You may wonder how a hockey cashew like The Maven got his Rangers News during the 1949-50 season when I was 18 years old.
That was the year the Blueshirts reached the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in double overtime.
The following newspapers had a beat reporter covering the team. New York Journal-American, World-Telegram, Post, Mirror, News, Staten Island Advance, Long Island Press, Long Island Star-Journal, Bronx Home News and the Brooklyn Eagle.
We still didn't own a television set so we relied on WHN Radio (1050) and the call by Bert Lee and Ward Wilson for all regular season and playoff games.
The most popular sportscast was heard on WOR Radio (710) daily at 6:45 P.M. It was called Stan Lomax And His World Of Sports. (Lomax was good to the Rangers.)
The most popular monthly magazines were Sport and Sport Life. Each carried a hockey story every month but only during the NHL season. Sport magazine was enduring and featured well-known Canadian writers along with excellent color photography. Sport Life lasted only a couple of years.
By that time The Hockey News was in its third year and was my weekly choice for information about all leagues but especially the NHL.
Remembering Another Hockey Writing Legend; Joe Nichols
There once was a superior hockey writer named Joseph Nichols, although that wasn't his real name.
Being a dedicated Maple Leafs fan at the time, I filled my scrapbook with stories from the Toronto Globe and Mail. The Globe came by mail only a day late.
Considering all of the publications mentioned above – but especially The Hockey News – I had no complaints about available ice information.
TV could wait – and I did!