The Dry Spell
Heading into the 1960s, the Rangers had a new captain. George Sullivan was named to replace Harry Howell, and the Rangers continued to look for their first cup since 1940. It's worth noting that the Rangers were going through several changes in ownership and even redevelopments of the Garden around this time. Everything continued to improve in the background, but the Rangers couldn't reach the NHL's top under Sullivan, leading to Andy Bathgate's short tenure.
Another Blueshirt that's still towards the top of the history books in almost everything, Bathgate was a sensational player, but he couldn't lead the Rangers back to the top. Following Bathgate, the Rangers put their faith in joint captains, Camille Henry and Bob Nevin, for two years until Henry left the organization. Nevin wore the captaincy until 1971 when Vic Hadfield replaced him. Hadfield took it for a few years until 1974, but that wasn't enough to get the Rangers over the top.
For the 1974-75 season, the Rangers put their faith in Brad Park. That was until he was traded for Phil Esposito, who took the captaincy himself. Dave Maloney followed Esposito. Walt Tkaczuk followed for part of the season before being replaced by Barry Beck. Beck captained the team until 1986, when Ron Greschner took over, and Kelly Kisio followed him. That takes us until the 1991 season when a name all Rangers fans know and love changed the course of the Ranger's history forever. A franchise icon finally did the unthinkable.