The New York Rangers and the “Miracle on Ice”

As the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice ” nears,  it’s worth remembering  that more than any team in the NHL, the New York Rangers had a special relationship with the 1980 gold medal USA Olympic hockey team.

Herb Brooks, Craig Patrick, Mark Pavelich, Dave Silk, Rob McClanahan and Bill Baker.  Two coaches and four players from that amazing team went on to become New York Rangers.    Furthermore, it was the New York Rangers more than any other team that personified the style of play used by Team USA.

Craig Patrick was the second member of the team to join the New  York Rangers.  He was operations manager and became the youngest general manager in team history in 1981.   Patrick was the man who assembled the mini-Olympic team that went on to play for the Rangers.

In 1981, Patrick hired the man most identified with that team, Herb Brooks, as Rangers coach.  Portrayed by Kurt Russell in the film “Miracle,” Brooks was a larger than life figure who was a master motivator and strategist.

The coach

Brooks coached the Rangers for four years and had the bad luck to be at the helm when the New York Islanders were running roughshod over the NHL.  The Rangers lost to the Islanders in the Stanley Cup playoffs the first three years that Brooks coached the team.

The Brooks-coached teams always won more than they lost and were known for their speed and skill.  Brooks instilled his “system” based on the European style of play that emphasized skating over muscle.

The highlight of Brook’s Ranger career was their three game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in the spring of 1983.   Flyers coach Bob McCammon mocked the Rangers, calling them a “bunch of Smurfs.”

The Rangers responded by beating the Flyers in three straight and knocking them out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

McCammon had a point.  The Blueshirts had nine players 5’10” or under including defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen and forwards Mark Pavelich, Mike Rogers, Robbie Ftorek, Eddie Johnstone, Robby McClanahan, George McPhee, Mike Backman and Pat Conacher.

Rangers fans embraced the nickname, brandishing blue Smurf dolls in the stands.   It was a huge upset as the Flyers had finished first in the Patrick Division with 106 points compared to the Rangers’ 80.

The most bitter postseason for Brooks and the Rangers was their first round loss to the Islanders in 1984.  It was a best of five series and the teams went into the deciding game tied 2-2.   Trailing by a goal and with the goalie pulled, Don Maloney tied the score with only 39 seconds left in the game.  The jubilation was short lived when Ken Morrow, yet another gold medal winner from the  1980 Olympic team scored the winning goal for the Islanders in overtime.

The magic in New York ran out for Brooks in the 1984-85 season and his old friend Craig Patrick had to fire him.  Brooks was a taskmaster and he lost control of the team.  Furthermore, the relationship between Patrick and Brooks had become frayed as their roles had reversed from their time with the Olympic team.

The general manager

Craig Patrick served as Rangers general manager from 1980 to 1986, The Blueshirts made the playoffs every year that he was in charge of the team, but they could never make it past the second round until his final  year when they lost in the Conference Finals.  That season was tumultuous with a full-scale player revolt against coach Ted Sator and that led to Patrick’s dismissal in favor of Phil Esposito.

Patrick went on to become general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup in 1991.  As their GM, he drafted Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc Andre Fleury and is remembered for trading Jaromir Jagr to the Capitals.

The Jagr deal had a Rangers connection as Glen Sather was eager to make a deal for the Czech superstar, but the story was that Patrick still bore a grudge against the Rangers for firing him and made outrageous demands that Sather couldn’t agree to.

Ironically,  Patrick and Brooks patched up their differences and Patrick hired him to coach the Pens in 1999-2000 and he also worked for Patrick as a scout and director of player personnel.

Craig Patrick is the grandson of Lester Patrick, the son of Lynn Patrick and the nephew of Muzz Patrick all legendary New York Rangers.  He is currently still a scout for the Penguins.

The players

Four former Olympians eventually found their way to the New York Rangers.  Only one was actually drafted by the team with the Rangers signing one as a free agent and trading for the other two.

None of them were the biggest names on the Olympic team and a number of other players had longer and more illustrious careers but no other team had more Olympians playing together.

Pavelich, McClanahan and Baker would have never become Rangers if not for Herb Brooks .  The one year all four Olympians played together was 1982-83, the year of the Smurfs and their upset of the Flyers in in the playoffs.  There was magic at Madison Square Garden as this team of underdogs was led by the greatest overachievers of all time.

Mark Pavelich

Considered too small to play in the NHL, Mark Pavelich was playing in Switzerland when  Herb Brooks insisted that the Rangers sign the diminutive forward .  He went on to play five seasons for the Rangers, leading them in goals in 1982-83 and in points in 1983-84.   He scored 133 goals and had 319 points in 341 games.

In his first season he set a team rookie record for points (76) and assists (43)  and  he tied Bill Cook’s rookie record of 33 goals.   His 76 points still stand as the record for points by a Ranger rookie.

Pavelich was also the last Rangers to score five goals in a game.  He did it at home on February 23, 1983 in an 11-3 romp over the Hartford Whalers.  With his five goals he tied the team record set by Don Murdoch in 1976.

Rob McClanahan

Rob McClanahan was a speedy center whose relationship with Herb Brooks started when he played  on the Brooks-coached 1979 NCAA championship University of Minnesota team.  Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1978, after the Olympics he played parts of two seasons with the Sabres before he was claimed on waivers by Hartford.  The Whalers traded him to the Rangers in February 1982 and he played parts of three seasons in New York.

His best season was 1982-83 when he scored 22 goals and had 48 points, reunited with Herb Brooks.  McClanahan was one of the Smurfs that spring and excelled playing again with three former Olympic teammates.

McClanahan is best know as Brooks’ whipping boy whose courage was challenged by the coach when he sustained an injury in the first game of the Olympics against Sweden.  McClanahan returned to the game and ended up the top goal scorer for Team USA in the Olympics with five goals.

Dave Silk

Dave Silk was drafted by the Rangers before the Olympics and was signed by the team weeks after the Olympics were over.  He actually preceded Herb Brooks in New York and he played parts of three seasons with the Rangers before being traded to the Boston Bruins, his childhood dream.

Silk ended up playing professionally for over 11 years with the Rangers, Bruins, Red Wings and Jets, finishing his career in Europe.  His best two seasons were his first two in New York when he scored 14 and 15 goals. Silk is Mike Milbury‘s cousin, something we won’t hold against him.

Bill Baker

Bill Baker’s claim to fame is that he scored the tying goal against Sweden with 27 seconds left in the first game of the 1980 Olympics.  He was on the ice as an extra skater with the goalie pulled and if Baker had not scored, it’s very possible that the results of the Olympics would have been very different.

Baker’s connection to Brooks goes back to the University of Minnesota NCAA championship team in 1979 where he was the team captain.   Drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, Baker bounced from Montreal to Colorado to St. Louis before being reunited with Brooks and this three former Olympics teammates for one season with the Rangers.  He scored four goals and added 14 assists in that one season.

Madison Square Garden

Most people don’t remember, but Madison Square Garden played a crucial role in the year of the Miracle on Ice. On February 9, 1980 the United States Olympic team played the Soviet Olympic team in an exhibition, their last game before the Olympics began.  The Russians absolutely crush Team USA 10-3.

It was reported later that Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov said that the one-sided victory caused his players to underestimate the Americans, a factor that played a role in the upset.