On May 16 in NYR history: A team is born

What happened on May 16 in the history of the New York Rangers

New York hockey fans had reason to be happy on this date in 1926.  The reason was the National Hockey League had just granted a second franchise to the city of New York.  The league approved the application for a team by the president of Madison Square Garden, Tex Rickard.

The Garden was already the home of the New York Americans, a hugely popular team  and Rickard realized that the market could support another team, this one owned by the Garden itself.  Rickard, a boxing promoter, had bought the Madison Square Garden name and began construction on the third incarnation of the Garden on Eighth Avenue, in 1925.

Once the franchise was approved, it became known as “Tex’s Rangers” and the name stuck and the team became the New York Rangers.

The NHL also approved franchises for Chicago and Detroit and they played in the  newly created American Division along with the Rangers, Boston and Pittsburgh.  Ironically, the New York Americans played in the Canadian Division along with Ottawa, Toronto  and the two Montreal teams, the Canadiens and the Maroons.

Smooth sailing in 2015

On this date in 2015, the Rangers won the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals over the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The President’s Trophy winning team had its sights set on a second straight trip to the Final and their 2-1 Game One win was another step towards that goal.

The Rangers won on a Dominic Moore goal with only 2:25 left in the game, with Henrik Lundqvist stopping 23 of 24 Tampa shots at Madison Square Garden.

No more Nordiques

On this date in 1995, the Quebec Nordiques played the last game in their history as they lost Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals to the Rangers by a 4-2 score.  The victory at Madison Square Garden was the last time a Quebec City team played in the NHL as the franchise moved to Colorado the next season.

Quebec fans had reasons to be suicidal as the Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup in their first season in Denver.  In 16 years in Quebec, the Nordiques had made it as far as the Conference Finals only twice.

Today’s birthdays

21 NHL players have been born on May 16, with only one former Ranger in that group.

Floyd Smith was a right winger born on this date in 1935 in Perth, Ontario.  He played 13 years in the NHL and also served as a coach for six seasons.  He found his way to the Rangers in 1960-61 and played 29 games, scoring five goals and 14 points in his only season in New York.  Claimed by Detroit in the intra-league draft, he had his most success there, topping the 20 goal mark twice.

The numbers

Playoff games: 5
Wins: 2
Losses: 2
Overtime losses: 1
Winning percentage: 40%