The New York Rangers are celebrating their 2011-12 Atlantic Division title win even if they might not get a chance to defend it this season.
The New York Times points out that the team now has a banner for that division title, which is currently located right next to the banner for their “curse-breaking” Stanley Cup victory in 1993-94.
It can be tough to determine which accomplishments justify the banner treatment, but perhaps it makes sense to raise a divisional banner considering the Rangers’ run of struggles since Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter won it all.
At least they’ve decided not to hold a pre-game ceremony for the banner raising, with one team official pointing to “higher aspirations.”
(That’s not a wild statement, either. They did trade for Rick Nash, after all - in case the work stoppage made you forget.)