January 26 in NYR history: A rink called Yankee Stadium

What happened on January 26 in  the history of the New York Rangers

In 2014, the NHL inaugurated a new outdoor series, call the “NHL Stadium Series.”  With the success of the NHL Winter Classic, the league decided to play an annual series of games in a football or baseball stadium.  Appropriately, for the first one, the New York Rangers were picked to play at Yankee Stadium along with games at Dodger Stadium and Soldier Field.

On this date in 2014, the Blueshirts played the first to two games at Yankee Stadium before 50,105 freezing fans.  They went home happy as the Rangers beat the Devils 7-3.

The other Stadium Series games featured the Kings versus the Ducks and the Blackhawks and the Penguins.  After this game, the Ranger would take on the Islanders three days later.

In this game, the Devils jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period on two goals by Patrik Elias.  Marc Staal scored to close out the first period 3-2 and the Rangers poured on five straight goals over the last two periods, chasing goalie Martin Brodeur.

The final Ranger goal was a penalty shot awarded to Derek Stepan when Travis Zajac was called for holding him on a breakaway.  The call was iffy and on replay it looked like Stepan was doing as much holding as Zajac.  The call was the call and Stepan beat replacement goalie Cory Schneider.

This was the first outdoor game ever played in New York City and the start time was delayed over an hour because of sun glare on the ice.

Trading for Sather

Glen Sather has had a  relationship with the New York Rangers for over 50 years and it began on this date in 1971.  While he is best known in New York for the trades he made, on this date in 1971 the Rangers traded for the physical left winger, sending forward Syl Apps Jr. and defenseman Sheldon Kannegiesser to the Penguins.

Sather played two seasons in New York before he was dealt to to St. Louis.  Sather played 186 games in New York, the most games for any of the seven NHL and WHA teams he toiled for. The significance of the trade is that it planted his roots as a New York Ranger and was one of the reasons he became the Blueshirts’ general manager years later.

Perhaps more important, wearing the Rangers jersey gave Sather a sense of the heritage of the team as he was instrumental in honoring Rangers like teammates Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield, and legends like Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell.

Today’s birthdays

23 NHL players have been born on January 26 including a former New York Rangers who happens to be the greatest player in hockey history.

Wayne Gretzky was born on this date in 1961 in Brantford, Ontario.  It’s not necessary to go into his career except to say that he was the greatest player in NHL history, won multiple Stanley Cups and holds pretty much every offensive record .

Though he joined the Rangers well past his prime,  at age 36, he still led the NHL in assists in two of the three years he played in New York, making Second Team All-Star both of those years.  He also won the Lady Byng Trophy in his last season.  The shame is that he finished his career with a mediocre Ranger team that missed the playoffs his last two seasons.

Chad Kolarik was a center who was born on this date in 1986 in Abington, Pennsylvania.  Drafted by Phoenix and traded to Columbus, he was dealt to the Rangers in 2010 and played four games for the team. He missed the entire next season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason and was later traded to Pittsburgh.

Vic Lynn was born on this date in 1925 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  He is one of those players who New York career consisted on only one game, The left winger played one game in the 1942-43 season. He played 327 games over 11 seasons for six different teams.

Jeremy Williams also played only one game for the Rangers.  He was born on this date in 1984 in Regina, Saskatchewan and was signed by New York as a free agent in 2010 after playing parts of four season for the Maple Leafs. The right winger played his one game in New York in 2010-11.

Dan Newman was a left winger born on this date in 1952 in Windsor, Ontario.  He played 100 games for the Rangers in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons.  He had 14 goals and 35 points.

The numbers

The Rangers have played only 30 games on their history on January 26, the fewest number of games of any day in January, mostly due to the fact that the All-Star game takes place around this time.

Games: 30
Regulation wins:  15
Regulation losses: 13
Ties: 2
Points percentage: .533