Part of the reason the early 1970s Rangers were so loveable is that they were the result of a total tear down and rebuild that Emile Francis started in the 1960s. Those of us fortunate to have seen the whole thing have great memories of "our guys" becoming a great team. Watching young players being developed and seeing a number of shrewd trades (some very unpopular when they happened) come together was very exciting. They came oh so close.
And as for 1979, the Rangers won the first game in Montreal and the Canadians were set to pull Ken Dryden out of the second game but Montreal's other goalie was hurt in the warmups. Dryden played and the Canadians swept the next four games. A lot of great stories about that playoff run.
And yes, Potvin's hit was a cheap shot. Ruined Ulfie's career.
Those early to mid 1960s teams were just woeful. It seemed like every Saturday night we played in Montreal or Toronto and get totally whipped. Then, we would play them again the next night at the old MSG (Sunday, along with Wednesday nights were the traditional nights for home games) and usually get beaten again. Sometimes if we were lucky, we managed a tie.
One of the most frustrating aspects was that our best young player, Rod Gilbert, was chronically hurt, twice needing major back surgeries.
When Francis took over, the team began a new era.
It's interesting, looking back at the entire Francis era, how we built with young players. When he first became a playoff team in 1966-67, our #1 line was completely homegrown (Ratelle-Gilbert-Hadfield: well, if I recall Hadfield was actually drafted from the Blackhawks, but we got him very young), but our #2 line, Phil Goyette-Bob Nevin-Donnie Marshall, had been acquired from elsewhere. But as we continued to build and become elite, that second line gradually morphed into an all homegrown line (Tkaczuk-Fairbairn-Vickers). Vickers replaced Dave Balon, who, IIRC, was originally with the Rangers in the early 60s, was traded away, and then returned in the late 60s.
Those early 60s teams were bad...bad....bad. Especially defensively. It was always a battle to see who would finish 5th (and not last), us or the Bruins.
But one thing about that era, the last years of the Original 6. There were only five teams besides your own. Rosters were smaller, there wasn't much changeover from year to year, and as a fan, you knew every player in the league. Today, with 29, soon to be 30 other teams, it is impossible to know all the players. Also, you played each team 14 times, so each game was a traditional rivalry game and had that "rivalry itensity" to it. Since nobody wore helmets, you knew each player by sight, not just by number.
Today's players are just so much better. When I watch clips of old games from the 60s, I am amazed at how slow the skating was (although it didn't seem slow at the time). Some teams, especially the Habs and the Hawks, had a few guys who could fly, but teams also had many plodding, especially on defense, skaters. Sometimes I watch games today and I am still just blown away with how fast the game is.
But those days were sure fun even if, in the early 60s when I became a fan as a young teenager, we were terrible. Those years of suffering made the Francis era especially sweet. It took a long time to fully accept the fact that, hey, we were pretty good!