January 7 in NYR history: Say goodbye to the Cat & hello to Igor

The New York Rangers went outside the organization for a GM for the first time

What happened on January 7 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1976, the New York Rangers fired General Manager Emile Francis and Coach Ron Stewart, installing John Ferguson as the new coach and GM.  It was the first time the Rangers had gone outside the organization and hired someone for those jobs who had absolutely no history with the franchise.

Ferguson spent eight years with the Montreal Canadiens as their enforcer, charged specifically with protecting Jean Beliveau. He averaged 152 penalty minutes per season with the Habs while scoring over 20 goals twice.

After retiring from playing held a number of positions including that of assistant coach of Team Canada at the Summit Series in 1972.   He came to the Rangers on this date in 1976 and was given carte blanche to make changes. He did, some that worked and others that didn’t.

On the good side, he lured Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson to New York with Gulf & Western’s millions of dollars.

On the bad side, he designed the ugliest uniform ever worn by the Blueshirts.

After coaching for a year and a half, he hired Jean-Guy Talbot to coach the team. Under Talbot the team won only 30 games and he was most famous for wearing a track suit behind the bench instead of the standard jacket and tie.

After a fourth place finish in 1977-78, Ferguson and Talbot were sent packing and the Ranger replaced him with Fred Shero.

Ferguson may have not had much success, but he played a big part in building the team that got to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979.  Beside signing Hedberg and Nilsson, he also was an astute evaluator of talent, drafting Don Murdoch, Mike McEwen, Don Maloney, Ron Duguay, Mario Marois, Steve Weeks, Dave Silk and Tom Laidlaw in three draft years.

King of the blocked shot

On this date in 2010, Chris Drury blocked seven shots in a 2-1 shootout loss against Atlanta. That set a franchise for most blocked shots in a game by a forward.  That’s still a Ranger record, though it was tied in December 2010 by Brian Boyle.

It’s the second most ever recorded in an NHL game. Ryan Johnson of the St. Louis Blues set the NHL record of nine in 2006.  Only five NHL forwards have blocked seven shots in a game.

While seven may seem like a lot, it’s nothing compared to the NHL record of 15 held by Kris Russell of the Calgary Flames, set in 2015.  Only one Ranger has had more than seven blocks in a game and that player holds the Ranger record with ten.  He also blocked more than seven shots in a game four times in his career.  You have one guess to his identity.   Yes, Dan Girardi.  One note, the NHL has kept blocked shot records only since the 2005-06 season.

A first in Sin City

On this date in 2017 the Rangers made their regular season debut in Las Vegas, losing 2-1 to the Golden Knights.  The game was played at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas’ inaugural season in the NHL.  It wasn’t the first time the Rangers played in Las Vegas.  In September 1991, the Rangers and Kings played the first outdoor game in NHL history as an exhibition game in Las Vegas.

Today’s birthdays

Six Rangers birthdays on January 7 including one Hall of Famer and one defensive whiz.

On this date in 1916, Babe Pratt was born in  Stony Mountain, Manitoba.  Pratt played the first eight seasons in a 14 year NHL career with the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1940.  After his trade to Toronto in 1942 the defenseman went on to win the Norris Trophy and another Cup.

Pratt was suspended for betting on hockey games in 1946, but was later reinstated.  He became a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966.

Bill Fairbairn was born on this date in 1946 in Brandon, Manitoba.  Fairbairn was an outstanding defensive right wing who was a longtime linemate of Walt Tkaczuk.  He played eight full seasons for the Blueshirts from 1968 to 1976 scoring over 20 goals four times.

His 12 career shorthanded goals is fourth best in franchise history and his four such goals in 1971-72 is eighth best for one season as a Ranger.

Donald Brashear was born on this date in 1972 in  Bedford, Indiana.  Brashear played 36 games in New York 2009-10 in his last season after 16 years in the NHL.  He was another enforcer brought in by Glen Sather who failed to succeed.  Many Ranger fans were outraged when he was signed after delivering a blindside hit to Blair Betts the previous season as a Washington Capital.

Brashear’s 372 penalty minutes in 1997-98 with the Vancouver Canucks ranks the tenth most in one season in NHL history. In his one season as a Ranger he totaled 73 penalty minutes in 36 games.

Alex Auld was a goalie born on January 7, 1981 in Cold Lake, Alberta and played three games for the Blueshirts in 2009-10 at the height of the Lundqvist era, relieving the Swede twice and getting only one start.

Guy Hebert was born on this day in 1967 in Troy, New York.  He was a goalie who played one season, 2000-01, in New York. He appeared in 13 games with a 5-7-1 record.  He had previously spent eight years as a top goalie for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Johan Witehall was Swedish left winger who was born on this date in 1972 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Drafted in the seventh round in 1998, he made it to the Rangers for 28 games over three seasons from 1998 to 2000.  He scored one goal and added four assists.

The numbers

The Blueshirts have played 35 times on January 7 and are dead even with a .500 points percentage.

Games: 35
Regulation wins: 14
Regulation losses: 15
Ties: 4
Shootout wins: 1
Shootout losses: 1
Points percentage:  .500

Looking back (Hello to Igor)

Every day, we look back on games played last year as well as five and ten years ago.  Last year’s game could be one of the most momentous in Rangers’ history as it marked the NHL debut of Igor Shesterkin.

Last year – 2020: Rangers 5, Colorado 3

In a game that will battle the firing of Emile Francis for most notable event on this date in Rangers history, Igor Shesterkin made his Rangers debut,  beating the Avalanche 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.

After allowing two goals in his first 6:34, it looked like a rough debut for the rookie, but he held on as the Blueshirts roared back with five goals.  It was a night for the big names on the Rangers roster as goals were scored by Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.

Shesterkin finished with 29 saves on 32 shots.

5 years ago – 2016: No game

10 years ago – 2011: Rangers 3, Dallas 2 (Shootout)

Ten years ago, the Rangers won a key road game in a shootout, beating Dallas 3-2.  Artem Anisimov tied the game eight minutes into the third period with a power play goal.  After a scoreless overtime, it was Henrik Lundqvist vs. Kari Lehtonen. Lundqvist stopped  Jamie Benn, Brad Richards and Mike Ribiero while after Lehtonen thwarted Derek Stepan, it was Mats Zuccarello who was the hero.

It was the third shootout for Lundqvist and his second win.  That season he won seven of ten shootouts.