Andy Bathgate
August 28, 1932 – February 26, 2016
Right Wing 1952-1964
Full name: Andrew James Bathgate
NYR Uniform Numbers: 10, 16, 14, 9
Retired from NHL: 1971
Seasons with Rangers: 12
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 719
Playoff Games with Rangers: 22
Acquired
Scouted and signed by Rangers as a free agent in 1949.
Departed
Traded by Rangers to Toronto with Don McKenney in exchange for Dick Duff, Bob Nevin, Arnie Brown, Bill Collins and Rod Seiling on Feb. 22, 1964.
RANGERS CAPTAIN
1961-62 to Feb. 22, 1964
RANGERS DEBUT
Oct. 18, 1952 (Rangers at Toronto Maple Leafs)
FINAL GAME WITH RANGERS
Feb. 19, 1964 (Rangers vs. Chicago Black Hawks)
RANGERS TEAM AWARDS
Rangers MVP — 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1961-62
Players` Player Award — 1962-63
Boucher Trophy (Most Popular) — 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1961-62
RANGERS RECORDS
Most consecutive games with at least one goal — 10 from Dec. 15, 1962, to Jan. 15, 1963 (11 goals scored during streak)
RANGERS TEAM LEADER
Most points — 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63
Most goals — 1956-57, 1958-59, 1960-61, 1961-62
Most assists — 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64
Most playoff points — 1958
Most playoff goals — 1957 (tie), 1958
Most playoff penalty minutes — 1957
RANGERS ORGANIZATION STATISTICS
Minor-league games: 183
Minor-league teams: Guelph (OHA) 1949-1952; Vancouver (WHL) 1952-1954
MAJOR NHL AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS WITH RANGERS
Hockey Hall of Fame — Inducted 1978
Hart Trophy — 1958-59
NHL First All-Star Team — 1958-59, 1961-62
NHL Second All-Star Team — 1957-58, 1962-63
NHL All-Star Game — 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
NHL LEADER
Most points — 1961-62 (tie)
Most assists — 1961-62
BIOGRAPHY
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.
Bathgate helped to change face of goaltending. His shot that hit Plante brought mask into hockey. It was Bathgate, at New York's Madison Square Garden on Nov. 1, 1959, who played an instrumental role in forever changing the face of goaltending, bringing the mask into the game and saving the men in the nets their grim inventory of valley-deep cuts, spools of sutures, and eyes that were blackened, or worse, by shattered cheekbones.
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 passed away at the age of 83 on February 26, 2016, in Brampton, Ontario. At the time of his death, he had Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Today in NYR History August 28, 1997:
Rangers acquire Kevin Stevens from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Luc Robitaille.
Seasons with Rangers: 3 (1997-2000)
Regular-Season Games with Rangers: 199
Playoff Games with Rangers: 0
Team Totals: Goals: 40, Assists: 52, Points: 92, PIM: 237, +/-: -24, PPG: 14
Departed
Became an unrestricted free agent following 1999-00 season.
RANGERS DEBUT
Oct. 3, 1997 (Rangers vs. New York Islanders)
FINAL GAME WITH RANGERS
Jan. 22, 2000 (Rangers at St. Louis Blues)
RANGERS TEAM AWARDS
Rangers Good Guy Award — 1998-99
NYR Uniform Number: 17
Retired from NHL: 2002
On January 23, 2000 Stevens was arrested along with a prostitute and her pimp at a motel on drug related charges in Collisville, Illinois after a NY Rangers 4-1 Victory over the St. Louis Blues, his final game as a New York Ranger.
After the arrest, Stevens entered the NHL Substance Abuse Program. In May of 2016, Stevens and a co-defendant were charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute oxycodone.
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