One of the most memorable stories that emerged from the finals involved Patrick playing in goal at age 44. In only their second season, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Maroons three games to two. It was also during this time, playing at the Garden on 48th Street, blocks away from Times Square, the Rangers obtained their now-famous nickname "The Broadway Blueshirts". The team's early success led to players becoming minor celebrities and fixtures in New York City's " Roaring Twenties" nightlife. The Rangers won the American Division title their first year, but lost to the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. Smythe's approach to building the team paid quick dividends, as Rangers turned out to be a winner. Smythe was replaced by Pacific Coast Hockey Association co-founder Lester Patrick, who kept all of the players Smythe had assembled. Hammond, and was fired as manager-head coach on the eve of the first season he was paid a then-hefty $10,000 to leave. Smythe had a falling-out with Rickard's hockey man, Col. Smythe eschewed this approach, opting instead to sign who he felt were the best players from the remaining four WHL teams as well as a few NHL castaways he felt the other teams had misjudged. The owners of the Rangers' expansion cousins (the Detroit Cougars and Chicago Black Hawks) opted to purchase entire WHL rosters (the Victoria Cougars and Portland Rosebuds respectively) to stock their teams. However, 1926 also happened to be the year the NHL's last major rival of its early era (the Western Hockey League) went out of business, so there was an abundance of top-caliber hockey talent searching for new clubs. Rickard managed to get future legendary Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe to assemble the team.Īt the time, there was no expansion draft in the NHL to help new teams ice competitive rosters, which in any other year would have made assembling a playoff contender extremely difficult. The origin of the name Rangers, as in "Tex's Rangers", is variously attributed to Rickard himself or the New York press. By the time the franchise was granted in April 1926, the name "New York Rangers Professional Hockey Club" was the official name. Tex Rickard was granted a franchise, which he originally planned to name the "New York Giants". Tex Rickard, president of Madison Square Garden, was awarded the Rangers in 1926. The "Amerks" proved to be a greater success than expected, leading Garden president Tex Rickard to seek his own franchise for the Garden, despite promising the Amerks they would be the only hockey team to play there. In 1925–26, the New York Americans joined the NHL, playing in Madison Square Garden. Early years and the Original Six era (1926–1967)
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