Eddie Giacomin
When Eddie Giacomin started playing professional hockey, there were only six teams in the NHL, just six starting goalie slots in the entire league. It took five years of playing in the minors, but Giacomin eventually attracted the attention of the Rangers and Red Wings. New York sent four players (including their starting goalie) to the AHL’s Providence Reds to acquire him.
Giacomin minded the Rangers’ net through the late Sixties and early Seventies, the heart of New York’s years of Cup futility, but he racked up 38 shutouts in five years starting in 1966.
1971 saw Eddie win 27 games, with a 2.16 GAA, and he was awarded the Vezina Trophy, along with teammate Gilles Villemure. Giacomin won a playoff game against the Blackhawks, staying in net even after Bobby Hull’s skate sliced his hand open.
The closest he came to winning a championship was 1972, when the Rangers took Boston to six games in the Finals but fell just short.
In 1976, the Rangers started a purge of higher-priced veterans and waived Giacomin, who was snatched up by the Red Wings. Maybe a coincidence, maybe fate, Detroit’s next game was in Madison Square Garden. That night, New York fans did not hesitate to express their feelings, booing their own team.
The video is awful, but the audio comes through loud and clear, especially at the 1:30 mark):
The Red Wings (and Eddie Giacomin) won that game.
Giacomin retired in 1978 with a record of 289-208-97 and a 2.82 GAA. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987. After Rod Gilbert, Giacomin’s jersey number 1 was the second ever retired by the Rangers.
Current Rangers’ management might want to remember that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and be careful how they treat (and dispose of) one of their most beloved players.