On December 25 in NYR history: Best Xmas team in the NHL

Hockey on Christmas Day used to be an NHL and New York Rangers tradition

What happened on December 25th in the history of the New York Rangers

For the New York Rangers,  the odds were that if was Christmas, they were playing hockey. In their first 45 years, they played 37 times on the holiday.  Their record on Christmas Day is the best of any NHL team, 24-11-2.   They actually went over 20 years without losing on Christmas.  They played 16 times from 1928 to 1949 and went 15-0-1.

The last time they played on the holiday was in 1971 when they played the North Stars in Bloomington, Minnesota.    The Rangers won, 2-1 behind the goaltending of Eddie Giacomin and goals from Bobby Rousseau and Jean Ratelle.

So, the last Rangers goal scored on Christmas was by Jean Ratelle. The last win was by Ed Giacomin. The last fighting major belongs to Rod Seiling who battled Jude Drouin in that last game in Minnesota.

1971 was the last year any team played on Christmas Day.  The NHL stopped playing and the Collective Bargaining Agreement clearly spells out that they won’t play in section 16.5 (b):

“December 24, Christmas Day, and December 26 shall be off-days for all purposes, including travel, and no Club may request a Player’s consent to practice on such days for any reason…”

Some may consider it unfortunate that the league has ceded Christmas Day sports to the NBA.  The players would no doubt disagree.

Youth movement

On Christmas Day in1942, the Rangers had a very big win for a bad team.  The Blueshirts were in last place  and the Detroit Red Wings had not lost at home all season, but the Rangers went to Detroit and won, 3-1.

Rookie Red Garrett set an NHL record as the youngest defenseman to score his first goal in the NHL  Garrett, earlier acquired  was all of 18 years, 154 days old.  Five other defenders since then have been younger when they scored their first NHL goal, but Garrett’s record still stands for the Rangers franchise.

Big night? And Howe!

In 1956, Gordie Howe gave himself a Christmas present with the best game of his 26 year career.  Howe scored three goals and added three assists for a six point night in a 8-1 win over the Rangers in Detroit at the Olympia.

It was Howe’s 11th NHL season when he set the mark and would  go one to play 15 more season, but never was able to equal that Christmas night output.

Today’s birthday

Only one New York Ranger has been born on Christmas Day.  That was Larry Cahan, born on this date in 1933 in Fort William, Ontario.  Cahan was a defenseman who played seven years in New York from 1956 to 1965.

The numbers

Games: 37
Regulation wins: 24
Regulation losses: 11
Ties: 2
Points percentage:  .676

Looking back

No games to report on from last year, five or ten years ago.