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New York Rangers goalies revisited: The Cup winners

By Brett Schultz

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 06: Former New York Ranger Mike Richter attends Sheraton Hotels & Resorts presents the NHL Stanley Cup with former New York Ranger Mike Richter at Sheraton New York Times Square on May 6, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 06: Former New York Ranger Mike Richter attends Sheraton Hotels & Resorts presents the NHL Stanley Cup with former New York Ranger Mike Richter at Sheraton New York Times Square on May 6, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts) /
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JUNE 11, 1994: Mike Richter #35 of the New York Rangers during Game 6 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals (Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images) /

For a franchise that started almost a hundred years ago, the New York Rangers have a surprisingly small club of goalies who brought home a Stanley Cup.

As we continue our look at New York Rangers goalies of the past, it’s time to profile the elite, the handful that won hockey’s Holy Grail. The Blueshirts entered the NHL in the 1926-27 season and it didn’t take them long to become league champions.  What’s interesting is three goaltenders were needed to win that first Stanley Cup.

Lorne Chabot played in the NHL from 1926 to 1937, won the Vezina Trophy in 1935, and was a member of two Cup-winning teams.

He was the goalie who took the 1927-28 Rangers to a championship in only their second year of existence, though it didn’t come without drama. And a few elephants. The circus had already booked Madison Square Garden, forcing the Rangers to play their Finals games in Montreal, though the Bruins did offer to let New York ‘host’ home games in Boston.

In Game 2 of the Finals against the Montreal Maroons, a shot from Nels Steward hit Chabot in the eye, taking him out of the playoffs. This was the catalyst for 44-year-old coach Lester Patrick taking over in goal as the Rangers won 2-1 in overtime. It’s a New York sports legend right up there with Willis Reed’s surprise Game 7 appearance in the 1970 NBA Finals for the Knicks.

The Rangers had to borrow a goalie from the New York Americans, Joe “Red Light” Miller, for the next three games, winning two of them, and their initial championship. They were the first non-Canadian team to win the Cup, and the only road team to clinch a title in the Montreal Forum until 1989.

Ironically enough, Chabot won his second Stanley Cup when he led the 1931-32 Toronto Maple Leafs to the finals. The opponent they beat? The New York Rangers.

Lorne Chabot trivia:

The Rangers sometimes listed Chabot as Lorne “Chabotsky”, trying to draw more Jewish fans.

Chabot played in the two longest games in NHL history, a pair of six-overtime, 1-0 marathons, winning one and losing one.

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