What happened on September 14 in the history of the New York Rangers
On this date in 1996, the United States team won the first World Cup of Hockey and they were led by New York Rangers goaltender, Mike Richter, who was named tournament MVP. It was one of Richter’s greatest performances, outdone only by his 1994 Stanley Cup run.
This tournament replaced the Canada Cup, a tournament that had started in 1976 and had taken place five times. The World Cup included eight teams with preliminary games played in North America and Europe. The knockout phase featured Canada, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden and the United States and games were played in Montreal, Ottawa and Philadelphia.
Team USA beat Russia in the Semifinals for the right to play Canada for the championship in a best-of-three final series. While the first game was played in Philadelphia, the USA faced a tough road with the last two games in front of a partisan crowd in Montreal.
Ironically, Canada won the first game in Philadelphia, 4-3 in overtime. That meant the USA had to go to Montreal and sweep the last two games. That’s exactly what they did, by identical 5-2 scores.
Mike Richter, tournament MVP, turns away The Great One at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey Final #TBT #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/HoY6jgvD21
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) August 18, 2016
The games were chippy and hard fought and Richter was outstanding. In the deciding game, Canada jumped out to a 2-1 lead and outshot the USA 37-24. Richter stood tall in the second period, stopping 21 of 22 shots. USA coach Ron Wilson told reporters ”That second period was one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen. Richter was a brick wall.”
For Mike Richter, it was a comeback from a injury-ridden season that had limited him to 41 games. To make matters more dramatic, although Richter was able to rely on Rangers teammate Brian Leetch, he had to face Mark Messier, Pat Verbeek and Adam Graves, all Rangers in 1995-96 as well as Wayne Gretzky who had signed with the Blueshirts for that season.
Today’s birthdays
20 NHL players have been born on September 14 with four former Rangers among them.
Petr Prucha was born on this date in 1982 in Chrudim, Czechoslovakia. An eighth round pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Prucha burst onto the scene in 2005 as a member of Jaromir Jagr’s “Czech-mates.” He scored 30 goals in his rookie season and followed that up by scoring 22 goals the next season. He slumped to only seven goals in his third season and was traded to Phoenix the next season in a deadline deal for defenseman Derek Morris. The right winger was never able to reach the heights of his first two seasons either in the NHL or the KHL where he ended his career.
David Desharnais was a center, born on this date in 1986 in Laurier-Station, Quebec. He played for the Rangers for one season, signing as a free agent in 2017-18. He scored six goals and 28 points in 71 games and after that season he finished his career in the KHL and the Swiss League. He had been a productive player for eight years in Montreal with 250 points in 435 games.
Harold Brown was born on this date in 1920 in Brandon, Manitoba. A right winger, he played 13 games with the Rangers in 1945-46, scoring two goals and three points. He joined the team right out of his service in the Canadian Navy in WWII.
Layne Ulmer was born on this date in 1980 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. He was a center who played only one game in the NHL with the Rangers in 2004. He signed with the Blueshirts as a free agent, but spent his entire tenure with the team in Hartford, save that one game. After 2006 he played 14 seasons in Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy and the U.K.