On January 3 in NYR history: Beezer’s return to MSG

What happened on January 3 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1994, the expansion Florida Panthers played their first game at Madison Square Garden, losing to the Rangers 3-2.  What made the game notable was it marked the return of John Vanbiesbrouck to Madison Square Garden, the arena he had called home for nine years.

With the NHL expanding to Florida and Anaheim, the Rangers could protect only one goalie in he expansion draft and they had two in Vanbiesbrouck and 27-year old Mike Richter.  Faced with that tough decision, they picked Richter and traded the 30-year-old Vanbiesbrouck to Vancouver for future considerations (Doug Lidster).  Vancouver had Kirk McLean set as their netminder and were afraid that they would lose backup Kay Whitmore so they needed Vanbiesbrouck, knowing he would be selected.  Not only that, no NHL team could lose a defenseman and goalie in the draft so by making Beezer available, it protected the Canucks from losing any of their exposed blueliners.

Florida had the first pick in the draft and they selected the former Ranger.  It was a solid choice as he played five years for the Panthers, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.  Incidentally, that was the last time the Panthers have won a playoff series, a streak they hope to break this season.

While Mike Richter was the winning goalie in this game, Vanbiesbrouck was the star as he faced 54 shots, stopping 51 of them.  It was the only time he faced over 50 shots in the entire season and he earned an ovation from the crowd when he was named second star of the game.  The 54 shots was the most he faced in 882 NHL games.

The first two Ranger goals came from unlikely sources as defenseman Jeff Beukeboom scored in the first period and enforcer Joe Kocur scored in the second.   The teams were tied going into the third period when Adam Graves scored the game winning power play goal just 43 seconds into the period.

After leaving the Rangers, Vanbiesbrouck was to play 33 games against his former teammates and had a 15-11-6 record with a .918 Save Percentage and a 2.47 Goals Against Average.

This game was also a return for Joe Cirella who had also been drafted by the Panthers from the Rangers and also for Panthers coach Roger Neilson who had been fired almost one year before (January 4) as coach of the Blueshirts.

Today’s birthdays

A boatload of NHL players have been born on January 3, 39 to be exact.  Six of them played for the Rangers, including one late round draft pick who had several good years in New York

Mike York was born on this date in 1978 in in Waterford, Michigan.  A sixth round draft pick in 1997, he came out of nowhere to make the team in 1999 and scored a team-leading 26 goals as a 22-year-old rookie.  The left winger followed that with seasons of 14, 20, and 18 goals before being shipped to Edmonton for Tom Poti.  He played seven more years in the NHL, but never achieved the scoring heights he had with the Rangers.

Ryan Bourque was born on this date in 1991 in Boxford, Massachusetts.  Why there? Sometimes a team will draft along bloodlines and the Rangers did that when they selected the center in the third round of the 2009 draft.  His proud dad was Bruins superstar Ray Bourque.  Unfortunately, it didn’t pay off as Ryan played only one game in the NHL, for the Rangers.  He did play nine productive years in the AHL.

Cory Cross was a defenseman born on this date in 1971 in Lloydminster, Alberta.   He was a free agent signed by New York and play most of one season before he was traded to Edmonton along with Radek Dvorak for Anson Carter.  He did play 12 seasons in the NHL for six different teams.

Real Lemieux was born this date in 1945 in Victoriaville, Quebec, and he had two stints with the Blueshirts, the first in 1969-70 and then again in 1973-74, both times in trades with the Los Angeles Kings.  The left winger scored four goals in 63 games as a Ranger.

Moe Morris was a defenseman born on January 3, 1921 in Toronto.  He played 18 games in the 1948-49 season in New York. Before joining the Rangers he played parts of three seasons with the Maple Leafs.

Norm Tustin was another player born on January 3, in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1919.  He was a left wing who played 18 games during the war years for the Rangers, his only games in the NHL.

The numbers

The Rangers have a plus .500 record on January 3 in 39 games.

Games: 39
Regulation wins: 17
Regulation losses: 13
Ties: 8
Overtime losses  1
Points percentage:  .551