On August 20 in NYR history: Eric Lindros finally becomes a Ranger

What happened on August 20 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2001, Eric Lindros finally became a New York Ranger, nine years after the team thought that they had originally acquired him.  General Manager Glen Sather pulled the trigger on a massive trade, sending forwards Pavel Brendl and Jan Hlavac, defenseman Kim Johnsson and a 2003 third round draft pick.

There was a risk for the Rangers as Lindros had not played hockey for 15 months, ever since he sustained the sixth concussion of his career in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals.  The Devils had clawed back from a 3-1 deficit to the Flyers and in Game Seven, Scott Stevens laid a massive hit on Lindros that changed the game and the series.

Lindros had been cleared by doctors to play again and the hope was that he would return to the form that made him one of the most feared players in the NHL for eight years.  Others thought that he was one concussion away from never playing again.

Lindros joined a team that had missed he playoffs for four straight years, but still boasted an aging, but impressive array of stars including Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Theo Fleury and Petr Nedved.   In his first year, Lindros led the team in scoring with 37 goals and 73 points in 72 games, but they still missed the playoffs.

He played one more full season before injuries took their toll, limiting him to only 39 games. After the 2004-05 lockout he signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent.

At the press conference on this date, Sather proclaimed that he had not surrendered the Rangers’ crown jewels, defensemen Filip Novak and Tomas Kloucek and forward Jamie Lundmark..

Ironically, though Brendl was a washout, Kim Johnsson played 588 games while Kloucek and Novak played 115 games combined while Lundmark never scored more than 10 goals in a season while Hlavac exceeded that three times in the next seven seasons.

Of course, in 1992 the Rangers thought that they had traded for Lindros when he refused to sign with the Quebec Nordiques, the team that drafted him.   Marcel Abut, the president of the Nordiques had agreed to a trade with the Flyers, then changed his mind and agreed to a swap with New York that included Tony Amonte , Alex Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov, James Patrick, and either John Vanbiesbrouck or Mike Richter along with several first-round draft picks.  The Rangers also were going to give Quebec $20 million.

The case went to arbitration and the deal with the Flyers was ruled valid. Ranger fans will forever debate how that turned out.  Would Lindros added to the 1992 team have led to a Stanley Cup that season or the next or did the Rangers dodge a bullet and win that 1994 Cup only because they didn’t get Lindros?

Today’s birthdays

21 players who have seen action in the NHL were born on this date.  Four of them played for the Rangers including the man who is now responsible for the team’s destiny.

Chris Drury was born on this date in 1976 in Trumbull, Connecticut.  A Stanley Cup winner with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, he was signed as a free agent in 2007 by the Rangers and he played the last four years of his career in New York, the final three as team captain.  Hired as a member of the management team he ascended to the role of President and General Manager this spring. He was known as a fierce competitor and  in his best season as a Rangers the center scored 25 goals and had 58 points.

Steve Valiquette was born on this date in in 1977 in Etobicoke, Ontario.  The goalie is best known as a television analyst for the MSG Network on Rangers telecasts, but he did play five years for the Rangers, getting into 39 games as backup to Henrik Lundqvist. He played seven games for the Islanders and Oilers as well.

Al Hamilton was a defenseman,born on this date in 1946 in Flin Flon, Manitoba.  As a teenager, Hamilton was signed by the Rangers and after a fabulous career in junior hockey, he made his debut with New York in 1965-66 at age 19.  He was a contemporary of Bobby Orr and was compared to him at the time, but he was unable to crack a stacked Rangers lineup.  He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the expansion draft in 1970.   He jumped to the WHA in 1972 and had a long career with the Edmonton Oilers, retiring in the top WHA top ten defensemen in games played, goals, assists and points.

Ernest Kenny was born on this date in 1907 in Vermillion, Alberta. The defenseman played 10 games in the NHL including six games with the Rangers in 1930-31.  He is best known for mentoring Glen Sather and the Sutter brothers, also from the province of Alberta.