New York Rangers teams that (somehow) didn’t win the Stanley Cup

The New York Rangers have won four Stanley Cups in their storied history.  Three came in their first 14 seasons.  The fourth took another 54 years to arrive.  With any luck and better timing, the waiting for the Blueshirts and their faithful might have been much shorter.

As time expired in the seventh and final game of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, so too did the torture for New York Rangers fans. For the first time in 54 years, the Rangers had finally earned the privilege of hoisting the Cup. “Now I can die in peace!” was an understatement.

The journey from the Rangers’ third NHL championship in 1940 to their fourth in 1994, was akin to a roller coaster ride for their players and fans. There were moments of joy and periods of heartbreak.

However, with better luck and timing, that journey could’ve been far shorter.

Several Rangers teams came thisclose to bringing the Cup back to Broadway, but were denied for various reasons.

This is the first  in a series looking back at those teams.

1972

Unquestionably one of hockey’s all-time best teams, these Rangers boasted one of the game’s most potent scoring lines, a Vezina-winning goaltending tandem, and the league’s second-best defenseman.

There were five future Hall of Famers on that roster in Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Brad Park and Glen Sather.  (Yes, Glen Sather, a forward on the 1972 team, though he was elected to the Hall of Fame as a builder who won five Stanley Cups as the Edmonton Oilers coach and general manager.)

The Rangers finished the regular season with a 48-17-13 record for 109 points, ten points behind the first-place Boston Bruins and one ahead of the Montreal Canadiens.

In 78 regular-season games, the Blueshirts set franchise records for fewest losses (17), most road wins (22), road points (50), goals (317), goals on the road (144), short-handed goals (14), and penalty minutes (1,008).

The Rangers didn’t accomplish all that because of two or three players. They had seven 20-goal scorers, including the trio of Ratelle, Gilbert and Vic Hadfield, who became known as the G-A-G line (goal a game).

Walt Tkaczuk, Bobby Rousseau and Bill Fairbairn provided depth up front, each scoring more than 20 goals. Defenseman Brad Park was second only to Bobby Orr, while goalies Giacomin and Gilles Villemure were still strong a year after they shared Vezina honors.

Many players reset the franchise’s benchmarks for single-season achievements.

Ratelle produced 109 points and 63 assists. Hadfield became the franchise’s first player to score 50 goals, while his 56 apples were the most by a left wing. Gilbert scored 43 times, tops by a right wing.

Park established benchmarks for goals (24), assists (49) and points (73) by a defenseman. Tkaczuk posted five helpers in one game, Fairbairn tied team-record with four short-handed tallies.

Even Giacomin set a scoring standard for Rangers goalies with three assists.

The Rangers seemed to have everything a club needs to win the Stanley Cup. Scoring. Depth. Strong goaltending. However, they didn’t have Bobby Orr, whose sheer brilliance, alone, determined the outcome of some games.

Second to Orr and the Bruins would dog the Rangers throughout the season and through the Stanley Cup Finals. (As would a bad break in the regular-season’s final month.)

Every member of the G-A-G line finished among the league’s top five in points in the regular season. Impressive, but still second to Orr and the Bruins, as Phil Esposito led Boston with 133 points, while No. 4 posted 117.

Park’s 24 goals and 73 points? Second to Orr and the Bruins, as Orr led all NHL defensemen in goals (37), assists (80) and points. (Park also finished runner-up to Orr in voting for the Norris Trophy four times during his tenure on Broadway.)

The Rangers’ 317 goals? Second to Orr and the Bruins, as Boston led the league with 330.

Hadfield’s 50 goals? Second to Orr and the Bruins, as Esposito potted 66.

Something else the Rangers didn’t have besides Orr? Good fortune.

Disaster struck the Blueshirts on March 1 at Madison Square Garden during a match against the California Golden Seals. Trailing Esposito by one point for the NHL scoring lead, Ratelle suffered a broken right ankle after he was struck by a shot from teammate Dale Rolfe.

Ratelle missed the final 15 games of the season (in which the Rangers went 6-6-3) and playoff series against Montreal and the Chicago Blackhawks. He returned in time for the finals against Boston, but wasn’t nearly the same player, posting just one assist, and the Blueshirts lost in six games.

The Bruins won three of the first four games in the finals, and led Game Five at Boston Garden by a 2-1 score through two periods. However, Bobby Rousseau scored twice for the Rangers in the third stanza to send the series back to Broadway.

In Game Six, Orr opened the scoring and added an assist in a 3-0 win, giving the Bruins their second Cup championship in three seasons, while creating yet another heartbreak for the Rangers and their fans.

Second to Orr and the Bruins. Again.

Tomorrow, a look at another heartbreaking playoff and one of the most famous goals ever scored by a New York Ranger.