The New York Rangers have a wealth of interesting players and figures in its history. This edition of Rangers 101 takes a dive into the deep cuts of the club's 97-year history. These are all real people…
The history of the Rangers is often crowded by the drought and the end of said championship drought. The 1994 victory is truly amazing, no doubt. But hockey generally does not represent its rich history well.
The New York Rangers have a wealth of interesting players and figures in its history. This edition of Rangers 101 takes a dive into the deep cuts of the club's 97-year history. These are all real people…
Pentti Lund (1948-1951): Lund won the Calder Trophy in 1949 and was the first Finnish native in NHL history. He was part of the 1950 squad that lost in Game 7 overtime of the Stanley Cup Final, leading the way with 11 points in 12 games. Lund played three seasons in New York, his rookie campaign of 30 points at the peak of his tenure. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 87.
Doug Harvey (1961-1964): Harvey is an all-time Montreal Canadien and one of the greatest defensemen in league history. Some would argue he’s right up there with Orr and Lidstrom.
Named captain by the Canadiens, general manager Frank J. Selke didn't get along well with the star which led to a fallout. Harvey was dealt to New York in 1961 and was the first Ranger to win the Norris Trophy. It was the third Norris he won in a row. He also became a player-coach of the Rangers for one season. Harvey was the last defenseman until Erik Karlsson this summer to win the Norris Trophy and get traded the same off-season.
Edgar Laprade (1946-1955): A Mats Zuccarello of the time, Laprade came into New York as a kid and the fans adored him. He won the Calder in 1946 and the Lady Byng in 1950. Laprade was on the same team as Lund that went to the Stanley Cup in 1950. Post-retirement, he owned a hockey store in Thunder Bay Ontario for 30 years. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993 and passed away in 2014 at 94 years of age.
Gilles Gratton (1976-1977): “Gratoony the Looney” is the most accurate nickname you could provide for an individual of his character. Gratton played as the third string in the legendary 1974 Summit Series, split time in net with John Davidson in New York, and played his final professional season for the New Haven Nighthawks.
Gratton wore a tiger mask inspired by National Geographic, was rumored to have informed his teammates that he was reincarnated and fought in the Spanish Inquisition, and believed his role in the Inquisition was stoning people to death, thus his punishment was to be a goaltender. He also reportedly told a coach he could not play one night because of the moon's alignment in the sky in comparison to Jupiter.
Lester Patrick: Patrick was a coach and manager brought in from the PCHL, a fairly successful league that he and his brother founded,
Tex' Rickard brought in Conn Smythe. They didn’t see eye to eye and Smythe quit. Rickard contacted Patrick who was seen as an innovator of the game. Patrick held meetings in his family apartment in New York with his players. They invented set faceoff plays, and the penalty kills diamond structure (a zone rather than a man), which lead to a ton of short-handed goals for New York.
When Lorne Chabot went down to an injury in Game 2 of the 1928 Stanley Cup Final, complications made it difficult to play a backup keeper. Patrick knew the team needed Bill Cook on the ice so Patrick went in the net and won the game in overtime, the replacement bench boss was the coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Patrick is still the oldest player to skate in a Stanley Cup Final game at 44 years old.
Camille Henry (1956-1965): Henry was a fan favorite but not a superstar player. He earned the nickname “Camille the Eel” because he was slippery and fast on frozen water. Henry won the Calder in 1954 besting Jean Belivau of the Montreal Canadiens. He passed in 1997.
Grant Warwick (1941-1948): Warwick played with the Rangers in the 1940s and was traded to Boston in 1948. He earned the Calder Trophy in 1942 and consistently put up 30 points a season.
Kilby MacDonald (1939-1941, 1943-1945): Macdonald won the Calder Trophy the same year the New York Rangers won the cup in 1940. In 1942 he went off to fight in WWII. He passed in 1986.
Bryan Hextall Sr.(1937-1948): Hextall was the last Ranger to lead the league in points. He scored a hat trick in game 2 of the 1940 Stanley Cup Final, and the overtime winner in game 6 win the series over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Hextall was the winger of the time, a dominant player who lead the league in goals twice as a Ranger. The star’s run ended when Canadian war authorities denied him permission to play in 1944. He’d only make it back to two more professional seasons before a liver ailment ended his career.
He was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969 and passed away in 1984. His sons Bryan Jr. and Dennis are also all-time hockey players, as well as his grandson Ron Hextall.