On July 19 in Rangers history: The story behind the “Fat Cats”

What happened on July 19 in the history of the New York Rangers

To fans of the New York Rangers, it seems like everyone conspires against them.  Whether it be a fine instead of a suspension for Tom Wilson to a last minute Winter Classic penalty shot for the Flyers, the number of times that the Blueshirts have been shafted are too numerous to recount.

Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no giant conspiracy to screw the Rangers.  The golf gods even smiled on the Blueshirts and they won the draft lottery two years in a row.  Things are looking up.

There was a time when everyone in the NHL hated the Rangers and it all stems from something that happened on this date in 1972.   It was the day the Ranger signed Brad Park to a $200,000 contract and also signed center Walt Tkaczuk to a $150,000 contract.

Rangers general manager Emile Francis was also about to sign winger Vic Hadfield to a $200,000 contract since he had been offered a four-year, million dollar deal by the upstart World Hockey Association.

The WHA started a bidding war for NHL talent and struck the first blow by signing Black Hawks star Bobby Hull to a 10-year, $1.75 million deal with a $1 million signing bonus.  The WHA afforded it by spreading the cost among all of the owners.

The old guard owners of NHL teams didn’t want to get into a bidding war and as a result some big names defected, including  Bernie Parent, Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson, J. C. Tremblay, and Ted Green.  Sanderson’s 5-year, $2.65 million contract actually made him the highest paid athlete in the world, surpassing Brazilian soccer star, Pele.

Meanwhile, the Rangers paid their stars and lost only Jim Dorey to the WHA.

How exorbitant were the pay hikes?   Hadfield quadrupled his salary.  Two years earlier, Park was making $12.,000 a year and Tkazcuk was making $14,000.   Between them, the three players were going to make as much as the Rangers’ entire  20-man roster in 1970.

Of  course, after making the 1972 Stanley Cup Final and getting paid, those huge salaries contributed to complacency and the Blueshirts had nothing but early exits from the playoffs.  In the end, “The Cat’s Fat Cats” were nothing more than overpaid and unsuccessful.

Today’s birthdays

18 NHL players were born on July 19 including two New  York Rangers.

Fedor Tyutin was born on this date in 1983 in  Izhevsk, USSR.  He was a second round draft pick in 2001 and he made his debut with the Rangers in 2003.  He played four season in New York before being traded to the Blue Jackets in a deal for forward Nikolai Zherdev.  The deal ended up one-sided in the Blue Jackets’ favor as Zherdev played only one season in New York.  He tied for the team lead in scoring, but when he won an arbitration hearing the team let go. Meanwhile, Tyutin played eight seasons as a top four defenseman for Columbus.

Benoit Gosselin was a left winger, born on this date in 1957 in Montreal, Quebec.  A fifth round draft pick, Gosselin played only seven games in the NHL, all for the Rangers. He played several years in the minor leagues before ending his career playing in France.