If you are a Rangers fan, you probably already had an inner sense that this is one of the greatest regular seasons in team history, and you might also have a sense that it’s one of the best regular seasons anyone in
New York has ever had. And here’s the thing: You’re right. Thanks to some deep-diving by a terrific Post reader named Jim Berman, we can safely say all of that is true. After the Rangers beat the Red Wings, 4-3, in Detroit on Friday night , their record sits at 52-21-4 and their points percentage sits at .701. In the unique math of the NHL, points percentage is as close as we can come to winning percentage, and the Rangers — in business since 1926 — have never had a points percentage higher than 70 percent. They came close twice. In both 1970-71 (49-18-11) and ’71-’72 (48-17-13) they finished at .699. Even the two Rangers teams who’ve won the Presidents’ Trophy since it was first awarded in 1986 didn’t get there — the 1991-92 team going 50-25-5 (.656) and the 2014-15 squad finishing at 53-22-7 (.689). And when you cast the net wide, it makes you appreciate that number even more. The Yankees, not surprisingly, are the New York team that’s reached .700 the most (excluding football) — having done it in 1927 (110-44, .714), 1939 (106-45, .702) and 1998 (114-48, .704). Even less surprisingly, all three of those Yankees teams won the World Series, and did so by sweeping in four games the Pirates, Reds and Padres. The Giants only did it one time in the 65 years they occupied upper Manhattan, in 1885 (85-27, .759) — and, remarkably, that was only good for second place in the National League, two games back of the
Chicago White Stockings (and for 139 years, Giants fans have lamented “If only there were a wild card…”). The Dodgers won 13 pennants in the 64 years they played in Brooklyn, beginning in 1884; the closest they came was 1899 (101-47, .682) and 1953 (105-49, .682). And maybe as a testament to just how difficult a task it is, even the ’86 Mets — besides the ’98 Yankees, the most dominant team New York has seen since World War II — fell well short by only winning two-thirds of their games (108-54, .667). The Islanders won four Stanley Cups from 1980-83, but only the 1981-82 team among those four champions topped .700, and in fact their points/winning percentage (.738, off a 54-16-10 record) is the highest of any New York team in history after 1901. After early scares from the Penguins (where they needed a miracle Game 5 comeback) and the Rangers (whom they ultimately beat in six), they went 8-0 over the Nordiques and Canucks to cap their third Cup. Interestingly, the Islanders also reached .700 in 1979 (51-15-14, .725) before famously getting stunned in the conference finals by the Rangers. The Devils have won three Cups and been in two other Cup finals, but the closest they ever came was last year (52-22-8, .683). And neither the old New York Americans of the NHL nor the New York Raiders/Golden Blades of the WHA ever came close. The Knicks have done it just twice since they opened for business in 1946. Not surprisingly, the fabled 1969-70 team went 60-22 (.732) before settling for a winning percentage of .631 in the playoffs in winning their first title. The 1992-93 Knicks matched them (60-22, .732) but wound up losing in six to the Bulls in the conference finals. The Nets have never done it, though the 1974-75 team led by Dr. J went 58-26 (.690) before being upset by the Spirts of St. Louis in the ABA Eastern semifinals. Sign up for Starting Lineup for the biggest stories. Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Never miss a story. Because of the nature of the short schedule,
Football is something of an outlier for this, and the Giants actually have done it 19 times in their 99 years. In the
Super Bowl era they’ve done it five times — 1986 (14-2), 1989 (12-4), 1990 (13-3), 2000 (12-4) and 2008 (12-4) — and the Jets have done it three times — 1968 (11-3), 1969 (10-4) and 1998 (12-4). I grew up hearing story after story about Honey Russell, Walter Dukes, Richie Regan and the rest of the 1953 Seton Hall Pirates from my buddy’s pop, Bill Hammersley, who also played on that NIT champion. So seeing the Pirates bring a bookend trophy back to the Walsh Gym was just a cool thing to see. And on that subject: The video of Shaheen Holloway consoling Indiana State’s Robbie Avila after that game and telling him to “keep his chin up” just reaffirms that Holloway is every bit the person that he is a coach. And he’s a damned fine coach. This is bigger than
basketball, and what it’s really about. Shaheen Holloway telling Robbie Avila to keep his head up is the best thing you will see today: pic.twitter.com/c28ycKbpMP Remember Mo’ne Davis from when she pitched in the 2014 Little League World Series? After after playing softball at Hampton, she’s now a grad student in Columbia’s Sports Management program. One of the teams Davis’ squad beat that summer included Trey Maeker, who is now a senior pitcher at Fordham. Godspeed, Pat Zachry . It was his burden to forever wear the tag of “traded for Tom Seaver,” but he had three straight winning seasons and a 3.01 ERA in a fourth for some of the worst teams you’ll ever see from 1977-80. There weren’t a lot of good reasons to go to Shea Stadium in those years. Zachry was one. Michael Keneski: Regarding the nonstop injury absences of OG Anunoby , I am afraid to even contemplate the thought that the Knicks now have their own version of Ben Simmons . Vac: It’s a 100 percent fair thought. I do think the most important difference is that Anunoby actually seems to like playing basketball. Scott Wolinetz: Hey Mike, saw the Rangers-Devils fight Wednesday night . Pretty sure Reg Dunlop is on the sidelines smiling somewhere! Vac: No doubt saying, “They don’t want you to score goals! They want blood!” @drschnip: If Steve Cohen fires Carlos Mendoza after 16 games, like George Steinbrenner did with Yogi Berra, will Mendoza refuse to come back to Old-Timer’s Day? @MikeVacc: You think he’ll make 16 games? (Joking! Joking!) Jeff Dugan: When will Tom Thobodeau learn that you can’t keep playing players as many minutes as he does? Will he ever learn? Vac: I think Stan Van Gundy said it best Thursday night: The choice is either you play the players fewer minutes or you win fewer games. And is that really a choice at all?