All the Rangers needed was one goal to win the 1950 Stanley Cup. It was Game Seven of the Final Round, double overtime against the Detroit Red Wings. The vital face-off was deep in the Blueshirts zone. Edgar Laprade, New York's veteran center, was about to take the draw. Stan Fischler US Hall Of Fame MSG But wait! A last-second change was made. Buddy O'Connor skated out for the decisive draw instead of Laprade. Detroit's center George Gee of Detroit detected the change and moved his wing man, Pete Babando back by five feet. Gee then easily won the draw, slid the puck to Babando whose shot just barely flew by goalie Chuck Rayner's outstretched pad. Cup to the Red Wings, not New York. Had Laprade remained in the face-off circle, he very well might have beaten Gee and the Rangers might have counterattacked and won The Stanley Cup. For decades, The Maven has researched the play and only now – purely by accident – I picked up an old book and found the answer – in the culprit's own words. No, it wasn't coach Lynn Patrick who made the switch and not O'Connor nor Laprade. But in Dick Irvin's "The Habs," a super oral history of the Montreal Canadiens – of all places – I found the answer on Page 67. The confession was made by New York's magnificent Hall of Fame goalie, Charlie Rayner. Here's how he explained it: "I kind of blame myself. Laprade was one of our best centers and he had been on the ice for a long time. I thought he looked tired, So I told (defenseman) Frankie Eddolls that maybe they should take Edgar off the ice. "Eddolls went to (coach) Lynn Patrick and the next thing I saw Laprade was going off and Buddy O'Connor was coming on. Poor Buddy. He lost the face-off and they scored. Maybe if I'd kept my mouth shut I might have won a Stanley Cup!"
