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Rangers owner, Brad Richards united in desire to play hockey

Brad Richards

Brad Richards #19 of the New York Rangers controls the puck in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Prudential Center on May 21, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. (May 20, 2012 - Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

After securing the first seed in the Eastern Conference last season, the New York Rangers went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before finally being defeated in six games by the New Jersey Devils. Not content with that leap forward, the Rangers acquired Rick Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets over the summer to make them one of the more interesting teams to watch going into the 2012-13 campaign.

That would also make them, from an on-ice perspective, potentially one of the biggest losers if there is no NHL hockey in 2012-13.

The current CBA is scheduled to expire on Sept. 15 and the NHL and players’ union remain far apart.

“The only thing I can say is that I want us to play hockey,” Rangers owner James Dolan told ESPNNewYork.com.

On that point, Dolan can find common ground with a number of people, including Rangers forward Brad Richards.

“We just want to play. We just want to get it figured out,” said Richards. “From my experience last time [there was a lockout], no one even talked at this point. I don’t even know if anyone talked for a while into the lockout, so, a lot of people are trying to figure things out right now.”

“There’s a lot of meetings, a lot more than last time,” Richards continued. “So, I think both sides know there’s some urgency.”

Richards also pointed out that while the current CBA will expire in less than a week, we still have some time before the regular season is scheduled to begin.