Emile "The Cat" Francis
Seasons with Rangers: 16 (4 as player from 1948-1952, 10 as coach, 1965-1975, 12 as GM, 1964-1975)
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 22
Playoff Games with Rangers: 0
Minor-league games: 291
Minor-league teams: New Haven (AHL) 1948-1950; Cincinnati (AHL) 1950-1952; Vancouver (WHL) 1952-53
Uniform Numbers: 1, 16
Retired from pro hockey as player: 1960
Acquired
Traded to Rangers by Chicago with Alex Kaleta in exchange for "Sugar" Jim Henry on Oct. 7, 1948.
Departed
Pro hockey rights traded by Rangers with Neil Strain to Cleveland (AHL) in exchange for Johnny Bower in June 1953.
RANGERS DEBUT
Dec. 19, 1948 (Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens)
FINAL GAME WITH RANGERS
March 16, 1952 (Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)
MAJOR NHL AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS WITH RANGERS
Hockey Hall of Fame — Inducted 1982
Lester Patrick Trophy — 1982
RANGERS RECORDS
Most games coached — 654 (1965-1975)
Most coaching victories — 342 (1965-1975)
Best career regular-season winning percentage — .602 (1965-1975)
Most playoff games coached — 75 (1967 to 1975)
Most playoff coaching victories — 34 (1967 to 1975)
RANGERS COACHING STATISTICS
Head coach — 1965-1968, 1969-1973, 1974-75
Career regular-season record — 342-209-103
Career postseason record — 34-41
Don Simmons
Seasons with Rangers: 3 (1965-66, 1967-1969)
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 22
Playoff Games with Rangers: 0
Minor-league games: 112
Minor-league teams: Baltimore (AHL) 1965-66; Vancouver (WHL) 1966-67; Buffalo (AHL) 1967-1969
Uniform Numbers: 30
Retired from pro hockey: 1969
Acquired
Claimed from Toronto organization`s CHL affiliate (Tulsa) in Inter-League Draft on June 8, 1965.
Departed
Retired from pro hockey following 1968-69 season.
RANGERS DEBUT
Nov. 10, 1965 (Rangers vs. Boston Bruins)
FINAL GAME WITH RANGERS
March 1, 1969 (Rangers at Boston Bruins)
Named to WHL`s 1966-67 First All-Star Team and led league in wins (38) and shutouts (7) while playing for Rangers` affiliate in Vancouver.
Today in NYR History
September 13, 1926: Emile Francis, who follows a long playing career as a goaltender with a longer one as an NHL coach and executive, is born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
Few individuals have meant as much to the New York Rangers` history as Emile "The Cat" Francis.
As a player, he was a typical backup goaltender, playing 22 games over four seasons. But his connection to the Blueshirts hardly ended there, because it was in his second tour of duty — as head coach and general manager — that Francis became the stuff of legend and ensured his berth in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Traded away from the Rangers organization in 1953, Francis went on to play seven more years of pro hockey before retiring in 1960. By 1961, he was back in the Rangers family, spending two years as head coach of the franchise`s junior team in Guelph, Ontario. He left hockey temporarily to manage pro baseball teams in Western Canada, and that management experience paid off on Oct. 30, 1964, when he was brought back to New York as the Rangers` general manager.
On Dec. 5, 1965, Francis added the title of head coach. He would stay behind the Rangers` bench for most of the next 10 seasons. He briefly yielded the role to Bernie Geoffrion in 1968 and again to Larry Popein in 1973, but always found himself returning to the job until he gave it to Ron Stewart in 1975.
The holder of every major Rangers career coaching record, Francis enjoyed his best season in 1971-72, when he guided the Blueshirts to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 22 years.
After leaving the organization in 1976, Francis went on to serve as general manager for the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers. His son Bobby, who grew up in New York, followed in his footsteps as an NHL head coach.
1978: The Hockey Hall of Fame inducts Rangers Alumni Jacques Plante and Andy Bathgate .
He retired from hockey after spending end of 1964-65 season in minor leagues. He returned to the NHL three years later.
Hall of Famer Andy Bathgate did it all for the Rangers in a remarkable 12-year span that saw him captain the team, win the NHL`s Hart Trophy as league MVP, play in eight NHL All-Star Games and tie for the league scoring lead.
Bathgate joined the Rangers organization as a 17-year-old in 1949, when he began playing for the Guelph Biltmores, the Rangers` junior team in Ontario. Bathgate dominated the OHA over three seasons in Guelph, and by the time he was 20, he got his first call-up to the Blueshirts early in the 1952-53 season.
Bathgate played parts of the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons with the Rangers, shuttling between New York and the minors. During those years, Andy`s brother Frank also played in the Rangers farm system and with the parent club.
Bathgate broke away from all other prospects after being loaned to the AHL`s Cleveland Barons for part of the 1953-54 season. He scored 32 points in 36 games at the highest minor-league level — ensuring his permanent spot on the Rangers roster for the 1954-55 season.
He responded with 20 goals in his first full season in the NHL, and over the next decade, he led the Rangers in scoring eight times. His most magical season was 1958-59, when he became the first Rangers player to net 40 goals in one season and earning NHL MVP honors. Three years later, in 1961-62, he tied Bobby Hull for the NHL scoring title, only to lose the Art Ross Trophy because he had fewer goals.
Named team captain in 1961, Bathgate helped the Rangers snap a four-year playoff dought that season. He remained captain right up until he left the Rangers in February 1964 — as the owner of every major team scoring record. Those marks have since been broken, but Bathgate`s legacy lives on as one of the greatest Blueshirts of all time.
Bathgate had a major impact on the adoption of goalie masks. He had badly injured two other NHL goalies with his slap shot. Famed for that slap shot, Bathgate that night hurt Plante with a backhander, firing the shot from close range into the goalie's face, badly splitting his upper lip. Plante went to get stitches and returned wearing the mask nearly 25 minutes later.
A Bathgate shot on Nov. 1, 1959 at Madison Square Garden, sent Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante to the dressing room for seven stitches. The goaltender returned wearing a mask, but not without a fight. Canadiens coach Toe Blake, who didn't want his goaltender using the newfangled contraption, protested Plante's plan. The goalie insisted, won out, won the game and the Canadiens went on to win 17 more consecutive games, so the mask was on board for good.
"When he came out with the mask on, we were surprised that he'd gone that far," Bathgate remembered. "He was very innovative when it came to goaltending, so it wasn't surprising he'd be the one to try it. We had heard he had one, but we were surprised it covered his whole face."
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