Rangers Alumni Discussion

[surf]

All I want for X Mas is Barry Beck clone for our Rangers. Could have been one of the greats if not for bad shoulders. When he was on nobody was nastier




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2nWw2rtcZI

Click to read more...

 

[Vickers8]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT5TbmnhWdk

How about Steve Vickers 40 goals and was a feared fighter?

 

[pld459666]

Gimme Zubov.

Smooth. Great shot.

 

[NYR Viper]

Graves. This team needs someone to stir it up, stick up for teammates and go to the dirty areas.

 

[Vickers8]

Ron Harris was a Sherman tank...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUlK2Qi3OA

 

[Vickers8]

Gimme Zubov.

Smooth. Great shot.

Stupid trade set us back years...Leetch and Zubov, meant 50 minutes a game the puck was carried out of our zone...

 

[Vickers8]

Graves. This team needs someone to stir it up, stick up for teammates and go to the dirty areas.

Gravy never took a shift off, never let one body check chance escape him...

 

[Vickers8]

Back in the early 70's we had very solid lines, that stayed together for years:
1. Hadfield- Ratelle- Gilbert
2. Vickers- Tkaczuk- Fairburn
3. Irvine- Stemkowski- MacGregor
Jack Egers, Jerry Butler, Bobby Rousseau

 

[surf]

Vickers was the man its funny to think how much money these guys would make today...I always loved Eddie Johnstone too heart and soul type player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT5TbmnhWdk

How about Steve Vickers 40 goals and was a feared fighter?

 

[surf]

Great names I hope the younger generation here or at least some take time to learn about our history...

Back in the early 70's we had very solid lines, that stayed together for years:
1. Hadfield- Ratelle- Gilbert
2. Vickers- Tkaczuk- Fairburn
3. Irvine- Stemkowski- MacGregor
Jack Egers, Jerry Butler, Bobby Rousseau

 

[silverfish]

Why isn't #4 hanging from the rafters yet?

982 games, all with the Rangers.

179 goals, 431 assists. 49 points in 84 playoff games.

 

[AHB*]

Why isn't #4 hanging from the rafters yet?

982 games, all with the Rangers.

179 goals, 431 assists. 49 points in 84 playoff games.

I like how the Rangers don't retire any guys number. Only players up there are hall of famers and/or major parts of cup runs.

 

[silverfish]

I like how the Rangers don't retire any guys number. Only players up there are hall of famers and/or major parts of cup runs.

4th all-time games played with the Rangers. You're not just 'any guy'. Think a serious case could be made for guys like Greschner, Tkaczuk, Ratelle, and Hadfield.

 

[Marcus AKA Kluivert]

Stupid trade set us back years...Leetch and Zubov, meant 50 minutes a game the puck was carried out of our zone...

I have to disagree somewhat. Although Robitaille never lived up to expectations we had the most solid group of forwards in 1995/1996 with;
Graves-Messier-Verbeek
Robitaille-Ferraro-Kovalev
Sundström-Nemchinov-Berg

The D was also pretty well rounded with
Leetch-Beaukeboom
Samuelsson-Driver (who at that point was acctually a serviceable player)
Lowe-Lidster (same as with Driver).

then came the awful awful Kurri trade which IMO was the one that really set us back.

 

[Cliffy1814]

I'll take a young Don Murdoch (before he started hanging out at Studio 54).

He would have potted 40 a year for a decade or more if not for his issues.

 

[Cassano]

Agree with OP. Beck is exactly the type of player the Rangers need to complete their defense.

 

[Roo Returns]

I always bring up Mike Rogers who has an interesting career here. His 100-points get the least press in Rangers history. Guy is never brought back, never interviewed, never mentioned. He also missed many playoffs games and no one has ever really mentioned why.

1979: If the Rangers have Middleton AND a healthy Nilson, can they beat Montreal?

1981: Rangers have Murdoch, a healthy Dave Maloney, AND JD playing at a 1979 level, do they beat the Islanders and crush Minnesota in the finals?

 

[Dagoon44]

Night out with Ed Hospodar

Derrick Brassard signing was pushed back due to the mumps so we hosted eddie for a free signing at Big shots

Here are a few highlights and stories Eddie shared ..


Eddie is living in the Phillie area and working in Real Estate

Told a great story about living with Barry Beck in NY when he was a younger player..
Said Barry was fun but very odd and that would never let anyone pay for anything. Eddie said order a pizza bubba paid dry cleaning and bubba paid, Barry had accounts set up in the hotel for the bar and restaurants and they weren't allowed to charge fellow Rangers lol so Ed and Warren Miller started entertaining there a lot lol.. Dates friends and new friends all eat and drank on Bubba,.

Eddie loved being a Ranger and spoke about not being able to appreciate it at such a young age. Said the city in the 80's was on fire with the team and nothing could compare to it in sports.

Loved playing for Shero and though the Rangers were on the road to winning cups but the sudden change from a bully with talent to no muscle and much smaller but very talented players hurt them.. Said the trade for Beck hurt them only due to him being injured all the time and they guys that left were loved in the room..

Signed a series of 2 yr contracts in his career and how they were to his advantage cause he could leave and move on or be traded easily ,, Said when Flyers traded him to the North Stars Lou Nannie never read the contract so ed said he wouldn't be resigning. Lou was like how are you a FA you just signed in Phillie last season Ed said I only do 2 yr deals and resigned with the FLyers,

Loved to fight and said it was part of the game and fun for him, Was very concerned with guys from that era and the lack of understanding on head injuries and concussions..
Guys loved fighting him because he was a good fighter but soft puncher. Said Gillies Rocked him a good one and rolled his eyes lol.
Said the one fight he would love to see was his rookie season in Phillie in Pre season he beat the crap out of Paul Holmgren and that put a bulls eye on him with the Flyers for years, Jim Gordon mentions this fight during a pre seaon game on MSG and how upset the Flyers were with ed,,

Says Dave Brown was the best fighter ever and did it with Bad intentions and was so feared in his heyday guys wanted no part of him,, Said Beck was overrated as a fighter, George Mcphee was super tough and thank God he was small he would have hurt people if bigger,
Said Fotiu was to much talk not enough fight and has a small fight card in the NHL because he lived off his rep not his enforcing..

Called Mike Keenen the biggest ******* in sports and was a clueless coach, He was a bully and bad person.. Lost 2 cup finals with the Flyers and would have loved to win a cup..
Said it was sad seeing Emile Francis as GM in Hartford that the game was so far past him..


We spoke about the 1981 playoff brawl in LA where he set the record for most PIMs in a single period ever.. He said no one messed with that team and they were tough and stuck together. He signed some photos of him smacking Marcel Dionne around for me and spoke about smacking Mario Lessard in the mouth for a spark.

He he loved Ken Linesman and thought he was good for the game back then but hated Baxter lol..
Wore a Flyers watch but a Rangers Alumni Ring and said he is a Ranger first and for life.

more if i remember it later,

 

[AHB*]

4th all-time games played with the Rangers. You're not just 'any guy'. Think a serious case could be made for guys like Greschner, Tkaczuk, Ratelle, and Hadfield.

He's not "any guy" but my point is, the Rangers have set an elite standard in order to have your number retired and I like that. Some teams are willing to retire and joe schmo. The Rangers have HOF'rs up there or they have guys who were integral parts of bringing cups to NYC.

Greschner was an above average player, but he is neither of those. Very good doesn't get you in the hall of fame and frankly, unless you help to lead us to a cup, it shouldn't get you in our "hall of fame."

 

[silverfish]

He's not "any guy" but my point is, the Rangers have set an elite standard in order to have your number retired and I like that. Some teams are willing to retire and joe schmo. The Rangers have HOF'rs up there or they have guys who were integral parts of bringing cups to NYC.

Greschner was an above average player, but he is neither of those. Very good doesn't get you in the hall of fame and frankly, unless you help to lead us to a cup, it shouldn't get you in our "hall of fame."

I think it shows a commitment to the organization, though. Not only did Greschner spend his entire career with the Rangers, but he's still involved with the team. He's a commonplace face when they interview alumni and have them at events.

I weight that favorably when it comes to considering giving a name and number immortal status.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Two sides to every story. That was nice of Beck to pay for everything. I read that Beck did not like Hospodar. Hospodar had a questionable reputation at best. He was more dirty than devastating. Beck would have murdered Hospodar in a real fight. Hospodar was not even a .500 fighter. Beck almost never lost a fight. Players feared Beck not Hospodar. Beck was a real hockey player first and a fighter second. Teams did not care if Hospodar was off the ice. Beck fought Brown. Beck took it easy on Brown. He had a dominant position on top and did not throw punches. He just held Brown down. Gillies who destroyed Hospadar wanted no part of Beck. Hospodar also prompted Gillies to fight him another time and then did his famous "Turtle" act. The holy grail of hockey fights is when Beck was a kid on Colorado and destroyed totally Paul Holmgren. Talk of that fight spread around the media and fans but nobody can ever find a clip.


I love your behind the scenes conversations with former Rangers.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Eddie Johnstone was so cool. One of my all time faves.

Gresch should have his number retired. Not a hall of famer but a live long Ranger. He had a ton of funny lines in his career. He had a 3 game stretch where once a game he would rush the puck the full length of the ice for goals. That was awesome.

 

[Dagoon44]

I love your behind the scenes conversations with former Rangers.[/QUOTE]

Nicky
there was real tension with the subject of Beck but I didn't push as they are both friends of mine.. I was at the pre season game where beck fought Brown 3 times and never threw a freaking punch. He wrestled Brown down 3 times into a bad position and never threw a punch never forgave him for that.

Eddie was a sick player with a really mean streak with a lot of cheap shots and stick work..

 

[NickyFotiu]

Nicky
there was real tension with the subject of Beck but I didn't push as they are both friends of mine.. I was at the pre season game where beck fought Brown 3 times and never threw a freaking punch. He wrestled Brown down 3 times into a bad position and never threw a punch never forgave him for that.

Eddie was a sick player with a really mean streak with a lot of cheap shots and stick work..

Dagoon44 Your behind the scenes stuff is the best part of the HF board. While I may not agree with what Hospodar said about Nicky and Beck that does not mean I did not like reading your post. How do you meat these guys? Beck had a major shoulder issue. I think after the shoulder he did what he could at times to stay on the ice. In the first fight against Brown Beck did throw some punches before getting in dominant position when the refs broke them up. In the preseason game Beck did show his strength by not allowing Brown to get up multiple times. He could have thrown punches then if he wanted but chose not to for some reason. Dave Brown was a great fighter. He was a jerk (crosscheck to Sandstroms face) but a great fighter. Still Dave Brown lost to guys like Nilan who Beck beat easily.

Hospodar had a mean streak but it was usually a dirty streak. He would cheap shot guys for little to no reason. Beck and Nicky usually fought as a way of protecting other smaller NY Rangers. They were the teams policemen. I view Beck/Nicky in a much better light than Hospodar. It is interesting that Hospodar considers himself a Ranger. I rooted for him as a Ranger but when he became a Flyer he took a number of cheap shots against Rangers.

 

[Dagoon44]

Dagoon44 Your behind the scenes stuff is the best part of the HF board. While I may not agree with what Hospodar said about Nicky and Beck that does not mean I did not like reading your post. How do you meat these guys? Beck had a major shoulder issue. I think after the shoulder he did what he could at times to stay on the ice. In the first fight against Brown Beck did throw some punches before getting in dominant position when the refs broke them up. In the preseason game Beck did show his strength by not allowing Brown to get up multiple times. He could have thrown punches then if he wanted but chose not to for some reason. Dave Brown was a great fighter. He was a jerk (crosscheck to Sandstroms face) but a great fighter. Still Dave Brown lost to guys like Nilan who Beck beat easily.

Hospodar had a mean streak but it was usually a dirty streak. He would cheap shot guys for little to no reason. Beck and Nicky usually fought as a way of protecting other smaller NY Rangers. They were the teams policemen. I view Beck/Nicky in a much better light than Hospodar. It is interesting that Hospodar considers himself a Ranger. I rooted for him as a Ranger but when he became a Flyer he took a number of cheap shots against Rangers.

Nicky is my idol and favorite of all time. Both were way better players and fighters then Ed,, Nicky today would be a rich man, best shot in the nhl right now and could fly just didnt stop well lol.