Henrik Lundqvist is a legend of the game.
It was well-deserved when he was elected into the Hall of Fame as one of three goalies in the Class of 2023.
Lundqvist earned the nickname ’King Henrik’ from fans in Manhattan, and he started and ended his career with the New York Rangers.
Lundqvist did sign with the Washington Capitals, but he never played a game for them due to a heart condition being discovered by doctors, which eventually forced him to retire.
When Lundqvists decided to call it career, he did so as one of the best goalkeepers in the modern NHL era.
Lundqvist retired with 459 wins, a .918 save percentage and at one point of his career, he led the Rangers to the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons.
Although Lundqvist never won the Stanley Cup and only played in one Stanley Cup Finals, he played against some real superstars.
During Thursday’s TNT broadcast of Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Oilers and the Stars, Lundqvist was asked which players he ’hated’ playing against in terms of having the hardest shot.
”There was three guys that always hurt,” Lundqvist said.
”Chara, Sheldon Souray, and Shea Weber. You knew when the shot was coming, you had to be really good padded in that area, otherwise, you would need ice bags afterwards.”
Lundqvist also said that nowadays, it’s less about having a hard shot and more about getting the shot through.
”Teams are so good at getting into lanes, so now, it’s not all about having a bomb. It’s finding the lane, being able to move well enough on the blue line to find that opening.”
