FIVE YEARS AGO: June 17, 1994

Five years of hindsight tells us that this is the last day of the complete euphoria, that this was the last time everyone would be together, that within a month the dismantling would be well underway. But that same five years of hindsight makes the memory of this celebration all the sweeter.

God knows how many people line the streets of lower Manhattan to watch a parade, to bid goodbye to a curse, to chant "Heave, ho, two in a row" with a Player's Player, and to beg "four more years" of a coach (and a bunch of us joined in at home). Though only 28 of the 29 Men are present (Corey Hirsch misses the day for some unknown reason), they are nonetheless a beautiful representation of something very special -- Americans, Canadians, a Swede, a Finn, and even four Russians for the first time, all coming together for one common goal: to walk together forever.

May they always.

Heave, ho!

The 1993-94 New York Rangers:

2 -- Brian Leetch (alt. captain). 3 -- Barry Richter. 4 -- Kevin Lowe (alt. captain). 5 -- Mattias Norstrom. 6 -- Doug Lidster. 8 -- Joby Messier. 9 -- Adam Graves (alt. captain). 10 -- Esa Tikkanen. 11 -- Mark Messier (captain). 12 -- Ed Olczyk. 13 -- Sergei Nemchinov. 14 -- Craig MacTavish. 15 -- Mike Hudson. 16 -- Brian Noonan. 17 -- Greg Gilbert. 18 -- Mike Hartman. 19 -- Nick Kypreos. 21 -- Sergei Zubov. 23 -- Jeff Beukeboom. 24 -- Jay Wells. 25 -- Alexander Karpovtsev. 26 -- Joe Kocur. 27 -- Alexei Kovalev. 28 -- Steve Larmer (alt. captain). 30 -- Glenn Healy. 31 -- Corey Hirsch. 32 -- Stephane Matteau. 35 -- Mike Richter. 36 -- Glenn Anderson.

Head Coach -- Mike Keenan. Associate Coach -- Colin Campbell. Assistant Coach -- Dick Todd. General Manager -- Neil Smith. Assistant General Manager -- Larry Pleau. Medical Trainer -- Dave Smith. Equipment Trainer -- Joe Murphy. Massage Therapist -- Bruce Lifrieri. Assistant Equipment Trainer -- Mike Folga. President of MSG -- Bob Gutkowski. Executive VP/General Counsel -- Ken Munoz. Governor--Stanley Jaffe. Scouts -- Christer Rockstrom, Tony Feltrin, Darwin Bennett, Herb Hammond, Martin Madden. Director of Team Operations -- Matt Loughran. Director of Communications -- Barry Watkins.

Mike Fornabaio -- mef17@oocities.com

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