Over the years raging Rangers feuds are well remembered. How about the one with the Bruins – Mike Milbury swatting a Blueshirt fan with a shoe.
Or, the very bloody Canadiens affair. (Cal Gardner vs. Ken Reardon) and Maple Leafs-Blueshirts (Tony Leswicki vs. Howie Meeker.) All have been well-documented.
For some reason – which The Maven can't figure – the battle royals with Chicago have been forgotten.
One of the most intense took place right after World War II when Rangers defenseman Bill (Swivel Hip) Moe demolished Black Hawks Hall of Famer Bill Mosienko with what the Windy City skaters considered a dirty hit.
Chicago's Red Hamill retaliated by putting an elbow in Moe's eye. And when the two teams next met at The Garden, newspaper headlines told the story:
RANGERS SLUG WAY TO WIN OVER HAWKS IN WILD GARDEN GAME: New York most. RANGERS ALFIE PIKE X-RAYED AS HAWKS BOW IN WILD BRAWL: Brooklyn Eagle.
Post reporter Al Buck called it "Fight Night" at The Garden.
Eagle reporter Ralph Trost noted how Chicago's Joe Cooper messed up Alf Pike of the Blueshirts. "The bump Cooper put on Alf's dome looked precisely as if someone had opened the head, put an egg inside and then hem-stitched six crossover stitches to hold it in."
Trost added: "The crowd chanted 'We Want Blood' – meaning from the Hawks."
The Rangers Games I'll Never Forget, Sean McCaffrey Selects A Pair
Publisher of Blue Collar Blue Shirts, Sean McCaffrey has seen plenty of hockey over the decades. What's surprising – at least in The Maven's view – is that his choices are, shall we say, out of the box.
Now you know what they were talking about when veterans from yesteryear giddily refer to "Old-Time Hockey."
As a matter of fact, former Ranger Glen Sonmor wrote a book of the same name. Sonmor knew; he could brawl with the best of them!