On January 1 in NYR history: A Winter Classic win & an awful trade

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

The date was January 1, 2018 and the place was Citifield.  The game was the 11th Winter Classic, this time between the Buffalo Sabres hosting the New York Rangers.  In a thrilling game, the Rangers won, 3-2 in overtime.  The game started at 1:27pm with the temperature 20.5 degrees.

Paul Carey and Michael Grabner gave the Blueshirts a 2-0 lead after one period.  Goals early in games and at the start of periods were a bugaboo for the Rangers and Buffalo took advantage when Sam Reinhart scored on the power play just 56 seconds into the second period and Rasmus Ristolainen tied the score just 27 seconds into the third period.

The game went to overtime and the Rangers won when J.T. Miller scored at the 2:43 mark, setting off a raucous celebration by the 41,821 fans.  It was a power play goal and came off a rebound of a Kevin Shattenkirk wrist shot from the blue line.

The Rangers remained unbeaten in outdoor games with a 4-0 record with Henrik Lundqvist in net for all four games.   While the game was entertaining, it was the lowest rated Winter Classic since they began in 2008.

As for the Rangers, it put them eight games above .500, their high point for the season with a record of 21-13-5.   From that point on they won only 13 out of 43 games and sent “The Letter” to their fans in February initiating the rebuild.

One of the worst trades in franchise history

On January 1, 1987, Phil Esposito made one of the worst deals in team history.  He traded Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller and Bob Crawford to the Washington Capitals for Bobby Carpenter and a second round draft pick.

Carpenter was one of the best young hockey players to come out of the United States.  He had scored 32 goals as an 18 year old and he became the first US  born player to top 50 goals when he scored 53 goals at age 21.   His relationships with coach Brian Murray deteriorated the following year and when the 1986-87 season started he was sent home after 22 games while making it clear he wanted out of Washington.

With Esposito holding all of the leverage, he gave up way too much for Carpenter.  Mike Ridley was the Rangers’ leading scorer and he went on to play seven years in Washington, topping out with 41 goals in 1988-89.  Kelly Miller played 12 more seasons with the Capitals.  While not a big scorer he was an outstanding defensive forward and was a Selke Trophy candidate several times.  Only Crawford didn’t amount to much for Washington, playing only 12 games.

As for  Carpenter, when he scored only two goals in 28 games for the Blueshirts, Trader Phil flipped him to Los Angeles along with Tom Laidlaw for 35-year-old Marcel Dionne.  How did that work out?  Dionne played two seasons in New York before retiring. While Carpenter never reached the scoring levels of his first few seasons, he did play 12 more NHL seasons with the Kings, Bruins and won a Stanley Cup with the Devils in 1995.

Phil Esposito could only be described as “trade crazy” when he was the Rangers general manager and his trade of Bobby Carpenter were probably the peak of the lunacy.

The first trade in franchise history

On this date in 1927, the Rangers made their first trade, but it involved only one player.  They acquired the rights for Leo Bourgeault from the Toronto St. Patricks for cash.  Bourgeault, a defenseman, played just over four years for the Rangers before finishing his career with Ottawa and Montreal.

Three brothers together

On this date in 1943 the Chicago Blackhawks made history in a game against the Rangers at Chicago Stadium.  For the first time in NHL history, three brothers played in the same game for the same team when Max, Doug and Reggie Bentley all played for Chicago in a 6-5 win over the Rangers.

The feat was replicated buy the Stastny brothers (Peter, Anton, Marian) in Quebec, the Plager brothers (Bob, Barclay, Bill) in St. Louis and the Staal brothers (Jordan,Jarred, Eric) in Carolina.  The Bentleys all played on the same line and made history when all three brothers had  a hand on one goal.  It was the only goal scored in the NHL by Reg Bentley.

Today’s birthdays

33 NHL players have been born on January 1. Four of them have been New York Rangers New Year’s babies.

Dave Silk was born on this date in 1958 in Scituate, Massachusetts.  He is best known as the first member of the 1980 Miracle on ice U.S. Olympic team to join the Rangers, playing two games after the Olympics.  Silk played three seasons for the Rangers scoring 15 goals in his best season. He finished his career with stops in Boston, Detroit and Winnipeg.

Bobby Holik was born on this date in Jihlava, Czechoslovakia in 1971.  The quintessential power forward, he played 11 seasons in New Jersey, winning two Stanley Cups.  When the center became a free agent, he was one of the most sought after free agents in 2002 and the Rangers won the battle and signed him to a  five-year, $45 million contract.  A gifted checking forward with a touch for scoring, the expectation was that he would be a big scorer for New York and when he didn’t, his experience with the Rangers soured. After three disappointing seasons they bought him out and he signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Les Colwill was born  on January 1, 1935 in Diwide, Saskatchewan.  The winger played only one season in the NHL, for the Rangers in 1958-59.

The immortal Oscar “Ossie” Aubuchon was born in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec on January 1, 1917.  Aubuchon was a left winger who only played two seasons in the NHL, traded by Boston to New York in his second year, 1943-44.  He played as a war replacement player since he had a medical deferral and actually scored 16 goals in 38 games.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 31 games on New Year’s Day, with only 11 wins.  The Winter Classic in 2018 was their only overtime win on January 1.

Games: 31
Regulation wins: 11
Regulation losses: 16
Ties: 1
Overtime wins: 1
Overtime losses  2
Points percentage:  .435