New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City, New York, U.S.A.. Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the oldest teams in the National Hockey League, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

Franchise history

In 1925, the New York Americans joined the National Hockey League, playing in Madison Square Garden. The Amerks proved to be an even greater success than expected, leading Garden president Tex Rickard to go after a team for the Garden despite promising the Amerks that they would be the only hockey team to play there.

Rickard's franchise, the New York Rangers, hired Conn Smythe to assemble the team. However, Smythe had a falling-out with ownership, and was fired as manager-coach on the eve of the first season. Smythe was replaced by Lester Patrick. The Rangers won the American Division title their first year, and the Stanley Cup in their second, defeating the Montreal Maroons three games to two. One of the most memorable stories in hockey history involved Patrick suiting up in goal in the finals at the age of 44, when the Rangers' regular goaltender, suffered an eye injury.

Led by Frank Boucher at center with brothers Bill and Bun Cook on the right and left wings respectively, the Rangers' second Cup came as they defeated Toronto in the 1932-33 finals, three games to one. The Rangers would spend the rest of the 1930s playing close to .500 hockey until their next Cup win in 1940; it would be the Blueshirts' last Cup win for over fifty years. Patrick stepped down as coach in favor of Boucher.

The Rangers collapsed by the mid-1940s, missing the playoffs for five consecutive seasons before squeaking into the fourth and final playoff spot in 1948. In the 1950 finals the Rangers were forced to play all of their games on the road while the circus was at the Garden, a perennial problem for the club.

Despite the play of star Andy Bathgate, the team's leading scorer for many seasons, the Rangers remained a mark of futility in the NHL for several years, missing the playoffs twelve of the next sixteen years. However, the team was rejuvenated in the late 1960s behind strong defense from goaltenders Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure, the "GAG Line" of center Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert, and star defenseman Brad Park. The Blueshirts made the Finals twice in the 1970s, but lost both times: to the Boston Bruins in 1972 and in 1979 to the Montreal Canadiens.

After some off years in the mid-to-late 1970s, they picked up Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais from the Bruins for Park and Ratelle in 1975. Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson jumped to the Rangers from the maverick World Hockey Association. And in 1979 they defeated the surging Islanders in the Semi-Finals and would return to the finals again before bowing out to the Canadiens.

The Rangers stayed competitive through the 1980s and early 1990s, making the playoffs each year except for one but seldom going very far. The many playoff failures convinced Rangers fans that this was a manifestation of the Curse of 1940, which is said to either have begun when the Rangers' management burnt the mortgage to Madison Square Garden in the bowl of the Stanley Cup after the 1940 victory, or by Mervyn "Red" Dutton following the collapse of the New York Americans franchise. In the early 1980s, Islander fans began chanting "1940! 1940!" to taunt the Rangers. Fans in other cities soon picked up the chant.

All that turned around in 1994, when behind ex-Edmonton superstar Mark Messier and stars such as Adam Graves, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter, the Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL (52-24-8 and a franchise-record 112 points) and went on to win the Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, the first time the Rangers had ever hoisted the Cup on Garden ice.

The Rangers continued to be Cup favorites in the mid-to-late 1990s, even landing an aging Wayne Gretzky, but even with The Great One, they would fizzle out, beginning a streak of seven seasons without making the playoffs, despite routinely having one of the highest payrolls in the league. The 2005-06 saw the Rangers, behind ex-Penguin superstar Jaromir Jagr finish with their best record since 1993-94 (44-26-12).

New York Rangers Online