On January 30 in NYR history: Worst coach ever…fired

What happened on January 30 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2003, New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather undid what was probably the worst decision he made while running the team.  He fired head coach Bryan Trottier whose tenure as coach was one of the worst in team history.

First off, why Glen Sather thought it would be appropriate to hire a former Islanders star to coach the team is anyone’s guess.    When Sather said one reason he hired him was that he was impressed by Trottier’s 90 page handwritten job application, that was another indication that a mistake was being made.

Trottier coached 54 games with a record of 21-26-6 before being let go.  Sather ultimately took over behind the bench for the rest of the season as the team missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

The Chief sets a record

It took 40 years to do it, but finally,  on this date in 1966, Jim Neilson became the first defenseman in franchise history to notch four points in one game.  He did it by scoring one goal and assisting on three other in an 8-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden.

That number was equaled many times over the subsequent years, until Brian Leetch totaled five points in a game in 1995, a total tied by Tony DeAngelo last season.

The NHL record of eight points is held by Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers and Sprague Cleghorn of the Montreal Canadiens had scored six points in a game as far back as 1922, so this Rangers record was a long time coming.

A memorable win over Montreal (and a horrible record)

On January 30, 1954 the Rangers did something that they wouldn’t do for another three years.  They won a game at the Montreal Forum, beating the Canadiens 2-1.  They would go on to lose their next 21 games in Montrea with their next win another 2-1 win, on February 16, 1957 meaning that they went over three years without a win in Montreal.

Not only that, the Rangers had lost or tied their previous 25 games at the Forum going 0-21-4 with the last win dating back to January 7, 1950 when they won 3-1.  That means that for seven years from January, 1950, to February, 1957 the Rangers made 47 trips to Montreal and won once.

In the days of the Original Six, the teams played each other 14 times a season, seven at home and seven on the road.

Today’s birthdays

35 NHL players have been born on January 30 with three Rangers alumni in that mix.

Center Ryan Spooner was born on this date in 1992 in Ottawa, Ontario.  Spooner has played a key role in the current Rangers squad as he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for current Blueshirt Ryan Strome.  Spooner was acquired in the trade of Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins and he played 36 games in New York over parts of two seasons.

Chris Simon

In those 65 games, Simon took 225 minutes in penalties, the sixth highest total in franchise history.  No Ranger has come close to that total in the last 16 years

Bill Sweeney

The numbers

The Rangers have played 34 times on January 30 with a mediocre .456 points percentage and only 14 wins.

Games: 34
Regulation wins:  14
Regulation losses: 17
Ties: 2
Overtime losses: 1
 Points percentage:

Last year

The bye week and All-Star break were over and the Rangers were back to practice before their first game against the Detroit Red Wings.  All of the chatter was about Chris Kreider with the trade deadline just six weeks away.