January 21 in NYR history: No miracle on ice in New York as Herb Brooks fired

What happened on January 21 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1985, the New York Rangers fired coach Herb Brooks after three and a half years.  There was no championship for the coach of the Miracle on Ice team 1980 Olympics hockey team, but he brought a European style of play to the Rangers and led the “Smurfs” to the playoffs every year.

It wasn’t really Craig Patrick who fired Brooks, it was the New York Islanders.  The Blueshirts’ Long Island rivals ousted the Rangers from the playoffs each year of Brooks’ tenure. They were bitter losses and it’s frustrating to think of how far the Blueshirts could have gone in the playoffs without the Islanders in their way.

Brooks left with a Rangers coaching record of 131-113-41, finishing second in his first year and fourth the next two.  Though they finished fourth in 1983-84, their 93 points was their most in a decade. At the time of his firing an injury ridden Rangers team was mired in fifth place with a 15-22-8 record.  The ultimate irony is that Brooks was fired by the man who was his assistant with the Olympic team.

Brooks was a taskmaster who made the Rangers fun to watch.  Though not blessed with superstar talent, he brought his Olympics team philosophy to the Blueshirts with several members of that team on the Rangers including Mark Pavelich and Rob McClanahan.  He got the most out of players like Pierre Larouche and Mike Rogers and was noted for his pairing of diminutive Finnish speedster Reijo Ruotsalainen on defense with the huge Barry Beck.

Brooks went on to coach the North Stars, Penguins and Devils , but never duplicated his success in New York.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006 as a builder after he died tragically in a car accident in 2003.

A goal explosion…the bad kind

On this date in 1945 the Boston Bruins scored four goals in one minute and twenty seconds, setting an NHL record for the fastest four goals that still stands.  It wasn’t just the four goals that made it a bad night for the Blueshirts.  The Bruins scored 14 goals, winning 14-3, setting a franchise record and making it the second highest total after the 15 goals scored by the Detroit Red Wings against, yes, you guessed it, the New York Rangers one year earlier.

The 14 goals still stand as the third highest all-time and is a feat accomplished only eight times in NHL history. The four goal outburst was not the only one.  They scored three goals in 51 seconds in the first period and three more in the second period in just 46 seconds.

The unfortunate Ranger netminder was Ken McAuley who sported an awful 5.61 Goals Against Average in his two years in the NHL with the Blueshirts.  How bad was that 1944-45 team?  They allowed seven goals or more in a game 13 times and gave up double figures four times.

Today’s birthdays

There have been 30 players born on January 21.  Four of them have been Rangers including the newest Ranger defenseman.

K’Andre Miller was born on this date in 2000 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  The young defensman made his NHL debut last week against the Islanders in his first year since turning pro.  He was a star at the University of Wisconsin and played for Team USA at the WJC two straight years. He was drafted 22nd overall in the 2018 Entry Draft first round.

Doug Weight was one of the best Ranger draft picks ever, selected in the second round in 1990.  Born on this date in 1971 in Warren, Michigan, he concluded a 19 year NHL career with 278 goals and 1,033 points. He is 77th all time on the career points list and is one of only 90 NHL players to exceed 1,000 points.

Unfortunately, Weight did most of his scoring after he was traded to Edmonton for Esa Tikkanen in March 1993.  He played only 118 games with the Rangers. Tikkanen was a crucial piece of the 1994 Cup champions, but it was yet another case of mortgaging the future for a chance to win. This time it worked.

Ulf Dahlen was born on this date in 1967 in Ostersund, Sweden.  He was another first round draft pick traded away early only to find success elsewhere.  He was the Rangers first round pick in 1985, the seventh overall selection.  He  scored 29 goals as a rookie and 24 in his sophomore year.  He was about to top 20 goals for a third straight year when he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for Mike Gartner in March 1990.

Gartner was a big goal scorer for the Rangers for four years while Dalhen exceed the 30 goal mark twice in Minnesota.  Dahlen played for five teams over 14 years in the NHL.

Mike Keating was born on this date in 1957 in Toronto, Ontario.  He was a second round draft pick by the Rangers in 1977 and he is a member of the exclusive club of players who made it to the NHL for only one game and played that game with the Rangers.  A 51 goal scorer in Canadian Juniors, he was never able to stick in the NHL, playing three years in the minor leagues before calling it quits.

The numbers

If you think the Rangers’ .375 points percentage on January 20 was bad, the next day is even worse.  They’ve played 31 games on this date and have all of five regulation wins.

Games: 31
Regulation wins: 5
Regulation losses: 18
Ties: 4
Overtime wins:  1
Overtime losses: 1
Shootout wins: 1
Points percentage: .339

Last year

The Islanders got revenge against the Rangers, winning 4-2 at Madison Square Garden, following two losses the prior week.  Thomas Greiss made 40 saves and the Rangers played their only game of the season without Artemi Panarin, who was out with an upper body injury.

The Isles jumped out to a 4-0 lead and the Rangers were able to pull within two goals when they pulled Alexandar Georgiev with over five minutes left in the game,but it wasn’t enough.