On September 22 in Rangers history: Vic Hadfield quits Team Canada

What happened on September 22 in the history of the New York Rangers

After a two week layoff, the Summit Series resumed on this date in 1972.  There was one New York Rangers player missing as Vic Hadfield quit the team because of a lack of playing time.   The question is whether Hadfield would have made a difference as Canada lost to the Soviets 5-4 in Moscow.

The Canadians had been embarrassed after the first four games of the series.  Expecting a cakewalk, the USSR left North America with a 2-1-1 record as the Soviets outplayed the Canadians in three of the four games.   In Game Three, a 4-4 tie in Winnipeg, the Canadians blew a 3-1 lead and were lucky to escape with a tie.

During the two week layoff, Team Canada travelled to Europe and played two exhibition games in Sweden while the Soviets played in a tournament in the USSR.  It was after the Canadian team got to Moscow that Hadfield bolted, along with Rick Martin and Jocelyn Guevremont, all dissatisfied with playing time.

Five New York Rangers had been selected for Team Canada including Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Brad Park and Rod Seiling. Seiling played in only three games, but stayed with the team. Hadfield had played twice in the first four games, but it wasn’t enough for him.

The first game played in the Soviet Union was an absolute disaster. Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two periods on goals by J.P. Parise, Bobby Clarke and Paul Henderson.  Rod Gilbert assisted on the Parise goal.

The USSR scored early in the third period to pull within two goals, but Canada got the three goal lead back when Henderson scored again. With 15:04 left in the game, Canada had what seemed like an insurmountable 4-1 lead and Tony Esposito in goal.

Not so fast, The Soviets turned it on and scored four straight goals, all at even strength.  The USSR team scored five third period goals on only 11 shots.

3,000 Canadian fans made the trip to Moscow and they cheered the team at the end of the game, a far cry from the boos that followed them off the ice in their last game in Vancouver.  Team Canada was faced with the challenge of winning the next three games to win the series.  At that point, no one except the players felt that they had a chance.

By leaving the team, Vic Hadfield missed out on one of the most stirring comebacks in hockey history.

Today’s birthdays

20 NHL players have been born on September 22 with three former New York Rangers in that group including one of the franchise’s greatest netminders.

Mike Richter was born on this date in 1966 in Abington, Pennsylvania.  A second round draft pick in 1975 out of the University of Wisconsin, Richter played his entire career with the Rangers and is immortalized by the 1994 Stanley Cup Championship.   Until Henrik Lundqvist came along,  Richter won more games, made more saves, faced more shots and played more minutes than any other Ranger netminder.  Richter’s number 35 hangs from the rafters of Madison Square Garden, retired on February 4, 2004.

Derick Brassard was born on this  date in 1987 in Hull, Quebec.  The Rangers traded Marian Gaborik to Columbus in 2013, getting Brassard back in the deal.  A clutch playoff performer, Brassard was a key member of the Rangers team that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.  The center was a fan favorite who played three full seasons in New York before being traded to Ottawa for Mika Zibanejad, one of the best deals ever made by the Blueshirts.

Gerry Foley was a right winger born on September 22, 1932 in Ware, Massachusetts.  The Rangers claimed him from Toronto in the intra-league draft in 1956 and he played two full seasons in New York scoring nine goals in 137 games.  One interesting note about Foley is that he played for the Rangers in 1958 and then it took him 11 seasons before he made it back to the NHL, with the Los Angeles Kings in 1968.  He played in the AHL for all those years and played just one game for the Kings when he made his return to the NHL.  It’s one of the longest spans between NHL appearances for any player, but not the longest.