NYR TODAY Wed 9/15: Alumni Birthdays, TDINYRH, NYR at World Cup Notes

NYR Alumni Birthdays September 15 

Mike Korney D (1978-1979) Alf Pike C (1939-142,1945-47)

Mike Korney
Seasons with Rangers: 1 (1978-79)
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 18
Playoff Games with Rangers: 0
Minor-league games: 16
Minor-league teams: New Haven (AHL) 1978-79; Tulsa (CHL) 1978-79

Uniform Number: 6
Retired from pro hockey: 1980

Acquired
Claimed by Rangers from Montreal in NHL Waiver Draft on Oct. 9, 1978, with Dan Newman sent to Montreal in lieu of standard cash payment.
Departed
Released following 1978-79 season.

RANGERS DEBUT
Oct. 15, 1978 (Rangers vs. Colorado Rockies)
FINAL GAME WITH RANGERS
Dec. 17, 1978 (Rangers vs. Boston Bruins)

Alf Pike
Seasons with Rangers: 8 (6 as player 1939-1943 and 1945-1947; 2 as head coach 1959-1961)
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 234
Playoff Games with Rangers: 21
Minor-league games: 73
Minor-league teams: New York Rovers (EHL) 1937-1939; Philadelphia (AHL) 1938-39

Nickname: The Embalmer
Full name: Alfred George Pike
Uniform Numbers: 16, 2, 14
Stanley Cup Champion: 1940
Retired from NHL: 1947

Acquired
Scouted and signed by Rangers as a free agent in 1937.
Departed
Retired from NHL in 1947.

RANGERS DEBUT
Nov. 5, 1939 (Rangers at Detroit Red Wings)

RANGERS COACHING STATISTICS
Head coach — 1959-1961
Career regular-season record — 36-66-21

Another player who grew up in Winnipeg during the heydey of Lester Patrick`s hockey school in that city, Alf Pike went on to play six seasons for the Rangers and served as coach for nearly two more.

Pike had the distinction of being a 22-year-old rookie on the Rangers team that won the 1940 Stanley Cup championship, but his career with the Rangers was interrupted by World War II. During the war, he left the NHLfor two years to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force, based out of his hometown of Winnipeg. He returned to the Blueshirts in 1945 to play a total of 64 games over the next two seasons.

Pike played center for his first three NHL seasons, but shifted to defense prior to the 1942-43 season and remained a blueliner for several seasons before moving to left wing for his final season of 1946-47.

Following his retirement in 1947, Pike coached for several years in the minor leagues and junior hockey before returning to the Rangers as a replacement for Phil Watson during the 1959-60 season. He remained the head coach for one more season after that.

Today in NYR History September 15, 1992: 

Rangers sign Sergei Zubov to his first NHL contract.

Zubov was drafted in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. Prior to this, he played for the Red Army's hockey team, HC CSKA Moscow, in Russia. He continued to play for the Red Army until 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. . Although Sergei spent some of his rookie season with New York's AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers, he played forty-nine games as a rookie for the Rangers, scoring 31 points, considered then to be above-average for a defenseman. Zubov's high-scoring ways continued, as he scored 12 goals and earned 77 assists during the 1993–94 season, which led the team in regular season scoring. He contributed 19 points to the Rangers' playoff campaign, as he, along with Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Alexei Kovalev became the first Russians to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Zubov continued to play well for the Rangers, but on August 31, 1995, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Petr Nedved for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille.

RANGERS AT WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY NOTES

Lindqvist, Zuccarello and Miller in Wednesday Night's pretournament action;
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 17 of 22 shots in just over 47 minutes allowing 3 goals before being pulled in favor of Jakob Markstrom in Sweden's loss to Team Europe.

Mats Zuccarello, for Team Europe, had an assist and was a plus one in 14:17 with one shot on goal and one hit.

Zuccarello started the game on a line with Marian Gaborik and Frans Nielsen and played 13:41 at even strength, 1 minute on the PP and 6:41 in the first, and 4 minutes each in the second and third.

JT Miller returned to the lineup for Team North America for their game against the Czech Republic. In Team North America's 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic, Miller had 1 shot on goal, 4 hits and was a plus one in 11:34. Miller played 9:20 at even strength, 2:14 on the PK and 3:57 in the first, 4:02 in the second and 3:35 in the third.