Labor Day was designated to honor workers. The Maven would like to honor four hard-working Rangers from yesteryear:
1. DEAN PRENTICE: Andy Bathgate never would have made it into the Hall of Fame was it not for "Deano The Dynamo" endlessly doing the dirty work, digging the puck out of the corners and sending the rubber to his right wing who then deposited where it belonged. Prentice played it hard and clean over two decades and productively as well. One imagines that that's why he's not in the Hall of Fame. Too good, perhaps.
2. ED KULLMAN: Not much has been said about the man whose job it was to check Maurice (The Rocket) Richard and other oppositing star, Kullman did it without fuss and fanfare but plenty of stitches; some thanks to the Rocket's angry stick. Eddie played alongside the more press-worthy skaters such as Tony Leswick, Ed Slowinski, Edgar Laprade and Don Raleigh each of whom appreciated the foot soldier that was Kullman.
3. BILL MOE: A native of Danvers, Massachusetts. Moe holds a unique record of having more photos taken of him upending opponents with his unique hip check than any other Ranger. Bill arrived on the New York hockey scene in the mid-1940's after the Blueshirts' roster had been ravaged by World War II enlistments. He became a fan favorite after one of his hip checks sent Toronto forward Gaye Stewart into an upside-down position long enough for hockey photographer Andy Lopez to win a prize for the picture.
Things Every Blueshirt Fan Should Know About What's Going On
<b>1. </b>Connor McDavid still is stalling over his new Oilers contract and as long he diddles around with his team, other NHL clubs can wonder about possibly landing big fish McD.
4. ANDY HEBENTON: A right wing version of Dean Prentice, indefatigable Hebby did more with less press than any Ranger in my lifetime. He was discovered by Muzz Patrick in Tacoma and became a vital cog on 1956, 1957 and 1958 playoff teams. Andy's playoff overtime goal against Montreal's Jacques Plante was so neat that a photo of it ran in next year's Blueshirts magazine center spread ad for Gold Seal ice cream. Except for one little mistake: the photo was printed backward and Hebenton's #12 came out #21. (His actual goal came about via a right alley thrust. But in the ice cream ad picture, he's scoring from the left. Therefore one could say that never in NHL history has another player scored the same goal from two sides – with two different sweater numbers. (And, lo and behold, I just said it!)