Artemi is The Man who has done more to make the Rangers the NHL's most dominant team than either McDavid in Edmonton, or Matthews in Toronto.
I STAND CORRECTED!
The other day The Maven stated that there's no way that Artemi Panarin can possibly win The Hart Trophy as the National Hockey League's most valuable player.
As I noted -- and believed that it was reasonable thinking -- the power of the Canadian media would manage to push either Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews to The Hart.
Or maybe even Nate MacKinnon or Nikita Kucherov. They all made sense although I insisted -- and still do -- that The Breadman is more valuable than any of the other heroes.
Plus, Artemi is The Man who has done more to make the Rangers the NHL's most dominant team than either McDavid in Edmonton, or Matthews in Toronto.
But The Maven is not called "historian" for nothing.
After writing that Panarin never could beat those media odds, we did some major league research and -- guess what? -- we found the answer to how to thrust the Blueshirts ace over Breadman's earnest competition.
It goes back to the 1949-50 season and, specifically the Rangers and -- even more specifically -- their goalie Chuck (Bonnie Prince Charlie) Rayner.
Put it this way, if Charlie Rayner could beat the odds and win the Hart Trophy so could Panarin. Just follow the Rayner Hart Trail.
In some ways Rayner enjoyed a good season 74 years ago. He finished with a 2.62 goals against average and produced six shutouts. Yet his team finished under .500 (28-30-11).
But the Rangers managed to squeeze into fourth place although they were 21 points behind first place Detroit and ten behind runner-up Montreal.
"Still," said George Grimm, author of Guardians of the Goal -- A History of Rangers Goalies Through The Years, "Rayner more than earned the title of 'Franchise Goaltender.'"
Keep in mind, that during the six-team NHL, the lobbying for Hart happened during the playoffs (now all votes are in before the playoffs).
He reinforced the Franchise Goaltender title during the first playoff round by out-goaling Montreal's multi-Vezina Trophy-winner Bill Durnan, helping oust the heavily-favored Canadiens in five playoff games.
"That's when I started thinking that Charlie had a chance for the Hart," Rangers publicist Stan Saplin later told me. "I knew it would be a longshot-of-all longshots, but I wanted to see what Rayner would do in the Cup Final."
Those were the days when -- every single spring since the start of the franchise -- that the Blueshirts were booted out of old Madison Square Garden by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
If the Final series went the full seven games, five would be played at Detroit's Olympia Stadium and two Rangers "home" games would be played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Since the Blueshirts finished miles (21 points) behind Detroit, all the writerscovering the Final figured that New York would be out in four straight games. Yes, the Red Wings did win the opener but Rayner's superior goaltending helped tie the series.
Saplin: "Once we beat Montreal in the first round, I got my 'Hart For Charlie" campaign going full-blast. Those were the days of the six-team NHL so I didn't have many writers to deal with; probably a dozen or so. And, on off days when we were in Toronto, we New York guys got friendly with the Toronto media.
"They loved the Rangers because we were such underdogs, couldn't even play on our home rink and we had very likeable personalities. Best of all was Chuck in goalwho loved to schmooze with the press. That's when I did my informal poll."
Saplin innocently chatted it up with all the NHL award voters and found that Rayner was only one vote short of winning the MVP prize. That vote belonged to a hockey writer on the Toronto Telegram -- my recollection is Bob Hesketh -- and Stan began lobbying The Tely guy.
"I touted Charlie's great play," Saplin explained. "We didn't have a single scorer among the top fifteen in the league but Rayner's six shutouts got us into the playoffs and he was great while knocking out the Canadiens. And now he was close to booting out the Wings.
"The Toronto writer listened to every word I told him and came back later and told me, 'I've thought it over and I'm voting for Rayner."
That did it. Not that it mattered but at the end of the seven-game playoff, but Rayner finished with a 2.25 goals against average. Shortly thereafter he was confirmed as only the second goalie in NHL history -- Roy Worters of the Americans was the first --to win the Hart.
"When I congratulated Charlie for getting the MVP prize," chuckled Saplin, "I thought to myself that he should have congratulated me!"
Saplin soon found Rayner playing cards with teammates.
Saplin: "Chuck! Chuck! YOU WON THE HART!"
Amazingly, Rayner was so absorbed in the card game that he looked up, said, "Great!" and returned to the Poker game!
As for The Breadman MVP campaign, we have thirty-two -- not six -- teams to deal with and that means a lot more scribes to lobby in the manner that Saplin did in 1950 for Rayner.
The following are the Panarin points to emphasize.
1. He means more to the Rangers success than McDavid to the Oilers or Matthews to the Leafs.
2. Breadman leads the Rangers in goals (43). That's ten more red lights than Chris Kreider.
3. Artemi leads the Rangers in assists (59). That's eleven more than runner-up Adam Fox.
4. He leads the team in total points (102) 30 more than Trocheck.
5. Panarin now is as feared by the foe because he's dynamic, dangerous, defense-minded -- and indefatigable, to boot.
6. Breadman's team -- thanks to Breadman -- is better than those of his competition; last I checked, No. 1 in the NHL.
Stats and assorted other facts bolster the case but they do not necessarily put it over the top.
For example, spanning eight NHL seasons, Rayner never played for a Rangers team that was over the .500 mark. Yet, he was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Skill played a large part in the voting as well as personality. "Rayner became a fan favorite with his acrobatic style and courageous play," added Grimm.
And he also had PR ace Stan Saplin firmly in his Hart corner.
Panarin got a Hart boost the other day from the New York Post's insightful beat writer Mollie Walker. This followed Breadman's hat trick that made the Bruins nauseous.
Walker: "Panarin not only has been at the heart of one of the most lethal lines in the NHL, but he's been a playmaking force in a way that has dazzled on a game by game basis." Then, a pause: "He's why the Rangers can keep up with the elite scoring teams."
Stan Saplin couldn't have said it better!