On January 2 in NYR history: A Winter Classic for the ages

What happened on January 2 in the history of the New York Rangers

On January 2, 2012 the New York Rangers played their first regular season outdoor game, the 2012 NHL Winter Classic, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a game that was filled with improbable moments.  It should go down in history as one of the most memorable Winter Classics ever and it certainly lived up to its name, it was a classic.

The game was played in Citizens Bank Park in front of 46,967 fans.  It was the first time the Winter Classic was not played on New Year’s Day because the first fell on a Sunday.  The start was delayed for two hours because of weather concerns with the game starting at 3pm with the temperatures in the mid-forties.

How improbable was the win?  First, the Flyers got off to  2-0 lead based on two goals within two minutes in the second period by Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux.   With a light rain falling and conditions deteriorating, it looked grim for the Blueshirts, but then the improbably happened.  The fourth line of Brandon Prust, John Mitchell and Mike Rupp came through as Rupp scored just 30 seconds after Giroux’s goal.

In the third period, it happened again as Rupp scored his second goal to tie the game just 2:41 in.    The veteran forward had scored only one goal all season (he finished with four).  Not only did Rupp score, but he mocked Flyer’s forward Jaromir Jagr giving Jagr’s signature salute after scoring. That move drove the Flyers nuts.

Two and a half minutes later, Brad Richards scored his 14th goal of the season to give the Rangers the lead.

he Rangers held on throughout the final period  and with just 19.6 seconds left, the game got even wackier. After a scrum at the Ranger net, the Flyers were awarded a penalty shot when the referees said that Ryan McDonagh had covered the puck in the crease.  The Flyers elected to let Daniel Briere take the shot and he was stoned by Henrik Lundqvist.

After the game Rangers coach John Tortorella was apoplectic,  telling reporters “I’m not sure if NBC got together with the refs or what to turn this into an overtime game.  For two good refs, I thought the game was reffed horribly. I’m not sure what happened there….Maybe they wanted to get into overtime. I’m not sure if they had meetings about that or what. But we stood in there. I don’t want to … because they are good guys. I just thought it was, in that third period, it was disgusting.”

For those comments, although he apologized the next day, the NHL fined Torts $30,000.

With the win the Rangers possessed the best record in the NHL.

A first time in Quebec

On this date in 1980, the Rangers played their first game in Quebec City, tying the Nordiques 3-3 at the Coliseum. John Davidson had 31 saves and Don Murdoch scored two goals to offset two scores by Marc Tardiff.

The Nordiques had joined the NHL in the 1979-80 season with the merger of the NHL and the WHA.   They were one of four teams that remained intact (Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets) and they finished in last place in the Adams Division, though with a respectable 61 points.

Today’s birthdays

30 NHL players have been born on January 2.  Five former Ranger players were born on this date and one builder who is a reason we have a team to root for.

George Lewis Rickard, known as “Tex” was born on this date in 1870 in Kansas City, Missouri.   Rickard was a boxing promoter who had a wild life as the marshal in a town in Texas (hence the nickname), a gold prospector in Alaska and a casino owner in Nevada.  In 1923 he purchased the land and the Madison Square Garden name and built the third version of the Garden at 49th Street and Eighth Avenue.   Spurred on by success of the New York Americans who played at the Garden in its first year, Rickard was granted another hockey franchise, nicknamed “Tex’s Rangers.”  He later built Boston Garden and a dogtrack in Miami before dying from complications following an appendectomy in 1929.

Robbie Ftorek was born on this date in 1952 in Needham, Massachusetts and was one of the first stars to come out of that state.  The center was a big scorer for five years in the WHA before the merger with the NHL and though he never achieved the scoring heights of his early years, he was an outstanding center with a great reputation as a defensive player.  He joined the Rangers in 1981-82 and played almost four years in New York as a high energy player.

Mattias Norstrom was born on this date in 1972 in Stockholm.  He was a second round draft pick by the Rangers in 1992 and after seeing limited action over three season, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that can only be termed as a fiasco.  In 1996, in an effort the rekindle the Oilers magic with Wayne Gretzky, the Rangers sent Norstrom, Ray Ferraro, Ian Laperriere, Nathan Lafayette and a 4th round draft pick to Los Angeles for Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley, and Shane Churla. Trading Norstrom was a huge mistake as he played 11 years for the Kings as their best defenseman.

Mike Backman was born on this date in 1955 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He was a right winger who   played 18 games over three seasons for the Rangers in the early 1980s.

Gord Labossiere was born on this date in 1940 in St. Boniface, Manitoba.  The center played ten years between the NHL and the WHA after making his debut in New York in 1963-64.  He played 16 games for the Rangers, not scoring a point with a plus/minus of -7.

Ales Pisa was born on January 2, 1977 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia.  Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, the defenseman was traded to New York in 2003 with Anson Carter in exchange for Radek Dvorak.   After playing only three games for the Rangers, he left North America to play in Russia. For you trivia fans, he is one of two NHL players who last name is also the name of a large city in Italy along with Aaron Rome.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 37 games on January 2, but only one outdoors. They are a little over .500 on this date.

Games: 37
Regulation wins: 17
Regulation losses: 14
Ties: 4
Shootouts wins: 1
Overtime losses  1
Points percentage:  .554