Flashback: How The Blueshirts Blew A Chance At Winning The 1979 Stanley Cup
At the start of the 1978-79 season the Rangers were not favored to win The Stanley Cup, but the Montreal Canadiens were.
After all, the Habs already had won three straight championships and had the same starry lineup and Scotty Bowman behind the bench.
Worse for the Blueshirts is that they finished the regular season 2-7-3; hardly an encouraging sign entering the postseason. But suddenly coach Fred Shero's team got hot. They knocked off the Kings and Flyers – even the heavily-favored Islanders – to reach the Cup Final.
While nobody expected New York to beat the Habs, especially at the Montreal Forum, the Rangers won the opener, 4-1.
According to Hall of Famer Phil Esposito – then leading theNew Yorkers – Phil warned coach Fred Shero to ensure a curfew so that the Visitors could be fresh and knock off Montreal for the second straight game.
Foggy Fred ignored his on-ice leader and – as Phil noted in his book – a clique of young Rangers partied through the night. In fact Espo, who had his own hotel room because of seniority, could hear the Rangers revelers in the hallway outside his room.
"The Rangers got up 2-0 in the second game," remembers Vic Morren, co-host with Neil Smith of NHL Wraparound, "before Montreal rattled off the last six goals of the game."
Returning to Manhattan didn't help. The Habs won two straight at The Garden and won their fourth Cup with an easy 4-1 win At The Forum.
An Expert's Look At The Rangers Real Problems
When I need a perfect X-Ray of the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers" target="_blank">Rangers</a>, I go directly to the Original Roundtable expert Jess Rubenstein.
I discussed the series – especially what transpired in the hotel after Game One – with Roundtable vet Bernie Rhode. We both agreed that the partying took place two weeks too early. We also agreed on another issue.
Had Shero tightened discipline, imposed a strict, enforceable curfew; there would have been no partying and the Rangers would have won The Stanley Cup 15 years before Mark Messier and the 1994 triumph!