J.T. Miller, Mike Sullivan, and Vincent Trocheck had the time of their lives during the 2026 Winter Olympics. However, they are no longer on Team USA, and the New York Rangers’ status quo is nowhere near as joyful and celebratory.
In case the long faces around Madison Square Garden don’t tell the story, a glance at the NHL standings should remind Miller and Sullivan of how dramatic things were before leaving for Milan. It’s time to turn the page, or at least give it a try. If New York won’t even give it a shot, its leaders should simply stay in the Fashion Capital of the World.
As Miller, Sullivan, and Trocheck got a taste of perhaps the most meaningful and rewarding hardware any NHL player could ever claim, they now hope to bring winds of change back to the building in the Big Apple. The mood has now shifted. For Miller and company, it is all about the Rangers back home in New York City. Shortly after Sullivan issued a bold reminder for Miller and the Rangers, the captain returned the favor with a comment of his own.
“It’s why it was so special, and something we’re going to remember forever and have that to share, but we’re back to Rangers hockey now. Party’s over, it’s time to focus, and we need to play some good hockey down the stretch,” Miller admitted to reporters, via @SNYRangers on X.
Miller and Rangers have struggled at home
As demoralizing as the Broadway Blueshirts have been at home, the organization must still find a way to sell tickets at Madison Square Garden. Miller’s statement may serve as hope for the fanbase in New York. Otherwise, fans would have little reason to attend games.
Given the way the season has unfolded in New York, home fans already know what they are signing up for when they arrive at 4 Pennsylvania Plaza in Midtown. Before the Olympic break, the Rangers were 6–15–4 at home. Needless to say, that was—and remains—the worst home record in the Eastern Conference. It’s been the common theme all season long, what the Rangers do poorly, the Vancouver Canucks take to another level. Thus, only the Canucks (6–17–5) have a worse home mark.
As the season resumes, Sullivan and the Rangers know the Stanley Cup Playoffs are out of reach, but at the very least, they hope to offer their fan base something more than a gut-wrenching spectacle at Madison Square Garden.
Rangers could set new records for worst home mark
They say home is where the heart is. For Miller and the Rangers, however, home is where most of their embarrassment has unfolded during the 2025–26 NHL season. Coming out of the Olympic break, New York has 16 home games remaining. The Rangers must truly flip the script, or they risk posting one of the worst home records in franchise history.
According to NHL.com, the worst home mark in franchise history came during the 1943–44 season, when the Blueshirts won just four games on home ice. However, that was during a shortened 50-game schedule. In an 82-game campaign, the low was set in 2003–04, when the team won only 11 games at Madison Square Garden.
The last time New York recorded fewer than 10 home wins in a season was in 1964–65, with eight victories in 35 home games. Numbers do not lie: Sullivan, Miller, and the Rangers are walking a tightrope, with all signs pointing toward a franchise record of the wrong kind in 2025–26.
SURVEY Should Mike Sullivan Return as the Rangers’ Head Coach in 2026–27?
Should Mike Sullivan Return as the Rangers’ Head Coach in 2026–27?
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