It took almost four months. Which, in retrospect, sounds about right.

Of course, nobody predicted that amid the hysteria of the Rangers' July 1, 2007, double coup. But then, we all forgot the most elemental thing about Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, the two prized centers the Rangers signed within one dizzying hour on the opening day of free agency: They're hockey players.

As such, their natural inclination is to shut up and fit in. Which is to say, to defer to the players already established on their new team, even to the point of subjugating the skills that prompted their new team to shell out colossal bucks to sign them.

"That's what makes this sport so great. In hockey, you never want to come in the locker room and be the center of attention," Gomez says. "I was putting my wingers in bad spots. Whoever I was playing with, I was forcing them to have the puck too much rather than playing my game and shooting more, which opens up things for them.

"But hey, you're new to the team and you don't want that feeling of: 'Oh, look at that guy, he never passes.' "

Even if you're a guy like Gomez, who had established a reputation as one of the game's top playmaking centers while winning two Stanley Cups in seven years with New Jersey. Or a guy like Drury, who had earned his handle as one of the NHL's most versatile and clutch players during winning stops in Colorado, Calgary and Buffalo.

Truth be told, the Rangers probably couldn't have come up with two players better suited to make a smooth adjustment to New York than Gomez and Drury.

Gomez spent more time in Manhattan than the swamps of Jersey during his seven years with the Devils. And he relentlessly picked the brain of longtime teammate and close friend Bobby Holik, who had made the Devils-to-Rangers move five years before.

Drury grew up in nearby Trumbull, Conn., where he pitched his team to a Little League World Series title. Thus began a sports career of relentless resourcefulness with championships on the line -- a career that included spending as much free time as possible in New York City.

Still, Gomez and Drury are hockey players.

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So they spent October, November, December and January doing things hockey players do when they're on a new team. Like forcing the puck to Jaromir Jagr or Brendan Shanahan, even if the entire opposing team was playing the passing lane. Or racing around the ice trying to block every shot and perform the jobs of all three linemates.

"Certainly, there have been times when I've found myself doing that," Drury says. NHL

"The way we started out, I think that's just natural," Gomez says. "It's been a long time since I've been the new guy � and I don't want to say it was a trial process, but it does take some time getting to know the guys, getting to know people off the ice, getting to know the area."

Especially when the area is the Big Apple and two of the guys already in the room are 600-goal scorers.

"That's one of the great things about our sport; hockey players are really good about respecting players who have been around a long time," Shanahan says. "And it's not a sport that lends itself to players stepping outside of the team concept."

Finally, around the third week of January, it appeared the transition for Gomez and Drury was complete and the Rangers were as much their team as Jagr's or Shanahan's.

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And the chemistry was strengthened by a reorganization of the forward lines that put pass-first Gomez with snipers Shanahan and Nigel Dawes and go-go Drury with fellow smallish speedsters Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan.

Throw in a return to form by franchise goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who had wobbled through December and January fretting over his father's health and his uncertain contract status, and the assembly of a power-cycling line with Sean Avery, Brandon Dubinsky and Jagr and the Rangers had pieces in place to make a run.

The result was a 15-3-3 surge from January 22 to March 10 that vaulted them into the role of conference title contenders. That talk was similar to the buzz that had surrounded the team nine months before.

But this time, it was based on performance -- the kind that only could come after two integral newcomers had endured the inevitable trials of assimilation that hockey players rarely avoid.