Could this happen these days? I dunno.
But it did happen on the night of April 11, 1975 on West 33rd Street in Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
It's a very short tale that – as far as I know – never has been told before – a brief episode of sportsmanship above and beyond the call of duty.
The Rangers and Islanders had just completed their first playoff series; a best-of-three affair that ended at Madison Square Garden in a manner nobody had thought possible.
In the playoffs for the first time in the club's three-year-history, the Isles upset the Rangers 4-3 on an overtime goal by J.P. Parise only 11 seconds into the sudden-death period.
The New York Times called it a "humiliating finish."
"I won't recover until the Stanley Cup is over," said crestfallen Ranger Peter Stemkowski. Other Blueshirts echoed the sentiments.
Every single Ranger was crestfallen in one way or another, especially goalie Ed Giacomin. But instead of moping – after dressing and leaving the clubhouse – Giacomin did something unreal.
As he departed The World's Most Famous Arena, the Blueshirts future Hall of Fame goalie spotted the Islanders team bus that would soon leave from West 33rd Street.
The Rangers goalie wheeled around and strode manfully toward the enemy's vehicle. (Now I'll let Isles goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch tell you the rest of the tale since he was the one who had his eyes on Giacomin.)
"It was so impressive," says Resch today, 50 years after the episode took place. "Eddie Giacomin actually came on our bus as we were about to leave. Then he congratulated us and even wished us luck in the next round against Pittsburgh."
Imagine, this happened after the Rangers were beaten in both games at The Garden and knocked out of the playoffs again.
There was one other witness.
Because of the monumental win, Islanders GM Bill Torrey and coach Al Arbour allowed the Islanders' wives to ride on the team bus back to Uniondale. One of them was Chico's lovely wife Diane.
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During the late 1950's – with Phiery Phil Watson coaching the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers" target="_blank">Rangers</a> – games against the Canadiens at the Old Garden were epic; without fail.
After Giacomin finished congratulating the unlikely winners, he departed from the bus. At that point Diane Resch turned to Glenn and put the brief encounter in perspective:
"Was that ever classy of Ed to do that after such a crushing defeat!" And so it was. And so it was!