Underdog Rangers ready to compete

With one day left before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Rangers players extolled the virtues of the L. A. Kings, as well as testified to their own resiliency, without using the "U" word.

"It's going to take a lot to beat them," said Brad Richards, who won a Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004. "They seem to always figure out a way to get back into a series, just won a Cup a couple years ago; it's going to be a major challenge."

But coach Alain Vigneault didn't need to be prompted. He played the underdog card.

"I think going into Philly [in the first round], people were probably 50-50 that we would get through that," Vigneault said after practice yesterday. "Going into Pittsburgh, I would probably say that there were a lot more people -- experts -- that were picking Pittsburgh than were picking the Rangers. Going against Montreal, other than a few New York reporters, everybody else across Canada, it was Montreal in four or five. So throughout these playoffs -- and it's not going to change now, we've been the underdog, but what we've done is focused on how we play and what we need to do on the ice."

And while there were no guarantees from the veteran coach, who has been to the Final with Vancouver and lost in a Game 7, a little defiance emerged.

"Even though a lot of people aren't going to give us any chance, I like our chances," Vigneault said. "I like our group, I like our focus, I like the way we compete. I know L.A.'s been there before, I know they've won before, I know they've moved on to three Game 7s, they won them all, they've beaten the Stanley Cup champions, I get that. But we're going to try real hard, I can promise you that."