# 2007–08 New York Rangers season

The 2007–08 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 81st season of play and their 82nd season overall. In 2006–07, an impressive late season run brought the team from 12th to 6th place in the Eastern Conference, but the team ran out of steam in the Conference Semifinals before losing in six games to the Buffalo Sabres.
The off-season began in late June with the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio. The Rangers had the 17th overall pick in the first round, yet came away with a steal as Russian superstar Alexei Cherepanov fell for the taking, despite being considered by many rankings to be a top five prospect, and the top European available in the draft. A variety of reasons have been postulated for Cherepanov's drop, most notably, the lack of a new transfer agreement between the National Hockey League and the International Ice Hockey Federation concerning players from Russia. In the second round, the Rangers selected goaltender Antoine Lafleur from the P.E.I. Rocket of the QMJHL. Lafleur was ranked #3 among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting.
The Rangers made a tremendous splash on July 1, the first day of free agency. Within a 30-minute span on that Sunday evening, the Rangers announced the signings of the two most coveted centers available: Scott Gomez from the rival New Jersey Devils and Chris Drury from the Buffalo Sabres. As both players had worn number 23 with their previous teams, general manager Glen Sather flipped a puck at their introductory press conference to determine who would wear number 23 on the Rangers; the winner was Drury.
After these signings, left out of the picture was center Michael Nylander, who had reportedly signed with the Edmonton Oilers, but then actually signed with the Washington Capitals. In addition, the Rangers also lost Jed Ortmeyer, Brad Isbister, Karel Rachunek and Kevin Weekes to the free agency market, the latter two signing with the rival New Jersey Devils.
The Rangers re-signed a number of their own free agents, including Jason Strudwick, Petr Prucha and Brendan Shanahan. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and forward Marcel Hossa had been designated for salary arbitration, but both signed contracts before reaching their respective hearings. Sean Avery did go through arbitration and was awarded a one-year deal worth $1.9 million.
The multitude of high-profile free agent signings in July left the Rangers dangerously close to the league's $50.3 million salary cap. This effectively forced the Rangers to deal Matt Cullen and his $2.875 million per year cap number back to the Carolina Hurricanes. At the start of the season, the Rangers total cap number was over the league maximum, but player bonuses can be deferred to the next season if it causes a team to exceed the upper limit of the salary cap, so the Rangers were in compliance.
On April 3, 2008, the New York Rangers clinched a playoff berth for the third consecutive season in a 3–0 win against their crosstown rival Islanders.

## Regular season

The Rangers had the most shutouts of all 30 teams in the League, with 12.

### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 247 | 216 | 102 |
| 2 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 206 | 197 | 99 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 213 | 199 | 97 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 248 | 233 | 95 |
| 5 | New York Islanders | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 194 | 243 | 79 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z – Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | 262 | 222 | 104 |
| 2 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 27 | 8 | 247 | 216 | 102 |
| 3 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 242 | 231 | 94 |
| 4 | New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 206 | 197 | 99 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 213 | 199 | 97 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 248 | 233 | 95 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 261 | 247 | 94 |
| 8 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 212 | 222 | 94 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 249 | 92 |
| 10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 255 | 242 | 90 |
| 11 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 216 | 226 | 85 |
| 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 231 | 260 | 83 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 194 | 243 | 79 |
| 14 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 216 | 272 | 76 |
| 15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 223 | 267 | 71 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

## Schedule and results

* Green background indicates win (2 points).
* Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
* White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).
2007–08 Game log :
October: 4–6–1 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 0–4–1)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
14Florida Panthers5–2Lundqvist1–0–0
26@ Ottawa Senators2–0Lundqvist1–1–0
310@ New York Islanders2–1Lundqvist1–2–0
412Washington Capitals3–1Lundqvist2–2–0
513Ottawa Senators3–1Lundqvist2–3–0
618@ Atlanta Thrashers5–3Lundqvist2–4–0
720@ Boston Bruins1–0 SOLundqvist2–4–1
823@ Pittsburgh Penguins1–0Lundqvist2–5–1
925New Jersey Devils2–0Lundqvist3–5–1
1027Toronto Maple Leafs4–1Lundqvist3–6–1
1129Tampa Bay Lightning3–1Lundqvist4–6–1 :
November: 10–3–1 (Home: 5–2–0; Road: 5–1–1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
121Washington Capitals2–0Lundqvist5–6–1
133New Jersey Devils2–1 SOLundqvist6–6–1
145Philadelphia Flyers2–0Lundqvist7–6–1
156@ New York Islanders3–2Lundqvist7–7–1
168Pittsburgh Penguins4–2Lundqvist8–7–1
1710@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–2 SOValiquette9–7–1
1814@ New Jersey Devils4–2Lundqvist10–7–1
1915@ Philadelphia Flyers4–3 SOLundqvist11–7–1
2017@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–3 OTLundqvist12–7–1
2119New York Islanders2–1Lundqvist12–8–1
2221@ Tampa Bay Lightning2–1Lundqvist13–8–1
2323@ Florida Panthers3–2 SOValiquette13–8–2
2425Dallas Stars3–2Lundqvist13–9–2
2529New York Islanders4–2Lundqvist14–9–2 :
December: 6–6–2 (Home: 4–4–0; Road: 2–2–2)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
261@ Ottawa Senators5–2Lundqvist15–9–2
273Carolina Hurricanes4–0Lundqvist15–10–2
286Toronto Maple Leafs6–2Lundqvist15–11–2
297@ Atlanta Thrashers4–2Valiquette15–12–2
309New Jersey Devils1–0 OTLundqvist16–12–2
3112@ Washington Capitals5–4 OTLundqvist16–12–3
3216Phoenix Coyotes5–1Valiquette16–13–3
3318Pittsburgh Penguins4–0Lundqvist17–13–3
3420@ Minnesota Wild6–3Lundqvist17–14–3
3521@ Colorado Avalanche4–3 OTLundqvist17–14–4
3623Ottawa Senators3–1Lundqvist17–15–4
3726Carolina Hurricanes4–2Lundqvist18–15–4
3829@ Toronto Maple Leafs6–1Valiquette19–15–4
3930Montreal Canadiens4–3 OTLundqvist20–15–4 :
January: 5–7–2 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 1–4–2)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
402@ Calgary Flames4–3Lundqvist20–16–4
413@ Vancouver Canucks3–0Valiquette20–17–4
425@ Edmonton Oilers3–2 SOLundqvist20–17–5
438Tampa Bay Lightning5–3Lundqvist20–18–5
4410Philadelphia Flyers6–2Lundqvist20–19–5
4512Montreal Canadiens4–1Lundqvist21–19–5
4614@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–1Lundqvist21–20–5
4716Buffalo Sabres2–1Lundqvist22–20–5
4819@ Boston Bruins4–3 SOLundqvist22–20–6
4920Boston Bruins3–1Lundqvist22–21–6
5022Atlanta Thrashers4–0Lundqvist23–21–6
5124Atlanta Thrashers2–1 SOLundqvist24–21–6
5229@ Carolina Hurricanes3–1Lundqvist24–22–6
5331@ Philadelphia Flyers4–0Valiquette25–22–6 :
February: 8–2–2 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 5–0–2)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
541@ New Jersey Devils3–1Lundqvist26–22–6
553@ Montreal Canadiens5–3Lundqvist27–22–6
565Los Angeles Kings4–2Lundqvist27–23–6
577Anaheim Ducks4–1Lundqvist27–24–6
589@ Philadelphia Flyers2–0Valiquette28–24–6
5910@ Washington Capitals3–2 OTValiquette28–24–7
6016Buffalo Sabres5–1Lundqvist29–24–7
6117San Jose Sharks3–1Lundqvist30–24–7
6219@ Montreal Canadiens6–5 SOLundqvist30–24–8
6323@ Buffalo Sabres4–3Lundqvist31–24–8
6424Florida Panthers5–0Lundqvist32–24–8
6528@ Carolina Hurricanes4–2Lundqvist33–24–8 :
March: 8–3–3 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 3–3–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
662Philadelphia Flyers5–4 SOValiquette34–24–8
674New York Islanders4–3 SOLundqvist34–24–9
686@ New York Islanders4–1Lundqvist35–24–9
699Boston Bruins1–0 SOLundqvist36–24–9
7010@ Buffalo Sabres3–2 SOLundqvist37–24–9
7114@ Florida Panthers3–2Lundqvist37–25–9
7215@ Tampa Bay Lightning3–0Lundqvist37–26–9
7318Pittsburgh Penguins5–2Lundqvist38–26–9
7419@ New Jersey Devils2–1 SOLundqvist39–26–9
7521@ Philadelphia Flyers4–3 SOValiquette39–26–10
7625Philadelphia Flyers2–1 OTLundqvist39–26–11
7727New Jersey Devils3–2Lundqvist40–26–11
7830@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–1Lundqvist40–27–11
7931Pittsburgh Penguins2–1 OTLundqvist41–27–11 :
April: 1–0–2 (Home: 0–0–1; Road: 1–0–1)
GameAprilOpponentScoreDecisionRecord
803@ New York Islanders3–0Lundqvist42–27–11
814New York Islanders4–3 SOLundqvist42–27–12
826@ New Jersey Devils3–2 SOLundqvist42–27–13 :

## Playoffs

The New York Rangers ended the 2007–08 regular season as the Eastern Conference's fifth seed.
* Green background indicates win.
* Red background indicates loss.
The Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals in five games. This was the fifth playoff meeting between the two clubs, with the Rangers having won four of those series. They were eventually eliminated in the Eastern Conference semi-finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.
2008 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jaromir Jagr | 82 | 25 | 46 | 71 | 8 | 58 |
| Scott Gomez | 81 | 16 | 54 | 70 | 3 | 36 |
| Chris Drury | 82 | 25 | 33 | 58 | −3 | 45 |
| Brendan Shanahan | 73 | 23 | 23 | 46 | −2 | 35 |
| Martin Straka | 65 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 5 | 22 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | 82 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 8 | 79 |
| Michal Roszival | 80 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 0 | 80 |
| Sean Avery | 57 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 6 | 154 |
| Nigel Dawes | 61 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 11 | 10 |
| Dan Girardi | 82 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 0 | 14 |
| Fedor Tyutin | 82 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 5 | 43 |
| Paul Mara | 61 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 52 |
| Petr Prucha | 62 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 22 |
| Ryan Callahan | 52 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 31 |
| Marek Malik | 42 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 48 |
| Marc Staal | 80 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 42 |
| Marcel Hossa$^‡$ | 36 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
| Christian Backman$^†$ | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 20 |
| Blair Betts | 75 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −4 | 20 |
| Ryan Hollweg | 70 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −12 | 96 |
| Jason Strudwick | 52 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 |
| Fredrik Sjostrom$^†$ | 18 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Colton Orr | 74 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −13 | 159 |
| Ivan Baranka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Thomas Pock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Dane Byers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Greg Moore | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jaromir Jagr | 10 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 12 |
| Scott Gomez | 10 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 8 |
| Martin Straka | 10 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 16 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| Sean Avery | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| Chris Drury | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| Michal Rozsival | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Brendan Shanahan | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Nigel Dawes | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Ryan Callahan | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| Fedor Tyutin | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| Marc Staal | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Dan Girardi | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Paul Mara | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| Fredrik Sjostrom | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lauri Korpikoski | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Strudwick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Backman | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Blair Betts | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| Colton Orr | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Hollweg | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| Petr Prucha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 72 | 4305 | 37 | 24 | 10 | 160 | 2.23 | 1823 | .912 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Valiquette | 13 | 686 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 2.19 | 296 | .916 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 10 | 608 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 2.57 | 287 | .909 | 1 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

## Awards and records
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Marc Staal | 1st NHL game | October 4, 2007 |
| Michal Roszival | 400th NHL game | October 4, 2007 |
| Colton Orr | 200th NHL PIM | October 6, 2007 |
| Paul Mara | 500th NHL PIM | October 12, 2007 |
| Dan Girardi | 1st NHL goal | October 18, 2007 |
| Jaromir Jagr | 1200th NHL game | October 25, 2007 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | October 25, 2007 |
| Colton Orr | 100th NHL game | October 29, 2007 |
| Brendan Shanahan | 1300th NHL point | October 29, 2007 |
| Marc Staal | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | November 1, 2007 |
| Nigel Dawes | 1st NHL assist | November 8, 2007 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | 1st NHL goal | November 8, 2007 |
| Tom Renney | 100th Rangers win | November 10, 2007 |
| Blair Betts Marcel Hossa | 200th NHL game | November 10, 2007 |
| Marc Staal | 1st NHL goal | November 14, 2007 |
| Ivan Baranka | 1st NHL game 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | November 21, 2007 |
| Greg Moore | 1st NHL game | November 21, 2007 |
| Martin Straka | 900th NHL game | December 6, 2007 |
| Chris Drury | 200th NHL goal | December 7, 2007 |
| Petr Prucha | 100th NHL point | January 16, 2008 |
| Stephen Valiquette | 1st NHL shutout | January 31, 2008 |
| Scott Gomez | 500th NHL point | February 1, 2008 |
| Chris Drury | 500th NHL point | February 1, 2008 |
| Dane Byers | 1st NHL game | February 5, 2008 |
| Martin Straka | 700th NHL point | February 16, 2008 |
| Dan Girardi | 100th NHL game | March 4, 2008 |
| Sean Avery | 100th NHL assist | March 14, 2008 |
| Chris Drury | 700th NHL game | March 15, 2008 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 100th NHL win | March 18, 2008 |
| Chris Drury | 300th NHL assist | March 27, 2008 |
| Ryan Hollweg | 200th NHL game | April 4, 2008 |
Playoffs :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Brandon Dubinsky Marc Staal Fredrik Sjostrom | 1st NHL playoff game | April 9, 2008 |
| Nigel Dawes | 1st NHL playoff goal | April 9, 2008 |
| Brandon Dubinsky | 1st NHL playoff goal | April 13, 2008 |
| Scott Gomez | 100th NHL playoff game | April 13, 2008 |
| Marc Staal | 1st NHL playoff goal | April 16, 2008 |
| Lauri Korpikoski | 1st NHL playoff game 1st NHL playoff goal 1st NHL playoff point | May 4, 2008 |

## Transactions

The Rangers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.
Trades
July 4, 2007
To Tampa Bay Lightning Bryce Lampman
To New York Rangers Mitch Fritz
July 17, 2007
To Carolina Hurricanes Matt Cullen
To New York Rangers Andrew Hutchinson Joe Barnes 3rd-round pick in 2008
October 11, 2007
To Chicago Blackhawks Conditional 7th-round pick in 2008.
To New York Rangers P. A. Parenteau
February 26, 2008
To St. Louis Blues 4th-round pick in 2008
To New York Rangers Christian Backman
February 26, 2008
To Phoenix Coyotes Al Montoya Marcel Hossa
To New York Rangers David LeNeveu Fredrik Sjostrom Josh Gratton 5th-round pick in 2009 :
Player signings
PlayerContract terms
Jason Strudwickone year, $500,000
Petr Pruchatwo years, $3.2 million
Brendan Shanahanone year, $2.5 million
Henrik Lundqvistone year, $4.25 million
Marcel Hossaone year, $780,000
Sean Averyone year, $1.9 million*
Henrik Lundqvistsix years, $41.25 million
Daniel Girarditwo years, $3.1 million
Fedor Tyutinfour years, $11.4 million :
* Sean Avery re-signed through salary arbitration.

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio, at the Nationwide Arena.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 17 | Alexei Cherepanov | RW | Russia | Avangard Omsk (RSL) |
| 2 | 48 | Antoine Lafleur | G | Canada | P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 138 | Max Campbell | C | Canada | Strathroy Rockets (WOHL) |
| 6 | 168 | Carl Hagelin | LW | Sweden | Södertälje SK (J20 SuperElit) |
| 7 | 193 | David Skokan | C | Slovakia | Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 198 | Danny Hobbs | F | Canada | Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL) |

## Farm teams
### Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)

The 2007–08 season was the 11th season of AHL hockey for the franchise. The team's status as the Rangers' highest-level minor-league affiliate became questionable when Northland AEG LLC purchased the Hartford Civic Center from Madison Square Garden, L.P.; however, on May 29, 2007, it was announced that the franchise will remain in Hartford and will remain affiliated with the Rangers.
Hartford finished the regular season with a record of 50–20–2–8 for a total of 110 points, a franchise high. P. A. Parenteau led the team with 81 points in 75 games, and team captain Andrew Hutchinson won the Eddie Shore Award as the league's top defenseman.
Portland eliminated Hartford from the playoffs in 5 games, marking two consecutive season's that the Wolf Pack failed to advance past the 1st round.

### Charlotte Checkers (ECHL)

The 2007–08 season was the 15th season of ECHL hockey for the franchise.
Charlotte finished the regular season with a record of 34–31–1–6 for a total of 75 points. Gwinnett eliminated the Checkers from the playoffs in 3 games.