On January 2 in NYR history: A Winter Classic for the ages

The New York Rangers won their first outdoor game in thrilling fashion

What happened on January 2 in the history of the New York Rangers

On January 2 the New York Rangers played their first outdoor game, the 2012 NHL Winter Classic, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a game that was filled with improbable moments.  It should go down in history as one of the most memorable Winter Classics ever as it lived up to its name.

The game was played in Citizens Bank Park in front of 46,967 fans.  It was the first time the Winter Classic was not played on New Year’s Day because the first fell on a Sunday.  The start was delayed for two hours because of weather concerns with the game starting at 3pm with the temperatures in the mid-forties.

How improbable was the win?  First, the Flyers got off to  2-0 lead based on two goals within two minutes in the second period by Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux.   With a light rain falling and conditions deteriorating, it looked grim for the Blueshirts, but then the improbably happened.  The fourth line of Brandon Prust, John Mitchell and Mike Rupp came through as Rupp scored just 30 seconds after Giroux’s goal.

In the third period, it happened again as Rupp scored his second goal to tie the game just 2:41 in.    The veteran forward had scored only one goal all season (he finished with four).  Not only did Rupp score, but he mocked Flyer’s forward Jaromir Jagr giving Jagr’s signature salute after scoring. That move drove the Flyers nuts.

Two and a half minutes later, Brad Richards scored his 14th goal of the season to give the Rangers the lead.

But wait, it got even wackier. After a scrum at the Ranger net, the Flyers were awarded a penalty shot when the referees said that Ryan McDonagh had covered the puck in the crease.  With only 19.6 seconds left, the Flyers elected to let Daniel Briere take the shot and he was stoned by Henrik Lundqvist.

After the game Rangers coach John Tortorella was apoplectic,  telling reporters “I’m not sure if NBC got together with the refs or what to turn this into an overtime game.  For two good refs, I thought the game was reffed horribly. I’m not sure what happened there….Maybe they wanted to get into overtime. I’m not sure if they had meetings about that or what. But we stood in there. I don’t want to … because they are good guys. I just thought it was, in that third period, it was disgusting.”

For those comments, although he apologized the next day, the NHL fined Torts $30,000.

With the win the Rangers possessed the best record in the NHL.

A first time in Quebec

On this date in 1980, the Rangers played their first game in Quebec, tying the Nordiques 3-3 at the Coliseum. John Davidson had 31 saves and Don Murdoch scored two goals to offset two scores by Marc Tardiff.

The Nordiques had joined the NHL in the 1979-80 season with the merger of the NHL and the WHA.   They were one of four teams that remained intact (Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets) and they finished in last place in the Adams Division, though with a respectable 61 points.

Today’s birthdays

There were a number of New York Rangers born on January 2 and one person who wasn’t a player, but was a key reason for the birth of the Blueshirts.

George Lewis Rickard, known as “Tex” was born on this date in 1870 in Kansas City, Missouri.   Rickard was a boxing promoter who had a wild life as the marshal in a town in Texas (hence the nickname), a gold prospector in Alaska and a casino owner in Nevada.  In 1923 he purchased the land and the Madison Square Garden name and built the third version of the Garden at 49th Street and Eighth Avenue.   Spurred on by success of the New York Americans who played at the Garden in its first year, Rickard was granted another hockey franchise, nicknamed “Tex’s Rangers.”

He later built Boston Garden and a dogtrack in Miami before dying from complications following an appendectomy in 1929.

Robbie Ftorek was born on this date in 1952 in Needham, Massachusetts and was one of the first stars to come out of that state.  He was a big scorer for five years in the WHA before the merger with the NHL and though he never achieved the scoring heights of his early years, he was an outstanding center with a great reputation as a defensive player.  He joined the Rangers in 1981-82 and played almost four years in New York as a high energy player.

In 1972, defenseman Mattias Norstrom was born in Stockholm.  He was a second round draft pick by the Rangers in 1992 and after seeing limited action over three season, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that can only be termed as a fiasco.

In 1996, in an effort the rekindle the Oilers magic, the Blueshirts sent Norstrom, Ray Ferraro, Ian Laperriere, Nathan Lafayette and a 4th round draft pick to Los Angeles for Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley, and Shane Churla. Needless to say, it didn’t work and trading Norstrom was a huge mistake. The Swede 11 years for the Kings and the anchor of their defense and serving as their captain for five years.

Mike Backman was a right winger who was born on this date in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1955.  He played 18 games over three seasons for the Rangers in the early 1980s.

Gord Labossiere was born on this date in 1940 in St. Boniface, Manitoba.  The center played ten years between the NHL and the WHA after making his debut in New York in 1963-64.  He played 16 games for the Rangers, not scoring a point with a plus/minus of -7.

Ales Pisa is a Czech defenseman who was born on January 2, 1977 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia.  Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, he was traded to New York in 2003 with Anson Carter in exchange for Radek Dvorak.   After playing only three games for the Rangers, he left North America to play in Russia.

Pisa is the only New York Ranger whose last name is also the name of a city in Italy and along with Aaron Rome is one of two in NHL history.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 37 games on January 2, but only one outdoors. They are a little over .500 on this date.

Games: 37
Regulation wins: 17
Regulation losses: 14
Ties: 4
Shootouts wins: 1
Overtime losses  1
Points percentage:  .554

Looking back

Every day we look back at games one, five and ten years ago.  This was not a good day for the Blueshirts those years with identical wins twice to the Florida Panthers.

Last year, 2020: Calgary 4, Rangers 3

This game was the second of a bad trip to Western Canada.  After losing in Edmonton, the Rangers traveled to Calgary where they lost 4-3.  The finished the trip with yet another loss in Vancouver.  The Rangers had battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie only to see Derek Ryan send the Flames to the first intermission with a 3-2 lead.

Kaapo Kakko scored his seventh goal of the season almost six minutes into the second period to tie, but Sean Monahan ended the scoring with the go ahead goal 8:22 into the second stanza.

Cam Talbot was in goal for Calgary and beat former teammate Henrik Lundqvist for only his fourth win of the season.

5 years ago, 2016:  Florida 3, Rangers 0

Just the like game five years earlier, the Rangers took a 3-0 loss to the Panthers in Sunrise, Florida.  This time the goalies were Roberto Luongo for Florida and Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers, but the result was exactly the same.

10 years ago: 2011: Florida 3, Rangers 0

The Rangers ended a three game road trip over the New Year’s holiday with a 3-0 loss to Florida.  This was after an overtime loss in Tampa after they started the trip with a win in New Jersey.  Tomas Vokoun got the shutout, outdueling Marty Biron.