Rangers’ Stanley Cup-winning team to celebrate 25th anniversary
Of course Brian Leetch knows how much the 1994 Stanley Cup-winning Rangers mean to fans of a certain age. He knows because he is told about it all the time.
The Hall of Fame defenseman, and Conn Smythe winner for that team, will reunite with the majority of his former mates for a 25th anniversary celebration culminating in a pregame extravaganza before a Garden match on Feb. 8 against the Hurricanes.
“It’s interesting because a lot of kids that were my age or younger, they’re parents now and they have young kids, so it’s still really fresh for them, and the excitement they passed on to their kids,” Leetch told The Post on Wednesday, the eve of the Rangers’ season opener at the Garden against the Predators. “But it’s interesting also, I was 26 at the time, so there were [fans] just out of college, starting their careers in New York, now they’re my age and they’ve lived through all that too and they’re in the area.
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“So it’s still a big group of fans that are around my age that always talk to you about it, and it’s a big part of their life.”
Five years ago on the 20th anniversary — months after the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup final — about three-quarters of the team got together during the summer, Leetch said. It remains the organization’s lone championship team since 1940, and its members once again will be celebrated for it.
“It’s just one of those things where a lot of teams do it for successful teams, or teams that the city and fans had a connection to; bring guys back and do it as a group to recognize it,” said Leetch, who is now an adviser to the team. “Twenty-five years, I guess it makes sense.”
First-year coach David Quinn stuck with the same combinations, setting up the forwards to line up like this on opening night: Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Spooner-Filip Chytil-Jesper Fast, Vlad Namestnikov-Brett Howden-Vinni Lettieri.
The defensive pairings: Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid, Marc Staal-Neal Pionk, Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk.
The healthy scratches likely will be foward Cody McLeod and defensemen Fredrik Claesson and Tony DeAngelo.
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The Rangers practiced their power play Wednesday, and the first unit consisted of Shattenkirk, Buchnevich, Chytil, Kreider and Zibanejad.
The second unit was Pionk, Spooner, Hayes, Vesey and Zuccarello.
There was no update on center Boo Nieves, who opens the season on injured reserve after suffering a concussion in his first preseason game on Sept. 17. Nieves was seen walking around the practice facility Wednesday, but Quinn said he remained in concussion protocol after absorbing the headshot from the Devils’ Eric Gryba.
“Obviously concussions are unpredictable,” Quinn said. “You have good days and bad days.”