On February 3 in NYR history: A night to honor Adam Graves

What happened on February 3 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2009, the New York Rangers honored one of the best players to ever wear their jersey, Adam Graves.  They raised his number nine to the rafters to join Rod Gilbert,  Eddie Giacomin and teammates Brian Leetch, Mark Messier and Mike Richter as Rangers to have their numbers retired.

In a pregame ceremony, Graves was joined by Leetch, Messier and Richter and in a surprise, members of the cast of the The Sopranos and he was given a guitar signed by Bruce Springsteen.

Graves will not make it into the hockey Hall of Fame,  but he is a Ranger immortal.  He played 10 years with the Rangers and was only the second player in franchise history to score over 50 goals in one season. During his time in New York he was as known for his charitable work off the ice as much as his play on the ice and that continues to today.

One note of trivia.  He actually wore number 11 for the Rangers, but gave it up when Mark Messier arrived, taking number nine instead.

As for the game, the Rangers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Atlanta Thrashers in a shootout.  Markus Naslund forced the overtime with  goal with only 10.7 seconds left in the third period.

Scoring records….against the Rangers

On February 3, 1944 the Detroit Red Wings beat the Rangers 12-2 at Olympia Stadium.  This came just 11 days after they had trounced the Rangers 15-0 in the most one-sided game in NHL history.    That meant they had scored 27 goals in two straight games against the same team, an NHL record.

Not only that, but Syd Howe of the Red Wings scored six goals in that 12-2 game.  That had been accomplished five times before, but not in 23 years and was one behind the NHL record of seven by Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs in 1920.  The NHL would not see another player score six goals in a game until Red Berenson of the St Louis Blues did it in 1968.

A first (really a second) in Colorado

In 1996 on this date, the Rangers played their first game in Colorado against the Avalanche, losing 7-1.  The Avalanche had moved to Colorado from Quebec in the 1995-96 season and went on to win the Stanley Cup in their first season in their new home.

It was the Rangers first game in Denver since January 29, 1982 when they played the Colorado Rockies for the last time at the  McNichols Sports Arena before that team relocated to New Jersey.  This was the first time the Rangers had lost a game in Denver since January 1981.

Today’s birthdays

26 present and former NHL players were born on February 3  including one former Ranger in the Hall of Fame

On this date in 1912, Lynn Patrick was born in Victoria, British Columbia.  His father was Rangers and hockey legend Lester Patrick, his brother was former Ranger Muzz Patrick and he was the father of future Rangers executive Craig Patrick.

Lynn Patrick played his entire 10 year career in the NHL with the Rangers. The center and part-time left winger scored 145 goals and 336 points in 455 games and won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1940.  He led the league in goals in 1941-42 with 32  and was a First or Second Team All-Star twice.

He also had a brief stint coaching the Rangers for almost two seasons from 1948-1950.  He was only the third coach in franchise history, succeeding Frank Boucher. He unexpectedly quit after the 1950 season, but turn up later in Boston as coach of the Bruins.   He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

Jason Muzzatti was born on this date in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario.   The goalie was the 21st selection in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft but could never stick in the NHL and found himself traded to the Rangers in 1997.  He played in six games with New York with a 0-3-2 record.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 34 times on February 3 with a pretty pathetic record, winning only 10 games in regulation.

Games: 34
Regulation wins: 10
Regulation losses: 18
Ties: 1
Overtime wins: 1
Shootout losses: 1
Points percentage: .397

Last year

The Rangers lost a bad game to Dallas at Madison Square Garden.  It was the second start in a row for Henrik Lundqvist after his 1-0 shutout win over Detroit and he was pulled after two periods in favor of Alexandar Georgiev after allowing four goals on only 15 shots.

The Stars had not scored more than three goals in a game in a month, but they got healthy in a hurry against New York.  That wasn’t all that got healthy for the Stars.  Stephen Johns scored his first goal in almost two years, the Stars scored twice on the power play after not scoring a PP goal in five games and Joe Pavelski scored on the power play for the first time in 22 games.

It was a disappointing loss after two straight wins out of the All-Star break (albeit against the worst team in hockey).   Henrik Lundqvist was not going to get another start for almost a month.