On August 29 in Rangers history: Another Czech-mate joins the team

What happened on August 29 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2005, the New York Rangers signed 27-year-old free agent defenseman Michal Rozsival, a signing that barely got a mention.  A Pittsburgh draft pick who had played four seasons with the Penguins, Rozsival had missed the entire 2003-04 season with a knee injury and then played the lockout 2004-05 season in the Czech Republic.

Ranger fans didn’t know what they were getting.  The 6’1″, 210 pound defenseman turned into one of Glen Sather’s best free agent pickups  In his first year in New York,  he made just $703k and all he did was play all 82 games, lead all team defensemen in scoring with 30 points and had the best plus/minus rating on the team at +35, even better than Jaromir Jagr who scored a franchise record 123 points.

Rozsival was one of eight “Czech-mates” on the Rangers, a team that made the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.  Paired on defense with fellow Czech Marik Malik,  another free agent pickup, Rozsival became the cornerstone of the Rangers’ blue line.

The highlight of his career in New York was when he scored in double overtime in the playoffs against Buffalo in 2007. That goal ended the longest home playoff game for the Rangers in over 35 years.

He played five full seasons with the Rangers, but was traded to Phoenix for Wojtek Wolski in 2011, a trade that the Rangers badly needed to make.  As usual, after making a great decision to sign Roszival, Glen Sather then overpaid him in 2008, giving the 30-year old a four-year, $20 million contract.

Roszival went on to play for the Blackhawks and was an important defensemen for their two Stanley Cup championships teams.

The Hall of Fame for the Big Whistle

On this date in 1964, a former New York Rangers player was inducted into the Hall of Fame, but Doug Bentley played only 20 games in New York at the tail end of his career.  It was the other Hall of Fame inductee who was synonymous with the New York Rangers for many years.  That was Bill Chadwick.

Chadwick became a Hall of Famer because of his career as a referee.  Despite being blind in one eye, he was an NHL referee for 15 seasons, working 900 regular season games and a record 42 games in the Stanley Cup Final.  When he retired in 1955 he had officiated over 1,000 games, the most all time.

Born in Manhattan, Chadwick lost vision in his right eye when he was stuck by a puck while playing in an amateur league and he continued his playing career with the New York Rovers.  He became a referee, the first in the NHL born in the United States. As a ref, Chadwick is credited with creating the hand signals used by all hockey referees to denote specific penalties.

Chadwick is best known to Ranger fans as “The Big Whistle” and he served as a color commentator on Rangers radio and telecasts from 1967 to 1981, working primarily with Jim Gordon. His trademark catchphrases are remembered fondly by anyone who watched the Blueshirts on Channel 9 in the 1970s.  “Shoot the puck Barry” was how he implored Barry Beck to use his cannon of a shot.  “You could hear the splash from here” was how he described a player who took a dive to draw a penalty.

In the broadcast booth he was unique and though he never played for the Rangers, he is an honorary Blueshirt.

Today’s birthdays

20 NHL players were born on August 29 including three former Rangers.

Doug Sulliman was born on this date in 1959 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.  He was a first round pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, picked 13th overall.  A big scorer for the Kitchener Rangers, the Blueshirts had high hopes for him, but when he made it to New York he disappointed. He played only 63 games, scoring eight goals for the Rangers and was part of the trade with Hartford that netted the Rangers Mike Rogers.  He played nine more seasons in the NHL, scoring over 20 goals five times.

Peter Andersson was a defenseman born on this date in 1965 in Orebro, Sweden.  A fourth round pick by the Rangers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, he spent most of his career in Sweden, before finally deciding to try his hand in the NHL in 1992.  He played 39 games for the Rangers and eight games for the Panthers, before returning to Sweden.  In 2012, the Rangers drafted his son, defenseman Calle Andersson, but he never made it to New York.  He is not related to Lias Andersson.

Hal Cooper was born on this date in 1915 in New Liskeard, Ontario.  A small (5’5″, 155 pounds) right winger, he made it to New York for eight games in the 1944-45 season.  Scoreless in his NHL career, he played many years for numerous minor league teams.