As the New York Rangers came through the first eight weeks of the season with the league’s best record, even their own local media were attributing much of that success to “luck”.
If that good fortune includes having Henrik Lundqvist as your goaltender, then it is most certainly true.
The 33-year-old Swede is leading the NHL in goals against average (1.74), save percentage (94.6 per cent) and wins (12). He has faced the most shots of any goalie and saved the most.
“He’s our best player, there’s no doubt,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Times. “He’s our highest-paid player, also.”
Ah, yes. With the seven-year, US$59.5 million (Dh218.5m) contract he signed before the 2014/15 season, which makes him the highest paid goalie in the league, comes high expectations.
Lundqvist is delivering.
The way the Rangers have been playing, it would appear that they are deliberately leaning on their superstar goalie to play like a super hero.
The Rangers are succeeding despite permitting more shots per game than they are producing, which is not a strategy teams develop on purpose. They are 28th in the league in shot attempt percentage (46 per cent).
READ MORE
Three-on-three OT period a winner for NHL fans
They also are last in the league in power-play opportunities.
What they have been doing well is lighting the lamp at a high rate on the shots they produce, about one goal per nine attempts.
It is a rate that puts them on par with the likes of the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, teams awash in sharpshooting, offensive-minded players.
Meanwhile, the man the Rangers expect to carry the biggest offensive load, Rick Nash, has only six goals. If pucks finding their way into opponents’ nets has been the “luck” portion, the play of Lundqvist is totally on par with his reputation, summed up in his nickname, “King Henrik”.
Now in his 11th season, he also has earned the right to call his teammates out for their deficiencies.
After a recent overtime win over the Florida Panthers, in which the Rangers failed to protect a late, two-goal lead, Lundqvist refused to celebrate.
“I’m still annoyed,” he told reporters. “We have to smarten up.”
His teammates, of course, celebrated Lundqvist, who saved them by stopping a penalty shot in the final two minutes of the game and standing tall during the hectic three-on-three overtime. He finished with 39 saves.
Lundqvist was picked in the seventh round of the 2000 draft.
Since debuting with the Rangers in 2005, he has more wins (351), more games (637), the best goals against average (2.24), the most shutouts (57), and the best save percentage (. 922) of any of his contemporaries with at least 350 games.
He also won the Vezina Trophy in 2012 and led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup final in 2014.
Getting his name on the cup would be his crowning achievement. Vigneault reportedly asked Lundqvist to come to camp in mid-season form this year, and teammates have noticed an intensity they did not always see in previous Octobers and Novembers.
“He seems to be in play-off mode,” defenceman Ryan McDonagh said.
Not coincidentally, the Rangers have taken every advantage.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
