New York Rangers fans have been patiently waiting for the team to hoist the Stanley Cup again. The last time they did so was back in 1994, a full 32 years ago as of this writing. Fans remember it all during that run. From Mark Messier's guarantee they'll win Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils. Not to mention, Stephane Matteau scoring the winning goal in double overtime of Game 7. Of course, then there was the eruption of fans inside of Madison Square Garden when the Rangers won Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
What younger Rangers fans probably don't know is that the 1994 win was their first Stanley Cup title since 1940. The organization went a full 54-years without a Stanley Cup title. If you don't remember what it was like in 1994 for the Rangers to snap that drought, take a look around and see what it has been like for the New York Knicks and their fans celebrating a 53-year drought being broken.
With that said, for some Rangers fans, it wasn't a matter of coincidence. Rather, they thought the team was cursed.
Rangers Stanley Cup drought was dubbed the 'Curse of 1940' by fans
Remember when the Chicago Cubs had the "Curse of the Billy Goat" that resulted in them having a 108-year World Series title drought? Well, that's kind of what the Curse of 1940 was for the Rangers.
Before 1994, the last time the Rangers won the Stanley Cup was back in 1940, where they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games. As part of the celebration, Rangers ownership burned the mortgage to the third Madison Square Garden, which was paid off during the season, in the bowl of the Stanley Cup. The rumor had long been that they had to urinate in the Stanley Cup to put out the fire.
This is just one of the superstitious theories fans had as to why the Rangers could never win the Stanley Cup again for over half a century. It was a belief that the Rangers had angered the hockey gods, and were punished.
The Rangers would make it to the Stanley Cup Final three times since 1940. In 1950, they lost in seven games to the Detroit Red Wings. In 1972, the Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins in six games. Finally, in 1979, they lost in five games to the Montreal Canadiens.
Rangers also had the Dutton Curse to explain 54-year Stanley Cup drought
Another theory that the Rangers faithful was that the "Dutton Curse" was another reason why the team didn't win a Stanley Cup for 54-years.
Red Dutton was the coach and general manager of the New York Americans. The Americans operated from 1925 until 1942, and they originally played inside Madison Square Garden. The team suspended their operations in 1942, as the team was affected by the amount of players who joined the Armed Forces to fight in World War II.
Dutton would take over as NHL president in 1943 and resigned in 1946. Upon resigning, Dutton wanted to restart the Americans. He was initially promised that he would be allowed to restart it. However, the NHL and the Rangers backed off the commitment, thus folding the Americans franchise completely. Dutton, who was incensed at the time, put a curse on the Rangers, declaring "The Rangers will never win another Cup in my lifetime." Dutton passed away in 1987. As mentioned earlier, the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Final three times before 1994, all of which were losses.
When a team reaches a lengthy drought like that, there are going to be some theories spreading around. For the Rangers, they had two main theories as to why they thought the team would never win a stanley Cup again until 1994.
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