On May 11 in NYR history: Another Stanley Cup Final loss

What happened on May 11 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date, in their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1950, the New York Rangers lost the series to the Boston Bruin in six games as Bobby Orr scored his second Cup-winning goal in three years.  It was really no contest as the Rangers lost 3-0, going down meekly at Madison Square Garden.

Orr scored the first Boston goal on a power play midway through the first period, beating Gilles Villemure.  Orr wasn’t done, adding as assist on Wayne Cashman’s first of two goals in the third period.

With two Cup winning goals in his career, Orr became the fourth NHL player to achieve that feat.  The Rangers had 33 shots on goal, but Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers stopped them all.    The loss stretched the Rangers Stanley Cup championship drought to 32 years.

Double hat tricks

On this date in 1996, the Rangers dropped the fifth and final game of their Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series to the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 7-3 at the Pittsburgh Civic Center. Not only did they allow seven goals, but Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr both had hat tricks to account for six of the seven goals.

It wasn’t the first time a team had two players notch hat tricks in the same playoff game. In fact, in 1990 three players for the Los Angeles Kings had hat tricks in a 12-4 thrashing of the Calgary Flames.

Trophy day

May 11 is a good day for Rangers to win league-wide trophies.  In 1948, Buddy O’Connor won two awards, the Hart Trophy and the Lady Byng Trophy.   He was the first New York Rangers to be honored as most valuable player.  O’Connor was a point a game player with 24 goals and 60 points in 60 games.  It was the ninth time that a Ranger had won the Lady Byng, though Frank Boucher was a repeat winner, taking the trophy home seven times.

On May  11, 1959, Andy Bathgate became the third Ranger to win the Hart Trophy. Bathgate finished third in goals and points in the NHL for a Rangers team that finished fifth in a six team league.

On this date in 1962, Doug Harvey won his seventh Norris Trophy, but his first as a New York Ranger.   The Montreal Canadiens had traded the 37 year old defenseman to New York for Lou Fontinato despite the fact that he had been honored as the league’s best blueliner. True to form, Harvey won the award again, for the third year in a row and was a First Team All Star.

Today’s birthdays

35 NHL players call May 11th their birthday including four former New York Rangers and their owner.

Jim Dolan was born on this date in 1956 in Massapequa, New York. He many not play for the Rangers, but as the team’s owner he had a huge influence over the team since 1999.   Currently, the Chairman of Madison Square Garden, he is responsible for the Rangers nd Knicks along with the MSG Networks.

Ulf Nilsson was born on this date in 1950 in Nynashamn, Sweden.  Nilsson  and Anders Hedberg came over from Sweden to play with Bobby Hull on the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA and after four years the duo signed big contracts with the Rangers as free agents.   Nilsson was a fabulous playmaker but was hampered by injuries through his time with the Rangers and was forced to retire early.  The center scored 57 goals and 169 points in 170 games,but never played more than 59 games in any of four seasons.

Dutch Hiller was a left winger born on this date in 1915 in Berlin, Ontario.   He was a member of the 1940 Stanley Cup championship Ranger team and played for the Blueshirts from 1937 to 1941.   After four years in New York he played for Detroit, Boston and Montreal  as well as one more stint with the Rangers in 1943-44.

Per Djoos was born on this date in 1958 in Mora, Sweden.  The defenseman was drafted by the Red Wings in 1986 and was traded to the Rangers along with Joe Kocur in 1991.  He played parts of two seasons in New York before returning to Europe.   He is the father of former Red Wing Christian Djoos, currently playing in Switzerland.

Lloyd Ailsby was a defenseman born on May 11, 1917 in Lac Pelletier, Saskatchewan.   He played professional hockey for over 20 years, but made it to the NHL with the Rangers for only three games in the 1951-52 season.

The numbers

Playoff games: 5
Wins: 1
Losses: 3
Overtime wins: 1
Winning percentage: 40%