Bing Jones LW (1947-48,1949-50) Jack Lancien D (1946-47,1948 Playoffs, !949-50) Parker MacDonald LW (1956-58,1959-60) James Patrick D (1983-1993) Johnny Wilson LW (1960-1962)
Today in NYR History June 14
1961: The Rangers claim Vic Hadfield from Chicago in the Intraleague Draft. By the 1963–64 season, Hadfield had secured a place in the Rangers' lineup as an enforcer. Over time he concentrated more on scoring than on fighting, especially with feared enforcer Reggie Fleming on the team. He joined teammates Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert to form the famous GAG line (which stood for "goal a game"). From the 1967–68 season on Hadfield always scored at least 20 goals in any full season.
Hadfield's best season was 1971–72. Named the team's captain after the trade of longtime captain Bob Nevin, he became the first Ranger - and only the sixth NHL player - to score 50 goals in a season, nearly doubling his previous best marks; with his linemates Ratelle and Gilbert, the GAG Line totalled 139 goals and 325 points en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Rangers signed Hadfield to a controversial and lucrative contract the following summer to deter him from defecting to the newly created World Hockey Association. He scored fewer points thereafter and was traded after the 1973–74 season to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Nick Beverley.
1994: The NHL's longest championship drought ends at 54 years when the New York Rangers hold off the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Rangers get the packed house at Madison Square Garden revved up when Brian Leetch and Adam Graves score to give them a 2-0 lead after one period. Trevor Linden scores a shorthanded goal for the Canucks early in the second period, but Mark Messier's power-play goal at 13:29 makes it 3-1 entering the third.
Linden scores a power-play goal at 4:50 of the third period to make it a one-goal game again, but goalie Mike Richter excels and the Rangers hold on until Craig MacTavish, one of seven former Edmonton Oilers brought in by general manager Neil Smith to instill a winning atmosphere, wins a final faceoff to trigger one of the biggest celebrations in New York sports history. It's the fourth Stanley Cup championship for the Rangers, but their first since 1940. It's also the first time since entering the NHL in 1926 that they've won it at the Garden.
"We had played so much hockey and had so much emotion -- the semifinals and Final both went seven games -- that the biggest thing I felt after the game was relief," says Leetch, who becomes the first American to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. "I went home that night and went to bed feeling tired, but when I got up the next day, I began to feel the excitement. We spent the next few days celebrating."
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