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Rangers legends Adam Graves and Derek Stepan spoke to PEOPLE ahead of the 2026 Rangers Alumni Game, sharing excitement for reuniting with teammates, celebrating the franchise’s centennial season, and honoring the team’s history.
The fifth annual alumni matchup, taking place entirely between Rangers alumni for the first time, will feature stars including Mike Richter, Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan, and Henrik Lundqvist at Madison Square Garden.
Proceeds from the game will benefit the Northwell Health Foundation and Garden of Dreams Foundation, continuing a four-year tradition that has raised more than $350,000 for charitable causes.
Hockey season is well underway ahead of the 2026 NHL Playoffs and the 2026 Winter Olympics and the New York Rangers are celebrating the growth of the game with a special exhibition event that’s sure to fire fans up.
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The 2026 Rangers Alumni game, the franchise’s fifth, will take place on January 26, 2026 at Madison Square Garden and will mark the first time that the game will be played by entirely Rangers alumni. In the past, the game has been played versus the New York Islanders, something the hockey club is switching up in honor of its centennial season.
Players that are set to lace up for the game include Adam Graves, Derek Stepan, Mike Richter, Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan and Henrik Lundqvist, to name a few.
“I think one of the best parts about this year is that we have so many guys coming back and you get to play with all sorts of eras it’s lot of fun to be a part of. The really cool part that I was blown away with last year is the Rangers fan base showing up and how many people were in the building. It was really cool and really special to get a little taste of what I got to experience for seven years, it makes it a lot of fun,” Stepan tells PEOPLE, reflecting on last year’s matchup.
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Scenes from the 2025 New York Rangers Alumni Game
He continued: “It’s kind of energizing in a way, you know, we all have something going on in our life, depending on what we’re doing and where we’re at and our careers, but it seems like for just that moment, it kind of slows down and it feels like it did when we played. We’re catching up and there’s a lot of joking around … it’s great just to see everybody.”
2025 marked the first time that the game was played at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers’ home base.
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All proceeds from the game will go to the Northwell Health Foundation (to help aid in expanding pediatric behavioral health services) and the Garden of Dreams Foundation (a non-profit charity that works closely with the MSG Family of Companies to bring young people together through life-changing opportunities.)
Over the past four years, the Alumni game has generated an impressive $350,000 to donate to both organizations.
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New York Rangers Alumni Game 2025
“For me, because there’s such a wide span of different names and faces from all the different decades and all the different eras, I think it’s gonna be one of those special days that really celebrates the history of the Rangers and being a Blueshirt and our organization,” Graves tells PEOPLE.
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He added: “It’s a special feeling. It’s once in a hundred years, the centennial season. So for all of us, I think that it’s a real privilege and an honor to be back on the ice and to celebrate that journey that we skated along together. This is just a reminder of how lucky we were, and I think everyone’s looking forward to it.”
Graves, who won two Stanley Cups during his 16-season tenure in the NHL including one with the Rangers in 1994, says he’s excited to reunite with his teammates from seasons past that have “become family,” including friend and former Rangers captain Brian Leetch.
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Adam Graves of the New York Rangers
“[He’s] the player that I played the most NHL games with and someone that I was lucky enough to be on the ice with for the first time when I was playing for Team Canada U-18 and he was playing for Team USA U-18. At the conclusion of that game, I skated up to him because there wasn’t social media and all of that — I had heard of him, but not really. And I simply said to him that he’s the best player I’d ever seen at my age, like he was incredible,” Graves recalls. “And to fast forward and be able to play, you know, 10 seasons with him and play over 700 games, it’s just incredible.”
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Though the crowd ahead of Sunday’s game will be lighthearted and family-oriented (“I think it’s safe to say the game will be a tad bit slower than the current NHL,” he jokes), the retired Ranger is certain that the Garden magic will be alive and well, just as it was on the ice during his 1994 Stanley Cup run (and ultimate victory) over 30 years ago.
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New York Rangers Legends During a Centennial Night Celebration
“Watching [National Anthem singer] John Amirante sing the National Anthem before Game Seven against Vancouver, he was standing 30 feet from me and I couldn’t hear him sing. It was the loudest I had ever heard the Garden, to the chants during warm up of ‘We want the Cup!’, the Garden being completely packed, those are the things that you remember,” Graves says. “The type of support that you get, no matter where you are in the Tri-State area, it’s second to none. I mean, it’s such an incredible journey, you know, for me, three plus decades, to be able to be a part of the bigger Ranger family has just been unreal.”
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He continued: “‘The World’s Most Famous Arena’, it’s phrased that for a reason. To see any event and certainly a Ranger game and a celebratory night like that, it’s truly special.”
Stepan went on his own Stanley Cup run in a riveting five-game series against the Los Angeles Kings during the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals where the Rangers were ultimately defeated. But the passion and power of play is something that the former NHL player will always remember.
“The level of play is at the highest and it’s not an easy day-to-day. You have to, basically be in the grind every single moment as you go through it. But the thing I remember from our group is the intensity that the game brought,” he said.
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Derek Stepan #21 of the New York Rangers
He continued: “It’s demanding and it’s stressful, but the amount of fun we had is something that I think that group and that era that we had in my seven years, it felt like that was a core part of it, being able to enjoy ourselves. Even in the most stressful moments, being able to almost put on the work boots and go to the rink and do what we needed to do, and then also be able to have some fun alongside of it. And obviously we didn’t get the job done, but it was a really good run from my perspective, from my seat too.”
The Rangers alum, who famously debuted with a Hat Trick during the 2010-2011 season against the Buffalo Sabres, credits his successes to teammates, coaches and a network that helped shape him into the player that he became for 13 seasons — on and off the ice.
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“I came into a team as a young kid with a group of core players that had established themselves, but they were a younger group, and so I fit in, they welcomed me in and it was a lot of fun. We had such a good balance and everybody was really good about not only pushing the hockey side of it, but the pro side of it, which is kind of a big jump sometimes,” he says.
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New York Rangers Centennial Season
He continued: “What being a New York Ranger was to [my family] is, it was home. It was our home and the pressure of making it to the NHL kind of got eased with being able to feel like we were comfortable in the spot we were in. And the Ranger fans, they’re passionate and it’s something that is incredible to be a part of. I’m grateful that they drafted me and that I got to start my career there and have some good teams and good people around and a good organization that took care of me and guided me into a career.”
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Read the original article on People