This will seem ridiculous to young Rangers fans and likely some of the older ones as well. I kid you not when I point out that when the Rangers won Stanley Cups in 1928, 1933 and 1940, they could not enjoy a home ice advantage. They had to skate on the road and it was all because of elephants, lions, tigers and trapeze artists. "The problem," said Frank Boucher who played on the first two cup-winners and coached the third, "was that the old Madison Square Garden considered the Ringling Brothers' Circus its biggest and most lucrative attraction. Stan Fischler On Rangers Cup Chances "So, when it came playoff time, we had to play our 'home' games on the road and there was nothing we could do about it. The elephants and their cohorts ruled The Garden box office. When the clowns arrived, we took our games on the road." When the Blueshirts won their first Cup in 1928 against the Montreal Maroons, all games were played at The Forum in the Canadian metropolis. In 1932 and 1940 the New Yorkers captured Lord Stanley's mug at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. It was a Blueshirts fan hardship, to be sure – there was no tv then – but the citizens of Rangerville got to grin and bear it. By far the worst case scenario unfolded in 1950 when Boucher's team took the Red Wings to seven games of the Cup Final before capitulating in double overtime. Boucher: "That spring the league did us a big 'favor,'" Boucher recalled. "They granted us two what they called 'home games' at Maple Leaf Gardens. The remaining five contests were played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit and that's where they beat us." It wasn't until the present Garden opened in 1968 that the Blueshirts were able to compete in New York even when the circus was in town. New techniques had been devised so that the Rangers could have their playoff games on off-nights while the elephants and pals had a brief respite. And that explains why – in 1994 – Mark Messier lifted the Stanley Cup in The World's Most Famous Arena and not somewhere on the road! It could happen in The Gotham again next month only with captain Jacob Trouba doing the heavy lifting while Messier watches from the press row upstairs in his new gig as a TV hockey guru. But, first things first; eight more playoff games must be won!
