December 23 in NYR history: The most insane moment in franchise history

What happened on December 23rd in the history of the New York Rangers

41 years ago today, the Boston Bruins reached an all-time low while playing the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. If you were lucky enough to be there or were watching on television, December 23rd, 1979 is a day you will never forget.

It’s the day the Boston Bruins violated every rule of hockey decorum and went into the stands to brawl with fans.  Here’s how it went down.

In the closing seconds of the game,  the Rangers’ Phil Esposito misses on a breakaway. He corrals the puck on the half-boards and shoots wide. The horn sounds signaling a Boston Bruins 4-3 win over the Rangers. Esposito smashes his stick on the ice and skates off in disgust.

Christmas is less than two days away and a few of the players make their way to the locker rooms. It’s the holidays, time for a break. However, behind the play, just as Esposito is leaving the ice, Bruins winger Al Secord, took the opportunity to sucker punch the Ranger’s Ulf Nilsson in retaliation for an early disagreement. And the rest, as we all know, lives in hockey infamy.

42 years later, this is still so shocking to watch. The announcing, the Rangers looking on, Mike Milbury with the shoe… it’s all just so surreal. The only comparable brawl in recent American sports is the Malice at the Palace, a NBA brawl between the Pacers and the Pistons. But hockey fans will tell you, that one pales in comparison to Festivus 1979 at Madison Square Garden. The “Shoe Brawl”, as it has since been christened, resulted in Terry O’Reilly being suspended eight games and Peter McNab and Milbury being suspended six games.  All three players were fined only $500 each, which is roughly $1800 today.

Here’s the entire incident.  If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth watching.  If it’s been a while, it’s worth watching again.

Can you imagine if something like this were to happen today? Twitter would explode and it would be a publicity nightmare for not only the players involved but the league itself. There would be a full-on hockey witch hunt!

Record setting against the Rangers

On this date in 1978, Bryan Trottier set an NHL record with six points in one period of a 9-4 Islanders win at Nassau Coliseum.   It’s a record that wasn’t equaled until March this year when Mika Zibanejad had six points in the second period against the Flyers.   20 players had gotten to five points in a period, but no one else has gotten six.

Trottier scored three goals and assisted on three others in the second period.  He finished the night with eight points, second most in a game in NHL history.    This was the first time he scored five goals in a game, a feat he accomplished twice in his career.

On December 23 in 2000, David Legwand of the Nashville Predators became the first NHL player to win a game in overtime on a penalty shot.  Legwand was awarded the penalty shot when he was hooked by Tomas Kloucek on a breakaway.   Legwand beat Ranger goalie Kirk McLean with 1:43 left in OT and it gave the Predators a 3-2 win.

Double digits

On this date in 1985, the Rangers hit double digits for the 15th time in their history, beating the Detroit Red Wings 10-2 at Madison Square Garden.  In the 35 years since, the Blueshirts have scored ten or more goals only three times.

First time in Ottawa

In 1926 on this date, the Rangers made their first trip to Ottawa, losing to the Senators 1-0.  The Sens won the Stanley  Cup the Rangers’ first year in the NHL and were champions four times.   The original Senators were in the NHL from 1917 to 1934, relocating to St. Louis as the Eagles for one season before folding.  Ottawa would not see an NHL team until the 1992-93 season with the expansion Ottawa Senators.

Today’s birthdays

21 NHL players have been born on December 23 including one Rangers prospect and four former Rangers.

Vitali Kravtsov was born on this date in 1999 in Vladivostok, Russia.  Selected ninth overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the right winger finally made his way to the Rangers in the 2020-21 season, but his tenure as a Rangers has been controversial.  Twice he has gone home to Russia after failing to make the varsity, incidents that have been well documented.

Scott Gomez was born on this date in 1979 in Anchorage, Alaska. A star for the New Jersey Devils, the center signed a seven-year, $51.5 million contract with the Rangers in 2007.  With the expectation that he would be a big goal scorer based on his one 33-goal season, he was a disappointment though he produced at the same level he did with the Devils in his first season in Glen Sather pulled off a masterful deal, acquiring Chris Higgins and a little known Montreal prospect named Ryan McDonagh.  Gomez played over 1,000 games in the NHL scoring 181 goals and 756 points and won to Stanley Cups with the Devils.

Mikael Samuelsson was born on December 23, 1976 in Mariefred, Sweden.  The right winger was traded to the Rangers in 2001 for Adam Graves, yes, Adam Graves.  He didn’t last long, playing almost two seasons in New York before he was sent to Pittsburgh for Alex Kovalev.  So, Samuelsson was traded twice and in both deals it was for members of the 1994 Stanley Cup team.   He hit is stride in Detroit as a defensive forward and was on their 2008 championship team. He played 699 games over a 13 season NHL career.

Ales Kotalik was born on this date in 1978 in Jindrichuv Hradec, Czechoslovakia.  A right winger, the Rangers signed him as a free agent in 2009 from Edmonton after a seven year career in Buffalo where he was a 20 goal scorer four times.  He lasted less than a season in New York, traded with Chris Higgins to the Calgary Flames for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.

Bill Kyle was born on this date in 1924 in Dysart, Saskatchewan.  A center, he played three games in the NHL for the Rangers over two season in the early 1950s.  He had a long career with the Regina Capitals in the minor leagues. In his two appearances with the Rangers he joined his older brother Gus who was a regular on defense for a couple seasons.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 52 games on December 23rd, more than any other day of the month.  They have a .500 record for the date.

Games: 52
Regulation wins: 20
Regulation losses: 22
Ties: 5
Overtime wins: 1
Shootout wins: 1
Overtime losses: 1
Shootout losses: 2
Points percentage:  .500