The season-long injury to Florida Panthers' captain Aleksander Barkov means PLENTY all over the NHL's Eastern Conference.

Immediately, the Rangers must change their 2025-26 mantra from "Playoffs Or  Bust" to "Stanley Cup Or Bust."

Why not? It can't hurt.

Miracles happen. Longshots come in AND the Unseen Hand is at work 

The Unseen Hand was a creation of long ago Montreal Canadiens' coach Dick Irvin. "Unexpected things happen in hockey at unexpected times," said Irvin, "and they happen because of 'The Unseen Hand.'"

Already we are seeing the Unseen Hand at work and the season hasn't even started.

Just figure the odds, The two-time champion Panthers step on the ice for their first practice. Everybody is being careful as everybody should be careful and what happens.

BOOM! Defenseman Niko Mikkola bumps into his captain. Barkov goes down and so do the

chances for Florida to win a third straight Stanley Cup.

Can you imagine the odds you'd get on such a disaster happening had you gone to Vegas and bet on it two days ago. 

So, here's how The Unseen Hand could work for the Rangers:

Start with what we already know: the fact that Mikkola knocked out Barkov in the first meaningful practice. What would the odds be for something like that actually happening?

About 200-1, 300-1.

Next; check out The Hockey News Yearbook odds on the Rangers winning the Cup. 23-1. That's before Barkov's injury. Now it must be reduced to about 15-1 by my optimistic way of thinking.

Here's where the Unseen Hand meets the Rangers Centennial Year. 

If such an injury could happen to one of the NHL's best players, it should tell you this:

1. The gods of hockey do not want any team to win three straight Stanley Cups; and certainly not the Panthers.

2. The gods of hockey respect tradition and guess, what? We're approaching the Rangers 100th anniversary. That Tradition with a capital T.

A Few Things To Learn About The Rangers Exhibition Loss To The IslandersAn exhibition badly-blowin loss to the Islanders at The Garden should not send Blueshirt fans to the medicine cabinet for aspirin, Tylenol nor other such pain-killers.

3. The gods of hockey and the unseen hand will merge and an unexpected team will win The Stanley Cup.

4. What better "unexpected team" than the Blueshirts! Rangers fans: don't let logic fool you. In any card game, The Unseen Hand triumphs over logic.

Which leaves The Maven with only one conclusion. STANLEY CUP OR BUST!