Eerie similarities between Rangers' playoff run and 1994 Stanley Cup triumph

When former New York Yankee Yogi Berra said, “it’s deja vu all over again,” maybe he was talking about the city's hockey team.

The New York Rangers are trying to win their first Stanley Cup since 1994. They currently hold a 3-1 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes, despite being an underdog in all four matchups.

The current run shares some interesting similarities with the one that produced that triumph in 1994.

The Rangers won the President’s Cup in 1994, a feat they matched this season. But that’s not the only similarity. 

The Knicks were on top of the basketball world in 1994 (making it to the NBA Finals). In 2024, they find themselves as the No. 2 seed in the East and currently hold a 2-1 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Denver Nuggets fell behind 2-0 in a playoff series in 1994, just as they have this postseason. 

But the similarities don't stop with on-the-court parallels.

O.J. Simpson was in the news in 1994, following the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was in the news again in 2024 after passing away at the age of 76.

There are some similarities in the natural world as well.

There was a solar eclipse in March of 1994, and again in April of 2024. Meanwhile, the tri-states experienced an earthquake in the first half of 1994, much like they did again in the first half of this year.

Back on the ice, the similarities continue.

This Rangers team is led by Peter Laviolette, a first year coach who previously led the Philadelphia Flyers to a Stanley Cup appearance, precisely like their coach in 1994, Mike Keenan.

And just like that 1994 squad, this version of the Rangers also began the postseason 6-0.

Sure, they just lost Game 4 Saturday night. But maybe that was supposed to happen. The 1994 Rangers swept the New York Islanders in the first round, before beating the Washington Capitals in five games in the second round.

These 2024 Rangers already swept Washington in the first round, and now can win round two in the fifth game as well. Sound familiar?

In 1994, the Rangers faced the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final. Well, the Canucks are still alive in the Western Conference this postseason.

Playwright Eugene O'Neill once said, "there is no present or future - only the past happening over and over again." If so, then bust out your velvet, throw NYPD Blue on the VCR and dust off your Ace of Base cassettes. Because it might be 1994 all over again.

Let's just hope we actually get a World Series this year.