Losing the Edge: The Rise and Fall of the Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers

Sporting News, The, March 11, 1996 by Steve Gietschier

(By Barry Meisel. 256 pp. Simon & Schuster. $23).

A rash of books usually follows a New York championship, but that wasn't the case when the Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup. Rather, we have just one book covering not only the End of the Curse, but also last season when the Rangers finished eighth in the Eastern Conference and were swept in the second round of the playoffs.

From the subtitle, one might assume Meisel's goal was to rip the Rangers for not repeating. Not true. He treats 1994-95's difficulties objectively and even looks forward to this season with optimism, which now appears to be quite well-founded.

Meisel's intense account is loaded with insight and information and made vivid by reams of rich quotations, which readers will have to hope are accurate as some come from third parties. The explosiveness of Mike Keenan's reign, which lasted less than one year, is documented, as is the remarkable and decent way General Manager Neil Smith responded to all the challenges thrown his way.

In a sense, though, this book belongs to Mark Messier, who didn't completely emerge from Wayne Gretzky's shadow even after the Oilers won the Cup without the Great One in 1990. As Gretzky points out, Messier shows his emotions, and New York fans love him for that. More important, he is an extraordinary leader who displays his force of will whenever he takes the ice. Those who dismiss the Rangers as a one-Cup flash simply haven't watched Messier.