New York is set for a spring to remember.
After the Islanders clinched a postseason berth with a 4-2 win over the Canadiens on Wednesday, all five local hockey and basketball teams have made the playoffs in the same season for the first time in 29 years.
The last time a New York team in any of the four major sports won a championship, was Feb. 5, 2012, when the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI.
That span feels like an eternity in this sports-obsessed municipality.
And if the last time all five local NHL and NBA teams made the postseason is any precedent, there will be plenty to cheer about over the next two months.
Just how good was that two-month span in 1994?
Good enough that a summer in which the baseball season was canceled is still remembered fondly around here — and that is saying something.
No less than three intracity playoff series took place that year.
The Rangers beat the Islanders in the first round before a classic Game 7 win over the Devils in the conference finals.
In the NBA, the Rangers’ Madison Square Garden cotenants, the Knicks, beat the Nets in the first round.
The Garden hosted the Stanley Cup Final, as the Rangers broke a 54-year championship drought, and the NBA Finals, as the Knicks lost in seven games to the Rockets.
For the Rangers, Mark Messier made The Guarantee ahead of Game 6 against New Jersey and Stephane Matteau scored in Game 7.
The Knicks vanquished their demons against the Bulls and Pacers, with Patrick Ewing’s dunk sealing Game 7 over Indiana after Spike Lee’s taunting egged Reggie Miller on to score 39 points in Game 5.
That was the stuff of legend, even as NBC relegated the NBA Finals to the corner of the screen to focus on the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase.
The current generation of city fans has known nothing like it.
The Knicks largely have been relegated to laughingstocks, the Nets have been afterthoughts and the Rangers have consistently fallen short of a title.
The Devils won two Cups in the early 2000s, but last won a playoff series in 2012, while the Islanders have gotten no closer than the NHL’s final four, losing to the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
This time around, the team with the best chance for an extended run looks to be the Rangers, who made it to the conference finals last season and have been firmly entrenched as Cup contenders all season.
The most enticing first-round series also looks as though it will involve the Rangers, who could face the Devils in the playoffs for the first time since 2012, when Adam Henrique’s overtime winner sent New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Final.
The NHL matchups will be set after Thursday, with the Hurricanes a potential opponent for the Rangers and Islanders as well.
The Islanders also could face Boston in the first round if Florida beats Carolina on Thursday.
In the NBA, the Knicks have a chance to win their first playoff series since 2013 and will face Cleveland starting Saturday.
The Nets, despite extensive dysfunction that ended in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving getting traded, made it in as the six-seed and will face the 76ers, with Game 1 also on Saturday.
Add in that the Yankees and Mets look to be favorites this season, and that the Giants got to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, and this could end up being one of the most successful years in the city’s history.
As for Jets fans … we’re sorry.
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