but also one of the favourites to win the Cup every year, going back at least 15 years now. So I guess there's always hope.
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