On May 30 in NYR history: The physical toll of the playoffs revealed

What happened on May 30 in the history of the New York Rangers

May 30, 2015, the New York Rangers were recovering from a 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, a loss that saw them eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.   Despite winning the President’s Trophy with the best regular season record, the Rangers went down in seven games to Tampa in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It wasn’t until the 30th that the extent of the injuries the team was playing with became public knowledge.  Everyone knew that Mats Zuccarello had been hit in the head by a Ryan McDonagh shot in the fifth game of the opening round series against the Penguins, but described solely as an upper body injury, no one knew that he had suffered a fractured skull and brain contusions that made it impossible for him to speak.

Fans knew something was amiss for the seventh game of the Tampa series when the team made forward James Sheppard a late scratch and dressed Matt Hunwick as a seventh defenseman. On the 30th the fans learned that Ryan McDonagh had been playing on a broken foot and had it frozen before and during each game.  The freezing procedure didn’t take before the game so they had to dress Hunwick and McDonagh missed the start of the game as they refroze the foot.

Other injuries that were revealed was a wrist injury to Derick Brassard that needed surgery, a bone chip in Marc Staal‘s ankle that had to be removed, a sprained shoulder for Keith Yandle and Dan Girardi‘s painful bursa on his ankle that needed surgery to remove.

It’s an example of the toll a deep playoff run will take on a team.  It took the Rangers five games to win their First Round series against the Penguins and they went the full seven games against the Capitals and Lightning.  That meant the Rangers played 19 of a possible 21 games with five of he games going to overtime.

Today’s birthdays

19 NHL players were born on this date with three former Rangers including a goalie who made up one of the best netminding tandems in NHL history.

Gilles Villemure was born on this date in 1940 in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.  He was a late bloomer, spending most of his first 10 years as a pro in the minor leagues, with two short stops in New York. At age 30, he made it to the NHL for good in 1970-71, serving as Eddie Giacomin’s backup. He spent five years in that role, sharing the Vezina Trophy in that first year.  In 1974-5 he appeared in 45 games, more than Giacomin and made some starts in the playoffs. In 1975 he was traded to the Black Hawk for defenseman Doug Jarrett after the team acquired John Davidson as the heir apparent to the Rangers’ top goalie slot.

Vic Ripley was born on this date in 1906 in Elgin, Ontario.  He was a left winger who played parts of two seasons with the Rangers from 1933-35.  He played 38 games as a Blueshirt out of 280 NHL games scoring five goals and 19 points.

David Wilkie was born on this date in 1974 in  Ellensburg, Washington.  He was a defenseman who was a first round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992.  He played six years in Montreal and Tampa before signing as a free agent with the Rangers.  He spent most of the season in the minor leagues, playing only one game in New York.  After retiring he had a successful career as a coach is currently the coach of the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.

The numbers

No games for the Rangers on this date.