I kinda sorta recall seeing a smidge of a Stanley Cup series where Montreal crushed the St. Louis Blues to win the cup. Hockey wasn't overly popular in the late sixties and television coverage was ...I don't know. But somehow I started listening to Ranger games on a little transister radio on Sunday and Wednesday nights. And after a coupla years I found the game fast-paced, action-packed and darn-right exciting! I wasn't all into the Ranger history, so 30 years without sipping from the hallowed grail was meaningless to me. But the early '70s saw a talented Ranger team led by The Cat, Emile Francis starring the legends of today. RATELLE PARK HADFIELD GIACOMIN GILBERT TKACZUK VICKERS IRVINE NEILSON SEILING, FAIRBORNE, WELL RANGER LEGENDS, AND OF COURSE, NO.21, PETE STEMKOWSKI, THE STEMMER! In 1972 they got to the finals and Madison Square Garden was abuzz with hopes of glory anew. Sadly, Bobby Orr was a Bruin and he dominated and led Boston to the promised land. Stars came and went and the well-documented Ranger futility became at last a part of my life. Hockey- WHAT A GAME! Unlike any other sport because of the passion involved in winning a Stanley Cup and the dream of hoisting it over your head and taking that victory lap. The years passed by and new stars emerged. ESPO DAVIDSON THE MALONEY BROTHERS MURDOCH DUGUAY GRESCH and in '79 the Rangers knocked on the door again and Montreal slammed it shut. And then the utter desolation of the 80's as the Rangers struggled for a decade and left their fans cold and saddened and in a hopeless feeling of....eternity. The Islanders win cups and the Oilers take the game to uncharted areas and even Calgary chalks one up. A coupla more Canadien banners and Mario Lemeiux stuns the hockey world. THE KINGS get to the finals and a weak Canadien team wins another and the tears of long-suffering Ranger fans would fill an ocean of Stanley Cups!
Damn! 54 years!!! A miracle with no.11 on his back appears and Ranger hopes are aflame! 1993 GRAVES LEETCH LOWE BEUK RICHTER A BUNCHA RUSSIANS!!! ZUBOV KARPOTSOV AND KOVALEV AND THEN LARMER AND AS '94 UNFOLDS...MACTAVISH MATTEAU ANDERSON AND BEFORE YA KNOW IT WE HAVE SWEPT THE ISLANDERS, BREEZED THRU WASHINGTON IN 5 STRUGGLED PAST THE DEVILS IN 7 AND WE ARE PLAYING HOCKEY IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN JUNE!!!! THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS ARE THE OPPOSITION AND AFTER 6 GAMES THAT I AM NOT EVEN GONNA ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE WE ARE KNOTTED 3 APIECE AND GAME 7, IN NY ON JUNE 14 1994, WELL THAT GUY WITH THE NUMBER 11 ON HIS BACK TOOK THAT CUP AND HOISTED IT SKYWARD AND 18,000 STRONG, INCLUDING ME, AND MILLIONS ELSEWHERE.......
And I don't think hockey has ever been the same since. Gretzky came and Mess left and then returned but the glories of Rangers past are just that and these teams of today are ......I don't know. Lindros????
Please take me HOME