On June 2 in NYR history: Fred Shero takes over

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

One thing the New York Rangers like to do is to hire people who have had success elsewhere.  Whether it was an Olympics gold medal team for Herb Brooks or Stanley Cups in Edmonton for Glen Sather or trips to the Stanley Cup Final for Mike Keenan or a Hall of Fame career for Bryan Trottier, you can count on the Rangers taking that route to try to find success.

They did exactly that on this date in 1978 when they signed Fred Shero to a five-year $1.25 million contract to become general manager and coach of the Rangers after winning two Stanley Cups with the Philadelphia Flyers.  Shero had resigned his position with the Flyers though he had one more year left on his contract.  This ended up becoming a trade as the Rangers gave Philadelphia a first round draft pick and cash in order to avoid tampering charges.

For Shero, it was a return to the only team he had ever played for in the NHL. He had been a Ranger for three seasons and was a regular on the blue line when they made their trip to the 1950 Final against Detroit.  He replaced GM John Ferguson and coach Jean-Guy Talbot who had limited success in New York.

Shero lasted just over two years in New York and took the team unexpectedly to the Stanley Cup Final in 1979.   Known as Freddie the Fog, he was a character who made some peculiar decisions.  One story was that he let the team party after their opening game win in the 1979 Final in Montreal against the advice of Phil Esposito.  They were reportedly in poor shape when they took to the ice in Game Two. While GM, he made a trade for winger Cam Connor thinking he was trading for defenseman Colin Campbell and it was up to Connor to explain to Shero that he was a forward and not a defenseman.

In his third season with the Rangers, after getting off to a mediocre start, Shero resigned from his roles with New York and was replaced by Craig Patrick.  Shero was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a builder in 2013.

Another new coach

In 1973 on this date, the Rangers hired Larry Popein to be their head coach. Popein had played for the Rangers for seven years in the 1950s and was known as a “thinker” as he replaced Emile Francis who remained as General Manager.

How did he do?  He lasted all of 41 games, guiding the team to a 18-14-9 record before Francis canned him and took over behind the bench.  Francis said that he made the move because he felt that Popein was unable to motivate the team and he feared missing the playoffs.  Under the GM the Rangers did play better with  22-10-5 record, good enough for third place in the East Division.

An award for two Rangers broadcasters

The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is the highest award a hockey broadcaster can win and it has been handed out since 1984.  It is named for the legendary Canadian broadcaster and journalist, Foster Hewitt, who the play-by-play man for Hockey Night in Canada for over 40 years.

Three Ranger broadcasters have been honored with the award and two of them won the award on this date,  In 2009, former Ranger goalie John Davidson was honored with the award for his work on Rangers telecasts and on Hockey Night in Canada and national telecasts in the United States.

In 2016, it was Sam Rosen’s turn to be honored for his work as the Rangers play-by-play man since 1984 when he succeeded Jim Gordon.

Evening up the Final

On this date in 1994, the Rangers knotted their Stanley Cup Final series at a game apiece, beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-1.  Glenn Anderson broke a 1-1 tie midway though the second period with a shorthanded goal.   Former Canuck Doug Lidster had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Vancouver tied the score on a Sergio Momesso goal eight minutes later.

Brian Leetch added an empty net goal to seal the win and Kirk McLean had another brilliant outing with 37 saves.   The series moved from New York to Vancouver for games three and four.

Today’s birthdays

27 NHL players have been born on June 2 including three former Rangers.

Ott Heller was born on this date in 1910 in Berlin, Ontario.  He played 15 seasons in the NHL, all with the Rangers, winning two Stanley Cups as a Blueshirt.  A defenseman, Heller served as team captain from 1942 to 1945 and was a Second Team All-Star in 1941. The name “Ott” was an abbreviated version of his given name, Ehrhardt Heller.

Russ Courtnall was born on this date in 1965 in Duncan, British Columbia.  He was acquired at the trade deadline in 1997 from the Vancouver Canucks with Esa Tikkanen in exchange for Brian Noonan and Sergei Nemchinov. The right winger played only 14 games for the Blueshirts before leaving via free agency.   He scored over 20 goals nine times for five different teams and played 16 years in the NHL.

Chris Higgins was a left winger born on June 2, 1983 in Smithtown, Long Island.  He was the centerpiece of what was probably the best trade ever made by Glen Sather.  The Rangers acquired Higgins, who had scored over 20 goals three times for Montreal in exchange for Scott Gomez.  He lasted less than one season in New York before being dispatched to Calgary for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.  The deal was one of the best because the Rangers also picked up a college defenseman named Ryan McDonagh, making Higgins the answer to a trivia question.

The numbers

Playoff games:  1
Wins: 1
Losses: 0
Winning percentage:  100%