When the New York Rangers and 1940 are put together, there is a certain stigma
that is attached to it. The feeling is not unlike that of the Boston Red Sox
and 1918, or the Chicago Cubs and 1908. For the Rangers, 1940 was the year that
 they won their 3rd Stanley Cup in a twelve year period. However, it was also
the last Stanley Cup that the Rangers would win for 54 years, and chants of
"1940!" from fans around the league (mainly Long Island and New Jersey) were a
constant reminder of the Rangers'; futility for more than a generation. But
while Rangers fans know the significance of 1940 when it is mentioned, most do
not know that the Rangers'; squad from that year was the best team in franchise
 history.How the 1940 New York Rangers Came to Be

The 1939-40 New York Rangers were a team in transition. After the 1936-37
season, the famous "A line" of Frank Boucher, Bun Cook, and Bill Cook, which
was together since the Rangers debuted in 1926-27, was broken up. The Rangers
had reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1937, losing to the Detroit Red Wings 3
games to 2, but had failed to get back to the Finals in the next two seasons.
 Before the ';39-';40 season began, Lester Patrick, the Rangers'; coach and
general manager since 1926, stepped down as head coach, and turned over the
reins to Boucher. In later years, Boucher would say that, "what Lester Patrick
gave me was the best team I';d ever seen."Lester Patrick was the architect for
3 of the Rangers'; 4 Stanley Cup Championships.

The backbone of the Rangers team, as it would be for many years in the team';s
history, was its goaltending. In 1940, the Rangers goaltender was Davey Kerr,
who was one of the best goalies in the team';s history. In 1938, Kerr became
the first NHL player to be on the cover of Time Magazine, and his play on the
ice more than explained why he deserved that honor. During the season, Kerr
played in every minute of every game, posting a 1.54 goals against average, led
 the league with 8 shutouts, and went on to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL';s
 top goaltender. Kerr, along with the rest of his teammates, set a franchise
record with a 19-game unbeaten streak that lasted from November 23rd to January
 13th (the streak was bested by Mike Richter in 1994).

One of the reasons why Kerr had such a great year in goal was because of the
four defensemen in front of him. The first defensive pair was Art Coulter and
Muzz Patrick (Lester';s youngest son), and the second pair was Ott Heller and
Walter "Babe" Pratt. All four defensemen were durable, as they were the only
defensemen to play for the Rangers during the  48-game regular season (Patrick
 didn';t play in two games, Heller didn';t play in one). Coulter was the
Rangers'; captain, a physically punishing hitter who earned the nickname "The
Trapper" for his shot-blocking ability.1940 New York Rangers Offense

As good as the 1939-40 Rangers were defensively, their depth up front was as
good as any Rangers team has had before or after. The Rangers'; top line, known
 as "the Bread Line" was Neil Colville at center, his brother Mac at right
wing, and Alex Shibicky at left wing. The line played together coming up
through the many ranks of the Rangers'; system, and they proved to be the
team';s bread and butter, thus earning their nickname.RELATED: 69 Terrific NHL
NicknamesBrian Hextall in 1938. (Wikipedia)

The Rangers'; second line was known as the "Powerhouse Line", with Phil Watson
centering Lynn Patrick (Lester';s older son) and Bryan Hextall. While this line
 was successful in 1939-40, as Hextall led the team in goals and points and
Watson led the team in assists, each of their best season';s were two years
away. In 1941-42, the Rangers finished first in the NHL, Patrick led the league
 in goals with 32, and Hextall, Patrick, and Watson finished 1st, 2nd, and 4th
in points respectively in the league. On the 3rd line, the Rangers had Alf
Pike, Dutch Hiller, and Clint Smith, who all contributed with timely scoring,
and could play any forward position. And if that wasn';t enough offense,
 Kilby McDonald, who was an extra forward, scored 15 goals and won the Calder
Trophy as the NHL';s rookie of the year.

Despite a slow start, the Rangers finished the regular season with a 27-11-10
record (due in large part to a 19-1-5 stretch that included the 19-game
unbeaten streak), and finished 2nd in the NHL standings behind the Boston
Bruins. The Rangers played the Bruins in the semifinals, and upset the Bruins
in a six-game series. With the Rangers trailing two games to one in the series,
 Kerr posted consecutive 1-0 shutouts in Games 4 and 5 to turn the tide in the
series, and the Rangers moved on to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley
 Cup Finals.1940 Rangers to the Finals

In the early years of the National Hockey League, one of the disadvantages that
 the Rangers had by playing their home games at Madison Square Garden was that
if they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, they would have to play most of
their home games on the road because of the Ringling Brothers Circus that came
to MSG every spring. In the Finals, the Rangers played the first two games at
home, but had to play the remainder of the series on the road in Toronto. The
Rangers won the first two games at home, but then dropped the next two in
Toronto.Madison Square Garden. (Cristoval Nieves)

In the pivotal Game 5, the goaltending duel between Kerr and the Maple Leafs';
Turk Broda dragged the game into overtime, where Muzz Patrick gave the Rangers
the victory with his 3rd goal of the playoffs. In Game 6, the Rangers rallied
from a 2-0 deficit in the 3rd period on goals by Neil Colville and Alf Pike to
 send the game into overtime. Two minutes into the overtime period, Hextall
took a Watson pass and fired a high wrist shot past Broda to give the Rangers
the Stanley Cup.

Why was this team the greatest in Rangers history? First, it';s hard to find a
team where nearly half of the roster is made up of Hall of Famers. 6 of the
Rangers'; 15 regular players are in the Hall of Fame (N. Colville, Coulter,
Hextall, L. Patrick, Pratt, Smith) and coach Frank Boucher and General Manager
Lester Patrick are also Hall of Famers. The 1940 New York Rangers also had the
3rd highest regular season winning percentage in team history, and the highest
winning percentage for any of the Rangers'; four Stanley Cup Championship
teams.Looking Back on the 1940 NY Rangers

Yet beyond the numbers, this 1940 New York Rangers team, in Boucher';s first
year behind the bench, changed the way the game was played. The Rangers were
the first team to play a "box defense" on the penalty kill, which is a system
used by many NHL teams today. Also, Boucher was the first coach to pull the
goaltender during a delayed penalty, which is still done regularly over seventy
 years later.

Rangers fans may not like hearing 1940, but it';s the year that they had the
best team in franchise history.

This article was originally published in June, 2012.

The post 1940: The Best Team in New York Rangers History appeared first on The
Hockey Writers.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheHockeyWrite...
--- SBBSecho 3.05-Win32
 * Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)