On March 17 in NYR history: Ruotsalainen’s St. Patrick’s Day hat trick

What happened on March 17 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1982 the New York Rangers celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a hat trick by defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen. It came in a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden.

Ruotsalainen joined a select group of  New York Rangers defensemen to register a hat trick, following Brad Park, Carol Vadnais, Ron Greschner and Dave Maloney.    It was a natural hat trick as he scored three straight goals.

The highlight was after he scored his third goal and the fans at the Garden rained the ice with all kinds of green St. Patrick’s Day headgear.   In an unforgettable moment, seated on the bench, Ruotsalainen’s hulking defense partner, Barry Beck, took a green plastic top hat and plopped it on his tiny teammate’s head atop his helmet.  Ruotsalainen was a rookie fresh from Finland and the barrage of green had to be confusing.

With the goals, Ruotsalainen set records for points and goals by a rookie defenseman that stood until Brian Leetch came along.

Today’s birthdays

29 NHL players born on his date along with three former New York Rangers and one Ranger hopeful.

Center Justin Richards was born on this date in 1998 in Orlando, Florida.  Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Richards is currently playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack.  He was named best defensive forward in the NCHC his last two years in college.

Tony Leswick was born on this date in 1923 in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.  The forward played 12 years in the NHL, the first six with the Rangers. He was a Second Team All-Star in 1949-50 for the Blueshirts when he scored 19 goals.  He was traded to the Red Wings in 1951.

Joe Levandoski was a right winger born on March 17, 1921 in Cobalt, Ontario.  He played only eight games for the Rangers in 1946-47, but went on to play over ten years in the minor leagues after his brief stint in the NHL.

Craig Duncanson was born on this date in 1967 in Sudbury, Ontario.  The left winger was a first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 1985 and played 28 games over five season with the Kings. The Rangers signed him as a free agent in September 1992 and he played three games for the team that season.  He could never stick in the NHL and played three season with the Rangers top farm team in Binghamton.

The numbers

Games: 37
Regulation wins: 13
Regulation losses: 19
Ties: 0
Overtime losses: 3
Shootout wins: 1
Shootout losses: 1
Points percentage: .432