Continue Down Memory Lane

For some reason my recollection of the early years is far more concise than the seasons in the 70's and 80's. The loss of Andy Bathgate was devastating to me. Why get rid of the top gun for a load of garbage? In my mind, anything short of  Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, would have been garbage for Bathgate. Go get the role players that would have helped Andy and the team. Instead Andy immediately helped Toronto to a Stanley Cup championship in 1964. He had 5 goals and 4 assists in Toronto's 14 game Cup run that year. Andy won the Hart Trophy in 1958-59 and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.

The 1970's, The Almost Years.

Emile Francis was in full control and there was optimism in the air for Ranger fans. Francis was fiery and a shrewd tactician. The team was loaded with the GAG line, goal-a-game, led by Ratelle, Gilbert and Hatfield. They had strong goaltending in Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure. They had a Hall Of Famer D-man in Brad Park. Both the Bruins and the Flyers were too tough for this team and there was the shameful incident of the Flyers' Dave Schultz beating up the Rangers' Dale Rolfe without a single Ranger jumping in. Amazing how that trait has prevailed since the 40's. Midway through the decade, Francis started to change the team. He traded Villemure to Chicago for Doug Jarrett. They lost their heart when Eddie Giacomin was claimed off waivers by Detroit. It set up the spectacle of Giacomin returning to New York, with the fans chanting "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" and rooting for the Red Wings to beat the Rangers. They did. With the heart gone the Rangers then traded their soul when they sent Brad Park along with Jean Ratelle to Boston for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais. Along with new coach Fred Shero and acquired goalie John Davidson the Rangers made it to the Cup finals in 1979 only to lose to Montreal, 4 games to 1. The 70's were also the turbulent years.

The 1980's, The Spectator Years.

The Rangers were spectators in the 80's as the Islanders with four straight Cups and Edmonton with four out of five Cups vied for supremacy. The Rangers vied to stay relevant. They went through six coaches in eight years. A lot of Ranger fans, especially those on Long Island, decided to become Ranger fans. They lasted all of four years, or was it five? The highlight of the year was coach Phil Esposito, yes I said coach, decked out in a tuxedo for a New Year's Eve game. Yes, the Rangers were spectators in the 1980's, but dressed to the nines.

The 1990's, The Messiah Arrives and the Drought Ends.

Roger Neilson took over the reins and with the addition, first of Bernie Nicholls and then of the great Messiah, Mark Messier, who was obtained in a trade for Nichols, the Rangers soared and actual won the President's Cup. Messier didn't like the team's performance in the playoffs and he demanded that GM Neil Smith replace coach Neilson. Smith did with the abrasive, obnoxious Mike Keenan who had been ridden out of every city he had coached in. He finally won a Cup, actually Mark Messier won it and Keenan promptly left for greener pastures, which never developed. Keenan was and is an opportunist. Mark Messier was and is a leader. In my opinion Mark Messier is the greatest team captain in the history of all sports. So the drought was over and the Rangers moved on.

The 2000's, Back To The Past.

The Rangers sank back to the past with the arrival of the Stealth GM who ensured the failure of the team with a succession of bad trades and free agent signings. Lindros, Bure, Fluerry, Robitalle, Nedved, Kaminsky, Gomez, Redden, and ad nausem... If once they were great then the Rangers wanted them. There were four playoff appearances in the 2000's with two first round wins. We progressed from a clueless coach to a disagreeable coach with very little progress.
The Present.

Right now we are riding high. However, the tough part is still ahead. We currently look like the 70's teams. Talented, gritty, but just not tough enough. Tough is what you need to make a playoff run. The good news is that there is still time to get the role players needed to make that run. That's what is needed to make a strong run. Let's see if the Stealth and disagreeable are up to it.

So I (we) will move on. The beauty of this blog is that friendships are still developing. Since I've been blogging I have touched, and been touched, by the likes of Section 335, Scotty Hockey, the Dark Ranger, the Hockey Rodent, My Blue Heaven, Garden Ice, Hockey Talk, and Inside Hockey. Also, I must thank Down By The Seaside, Wes, jb, the many anonymous commenters, and the thousands of others who have stopped by and partook of the pundit. Again my sincere thanks.

But, it won't end soon. There is another 1,000 posts still to be published. There are a thousand more faceoffs, shots on goal, hits, saves, losses, wins, and testy news conferences to "enjoy." And we, here at the Pundit and the other Rangers blogs will keep all the participants honest, something the blame stream media won't do, or refuses to follow up on.

So thanks for the memories people, sorry Bob. It's a fun thing to do and it is more fun to exchange barbs with each other. The Rangers are not my life, but they have been a big part of it. Exasperating at times, but always entertaining and interesting. Keep those cards and letters coming and Let's Go Rangers!

Down Memory Lane

Reaching the 1,000th post milestone kind of jogged my memory, no old age jokes please, to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit a few highlights and many more disappointments. It's hard to imagine a day in my life without a thought, a smile or a frown about the New York Rangers. It's a voyage that is not a solo trip. It involved family, my wife, my children and now my three grandchildren. It also involved in-laws and especially jb. This Rangers' journey included many friends and co-workers, who I have dragged along, some almost willingly. To all of them, especially my grandkids, I offer my deepest apologies for fostering this malady upon them. While there have been smiles and successes, there have been more frowns, disappointments and failures over the years.

And don't forget the fans. The many, many fans who suffered through the same misadventures that this franchisee, however lovable, has foisted on us. They say that to truly enjoy the fruits of after life that one must first go through trials and tribulations. If this be true then the Rangers are our Purgatory, so all Ranger fans have a one way ticket to Paradise. I think of Larry and Sal, who sit behind us in section 337. My Italian friend across the aisle and his wonderful family and the many other fans who I have crossed paths over the years, but due to some circumstances beyond my control I may have forgotten their names, but not their faces.

And then the players. I have been very fortunate to have met some players over the years and all of them have been beyond gracious. And some of them in the most curious places. Like meeting Gump Worsley in a Minnesota hotel bar many years ago and sharing a libation or two together. Hot Rod Gilbert, who zipped by me many times in the LIRR station and shouting out, "Hi buddy" almost every time and finally meeting him and talking with him in a luxury box on a night they raised Mike Richter's number to the rafters. The phone call from Adam Graves when he called to inquire about my health and wished me well. God bless you Adam. There was Jeff Beukeboom, during an intermission, sheepishly denying my claim that he would be better on defense than the comics parading as D-men on the Rangers. Then there was Sean Avery, taking the time to crash my 80th birthday party despite a busy charity events schedule. And of course, the Stealth GM. We had met a few times before, always pleasant I might add, until that ill fated night when neither one of us was in the mood to be civil.

The 1930's, the formative years.

I became a Ranger fan by way of radio station WHN 1050 on the dial. Now ESPN radio. The Ranger games were done by Bert Lee and the station had the legendary Marty Glickman as one of its sportscasters. Marty was a great basketball announcer. The station also had big band music so it was a natural for me. The Rangers were loaded with historic names: Phil Watson, Lynn and Muzz Patrick, Alfie Pike and the fabulous Dave Kerr in goal. They would form the nucleus for the Cup in 1940.

The 1940's, the War Years.

Little did I realize that winning the Cup would lead to one of the most frustrating droughts in the history of sports. We had won in 1938, came back in 1940 and it looked like a dynasty was forming. Then came World War II. Players were being drafted into the Canadian armed forces. Almost all the players were Canadians. But they had curious rules. Phil Watson was drafted and assigned to Montreal. In its wisdom the NHL allowed Watson to play for the Canadiens. He played the 43-44 season with the Canadiens before returning to the Rangers. Toward the end of the decade the Rangers rebuilt with Edgar Laprade, Buddy O'Connor, Bones Raleigh and future Hall Of Famer, goalie Chuck Rayner. It was the team that made the spirited run in 1950.

The 1950's, that dreaded crossbar. Who is Peter Babando?

A magnificent run almost brought Cup number four home. Game seven in OT Bones Raleigh hits the crossbar and the Red Wings come down and Peter Babando scores the goal that gives the Red Wings the Cup. All seven games were on the road. The Rangers played two 'home games' in Toronto. The Rangers were evicted from the Garden because the circus was in town. To some fans, considering the performance after this disappointment, the circus never left. Two big events in this decade. I spent four years in the USAF 1951-1955 and Andy Bathgate arrived in the '52-'53 season. Starting with 1955-56 he led the Rangers in scoring for eight straight seasons. No other Ranger before or since has ever done that.

The 1960's, Bathgate goes North.

In the 1963-64 season the Rangers traded Andy Bathgate to Toronto and the Ranger drought hit epic proportions. They raised the white flag and surrender. In four playoff appearances they won four games. They had players like Worsley, Doug Harvey, Harry Howell and Bathgate, but no cigar. Emile Francis would start his coaching run which almost produced results in the 1970's. Almost.

To be continued...

And It Goes Like This...

There are more than a dozen version of "Moves Like Jagr" on YouTube. Most of them just take old video clips of Jaromir Jagr and overlay the Maroon 5/Adam Levine/Christina Aguilera hit Moves Like Jagger.

However, this very recent version of "Moves Like Jagr" by Broken Ride and King Dylan is the most original and funny Jagr/Jagger parody that we have come across.