The Big 50: New York Rangers: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Rangers

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Contents

Foreword by Pete Stemkowski

Introduction

1. Mess: The Guarantee ...and Beyond

2. No. 2

3. Matteau, Matteau, Matteau

4. Eddie Returns

5. The Silver Fox

6. Mr. Ranger

7. The King

8. Gentleman Jean

9. Tex

10. The Save

11. 1940

12. The Lone Ranger

13. The Cat

14. Honoring Heroes and Victims

15. 1979

16. Vic

17. Gravy

18. The Cooks

19. Mr. Everything

20. Park Gets Away

21. The Shootout

22. Stemmer

23. The Jagr Years

24. Iron Mike

25. Harry the Horse

26. The Trade

27. The Bulldogs

28. Gresch

29. Farewell No. 99

30. So Close: 1950 Cup Final

31. The Rivalry

32. Mother’s Day

33. Gump

34. The Eel

35. The Beezer and 1986

36. Sarge

37. Slats

38. The Great Outdoors

39. The Cable Guys

40. Zucc

41. The Maloneys

42. Stepping Up

43. The Gaborik Game

44. Cally

45. Jeep

46. Kovy

47. Vets’ Revenge

48. The Great Gadsby

49. Hexy

50. The General

Foreword by Pete Stemkowski

I grew up in Winnipeg, first on the north end, where a lot of Ukrainian people lived. My father was a foundry worker and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. We moved to the west side of town when I was about five.

My brother, who was six years older, took me to the West End Community Center with his friends for my first time on skates. We played outdoors, where it was regularly 10 or 15 degrees below zero, until I was about 10. There was a big stove inside to get warm between periods.

I was always one of the bigger guys. When my mother put something on your plate, you ate all of it. I remember playing football at 13, and the weight limit was 175; I got on the scale and it read 177. The coach made me run around the field twice. I loved hitting and smashing guys and knocking people around. In baseball, I was a catcher because I wanted the ball. I didn’t want to stand around on the field with my hands on my knees doing nothing. That was one of the reasons I played center in hockey; I liked being in on the action as soon as they dropped the puck.

We’d listen to Hockey Night in Canada on the radio. Most of the broadcasts were of Toronto Maple Leafs games. I kind of liked the Rangers back then; I liked their uniforms. But I signed a C form and became Toronto property at 15. The only reason I did is because they gave me 100 bucks.

I played for the Winnipeg Monarchs, and Clark Simpson, the Leafs’ scout for Western Canada, took me to Toronto one weekend to see a Leafs game against the Detroit Red Wings and a Toronto Marlies game.

They wanted me to come to the Marlies, and at 17, I decided to leave home. My family and friends didn’t expect it. The Leafs paid for the plane ticket: 52 bucks. I knew nobody. The coach, Turk Broda, made me race against Duncan McDonald, who was fast, like a Connor McDavid back then. I gave him a good battle and stuck. But I later tore a cartilage in my knee and was sent home.

I went back next season when the Marlies joined the Ontario league. My linemates were Ron Ellis and Wayne Carleton. We all had more than 100 points and won the Memorial Cup, beating the Edmonton Oil Kings. I still bug former Rangers president Glen Sather about that.

When I finally got to the Leafs, they were winning, but they were stacked with veterans: Don Cherry, Al Arbour, Bronco Horvath, Eddie Litzenberger, Red Armstrong. I was making about $5,500 a year. They all called me Big Kid. Arbour and Cherry were particularly good to me.

In 1966, we were floundering, and coach Punch Imlach, who was a tyrant, was hospitalized. King Clancy, the assistant general manager, filled in. He put me between Jim Pappin and Bob Pulford. He tempered down the practices, and we won the Cup.

When I got traded to Detroit with Pete Mahovlich and Garry Unger, it gave me some good experience. I played with Gordie Howe, and just to be able to talk to him and Alex Delvecchio and Sid Abel was an education. They brought in Ned Harkness to coach, and he didn’t like me. I didn’t like him, either—not many players did—but I loved Detroit and didn’t want to come to New York.

I flew in to LaGuardia and was taken to Il Vagabondo, a restaurant on 62nd Street. Walter Tkaczuk and the guys were there, and we went to Long Beach on the Island, where most players lived during the season. We practiced in New Hyde Park until Emile Francis got Long Beach to build an arena. I moved into a house with Mike Robitaille, who had a spare bedroom. Somebody once asked me why my penalties were going up; I just never got used to driving in New York traffic.

Eventually I got into the groove and it worked out really well. In fact, I still live in Long Beach.

I played on some really good teams and have a million stories.

Years after my third-overtime goal in Game 6 of the 1971 Cup semifinals, people tell me they remember where they were. A lot of kids were in bed listening on transistor radios. I remember a guy telling me he was listening in his car, parked in front of the Garden, when he ran in and stayed until the finish. He came out afterward and his car was gone. He went to get it at the tow pound, and he told the cop his story. Really, you saw the goal? the cop asked. He threw him the keys and said, No charge.

That’s New York for ya.

—Pete Stemkowski

Introduction

In February 2018, when the New York Rangers brass suddenly announced a sweeping rebuild, fans braced for a long haul. 

An impressive string of Stanley Cup playoff appearances, beginning in 2005–06 and led by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, would fade into memory, to rest with others in the archives.

As the saying goes, Fortune favors the bold, or "Audentes fortuna iuvat," as first written by Virgil, the Roman poet.

But in the NHL, no one can accurately predict how long any significant re-engineering—which in this case included shedding valuable pieces (Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, J.T. Miller) and hiring a new coach (David Quinn)—might take.

In an evolving sport that shares scars and speed nightly, a season’s grind is all too real, as are the intangibles.

One element of future success appears to be for teams to find and nurture a bevy of draftees and prospects acquired via trade (Blueshirts forwards Vitali Kravtsov, Brett Howden, Filip Chytil, and Brendan Lemieux; defenseman K’Andre Miller; and goaltender Igor Shesterkin) and blend in some stars.

Perhaps those youngsters and their teammates will generate recollections and celebrations reminiscent of those recounted in these pages, a chronicle that spans almost a century of peaks and valleys, of fortune and futility.

No guarantees, though.

As many of us who, for decades, have enjoyed the games from the ice, stands, and press boxes know: in the end, you need talent and some puck luck.

Thanks for reading.

1. Mess: The Guarantee ...and Beyond

The path was long, but in his willful way, The Messiah delivered.

After 54 years without lifting the Stanley Cup, naturally there were doubters in the Rangers fan base and elsewhere—for good reason.

Despite rosters that had boasted future Hall of Famers and individual trophy winners, when it came to crunch time, the valiant Blueshirts fell by the wayside.

In those five-plus decades of drought, the Blueshirts did not claim the ultimate reward, gazing from the sidelines as the curtain fell early and late, and watching opponents celebrating.

In fact, the Rangers too often were a Broadway flop, missing the postseason completely 24 times: six years in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s; three years in the ’90s; twice in the ’70s; and once in the ’80s. The Rangers had come close to snapping the streak, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1979, 1972, and 1950. A combination of injuries, unfortunate bounces, overtime goals, and maybe even a couple curses had undercut those opportunities.

Yet the jeers and taunts of Nine-teen-forty!, the date marking the long-ago last championship, burned and refused to fade.

It wasn’t until center Mark Messier, carrying a stick, a stare, and the rep as a leader during the Edmonton Oilers’ dynasty, arrived in Gotham with the mission of taking the franchise to the mountaintop that there was a sliver of hope among the devoted and battered.

Like New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath’s prediction of a Super Bowl upset or New York Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson powering three homers in a World Series game, Rangers followers needed a warrior, a legitimate sports hero to finally carry the day. A Braveheart.

As it turned out, Messier stood tall on the ultimate stage, with his team on the precipice of dreams. He provided, as the Rolling Stones had sung about many years prior, an emotional rescue for current and former Rangers—and tortured fans.

With his effort, counsel, and snarl, The Captain launched a legacy that has been replayed on film countless times, retold in a million words, and cherished by fans before and after the spring of 1994.

Guided by Messier, Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, and Sergei Zubov, the Rangers had marched through the regular season with 112 points and a Presidents’ Trophy. But drama rumbled through the final 14 playoff games. The farther along, the greater the tension.

Whether you call him The Messiah, The Moose, or Mess, Mark Messier wore the C for the Rangers for 10 total seasons.

Messier, the five-time Cup winner who had arrived from the West in October 1991, had kept the ship level for two years, and in 1993–94, new head coach Mike Keenan demanded trades and general manager Neil Smith executed them.

But it was Mess the veteran and some of his former Oilers—Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Esa Tikkanen, Graves—who instilled confidence and kept everyone on their toes, especially in the classic seven-game semifinal against the New Jersey Devils and the ensuing Final against the Vancouver Canucks.

The New York Islanders first bowed out easily in four games by a combined score of 22–3. The Washington Capitals were down 0–3 in as many games before they salvaged one, as the Rangers’ talent and depth rolled on.

After a week’s layoff, the Blueshirts were not sharp at home in Game 1 and blew leads of 1–0, 2–1, and 3–2 as Claude Lemieux’s goal with less than 1:00 left in regulation with Martin Brodeur on the bench sent the match into overtime. Stephane Richer’s goal on a rush at 15:23 in the second session provided New Jersey with the win.

Game 2 reflected Messier’s will to rebound. He scored first, skated hard, and lit the fuse. The Rangers were back on their game, outshooting the Devils 41–16 and cruising to a 4–0 win.

Messier took the game into his hands and took control, Graves told reporters. Only he can do it like that…. He took over, and everyone followed.

In a nasty Game 3 at the Meadowlands, with the crowd divided and raucous, the sides clashed for 60 minutes to a 2–2 draw. On the 50th shot of the night, Stephane Matteau cashed in a rebound when a shot hit Scott Stevens in front for a 2–1 series lead.

The Devils scored twice early in Game 4, chasing Richter, and Glen Healy came on in relief. A miscommunication between him and Alexander Karpovtsev opened the door for the final goal in a 3–1 loss.

So, it was 2–2 going into Game 5. Bernie Nicholls scored twice on Mike Richter in a 4–1 win to put the Blueshirts on the brink. Jeff Beukeboom knocked Stephane Richer out of the game, and the Rangers defenseman was suspended for Game 6.

A concerned Messier felt that his mates needed confidence going back to New Jersey, and when he faced the media, his own confidence surfaced. Asked Are you going to win tomorrow? Messier answered: Of course. Next question: You guarantee it? Answer: Yes.

The New York Post headline read We’ll Win Tonight.

Messier truly thought the Rangers had the team to win that year. But he had one regret. I thought that if they got up in the morning and saw that I believed we could beat them, it would be a great way to help us with our confidence. It was a little underestimation on my part that 20 million other New Yorkers and the New Jersey Devils would read it, too.

The locker room was tense before the game, according to players, and it showed. The Devils led 2–0 for almost 40:00. Richter was keeping them in. But suddenly, things turned. Messier dropped a pass for Alex Kovalev, who beat Brodeur 1:41 before the second intermission.

In the third period, Messier walked the walk. In a virtuoso individual performance, he tied the score at 2:48, put the Rangers ahead at 12:12 on a rebound, and slid a 165-foot shot into the empty net for a hat trick and a 4–2 win. Mess had kept them alive.

As unbelievable as it seemed, Game 7 was another epic. Valeri Zelepukin’s tying goal with 7.7 ticks left forced overtime at the Garden after Leetch had provided the lone goal. Matteau’s improbable double-overtime goal ended it.

The road to glory doesn’t get any easier, Messier warned. The Canucks, behind Kirk McLean’s 52 saves, squeezed out Game 1 in overtime 3–2. Messier assisted on Glenn Anderson’s short-hander to put the Blueshirts ahead in Game 2, which Leetch wrapped up with an empty-netter. Leetch scored twice in Game 3, and Messier kept the club focused for Game 4, when Richter put on a show.

Game 5 was a disaster for Richter and the Rangers, who may have taken their foot off the gas. In the third period, the Canucks scored three straight goals, busting a 3–3 tie and sending the series back to the Pacific Coliseum, where the younger Canucks took Game 6 with another two-goal third.

It was No. 11’s time to shine again.

Messier scored what would be the Cup-deciding tally—his 12th of the playoffs—for a 3–1 lead on a second-period power play in Game 7.

The beaming captain, cackling with laughter, hoisted the elusive trophy before a delirious crowd for an iconic photo, worthy of a difference-maker who changed the identity of the Rangers, and more importantly, the culture.

It’s just about trying to help people realize their potential and figure out how to motivate them, because everybody grew up in a different lifestyle and with a different set of circumstances. Everybody’s got a different trigger point, Messier explained in John Kreiser’s book The Wait Is Over: The New York Rangers and the 1994 Stanley Cup.

You have to get to know the players on a deeper level, he said. Without that, you’re just another teammate, another hockey player who really doesn’t understand them. In the end, they have to know that the only thing that matters to both of you is ultimately trying to find a way to win.

On This Date: November 6, 1995

Mark Messier became the 21st player in NHL history to score 500 goals when he got three in a 4–2 victory against the Calgary Flames at Madison Square Garden. His 21st hat trick came against Rick Tabaracci at 12:32 of the third period.

a stirring sendoff

Mark Messier always did things on his own terms. That included what turned out to be his final NHL game in an illustrious 25-year career.

The Rangers didn’t win that night at Madison Square Garden—March 31, 2004—but The Captain who led the Blueshirts to their first Stanley Cup 10 years earlier had a stirring send-off.

Messier, at 43, skating in his 1,756th NHL game, scored his 694th goal with 56.3 seconds left in the first period. It was a backhander off a rebound of a shot by rookie Josef Balej for the team’s first goal in what ended as a 4–3 Sabres victory. It was his 18th goal of the season and 1,887th point.

The sold-out crowd at the Rangers’ final home game of the season, which included Messier’s family, provided a standing ovation during warm-ups and chanted Messier, Messier in the third period.

During the last 1:00, Messier saved an empty-net goal by blocking a shot. With a half-second remaining, he took his final faceoff.

As a helmetless Messier, who was voted first star, circled the ice, waving to the fans, all the players remained on the ice, tapping sticks in tribute.

This hasn’t snuck up on me, he said. I’ve been thinking about it for the last month. To try and fit in 25 years and all of the great moments into one night is a little tough.

2. No. 2

No. 2 is really 1. Or at least, 1A.

If there is an overwhelming consensus that Mark Messier is the most influential Ranger ever, a solid case can be made that Brian Leetch, who has the numbers and longevity, is the best Ranger ever.

Rod Gilbert has the stats and longevity as well. If Henrik Lundqvist ever wins a Cup, he’ll be in the running.

There should be no argument that Leetch, with his Calder Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, two Norris Trophies, and Stanley Cup, is the best Blueshirt defenseman and best-ever American-born blueliner. The only other NHL icon with that hardware quartet is Bobby Orr.

Whether it was courtesy for an acolyte or not, Messier, who changed the arc of the franchise in 1993–94 and made his teammates, including Leetch, better, did call Leetch the greatest Ranger of all time. You can look it up.

Leetch, a prototypical offensive defenseman, was undoubtedly the most valuable first-round draft pick in the 90-plus-year history of the franchise. Selected ninth overall in 1986, he didn’t explode on the scene until age 20. In 1988–89, he scored 23 goals and 71 points in 68 games, and ran away with the rookie of the year award, outdistancing Joe Sakic and teammate Tony Granato.

Then there was the Norris in 1991–92. The competition that year was Ray Bourque, Phil Housley, Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy, and Chris Chelios. At 23, he was the first U.S. defenseman to break 100 points, and took 65 of the 69 first-place votes.

No wonder: he produced 80 assists, just behind L.A.’s Wayne Gretzky and Penguins center Mario Lemieux, and 102 points in 80 games.

When the Blueshirts busted the 54-year dry spell, Leetch collected 11 goals and 23 assists in 23 playoff games and was named playoff MVP.

He was the first American winner and only the fifth blueliner to garner that recognition since the voting began in 1965. The other defensemen? Orr (1970, 1972), Montreal’s Serge Savard (1968) and Larry Robinson (1978), and Calgary’s Al MacInnes (1989).

Numbers don’t always tell the story in sports, but in this case, they are formidable.

In 17 years with the Rangers—before a much-maligned trade to the Maple Leafs near the end of the 2004–05 season for prospects Maxim Kondratiev and Jarkko Immonen, a first-round pick that became Lauri Korpikoski, and a second-round selection (Michael Sauer)—Leetch registered 240 goals and 741 assists for 981 points in 1,129 games.

In his time on Broadway, Brian Leetch collected a Calder Trophy, a Conn Smythe Trophy, two Norris Trophies, and a Stanley Cup.

Those 741 helpers are the most in franchise history, and only Gilbert is ahead of him on the all-time team scoring list. In 82 playoff games with the Rangers, he had 28 goals and 89 points, more than one a game.

On January 24, 2008, when Leetch’s No. 2 was retired at Madison Square Garden, another famous New York athlete, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, appeared on video to offer congratulations from one No. 2 to another. Jeter, of course, was part of four World Series winners.

A year later, Leetch, No. 8 on the all-time scoring list for defensemen,