by Brian Kennedy | Apr 22, 2022 | Archived Features, Hockey History, Homepage, Montreal Canadiens, NHL
The full line from which I’ve excerpted my title is, “Unresting death, a whole day nearer now,” from a Philip Larkin poem (“Aubade”), and I cite it as a reminder: we’ve lost Guy Lafleur, at 70 too young to go. And his death portends our own, though mostly we don’t...
by George Grimm | Mar 14, 2022 | Hockey History, Homepage, Inside Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Retro Rangers
Separately, Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick were each very good at their jobs, but together they were great and formed one of the most popular broadcasting teams in Rangers history. Gordon was the straight man, the professional broadcaster of the duo. A Brooklyn...
by George Grimm | Jan 20, 2022 | Hockey History, Homepage, Inside Hockey, New York Rangers, Retro Rangers
Back in the days before air travel became the norm, NHL teams rode the rails to their road games within the then six-team league. Bob Chrystal, who patrolled the Rangers Blue Line for a couple of seasons in the mid-50s was one of those players who spent countless...
by George Grimm | Nov 26, 2021 | Hockey History, Homepage, Inside Hockey, New York Rangers, Retro Rangers
Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk, Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante, Ed Giacomin and Gilles Villemure are just a few of the fine goaltending duos that were formed after the NHL made it mandatory for teams to dress two goaltenders for games. But the two-goalie concept was a...
by George Grimm | Sep 28, 2021 | Books, Hockey History, Homepage, Retro Rangers
Bill Mosienko enjoyed a very productive 14-year NHL career, scoring 258 goals with 282 assists for 540 points in 711 games, all with the Chicago Black Hawks. He scored thirty or more goals twice and reached the 20-goal plateau five times. He was also a dependable...
by George Grimm | Sep 11, 2021 | Hockey History, Homepage, New York Rangers, NHL, Retro Rangers
One of the most remarkable things about Rod Gilbert’s brilliant NHL career was that not only did he make it back from two spinal fusion surgeries but also survived a near-death experience nearly 60 years ago. Gilbert originally underwent spinal fusion...