What happened on April 27 in the history of the New York Rangers
On this date in 1987, Tom Webster made it official, he was resigning as head coach of the New York Rangers. In doing so, he ended a tumultuous year that has to go into the record books as the coaching gig most filled with misfortune in the history of the Rangers, if not the NHL.
Webster had been named head coach 19 games into the season, when General Manager Phil Esposito fired Ted Sator. After just five games as coach, he was diagnosed with an inner ear ailment that made it impossible for him to fly. He underwent surgery on his ear in December, leaving the coaching duties to assistants Ed Giacomin and Wayne Cashman.
After the surgery , he could travel, but not by air so Esposito along with Giacomin and Cashman, split the road coaching duties with Webster coaching the home games. He was finally able to join the team on the road and coached two games in Los Angeles and Vancouver before falling ill again. He took a train back to New York and Esposito took over coaching duties full time for the rest of the season.
Webster, 38, ended up coaching the team for only 16 games with a 5-7-4 record. He was later able to become coach of the Los Angeles Kings for three seasons without any ear issues.
Webster’s inability to stay healthy meant that Esposito was in the hunt for a new coach and it went from bad to worse when he hired Michel Bergeron from Quebec, at the cost of a first round draft pick. Bergeron had no health issues, but last under two seasons.
Today’s birthdays
27 NHL players were born on April 27 including only two little known Blueshirts.
Jeff Ulmer was born on this date in 1977 in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. His career in the NHL lasted 21 games in 2001 when the right winger made it to the Rangers. He was signed by the Blueshirts out of North Dakota as an undrafted free agent. He scored three goals in those 21 games and spent the rest of his career in Europe.
Vern Ayres was defenseman born on this date in 1909 in Toronto, Ontario. He had a six year NHL career, ending it with 28 games with the Rangers in 1935-36. He also played for the New York Americans, the Montreal Maroons and the St. Louis Eagles.
The numbers
Playoffs games: 8
Wins:3
Losses: 3
Overtime losses: 2
Winning percentage: 38%
Regular season games: 1
Regulation wins: 1
Regulation losses: 0
Points percentage: 1.000