Just imagine what goes on in the mind in the powerful dictator. Pick your poison: Hitler, Mussolini, Machiavelli, or some other gruesome leader that always seemed to go overboard with their own powers. It affected every decision that they made. It became their main motive. It became their only motive. It became the only thing they cared about. As long as they could obtain more power, they would be onboard. If they could exert more power in the process, then that would be just icing on the cake for people like them. Now, what if I told you that someone could have power equivalent to all of these evil people, and use it as a stepping stone for others and their supporters to gain such powers?

In that last sentence, I just described Henrik Lundqvist. Immediately crowned “The King” by the New York media due to his early successes as a rookie with one of the most famous hockey franchises of all time, Lundqvist never let the power ever get to his head. He always stayed humble with such powers and instead of letting it drown him and cause his ultimate demise, he used it to lift his teammates and push them to greatness of their own. The energy and drive he always had shone through the rest of the team, making him a natural leader and a true king without even having to say a word on the ice. The crowd felt his effort throughout the arena, which only exhilarated them even more. Now, even after a big save, Lundqvist would remain humble, but still always find the time to feed off the crowd’s energy and give them energy back by waving his hands up to them. When interviewers would praise him after games, he would never let himself inflate his own head and just stick to the generic phrase “Yeah, I was pretty good. I could have made a few more plays, but overall I’m happy with how I played” or something along those lines. He would then go on and give another teammate a shoutout on how well they played and how the media should be talking about how they played AS A TEAM because at the end of the day Lundqvist would explain that no matter how good he is, he needs his teammates to back him up and score goals. Going back to the comparison of the evil dictators, if something went wrong under their rule, it was never their fault and someone needed to become a scapegoat in order to maintain their reputation and the magic thing that drove them all: power. However, Lundqvist wasn’t driven by power. He was driven by his teammates and fans to be the best team player possible and win a championship with the team that gave him a chance to live out his dream of being a goalie. Therefore, when something went wrong, the buck stopped with him even if it wasn’t ultimately his fault (the exact opposite of what the evil dictators believed). He would blame himself on live TV. “It’s my fault. I’m going to work harder and get back out there and just be better next time.” He would say that even if he made a crazy amount of saves and didn’t make a mistake. Yet, he would get to practice early the next morning and get straight to work while being the last one to leave the facility. His energy never wavered. The King would always rebound back to the top of the world and more importantly to him, back to the top of the Rangers’ hearts. Until he didn’t.

Yesterday was Lundqvist’s sixth chance to achieve his 450th win. The Rangers were playing the worst team in the NHL: the Ottawa Senators. Finally, the King would rebound and get that weight off his shoulders of finally getting his big win before the season ended, proving that this season at least gave him something good. 450 wins have only been achieved by 5 other goalies in NHL history. Tonight would be the night they would win for Lundqvist. For once teammates would stand up for Lundqvist and give their all even though the rest of the season was completely lost. After all, Lundqvist has done for them, they could at least help him do this after 5 straight losses. They just had to. They ha…they lost 4-1. They came out completely flat and they seemed like they had no care in the world about the game at all. When Lundqvist gave up that 3rd goal, he just hung his head in disappointment. He seemed so drained of energy. This season truly has taken a toll on him. More than any season I have ever seen on him. This is my idol. My King. He seems defeated with no chance of ever coming back. Do I see him recovering from this slump he has been in? Of course. One of the greatest of all time does not drop off like this without warning. Unlike the evil dictators that were overthrown in an instant, Lundqvist will receive support from his teammates next season when they get fresh legs and hopefully better players. Will he ever be the same player again? I am not so sure.

In the postgame interview, Lundqvist said “my last game of the season.” There are two games left in the season. Was he essentially giving up on the last two games, leaving them to the backup? I remember when Steve Valiquette was the backup goaltender for the Rangers, who is good friends with Lundqvist. Once, Valiquette got his 3rd start in a few days to give Lundqvist some rest. Lundqvist went absolutely bezerk! He was not happy. He wanted to play so badly and help the team to win the best way he could. Once again, he had nothing against Valiquette and he knew he was a good player, but Lundqvist wanted to be the one to play and continue his drive and hunger for a championship. Now, he seemed like he was even done with this season. He said, “I don’t deserve to play.” He seemed so defeated and unsure of where he wanted to go. There was no speech about promising to work harder because it would be almost impossible to work harder than he is already doing. It may be best to just get some rest and hope for the best next season. One thing is for certain: this King will fall again and again, but he will always fight to get back and work for his soldiers. Will he ever win the war (get a championship)? That is one question I am truly afraid to answer…

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