New York Rangers facts for kids

New York Rangers
New York Rangers
Conference	Eastern
Division	Metropolitan
Founded	1926
History	New York Rangers; 1926–present
Home arena	Madison Square Garden
City	New York City, New York
Colors	Blue, red, white;
Media	MSG; MSG Plus; ESPN (98.7 FM); ESPN Deportes (1050 AM); NBCSN
Owner(s)	The Madison Square Garden Company; (James Dolan, chairman)
General manager	Jeff Gorton
Head coach	David Quinn
Captain	Vacant
Minor league affiliates	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL); Maine Mariners (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	4 (1927–28, 1932–33, 1939–40, 1993–94)
Conference championships	2 (1993–94, 2013–14)
Presidents' Trophies	3 (1991–92, 1993–94, 2014–15)
Division championships	7 (1926–27, 1931–32, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 2011–12, 2014–15)

The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden in the borough of Manhattan, an arena they share with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are one of three NHL teams located in the New York metropolitan area; the others being the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

Founded in 1926 by Tex Rickard, the Rangers are one of the Original Six teams that competed in the NHL before its 1967 expansion, along with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The team attained success early on under the guidance of Lester Patrick, who coached a team containing Frank Boucher, Murray Murdoch, and Bun and Bill Cook to Stanley Cup glory in 1928, making them the first NHL franchise in the United States to win the trophy. The team would then go onto win two additional Stanley Cups in 1933 and 1940.

Following this initial grace period, the franchise struggled between the 1940s and 1960s, whereby playoff appearances and success was infrequent. The team enjoyed a mini renaissance in the 1970s, where they made the Stanley Cup finals twice, albeit, losing to the Bruins in 1972 and the Canadiens in 1979. The Rangers subsequently embraced a rebuild for much of the 1980s and early 1990s, which eventually paid dividends, where the team, led by Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, and Mike Richter, captured their fourth Stanley Cup in 1994.

The team was unable to duplicate that success in the years that followed, and entered into another period of mediocrity. They endured a franchise-record seven-year postseason drought from 1998 to 2005, and languished for the majority of the 2000s before enjoying another period of prosperity after the 2004–05 NHL Lockout. Upon the arrival of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers missed the playoffs just once between 2006 and 2017. They reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014, falling to the Los Angeles Kings in five games. They have since entered into another period of rebuilding.

Several former members of the Rangers have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, four of whom—Buddy O'Connor, Chuck Rayner, Andy Bathgate, and Messier—have won the Hart Memorial Trophy while playing for the team.

History

Early years

The Rangers were started by a promoter named Tex Rickard. Newspapers began calling the new team "Tex's Rangers", a play on the famous police force known as the Texas Rangers. The team picked up on the nickname, and have been called "Rangers" ever since.

The Rangers were successful in their early years, winning the Stanley Cup in 1928, 1933, and 1940. Bill Cook won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring leader in 1927 and 1933, and Bryan Hextall won it in 1942. "Babe" Pratt was a star defenceman around this time.

Later years

The Rangers did very poorly in the mid-1940s, but improved by 1950, when they lost the Stanley Cup final in overtime of the deciding game seven to the Detroit Red Wings. Buddy O'Connor won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player in 1948, goaltender Chuck Rayner won it in 1950, and Andy Bathgate won it in 1959.

The team did not make the finals again until 1972, when they lost to the Boston Bruins. They were led by players such as Jean Ratelle, Brad Park, Ed Giacomin, and Rod Gilbert. The Rangers made the finals again in 1979, losing to the Montreal Canadians.

Rivalry

There was another team in New York, the Americans. The Americans felt that the Rangers were favoured by Madison Square Garden, and that their team folded in 1942 because of the Rangers. The Americans' coach and general manager, Red Dutton, claimed the Rangers would never win another Stanley Cup as long as he lived. This became known as Dutton's curse.

Comeback

Red Dutton died in 1987, and his curse came true. Finally, the Rangers improved, winning the President's Cup as regular-season champions in 1992 and 1994. Mark Messier won the Hart Trophy in 1992, and Brian Leetch won two Norris Trophies as best defence. They led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994, after 54 years of not winning.

Images for kids

Tex Rickard, president of Madison Square Garden, was awarded the Rangers in 1926.
The Bread Line was the Rangers' first notable line. Consisting of Bill Cook, Bun Cook and Frank Boucher, they played together from 1926 to 1937.
Jean Ratelle played with the Rangers from 1960 to 1975.
Marcel Dionne with the Rangers, 1987. He signed with the Rangers in the 1986 off-season.
The Rangers acquired Wayne Gretzky as a free agent in the 1996 off-season.
Stellar performances by rookie goaltender Henrik Lundqvist during the 2005–06 season led to the Rangers' best record since the 1993–94 season.
At the start of the 2006–07 season, Jaromir Jagr was named the Rangers' team captain.
John Tortorella was named the team's head coach in 2009, maintaining the position until 2013.
On September 12, 2011, Ryan Callahan was named the 26th captain in Rangers history.
The Rangers acquired Rick Nash in a multi-player trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2012.
From 1998 to 2007 the Rangers' alternate jersey featured the head of the Statue of Liberty with the team abbreviation below it.
Brian Leetch was the 23rd captain in Rangers history, maintaining the position from 1997 to 2000.
Retired numbers hang from the rafters of Madison Square Garden.
Playing with the Rangers from 1968 to 1981, Walt Tkaczuk scored the sixth most points in the franchise (678 points).