On December 11 in NYR history: A first that really wasn’t

What happened on December 11 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1941 the New York Rangers played their first road game in franchise history against a team from Brooklyn.  They took on the Brooklyn Americans and won 5-3. Only they didn’t play in Brooklyn and World War II was to blame.

The fact is the Rangers played the Brooklyn Americans at Madison Square Garden as the away team.   The reason was that although the Americans predated the Rangers in the NHL, they were the “second” team at MSG and wanted their own arena.  Red Dutton of the Amerks decided to move the team to Brooklyn in 1939.  Unfortunately, with the outbreak of the war, there wasn’t enough steel available to construct an arena and though the team was renamed the Brooklyn Americans for the 1941-42 season, they had to play in their usual Madison Square Garden home.

The whole story is laid out in the book Metro Ice, by Stan Fischler and Tom Sarro.  They describe how the team actually did practice in Brooklyn, at the Brooklyn Ice Palace located at the intersection of Atlantic and Bedford Avenues.

Unfortunately, even with the new name, the team finished in last place in the NHL and suspended operations, citing the war as the reason.  They never were able to get started again and officially gave up any attempts to revive the franchise in 1946.

The Rangers played the Brooklyn Americans eight times that final season, going 5-2-1.   They were undefeated as the “away” team with a record of 3-0-1.

The Rangers would not make their real debut in the borough of Brooklyn until 2015 when the Islanders moved into the Barclay Center.  So, in the record books it looks like they played in Brooklyn, but they really didn’t.

Hello Sunshine State

On this date in 1992, the Rangers played a regular season game in the state of Florida for the first time.  They played the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in Expo Hall, a small arena at the Florida State Fairgrounds.  The Lightning used it as their home for their first season though it could hold only 10,425 fans.

The Rangers won 5-3 on a goal by rookie Steven King.  James Patrick scored the 100th goal of his Ranger career.

This was not the first time the Rangers played in Florida. In September 1990 the Blueshirts met the Los Angeles Kings in an exhibition game in Miami.  They played preseason games against the Capitals in Miami and Orlando the following season.

Hello, Kevin Lowe

The same day that the Rangers beat Tampa, Rangers’ GM Neil Smith announced that they had traded for and signed defenseman Kevin Lowe.  The deal had actually been made five days earlier, but was contingent on his signing a contract with the Blueshirts.  This was the date that the trade was officially recorded as Lowe came to an agreement with the Rangers.

The future Hall of Famer had held out the first two months of the season, forcing the trade.

Today’s birthdays

18 NHL players were born on December 11 with five of them former Blueshirts.

Dave Gagner was born on this date in 1964 in Chatham, Ontario. You want to talk about the ones that got away, Dave Gagner is a great example. The Rangers pick him 12th overall in the first round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. The center played 80 games over three seasons for the Blueshirts starting in 1984, scoring on 11 goals.   A 55 goal scorer in junior hockey, the Rangers gave up on him and traded the 22 year old along with Jay Caufield to Minnesota for Jari Gronstrand and Paul Boutilier.  He then went on to average 35 goals a season for the next six years with the North Stars.  He retired in 1999 having scored 318 goals in 946 games.  Why was he dealt?  He had been drafted by Craig Patrick, but when Phil Esposito replaced him, he wasn’t enamored of Gagner’s 5’10” height and 188 pounds and that meant an early exit.  He is the father of current NHL player Sam Gagner.

Ted Hampson as a center, born on this date in 1936 in Togo, Saskatchewan.  He played 16 years in the NHL and WHA including three seasons in New York. They lost him on waivers to the Red Wings in 1963 and he bounced around the league before finding some success with the expansion Oakland Seals, actually winning the Masterton Trophy in 1969.

Steve Richmond was born in 1959 in Chicago, Illinois.  He was a physical defenseman who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Michigan.  He played parts of three seasons in New York topping the 100 penalty minute mark in his rookie season in only 26 games. The Blueshirts traded him to the Red Wings and he played for the Devils and Kings before retiring.

Bill Regan was born on this date in 1908 in Creighton Mines, Ontario.  He played only in New York with two seasons with the Rangers and one with the Americans.  A defenseman, he played 51 games for the Blueshirts from 1929 to 1931.

Dave Richardson was born on this date in 1940 in St. Boniface, Manitoba.  He was a left winger who played 45 NHL games for the Rangers, Black Hawks and Red Wings from 1963 to 1968.  41 of those games were in New York, scoring three goals and four points.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 37 times on December 11th in franchise history.   Their record is decidedly unremarkable.

Games:  37
Regulation wins:  15
Regulation losses:  18
Ties:  2
Overtime wins: 1
Shootout losses:  1
Points percentage:   .473