TRIBUTE: Rangers to retire #19 for Jean Ratelle

VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,133
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https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-rangers-to-retire-no-19-for-jean-ratelle/c-290784632
Ratelle also had six 30-goal seasons, more than any player in Rangers history. He scored the final goal at the old Madison Square Garden in a 3-3 tie with the Red Wings on Feb. 11, 1968. Seven days later, he took the first faceoff for the Rangers at the current Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers.

His No. 19 will join goaltenders Ed Giacomin (1) and Mike Richter (35), defensemen Brian Leetch (2) and Harry Howell (3), and forwards Gilbert (7), Adam Graves (9), Andy Bathgate (9) and Mark Messier (11) in the rafters at Madison Square Garden.

And from the all-time draft board here at HfBoards:

ATD 2017 said:
... Jean Ratelle, the alternate captain of Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, scoring 4 points while playing a defensive and penalty-killing role on the team. That year in the NHL he had scored 109 points in just 63 NHL games, a Rangers record until Jagr broke it in 2006. Interestingly, that year he wasn't a Hart trophy finalist (was 2 votes behind Esposito) but the NHL players voted for him and he won the Lester B. Pearson (Ted Lindsay) Award. Over an 11-year span from age 28 to 38, ending in 1978, Ratelle was 2nd in NHL points with 946 points in those 828 games, trailing only Esposito. After 10+ years as a Ranger, the 6'1 center and Brad Park were traded to Boston in a deal for Esposito, and then Ratelle played 6 more years as a Bruin, retiring with 1267 points in 1281 NHL games. He was six times a Lady Byng finalist, winning it one of those times in New York and another time in Boston. Ratelle was known for his face-off ability, playmaking, hockey sense, skating and defensive responsibility.

5b57941226b28f45e920a39946f72b45.jpg


Comments in his ATD bio from a teammate, an NHL coach and two GMs:
"Some people noticed Ratelle's effectiveness with the puck, but they didn't see what a great positional player he was. I very rarely saw an opposing center score a goal from the slot with Jean on the ice."

"Jean was terrific at picking passes off in front of our net."

"I knew he was a good player, but I had no idea how good he was until he joined our team. I always recognized his offensive ability but I hadn't realized that he was such an excellent defensive player, too."

"He is superb at faceoffs, does an awful lot of work on defence and passes like Beliveau."
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
Wow. Im kinda shocked they didnt do this back in 1985 when he was inducted into the HHOF. Long overdue. Rod Gilberts' number 7 went up in 79.
 

arrbez

bad chi
Jun 2, 2004
13,352
261
Toronto
Wow. Im kinda shocked they didnt do this back in 1985 when he was inducted into the HHOF. Long overdue. Rod Gilberts' number 7 went up in 79.

Doesn't seem like they've done a very good job in general with anyone who wasn't on the 1994 team. Them retiring Bathgate (maybe the best player in club history) a couple years ago seemed like an afterthought because they were putting Graves in and both guys wore the same number.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
Doesn't seem like they've done a very good job in general with anyone who wasn't on the 1994 team. Them retiring Bathgate (maybe the best player in club history) a couple years ago seemed like an afterthought because they were putting Graves in and both guys wore the same number.

Yeah I dont know what their thinkin... but if their thinking about the history of the Rangers at all awfully slow off the mark. So far.... all theyve retired;

1. Giacom
2. Leetch
3. Howell
7. Gilbert
9. Bathgate & Graves
11. Messier
35. Richter

99. Gretzky - League Wide....

What about Boucher, Cook, Worsley, Park & others? They do have their own "Rangers Hall of Fame", basically a ranking and most of the players at or near the top all modern era or current which gives you a pretty clear picture as to how they look at it.... Never mind yesterdays players, the best are playing in the here & now. And sure, some of them great. Lundquist for example. But he's still playing, the story incomplete, unfinished. I mean, its not like hard-core New Yorkers & Rangers fans dont care about history. They do & in a big way. I've kinda figured its just the whole corporate culture of the organization. Just not, never really have been dialed in to displays of sentimentally, not exactly warm & cuddly. Yet even still, history can be monetized so if even looking at it clinically, it still doesnt make sense that they wouldnt be a lot more proactive in that regard.
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
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Brooklyn
Well deserved

Unfortunately, very few fans who watched Boucher and Cook play are still alive, so I doubt the Rangers bother honoring them.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,374
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Mulberry Street
Wow. Im kinda shocked they didnt do this back in 1985 when he was inducted into the HHOF. Long overdue. Rod Gilberts' number 7 went up in 79.

They waited until 2003 to retire Bathgate's #9, which they did like 2 days before Graves' #9. Seems to be how they do things.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
Well deserved

Unfortunately, very few fans who watched Boucher and Cook play are still alive, so I doubt the Rangers bother honoring them.

... :laugh: ya, that might be going back a bit too far not to mention complicating matters with shared numbers & so on. Just that it would be nice to see the Rangers somehow honoring the greats from between the War years. Obviously not all fans avid historians of the game & their team but many are so.....
 

Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
29,206
17,561
Connecticut
How consistent was Ratelle's production for the Rangers?

67-68
74 32-46-78

68-69
75 32-46-78

69-70
75 32-42-74

70-71
78 26-46-72

Then he broke out as a big time scorer at age 31.
 

bigbuffalo313

Registered User
Apr 28, 2012
4,135
57
New York
As a Ranger fan, I feel that we are the worst team when it comes to honoring players from our history. Park, Cook, and Boucher are the three main exceptions, then there are more guys like Worsely, Hextall, etc. I don't know if there is another team worse when it comes to honoring their players
 

VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,133
6,428
Just a tad late.
Who in their right mind would quickly retire Adam Graves' jersey number but take 35+ years to retire Ratelle's? :dunno: I guess Graves' one 70-point season in '94 ending with the Stanely Cup (he 5th in team points that postseason) is so much more deserving of remembering? As Frank Boucher's and Bill Cook's relatives must be saying: Better late than never.

new-york-rangers_bread-line_cook-boucher-cook.gif
 

GMR

Registered User
Jul 27, 2013
6,068
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Parts Unknown
I bet most Rangers fans have no freaking clue who Bill Cook was. Indeed, the franchise sucks at honoring its history and is obsessed with the 1994 team like maybe no other franchise is obsessed with any other team.
 

Crosbyfan

Registered User
Nov 27, 2003
12,633
2,442
I bet most Rangers fans have no freaking clue who Bill Cook was. Indeed, the franchise sucks at honoring its history and is obsessed with the 1994 team like maybe no other franchise is obsessed with any other team.

I think you might have spelled "Rangers front office" wrong...:D

About freakin' time. Would have happened earlier if the great Adam Graves had worn #19. :sarcasm:
 
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VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
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Stanley Cup hero in 1928 and 1933 Rags' championships and three-time NHL leader in goals scored.

This HHOFer should have a statue in bronze! :yo:
 

Eisen

Registered User
Sep 30, 2009
16,737
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Duesseldorf
Who in their right mind would quickly retire Adam Graves' jersey number but take 35+ years to retire Ratelle's? :dunno: I guess Graves' one 70-point season in '94 ending with the Stanely Cup (he 5th in team points that postseason) is so much more deserving of remembering? As Frank Boucher's and Bill Cook's relatives must be saying: Better late than never.

new-york-rangers_bread-line_cook-boucher-cook.gif

I always forget that Graves's number is retired. He didn't play very long, didn't play for the Rangers only and wasn't their best player at any point. Yeah, that's pretty strange. I know NY loves the 94 team, but that's a bit much.
 

Crosbyfan

Registered User
Nov 27, 2003
12,633
2,442
Yeah I dont know what their thinkin... but if their thinking about the history of the Rangers at all awfully slow off the mark. So far.... all theyve retired;

1. Giacom
2. Leetch
3. Howell
7. Gilbert
9. Bathgate & Graves
11. Messier
35. Richter

99. Gretzky - League Wide....

What about Boucher, Cook, Worsley, Park & others? They do have their own "Rangers Hall of Fame", basically a ranking and most of the players at or near the top all modern era or current which gives you a pretty clear picture as to how they look at it.... Never mind yesterdays players, the best are playing in the here & now. And sure, some of them great. Lundquist for example. But he's still playing, the story incomplete, unfinished. I mean, its not like hard-core New Yorkers & Rangers fans dont care about history. They do & in a big way. I've kinda figured its just the whole corporate culture of the organization. Just not, never really have been dialed in to displays of sentimentally, not exactly warm & cuddly. Yet even still, history can be monetized so if even looking at it clinically, it still doesnt make sense that they wouldnt be a lot more proactive in that regard.

Fair to assume the last two letters wandered off out of the net? :D
 
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The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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I really liked Adam Graves (except for that pathetic slash on Mario in '92). I watched him often for two years with Edmonton, and he was already one of the most liked players there. Saw great things in his future when he went to New York, and he took advantage of that opportunity and became a pretty impressive, if wildly inconsistent, goal-scorer from about 1991-1999. Couldn't find a more beloved teammate.

Having said that... retiring his number for an 'O6' franchise? Uh, no.
 

Bart9349

Registered User
Jul 4, 2016
3,112
3,311
I really liked Adam Graves (except for that pathetic slash on Mario in '92). I watched him often for two years with Edmonton, and he was already one of the most liked players there. Saw great things in his future when he went to New York, and he took advantage of that opportunity and became a pretty impressive, if wildly inconsistent, goal-scorer from about 1991-1999. Couldn't find a more beloved teammate.

Can't argue with that logic. John Wilkes Booth was also a much beloved and admired actor before a small insignificant incident at a little theater in Washington D.C. in 1865. :facepalm:

From Wikipedia:
[John Wilkes] Booth "won celebrity with theater-goers by his romantic personal attraction" .... Author Gene Smith wrote that Booth's acting may not have been as precise as his brother Edwin's, but his strikingly handsome appearance enthralled women. As the 1850s drew to a close, Booth was becoming wealthy as an actor, earning $20,000 a year (equivalent to about $533,000 today).


 
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The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,110
15,573
Tokyo, Japan
Can't argue with that logic. John Wilkes Booth was also a much beloved and admired actor before a small insignificant incident at a little theater in Washington D.C. in 1865.
Well, yes. I think I speak for the entire forum when I say that a hockey stick-slash in the early 90s and murdering the President with a handgun are very comparable.
 

Tawnos

A guy with a bass
Sep 10, 2004
28,820
10,395
Charlotte, NC
Graves has his number retired more for his off-ice contributions to the community than his on ice ones. It is no defense of how long its taken to get Ratelle up there, but I figured I needed to mention that.
 

BenchBrawl

Registered User
Jul 26, 2010
30,844
13,628
They should do what Montreal did a couple of years ago.They started a big program where they retired many numbers.It was a great era for the marketing of the Montreal Canadiens.The Rangers could use that as a marketing strategy, though obviously the franchise has less glory in its past.

But retiring Bill Cook's and Frank Boucher's numbers is a must.Why not do it? I see no good reason not to do it, and plenty of good reasons to do it.
 

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