68 Fun Facts About New York Rangers

Which Madison Square Garden president was awarded the NHL franchise that became the Rangers?

Tex Rickard saw how well a tenant team, the Americans, drew in the Garden's first hockey season and wanted a club of his own; the press dubbed it Tex's Rangers, and the name stuck.

The promoter who founded the Rangers in 1926 had made his name staging which sport?

Boxing: he staged Jack Dempsey's biggest fights, among them the first to draw a million dollars at the gate, and wanted hockey of his own once a tenant team proved it could fill his arena.

The Rangers are one of the NHL's 'Original Six'; which of these clubs is another?

Chicago Blackhawks: the name marks the six clubs that made up the league from 1942 until it doubled in 1967, though Chicago and the Rangers had both joined only in 1926.

Which future Maple Leafs owner assembled the first Rangers roster but was fired before the opening season?

Conn Smythe quarrelled with the Garden's hockey boss and was dismissed on the eve of the season; the players he had signed finished first in their division anyway.

Which 44-year-old Rangers coach took over in goal during a Stanley Cup Final after Lorne Chabot was injured?

Lester Patrick, a retired defenceman, strapped on the pads when the opposing coach would not let the Rangers borrow a goalie from the stands; he let in one goal and they won in overtime.

Whom did the Rangers beat in five games to win their first Stanley Cup?

The Montreal Maroons had home ice for all five games, every one of them at the Montreal Forum, and the Rangers still took the best-of-five with a 2–1 win in the decider.

Which Rangers centre won the Lady Byng seven times in eight years and was given the trophy to keep?

Frank Boucher won it so often that Lady Byng had to donate a second trophy to the league to replace the one he took home; he later coached the Rangers to the 1940 Stanley Cup.

The Cook brothers, Bill and Bun, and their centre made up which famous early Rangers trio?

The Bread Line scored every Rangers goal, all five of them, in the Final that brought the club its first Stanley Cup.

Which American city's team won the Stanley Cup before the Rangers became the first US-based NHL club to do so?

Seattle's Metropolitans, champions of the Pacific Coast league, won it in 1917, months before the NHL was founded; the Rangers followed in only their second season.

Why did the Rangers play their "home" games of the 1950 Stanley Cup Final in Toronto?

The circus was at the Garden, so two "home" games moved to Toronto and the other five were played in Detroit, where the Rangers lost game seven in double overtime.

The Rangers beat both of their local rivals outdoors in one week of January 2014 at which venue?

Yankee Stadium hosted both Stadium Series games: the Rangers fell 3–1 behind New Jersey, scored six straight goals to win 7–3, then won 2–1 three nights later.

The Rangers' 54-year Stanley Cup drought began after they beat which team in the 1940 Final?

The Toronto Maple Leafs led the sixth game 2–0 before the Rangers tied it and Bryan Hextall won the Cup in overtime; New York's next title came in 1994.

Fans of which rival began chanting "1940! 1940!" at the Rangers in the early 1980s?

Islanders fans started it while their own team was winning four straight Stanley Cups, and other arenas kept the taunt going until the Rangers finally won in 1994.

In one version of the Curse of 1940, what did Rangers management burn in the Stanley Cup?

The Garden's mortgage had just been paid off, and executives burned the paper in the bowl of the Cup, an act some fans later called a desecration of the trophy.

What nickname did the Rangers pick up during their early years playing blocks from Times Square?

The Broadway Blueshirts took the second half of the name from the solid blue sweaters they wore from their first season, a plain look next to the flag-patterned uniforms of the Garden's other hockey team.

What did the "GAG" in the Rangers' famous 1970s GAG line stand for?

Goal-a-game undersold the line in 1971–72: its three members combined for 139 goals in a 78-game season and finished third, fourth and fifth in NHL scoring.

Which member of the GAG line was the last of the three to have his number retired, in December 2018?

Vic Hadfield became the first Ranger to score 50 goals in a season by getting his 49th and 50th on the final day of 1971–72.

Whose 52 goals in 1993–94 set a Rangers single-season record that stood until 2006?

Adam Graves broke the old club mark of 50 with two goals in Edmonton, against the Oilers team he had won the Stanley Cup with in 1990.

Which winger broke the Rangers' single-season goal record with his 53rd of 2005–06 against Boston?

Jaromir Jagr finished the season with 54 goals and 123 points, both club records, yet lost the NHL scoring title to Joe Thornton by two points.

Whose Rangers single-season points record, 109 in 1971–72, stood until a 123-point season in 2005–06?

Jean Ratelle piled up his 109 points in only 63 games, missing 15 through injury, and the record still lasted 34 years.

Which right wing, known as "Mr. Ranger", was the first player to have his number retired by the team?

Rod Gilbert, born in Montreal, once scored four goals in a game at the Forum against his hometown Canadiens; his No. 7 was retired in October 1979.

Whose No. 1 became the second number retired by the Rangers, in March 1989?

Eddie Giacomin was claimed off waivers by Detroit in 1975 and days later beat the Rangers 6–4 at the Garden, where the home crowd chanted his name all night.

Which 1959 league MVP shares the Rangers' retired No. 9 with a star of the 1994 Cup team?

Andy Bathgate also changed goaltending: his shot struck Jacques Plante in the face at the Garden in 1959, and Plante came back out wearing the mask he then refused to give up.

What forced former Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to retire in 2021?

A heart condition led to open-heart surgery months after he signed with a new team, so he never appeared for any NHL club but the Rangers, who retired his No. 30 in January 2022.

What nickname did Rangers fans and media give goaltender Lundqvist during his rookie season?

King Henrik began that rookie season as the backup, took over when the starter was injured in the second game, and finished it as a Vezina Trophy finalist.

Henrik Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy in 2012, but which rival ended the Rangers' season in the conference finals?

The New Jersey Devils won the sixth game in overtime on a goal by rookie Adam Henrique, 18 years after losing a seven-game conference final to the Rangers.

Henrik Lundqvist backstopped Sweden to Olympic gold in which host city?

Turin's gold came before he had finished his first NHL season; in Sochi eight years later he and Sweden had to settle for silver.

In December 2006 Lundqvist first faced his twin brother, who was playing for which team?

The Dallas Stars, with Joel Lundqvist in their lineup, outshot the Rangers 45–20 at home that night, and Henrik still beat his identical twin 5–2.

In Game 4 of the 1994 Final, Mike Richter stopped a penalty shot by which Russian star?

Pavel Bure had scored 60 goals that season, but Richter turned him away, and the Rangers, who had trailed 2–0, came back to win 4–2 and lead the series 3–1.

Mike Richter played college hockey at which university before joining the Rangers?

Wisconsin had him for two seasons after the Rangers drafted him 28th overall in 1985, and his first NHL game was a start in the 1989 playoffs.

After retiring in 2003, Mike Richter earned an ethics, politics and economics degree from where?

Yale admitted him through its Eli Whitney programme for non-traditional students; he concentrated in environmental policy and went on to a second career in clean energy.

Brian Leetch was raised in Connecticut, but in which city was he born?

Corpus Christi, Texas was home only in infancy: his family moved to Cheshire, Connecticut, where he became a schoolboy star in both hockey and baseball.

Which award did Brian Leetch win in 1994, becoming the first American-born player to do so?

The Conn Smythe Trophy went to a defenseman who had led every playoff scorer that spring with 34 points; no player born outside Canada had won it before.

Brian Leetch spent one season at which school before the 1988 Olympics and his Rangers debut?

Boston College, his father's old school, had him for a single season; two seasons later he won the Calder Trophy as top rookie with 23 goals from defence.

Which Rangers captain guaranteed a Game 6 win over the Devils in 1994, then scored a third-period hat trick?

Mark Messier made the promise with his team one loss from elimination, and all three of his goals came after New Jersey had led 2–0.

Whose double-overtime Game 7 goal against the Devils sent the Rangers to the 1994 Final?

Stephane Matteau ended two games of that series in double overtime: game three in New Jersey, then the decider at the Garden eight days later.

Which team did the Rangers beat in seven games in the 1994 Stanley Cup Final?

The Vancouver Canucks fought back from 3–1 down in the series to force a seventh game, which the Rangers won 3–2 at the Garden.

Which opposing captain scored both goals against the Rangers in game 7 of the 1994 Final?

Trevor Linden scored once short-handed and once on the power play, the second with 15 minutes left, but the Rangers held on to win 3–2.

Which coach led the Rangers to the 1994 Cup, then left after a dispute with GM Neil Smith?

Mike Keenan walked out a month after the Cup win and was coach and general manager of the St. Louis Blues by the following season.

Which of the four Russians on the 1994 Rangers, the first engraved on the Stanley Cup, led that team in points?

Sergei Zubov, a defenseman in only his second NHL season, piled up 89 points to finish ahead of every forward on a team that won the Cup.

Wayne Gretzky played his final NHL game as a Ranger at the Garden in April 1999 against which team?

The Pittsburgh Penguins won 2–1 in overtime, and Gretzky's last NHL point was an assist on the Rangers' only goal, scored by Brian Leetch.

Which former MVP did the Rangers acquire in 2001, midway through their record seven-season playoff drought?

Eric Lindros arrived after sitting out a whole season in a dispute with Philadelphia, but he and the club's other expensive veterans could not end a slump that ran until 2006.

Which team beat the Rangers in five games in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final?

The Los Angeles Kings needed overtime for three of their four wins, including the game that clinched the Cup.

Which team did the Rangers beat in seven games in 2015 after trailing the series 3–1 for the second straight spring?

The Washington Capitals were 101 seconds from ending the series in game five when Chris Kreider tied it; Derek Stepan finally won game seven in overtime.

Which Ranger's arm-waving at Martin Brodeur in 2008 made the NHL penalise screening a goalie with arms and stick?

Sean Avery turned his back on the play during a five-on-three to face Brodeur and wave; the next day the league ruled that the stunt would count as unsportsmanlike conduct.

Whom did the Rangers draft second overall in 2019, a year before they held the first overall pick?

Kaapo Kakko fell to New York after the Rangers jumped four places in the draft lottery; they traded him to the Kraken five and a half seasons later.

Artemi Panarin signed a seven-year deal with the Rangers in 2019 after leaving which team?

Columbus had landed him in a trade with Chicago two years earlier; in his first season in New York he put up 95 points in 69 games and was a Hart Trophy finalist.

Which award did the Rangers' Adam Fox win in 2021?

The Norris Trophy went to a native of Jericho, New York, who joined his home-state team only after Calgary and then Carolina had held his rights without signing him.

Which Rangers goaltender won the Vezina Trophy after the 2021–22 season?

Igor Shesterkin, a fourth-round pick taken 118th overall, led the league that season with a .935 save percentage and finished third in the vote for league MVP.

Which Ranger scored five goals in a game against Washington on March 5, 2020?

Mika Zibanejad's fifth goal came 33 seconds into overtime, after Alex Ovechkin had tied the game 5–5 with 43 seconds left in regulation.

Which general manager replaced the Rangers' diagonal wordmark with a shield crest in 1976, then took the design to Winnipeg?

John Ferguson ran the Rangers from 1976 to 1978 and Winnipeg after that; the Jets' first NHL uniforms borrowed most of his New York redesign, while the Rangers went back to their wordmark.

The Rangers' navy alternate jersey worn from 1996 to 2007 featured which New York landmark on its crest?

The Statue of Liberty's crowned head sat above the letters NYR; the design, known as Lady Liberty, came back as a Reverse Retro uniform in 2020–21.

Which former Canadiens star ended a two-year retirement to join the Rangers in 1966?

Bernie Geoffrion, the Canadiens' Boom Boom, was 35 when he came back; he scored 17 goals that season and was coaching the Rangers two years later.

Which 1967 expansion team beat the Rangers in 1974, the first to oust an Original Six club?

The Philadelphia Flyers won the seventh game 4–3 at home; the series is best remembered for Dave Schultz pummelling Dale Rolfe while no Ranger stepped in.

Which rival league was the NHL keeping out when it rushed a second New York team onto Long Island in 1972?

The World Hockey Association wanted its New York Raiders in the new Nassau Coliseum; the NHL got there first, the newcomers paid the Rangers a territorial fee, and three seasons later they eliminated them 11 seconds into overtime.

Which superstar centre did the Rangers get from Boston in 1975 for Brad Park and the GAG line's centre?

Phil Esposito went on to captain the Rangers for three seasons, and in 1986 he came back to run the team as general manager.

Who was hired as coach and general manager in 1978 and took the Rangers to the 1979 Stanley Cup Final?

Fred Shero had already won two Stanley Cups as a coach; in his first season in New York the Rangers upset the league's top team in the semifinals before losing the Final to Montreal.

The Rangers won the 2008 Victoria Cup in Bern against the reigning European club champions, a team from which country?

Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk led 3–0 before the Rangers scored four straight goals, the winner in the final minute; New York then opened the NHL season with two wins in Prague.

Which conglomerate owned the Rangers in the 1980s before becoming Paramount Communications?

Gulf+Western was a sprawling conglomerate that also owned Paramount Pictures and Simon & Schuster; in 1989 it took its film studio's name.

Which former Canucks coach replaced John Tortorella behind the Rangers bench in 2013?

Alain Vigneault and Tortorella in effect swapped jobs: Vancouver, which had just fired Vigneault, hired Tortorella as his replacement.

Whom did the Rangers acquire from Tampa Bay in March 2014 in a swap of team captains?

Martin St. Louis had asked Tampa Bay for a trade; two months later, days after his mother's death, he scored on Mother's Day to help keep the Rangers' playoff run alive.

Who was named Rangers head coach on May 2, 2025?

Mike Sullivan had won back-to-back Stanley Cups coaching Pittsburgh and had left the Penguins only four days earlier; years before, he had been a Rangers assistant.

The Rangers and Knicks share Madison Square Garden, which has sat on top of which rail hub since 1968?

Pennsylvania Station lost its grand 1910 building to make room for the arena, a demolition that helped set off the modern historic preservation movement.

After 13 seasons with the Rangers, Chris Kreider was traded in 2025 to which team?

The Anaheim Ducks had also traded for Rangers captain Jacob Trouba six months earlier; Kreider left New York as the club's career leader in playoff goals.

The Rangers lost the 1972 Stanley Cup Final to which team?

The Boston Bruins clinched in six games with a 3–0 win at the Garden; Bobby Orr scored the Cup-winning goal and was named playoff MVP.

What did the rejected first Rangers crest of 1926 depict?

A cowboy on a rearing horse, waving a hockey stick aloft, played on the club's Texas-flavoured nickname; the sketch was rejected in favour of a shield with RANGERS written diagonally.

Which Hall of Famer came out of retirement to play for the Rangers in 1988–89?

Guy Lafleur came back in the very year the Hall of Fame inducted him, after three full seasons out of the league, and played three more seasons before retiring for good.

Which forward was named the 26th captain in Rangers history on September 12, 2011?

Ryan Callahan, then 26, got the C weeks after the Rangers bought out previous captain Chris Drury, and led them to the conference finals in his first season as captain.