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Hey, Rangers: Park ‘Gresch’ and Brad in the rafters

By Scott Esposito

Canadian ice hockey player Ron Greschner of the New York Rangers raises his stick in celebration of a goal during a game against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, March 1984. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
Canadian ice hockey player Ron Greschner of the New York Rangers raises his stick in celebration of a goal during a game against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, March 1984. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images) /
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Vic Hadfield (left), Jean Ratelle (center), and Rod Gilbert of the Rangers . (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images) /

Better late than never

To say the Rangers were slow to honor the great players of their past would be an understatement.

The Rangers began play in 1926-27 and won three Stanley Cups by the time 1940 rolled around. But after that Cup, it took them another 39 years to retire a uniform number, and the number wasn’t even in honor of any member of those early titles.

Right winger Rod Gilbert’s No. 7 was the first retired by the Rangers in October 1979  just over a year after he officially ended his playing career and before his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.

Gilbert spent his whole 15-year NHL career with the Blueshirts, posting 406 goals and 615 assists for 1,021 points in 1,065 matches. Part of the Rangers’ famous Goal-A-Game line with Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield, Gilbert remains the franchise’s leader in goals and points.

Another decade passed before the franchise retired its second number. In March 1989, the Rangers raised Eddie Giacomin’s No. 1 to the rafters after the beloved goaltender retired (January 1978) and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1987).

Giacomin posted a 267-172-89 record, a 2.73 goals-against average and 49 shutouts in 581 appearances for the Rangers. Among the team’s all-time goalies, “Eddie!” ranks second to Henrik Lundqvist and Mike Richter in wins, and second to “The King” in shutouts.

Jean Ratelle (right) of the Rangers, February 1972. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images)
Jean Ratelle (right) of the Rangers, February 1972. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images) /

Making things right

After permitting other players to wear numbers previously donned by some truly great Rangers, to its credit, the team made things right.

Andy Bathgate and defenseman Harry Howell (each inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the late 1970s) shared the Garden’s spotlight on Feb. 22, 2009, when the Rangers set Bathgate’s No. 9 next to Adam Graves’ and raised Howell’s No. 3 to the rafters.

In 2018, the Rangers rectified oversights of Gilbert’s G-A-G line mates, raising Ratelle’s No. 19 in February and placing Hadfield’s No. 11 next to Mark Messier’s in December.

Late to the party? Sure, but in fairness, the Rangers haven’t had just one owner throughout their history, and to some of those previous regimes, honoring the past (apparently) wasn’t even a priority.  With ten retired numbers they trail Toronto with 19  , Montreal with 18 and Boston with 11, but they have retired more numbers than Chicago (7) and Detroit (8) among Original Six teams.

The Rangers were quick to honor Richter, Messier, Leetch and Graves for their invaluable contributions to the 1994 Stanley Cup championship team, retiring each’s number in relatively short order after their playing days ended. Given the “Core Four’s” role in bringing Broadway its first NHL title in 54 years, retiring each’s number was a no-brainer.

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