Many of us have played hockey in one form or another, be it on the ice, the street or on the floor of a recreation center. And very often we didn’t have access to or could afford regulation equipment. So since necessity is the mother of invention we fashioned...
Retro Rangers: Reminiscing with Steve Baker Steve Baker seemed destined to be the Rangers goaltender of the future after going undefeated in nine of his first ten starts in his NHL debut. Destiny had other plans however as Steve’s career was derailed by a devastating...
New York has had its share of great sports rivalries; Yankees – Mets, Jets – Giants, Dodgers – Giants, Knicks – Nets, but none have been more intense for both the fans and players alike than the four decade old feud between the Rangers and the Islanders. That rivalry...
For many years Andy Bathgate was the Rangers’ lone superstar. A product of the same Guelph Biltmore pipeline that brought players like Harry Howell and Lou Fontinato to New York. Bathgate played 719 games over 12 seasons for the Rangers scoring 272 goals and adding...
On December 17th Emile Francis was presented with the Wayne Gretzky International Award at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Boston. The award, which was established by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, is given to international individuals who...
It may have been five days before Christmas, but ‘peace on earth and good will toward men’ was the last thing on minds of the Rangers and Canadiens when they met at the Garden on Sunday night December 20, 1953. The Montreal Canadiens were the defending Stanley Cup...
Like many netminders of the pre-expansion era, Marcel Paille had the great misfortune of trying to break into the NHL during what many consider to be the Golden Age of Goaltending. Those were the days of the Original Six, when each team carried only one goalkeeper and...
To many fans, a trip to Madison Square Garden isn’t complete without a stop at Cosby’s, the iconic sporting goods store. Cosby’s has long been considered the mecca, the place to buy Ranger jerseys, memorabilia and hockey equipment. But what about the man behind the...
Orland Kurtenbach was a big, burly center who supplied grit, muscle and protection for his teammates during the early years of the Emile Francis era. Born on September 7, 1936 in Cudworth, Saskatchewan, Kurt began his hockey journey with the Prince Albert Mintos of...
“Everybody liked Billy Fairbairn. Billy Fairbairn was quiet. He hit, he worked hard, he took his hits and he played up and down that wall. And you could trust him every step of the way. You knew what he was gonna do, and he didn’t play dirty. He was a good guy” –...
by George Grimm Armed with a slapshot that earned him the nickname "Smokey" because it was said he could "knock the sap out of the wood of his stick”, Jack Egers was destined for stardom. Unfortunately a series of injuries including a concussion hampered and...
by George Grimm During the Emile Francis era, the New York Rangers always took great pride in their penalty killing. They practiced it repeatedly throughout the season and it paid off very well for them in the ‘Win’ column. In fact during the years when those Ranger...
Donnie Marshall came to the Rangers along with Phil Goyette and Jacques Plante in a blockbuster June 1963 trade that sent Lorne “Gump” Worslay, Dave Balon, Len Ronson and Leon Rochefort to the Montreal Canadiens. Marshall, who was 31 years old at the time of the...
In 1973, Sal Messina became the color analyst on Rangers radio broadcasts working with play-by-play man Marv Albert. It was the natural progression for the Queens native who had been involved in hockey and the Blueshirts for most of his life. Sal grew up listening to...
Their journey began more than 50 years ago when a young father took his very small son by the hand and led him to New York City and to a dark, smoky place with a lot of steps and a bright white sheet of ice at the center. Little did the young boy know that what he was...
The playoffs are not for the faint of heart. They are an emotional roller coaster ride for both the players and the fans. But at least the players have some control over their destiny. The fans can only sit, stand or pace nervously watching, waiting and hoping for the...
Forty years ago, in the spring of 1974 the Ranges and Flyers met for the first time in the Stanley Cup playoffs. There have been many “Amtrak Series” since then, but the first one was quite memorable. The Rangers and Flyers were headed in different directions that...
Jiggs McDonald is probably best known for his many years behind the mic calling New York Islander games. But before that he was the play-by-play voice of the L.A. Kings and Atlanta Flames. And it was while he was working for the Flames that he was paired with one of...
Curt Ridley had the misfortune of trying to break into the NHL, first with the Bruins and then the Rangers, at a time when both teams were pretty well stocked in goal. Curt was born on September 23rd 1951 in Minnedosa, Manitoba and began his hockey journey like most...
Road trips are an accepted aspect of a hockey player’s life, part of the schedule that takes teams from coast to coast a number of times during the long NHL season. Most road trips are uneventful, you win, you lose, you tie, you go home. But sometimes the road hits...
Early one morning in the spring of 1974, I noticed a little blurb in the Rangers Notes section of the paper that the Montreal Canadiens would be practicing that morning at the Bergen Mall Ice Arena in Paramus, NJ, in preparation for their Quarter-Final meeting against...
Like many that have come before and after, the Ranger’s 1969-70 season was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. The Blueshirts had spent the first 3 ½ months of the season in first place, posting an impressive 32-11-11 record. But in late February they lost...
Reading recently that the Rangers were on the verge of signing Swedish ace Jesper Fast, their sixth round pick in the 2010 amateur draft, reminded me of a similar episode twenty years ago. I was writing and editing a newsletter called “SportStat… the Ranger Report” at...
It was clear that changes were on the horizon as the Rangers entered their 50th anniversary season in 1975-76. The previous season ended in bitter disappointment when they were unexpectedly eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by J.P. Parise and the...
Terry Sawchuk was one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history. During hockey’s “Golden Era” of the six-team league, Terry’s records stood above those of his netminding brethren that included Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, Johnny Bower and Gump Worsley. Terry played...
My father used to call me whenever the Rangers made a big trade, so on the night of November 2nd, 1979 the phone rang and I heard him say two words: Bar-ry Beck, stressing each syllable for emphasis. Pop was happy. So were a lot of other Ranger fans. The Blueshirts...
Goal judges are a part of hockey’s proud and sometimes innocent past. They have been replaced in the NHL by cameras and video reviews in the War Room in Toronto and perhaps it’s safer that way. Arthur Reichert was a well respected fixture at both the “Old” and current...
Teddy Irvine was the kind of gritty, character player that every team needs, no matter what era you’re talking about. He was a relentless checker, had good speed for a man of his size (6’2’’ 195 pounds) and most of all, wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves to protect his...
Retro Rangers: What do you think about the Players Union? Howie Meeker: "Well as far as I’m concerned they’re doing a hell of a job. I played eight years in the NHL. For five of those years I put 1/3 of my salary into a pension plan and 35 years later I was getting...
With the Stanley Cup playoffs underway, the spotlight is on the NHL and its many problems, both on and off the ice, even more than usual. So I thought it would be a good idea to step outside of the Retro Rangers box and interview someone who has always been a keen,...
