Shocked! That's what The Maven was.

A couple of days ago, I ran a tiny quiz – 'What was the worst trade in Rangers history?" Not surprisingly, a couple of historians knew the answer. But what shocked me was the follow up, with some mail providing rich detail that I must share with you.

For starters, lemme say up front that the guy who made the deal, Rangers GM John Ferguson, was a personal friend of mine. In fact, The Maven ghosted Fergie's autobiography, "Thunder And Lightning."

Also, when Fergie completed the Ranger-Bruins trade it actually made some sense – although not a whole lot of sense, as Gorgeous George Grimm so solidly points out.

Thoughts behind the potential deal crystallized after Ferguson replaced Emile Francis as Blueshirts GM. John immediately declared that there'd be some changes made and there were, including the killer-diller pulled off on May 26, 1976.

The Rangers dispatched gifted but very troublesome, very young forward Rick Middleton to the Bruins for formerly high scoring Ken Hodge. 

In the Bobby Orr-Boston heyday, the Hodge-Phil Esposito-Wayne Cashman line had been the scourge of the NHL. But time had gone by and Esposito now was with the Rangers. It was then that Ferguson had a brainstorm – pushed hard by Espo – and made the deal.

Here are some keen insights behind the deal by one who has studied it carefully.

Distinguished member of the Maven's Roundtable and author of "We Did Everything But Win," George Grimm offers keen insights without pulling any punches. (By the way, Grimm's punch line at the very end made me fall back in my chair laughing.)

Go, George, Go!

"Rick Middleton for Ken Hodge was a bad deal right from the start and only got worse as time went by.

"John Ferguson was being nagged by Phil Esposito to acquire Hodge from Boston.  Bruins GM Harry Sinden originally wanted Steve Vickers in return for Hodge, but "Sarge" had been the NHL’s Rookie of the Year a few seasons earlier and Fergy didn't want to trade him. 

"But Rick Middleton was another story. He was a young, talented prospect who had already recorded 46 goals with 44 assists in 124 games with the Blueshirts, but had also fallen under the influence of Derek Sanderson when the "Turk" was at his worst. Even after Sanderson was traded, Middleton continued to burn the candle at both ends. So Ferguson offered Middleton and Sinden gladly accepted.                                                                            

Summertime And The Blueshirts Are Busy, Or Will Be <b>1. </b>Rangers fans have lost a familiar voice now that longtime Blueshirts hockey analyst on many levels, Don LaGreca moves across the Hudson to become the Devils MSG Networks play-by-play guy.

"The party line at the time was that the trade was made to save Middleton’s career, which led one veteran scribe to wonder aloud, 'I guess they don’t have any bars in Boston!'

"But Middleton got his act together both on and off the ice in Boston. He experienced some tough love from Coach Don Cherry, who helped to make Rick, who saw himself as a goal scorer, into a complete two-way player. He went on to string together seven consecutive 30-plus goal seasons, peaking at 51 in 1981-82. In all, Rick averaged over a point a game for the Bruins, scoring 402 goals and adding 496 assists for 898 points in 881 games.

"Middleton fully credits Cherry for helping him become a complete player in Boston. 'Don changed my whole philosophy about hockey. I became a complete player because of Don. I always knew how to carry the puck and play offensive hockey but ‘Grapes’ taught me how to be in the right position and I wouldn’t waste any steps. It’s amazing how things worked out when I learned how to do it his way. Even by back-checking I got a lot of offensive opportunities.'

"Would Middleton have gotten that kind of mentoring in New York, with the Rangers constantly revolving door of managers and coaches? Probably not.

"Meanwhile in New York, Hodge never came close to fulfilling Ferguson’s  expectations. In 96 games over two seasons he scored 23 goals with 45 assists. He was sent to the minors on Thanksgiving Eve 1977 as part of the 'Great Right-Wing Purge,' that also saw the Rangers also jettison Bill Goldsworthy and, sadly, Rod Gilbert.

"It is noteworthy that Rick was such an honored Bostonian that the Bruins retired  Middleton’s #16 sweater on November 29th 2018." Then, a George Grimm pause, grin and further thought: 

"As of this writing, the Rangers are not planning to retire Hodge’s #88!"