On October 7 in Rangers history: The greatest captain in NHL history

What happened on October 7 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1991, Mark Messier skated onto the Garden ice for the first time wearing a New York Rangers jersey.  He had made his Blueshirts debut on the road in Montreal, but this was the homecoming and the Rangers did it in style, naming him captain just before the game.

The Rangers produced nine former captains in a pregame celebration and Messier shook each of their hands and accepted their best wishes.  He became the 22nd team captain in franchise history, succeeding Kelly Kisio who had been taken in the expansion draft by the Minnesota North Stars.

As for the game, the Rangers won 2-1 in overtime, the second straight win in OT with Messier a Ranger.  The captain came through with two assists including the primary helper on Mike Gartner’s overtime game winner. For his efforts, Messier was named first star of the game. He had helped break a scoreless tie in the third period, setting up a goal by John Ogrodnick.

It was an auspicious start to a career as a Ranger that was filled with drama as Messier’s larger than life persona dominated the team for the next 14 years.

Entering the video age

October 7, 1991 was notable for Mark Messier’s debut as a Ranger, but it was also the game that ushered the Rangers into the video age. with replay used to determine to disallow an apparent goal.

With less than five minutes left in the second period of the scoreless game, a puck went into the Rangers’ net off the skate of Bob Carpenter from a pass by Vladimir Ruzicka.  Although the puck was clearly in the Rangers’ net, referee Ron Hoggarth did not rule that it was a goal so the decision was up to the replay official to determine if Carpenter had directed the puck past John Vanbiesbrouck.

In those days, the replay booth was in the Garden, not at a centralized location in Toronto and the replay official spent ten minutes reviewing the play while a sellout crowd grew more and more impatient. At first the goal was posted on the scoreboard as the crowd chanted “replay.”  A few minutes later it was taken off.

The rule did not allow a goal to be disallowed by a replay official, but since Hoggarth had not called it a goal, the official could make the determination.

An iron man streak begins

On this date in 1955, Andy Hebenton made his debut as a New York Ranger and played the first of 630 consecutive games.  Remarkably, Hebenton did not miss a game in his nine years in the NHL, playing all 70 games in each season.  The first eight were with the Rangers and his final season was with the Boston Bruins.  The streak ended on March 22, 1964.

Even more remarkable is the fact that he continued his career in the minors in the Western Hockey League and he played three more seasons without missing a game.  In fact, in ten seasons in the WHL after his NHL career had ended, Hebenton missed only two games.

Hebenton’s streak lasted until it was broken by Garry Unger who played 914 straight games from 1968 to 1979.   It is still the 11th longest streak in NHL history.  The current record is 964 games held by Doug Jarvis, though Keith Yandle needs to play 43 games this season to set a new standard.

Emile Francis becomes a Ranger

On October 7, 1948, the Rangers traded goalie Jim Henry to the Chicago Black Hawks for winger Alex Kaleta and a goalie named Emile Francis. Francis had appeared in 54 games the prior season for Chicago and led the league with 30 losses.  Francis would be a Ranger for four seasons, as a back up to starting goalie Chuck Rayner.

While the 22 games he played in four seasons in New York are insignificant, it did establish a relationship with the Blueshirts that resulted in Francis becoming coach and general manager in the mid 1960s.

Today’s birthdays

19 NHL players have been born on October 7 with two New York Rangers in that mix including one of the greatest to ever wear the uniform.

Frank Boucher was born on this date in 1901 in Ottawa, Ontario.  The Hall of Famer was a Ranger player from 1926 to 1944, their coach from 1939 to 1948 and in 1953-54 and general manager from 1946 to 1955.  He played on the Rangers’ Stanley Cup champions in 1928 and 1933 and coached them to a Cup in 1940.   Boucher won the Lady Byng trophy a record seven times.  Hockeyreference.com adjusted statistics to compare players evenly and Boucher is the franchise leader in adjusted assists and points.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1958.

Mike Hurlbut was born on this date in 1966 in Massena, New York. The defenseman played parts of five seasons in the NHL after being signed by the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of St. Lawrence University.  After three years in the AHL he played 23 games in 1992-93  in New York.  The Rangers then made an excellent trade, sending Hurlbut to Quebec for Alexander Karpovtsev who was playing for Moscow Dynamo.  Karpovtsev was a valuable player for the 1994 Cup winners while Hurlbut played only six more games in the NHL.