Picking The Three Greatest Rangers Teams

Here is one of the toughest historic questions to answer – Which of the first three Rangers Stanley Cup teams is the best of them all?

Making this question more difficult is the fact that the Champs – 1928, 1933 and 1940 – each played in a distinctly different era with different rules and challenges.

That said, The Maven now is eager to take on the challenge, one, two, three.

BEST OF ALL, AND HERE'S WHY, 1927-28: It's important to note that Lester Patrick, who would eventually become Rangers president, manager and coach of the 1928 winners, was not the franchise's founder.

The most forgotten man who created the team  was Conn Smythe, who would go on to become the patron saint of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 1925 Madison Square Garden executives selected Smythe to do the scouting for its original (1926-27) team.

At the time, Smythe was renowned in Canadian collegiate hockey circles as well as having a keen knowledge of amateur stars in the Dominion. 

As a result he signed the likes of many future Rangers aces. They included center Frank Boucher, right wing Bill Cook and left wing Bun Cook as well as defenseman Ching Johnson and forward Murray Murdoch. 

"I knew the Rangers were up against it in terms of getting fans." said Smythe, "because the New York Americans already were the NHL team in New York, starting in 1925. The Amerks were loaded with good name players and I had to match them."

Match them, Smythe did but when Garden boss Colonel John Hammond, demanded that Conn made a deal and got Babe Dye, who was in the twilight of his career Smythe said nix to that whereupon Hammond fired Conny and replaced him with Patrick.

"I had almost nothing to do with the original roster – thanks to Smythe," Patrick admitted,

"So I just took this interesting lineup and made the best of it."

Actually, the best would come in the second year but the Rangers rookie campaign wasn't too bad at all. Quite good, as a matter of fact when you considered that they finished in first place.

Over a  44-game schedule, their record was 25-13-6  in a season where the Blueshirts actually had a better record than the Americans, 17-25-2.

A year later the Rangers wound up in second place  and then reached the Stanley Cup Final against the powerful Montreal Maroons.

This was the year when regular Rangers goalie Lorne Chabot was injured in the second game of the playoff final and 44-year-old Lester Patrick, himself, took over in goal and led his team to an overtime victory.

Inspired by their boss, the Blueshirts upset the Maroons and – lo and behold – the  Stanley Cup wound up in New York City for the first time in the spring of 1928. Hall of Famers on that sextet included The Cook Brothers, Boucher, Johnson and Patrick. 

"I was proud of the boys," Patrick concluded, "but I never stopped thanking Conn Smythe for the work he did before I got to New York."