On March 9 in NYR history: A special night for Rod Gilbert

Nowadays, when a New York Rangers legend is honored, it’s usually long after they have left the team and and found a new life in retirement.  It wasn’t always like that.  On this date in 1977, the Rangers honored Rod Gilbert, the greatest scorer in their history, a distinction he holds to this day.

To make it even sweeter, Gilbert then went out and scored a goal and assisted on another as the Rangers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-4.  Gilbert was the second Ranger to be honored this way, joining defenseman Harry Howell who had been honored a decade earlier.

Glibert was given plaques, a sculpture and a station wagon, driven onto the ice by former teammates Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield.   Gilbert would retire the following year, ending an 18 year career, spent all with the Rangers.  He remains the greatest ambassador for the New York Rangers, roaming the Garden and greeting fans.

On a side note, in net for the Rangers was Dave Tataryn, making his first NHL start on a 10-game tryout with the Blueshirts.  After a victorious debut, he would make one more losing appearance to end his NHL career.

A milestone for Boucher

On this date in 1937, Frank Boucher became the first NHL player to reach 250 career assists.  Boucher retired with 262 assists in 533 games with the Rangers.  Those were pretty good numbers at a time when it was routine to lead the league with 28 assists as Boucher did in 1933.  in 1928, he led the NHL is assists with 16.

As of today, 696 NHL players have totaled 250 assists or more in their careers.

Today’s birthdays

There have been 24 players born on March 9 to play in the NHL.  Three have suited up for the Rangers and there is one prospect who hopes to.

Matthew Robertson was born on this date in 2001 in Edmonton, Alberta.  He was a second round selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.  The defenseman signed his Entry Level Contract last year and is currently playing for the Edmonton  Oil Kings in the WHL.

Radek Dvorak was born on this date in 1977 in Tabor, Czechoslovakia.  A gifted scorer, the right winger was acquired from San Jose in a trade for Todd Harvey. He only played one full season in New York, scoring 31 goals.  At the trade deadline in 2003, he was traded to Edmonton for Anson Carter.

Daniel Catenacci was a center who played one game for the Rangers in 2018.  He was born on this date in 1993 in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Traded to the Rangers for Mat Bodie, he spent most of the 2017-18 season in Hartford and has played ever since in Austria.

Jim Krulicki was born on this date in 1948 in Kitchener, Ontario. He played 27 games on the left wing for the Rangers in 1970-71.    He was traded to Detroit midway though that season for Dale Rolfe, a deal that really worked out in the Rangers’ favor.  Rolfe became a fixture on the Ranger’ blue line Krulicki on 14 games in the NHL for Detroit.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 45 games on March 9 and despite a 17-18 record in regulation, their three wins after regulation puts them above .500 for the date.

Games: 45
Regulation wins: 17
Regulation losses: 18
Ties: 6
Overtime wins: 2
Overtime losses: 1
Shootout wins: 1
Points percentage: .522

Last year

It was another off date as the Rangers traveled to Dallas to take on the Stars.  The playoff picture was getting worse with the Rangers odds of making the postseason dropping to less than 24% after a weekend when all of their competition won.  Just three days earlier, their odds had been 33%.