Jaromir Jagr all but guaranteed that the Rangers would make the playoffs on the first day of training camp in September. He might have been the only one who actually believed it. The Rangers finally ended seven seasons of futility last night when they clinched a playoff berth by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, in a shootout at Madison Square Garden. "It doesn't matter who believes you," Jagr said before the game. "Even if somebody picks you first, you still have to prove it. They don't give you the Stanley Cup just because somebody picks you to win it." He added: "There probably was no reason to believe that we could make it. But we, as players, it's all a matter of how many guys on your team believe you can do it. It's always been that way. It doesn't matter what the media thinks."