Today in NYR history: Brothers gone wild

What happened on December 1 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1940, something happened in the NHL that for the first time and it involved the New York Rangers. Four sets of brothers played in the same game for the first time. The game was played in Chicago Stadium between the Ranger and the Black Hawks with Chicago winning 4-1.

Each team featured two sets of brother with the Rangers represented by Lynn and Muzz Patrick and Neil and Mac Colville.  The two pairs of brothers for Chicago were Max and Doug Bentley and Bob and Bill Carse.

Unfortunately for New York , it was a more memorable game for the Black Hawks’ siblings as Max Bentley and Bill Carse both scored goals while the Rangers family didn’t score. Doug Bentley added an assist.

More milestones for Gretzky

On this date in 996, Wayne Gretzky reached one of the many milestones in a game against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.  The Great One scored a goal and added an assist in a 6-3 New York win with those two points gave him 3,000 on his career, including the regular season and the playoffs.

No one else is even close.  Gretzky retired with a total of 3,239 total points.  Second on the list is Mark Messier with 2,182, over a thousand points fewer than Gretzky.  His milestone came at 11:54 of the third period when he scored a goal with the assist to Pat Flatley.   This was Gretzky’s first of three years he spent with the Rangers.

Two firsts for the Blueshirts

One December 1, 1932, the Rangers played their first game ever against  the Detroit Red Wings.  That team had been rebranded, formerly the Detroit Falcons and before that, the Detroit Cougars.  The Rangers played at the Detroit Olympia and won 4-2.  Cecil Dillon led the Rangers with two goals.

In 1995 on this date, the Colorado Avalanche played their first game ever at Madison Square Garden, losing to the Rangers 5-3.  The Avalanche had moved to Denver from Quebec for the 1995-96 season. It was a blowout with the Rangers jumping out to a 5-1 lead on Mark Messier’s two goals and one assist.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 39 games on December 1.  Here are the numbers:

Regulation wins:  18
Regulation losses:  13
Ties:  6
Overtime wins:  1
Shootout losses:  1
Points Percentage:   .576.

Today’s birthdays

25 NHL players have been born on December 1 with three of them former New York Rangers.

Ryan Malone was born on this date in 1979 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He was drafted by his hometown Penguins in 1999 and played for them for four season. The son of former NHL player Greg Malone, the left winger played six games for the Rangers in the 2014-15 season after signing as a free agent.  Malone had off the ice troubles, arrested for DUI and cocaine possession in April 2014.   When the Rangers sent him to the minors he played in Hartford before deciding he no longer wanted to play hockey.  He did attempt a comeback later in his career, but never played in the NHL again.

Bob Kirkpatrick was a center, born on this date in 1915 in Regina, Saskatchewan.  He played 49 games in the NHL in the 1942-32 season, all for the Rangers.  In his one season he scored 12 goals and 24 points in 49 games.

Al LeBrun was born on this date in 1940 in Timmins, Ontario. He was a defenseman who played six games for the Rangers in two seasons five years apart.  He notched two assists in his rookie season, but was returned to the minor leagues in Vancouver.  He missed one full season after spinal surgery and made a two game return to New York in 1965. He played hockey for another decade mostly for San Diego of the WHL.