As the harsh reality of winter makes way for the fond expectancies of spring, New York City-area sports are booming.
For the first time in 29 years, all five local teams — the NBA’s Knicks and Brooklyn Nets along with the NHL’s Islanders, Rangers, and New Jersey Devils — have made the playoffs in the same season.
The most successful collective winter sports season since 1994 offers an increased chance of ending the Big Apple’s sizable championship drought. The last team to win a major “Big 4” title was when the Giants defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in February of 2012.
The Islanders were the last team to punch their ticket to the playoffs on Wednesday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the final game of the regular season 4-2 to snag the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot up for grabs.
They join the Rangers and Devils, who have been battling it out for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Coming off a trip to the Eastern Conference Final where they fell last year to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Rangers are locked into the No. 3 spot in the division where they’ll play the second-place finisher — either the Devils or Carolina Hurricanes depending on Thursday night’s results.
The Devils have been one of the biggest surprises of the NHL season, arriving on the big stage well ahead of schedule to become one of the most dynamic, fast-paced teams in the league behind a monster season from star center Jack Hughes.
In the NBA, the Knicks have surged through the second half of the season, winning 17 of their final 25 games to lock into the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed where they’ll face off against the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Over in Brooklyn, the Nets survived the purge of their superstar plans after dealing away both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving before the trade deadline to prompt many to write them off. Yet head coach Jacque Vaughn has kept the franchise stable and they nabbed the No. 6 seed in the East to avoid the play-in round. Waiting for them will be the Philadelphia 76ers.
With history finally repeating itself for the first time in nearly three decades, New York fans will be hoping for just as much excitement as the city experienced all that time ago.
The Rangers ended a 54-year drought to hoist the Stanley Cup, beating both the Islanders and Devils along the way while the Knicks vanquished the Chicago Bulls and Reggie Miller to win the Eastern Conference crown before falling to the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals.
For the latest on the Knicks, Nets, Islanders, Rangers, and Devils, visit AMNY.com
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