On June 30 in Rangers history: Glen Sather pulls off a whopper of a deal

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

On this date in 2009, Glen Sather made what is probably the best trade of his time as general manager.   He traded centers Scott Gomez and Tom Pyatt and defense prospect Michael Busto to the Montreal Canadiens for left wing Chris Higgins, defenseman Doug Janik and two defense prospects, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko.

Ironically, the headline in 2009 was that the Rangers had traded Scott Gomez for Chris Higgins, thought of as the centerpiece of the deal from the Rangers’ perspective.  It was portrayed as a salary dump as Gomez still had five years and $30 million left on his contract.  Higgins was a Restricted Free Agent the Rangers expected to sign.

The story on that day by nhl.com doesn’t even mention Ryan McDonagh except to say that he was a first round draft pick included in the deal.

Of course, we all know that McDonagh became the foundation of the Rangers defense for the next eight years after spending a half season in Hartford.  Long Island native Higgins played 55 games for the Rangers before being traded to Calgary for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.

Gomez had his worst season in the NHL in 2009-10 and followed that up the next two seasons by going 60 games and a full calendar year without scoring a goal.  The Canadiens used a compliance buyout to get rid of his contract.

None of the other players in the deal amounted to much for either the Rangers or Canadiens.

That Glen Sather was able to get an All-Star defenseman in Ryan McDonagh along with the productive player in Chris Higgins in exchange for one of the most overpaid players in hockey makes this the best deal in Sather’s tenure.  Most Canadiens fans consider this the worst deal of Bob Gainey’s stint as general manager.

The Lindros decision

On this date in 1992, arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi announced his decision regarding Eric Lindros ruling that he belonged to the Philadelphia Flyers.

You can find all the gory details about the Lindros circus by clicking below.

The Cat retires

On this date in 1993, Emile Francis stepped down as President of the Hartford Whalers, ending a career in the NHL that lasted 46 years.  Although he left the Rangers almost 20 years earlier, he is still considered a Blueshirt and is a welcome figure at events featuring team alumni.

Francis, a goalie, made his debut in 1946 with the Black Hawks who traded him to the Rangers in October 1948.  He spent four years in the Rangers organization, making it to New York for 22 games.  After a long minor league career he retired as a player in 1960.

He was hired to coach the Rangers farm team in Guelph, Ontario and made it to the Rangers as assistant general manager in 1962.  He got the big job in 1965 and stayed in New York for ten years, both as coach and general manager and he took the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 1972 when they lost to the Bruins.

As GM, he was responsible for developing the great Rangers teams of the late 1960s including players like Ed Giacomin,  Brad Park, Walt Tkaczuk, Steve Vickers and Bill Fairbairn and he traded for players like Phil Esposito, Carol Vadnais, John Davidson, Doug Harvey, Camille Henry, Pete Stemkowski, Dale Rolfe and Glen Sather.

He was fired by the Rangers in 1976 and served time as coach and general manager of the St. Louis Blues before his last job as President of the Whalers.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982 in the Builder category.

Today’s birthdays

25 NHL players were born on June 30 with six former New York Rangers among them.

Ron Harris was born on this date in 1942 in Verdun, Quebec.  He was a tough defenseman who came to the Rangers in a trade in 1972 from the Atlanta Flames.  He was an important physical presence in the Rangers’ battles with the Broad Street Bullies in the mid-1970s.   He is best known for his involvement in the check that ended the life of Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton.  It was an unfortunate accident and Masterton was not wearing a helmet when his head struck the ice.

Steve Weeks was a goalie, born on this date in 1958 in Scarborough, Ontario.  Drafted in the 11th round of the 1978 Entry Draft he played four seasons for New York before being traded to the Hartford Whalers in 1984.  He played 13 years in the NHL for six different teams.

Bob Froese was born on this date in 1958 in St. Catherines, Ontario. He played five years as a top goalie for the Flyers before coming to the Rangers in a trade for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson. He won the William Jennings Trophy with the Flyers in 1986.  He played four years in New York, mostly as the back up to John Vanbiesbrouck.

Jamie McLennan was a well traveled goalie born on June 30, 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta.  He played 11 years in the NHL for six different teams including four games with the Rangers in 2004.  He came to the Blueshirts with Blair Betts from Calgary in a trade for Chris Simon. He was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 1998 after coming back from a near fatal case of bacterial meningitis.

Ken Gernander was born on this date in 1969 in Coleraine, Minnesota.  The right winger made it to the NHL with the Rangers for 12 regular season games, scoring two goals and five points. What is unusual about Gernander is that he was in the Rangers organization for 11 years and he played more playoff games (15)  with the Rangers than regular season games (12).   He made it to the team in 1996, playing 10 games and six playoff games. He didn’t play a regular season game the next season, but did get into nine playoff games.   He then played seven seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack before getting into two games with the Rangers in 2004.  After he retired, the longtime Hartford player became coach of the Wolf Pack.

Bert Robertsson was a defenseman born on June 30, 1974 in Sodertalje, Sweden.  He played 123 games in the NHL, mostly for Vancouver and Edmonton. He was traded to the Rangers in the 2000-01 season and he played two games in New York before being swapped to Nashville.  He never returned to the NHL and ended his career playing in Finland.