Celebrating Hockey's History The Original 6 Table of Contents 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 New York Hockey History The NHL at 100 The Stanley Cup Star Scorers Dominating Defensemen Great Goalies Rangers Records The Broadway Blueshirts Trophy Winners Behind the Bench Rangers Bits and Pieces Rivalries On Home Ice Glossary Further Reading and Websites to Check Out Test Your Rangers Knowledge Places to Go and About the Author 31 Index 32 30
New York Hockey History Hockey history in New York City dates back to the late 1890s An early American hockey league started up in New York in those days too The NHL came to the city in 1925 although the Rangers didn’t come onboard until 1926 Ice Palace Team During the winter of 1895 96 a hockey team made up of Canadians living in New York City practiced at a rink called the Ice Palace and played a few games against visiting teams They were the first hockey team in New York At the end of that winter in March 1896 a new arena opened in New York called the St Nicholas Rink It would be the heart of hockey in New York City until the NHL came to town St Nicholas Hockey Club 1905-1906 4
Local Amateur League In November 1896 a league was formed with two teams in New York and two teams in Brooklyn It was called the Amateur Hockey League of New York but would become known as the American Amateur Hockey League after teams from other cities joined too This league lasted until 1916 17 Tex’s Rangers When the NHL was formed in November 1917 it only had teams in Canadian cities The NHL didn’t expand into the United States until the 1924 25 season There was talk of adding a New York team to the NHL that year But instead the Boston Bruins became the league’s first American franchise A year later the New York Americans joined the NHL They rented the ice at Madison Square Garden and became such a hit that the Garden’s owner decided he wanted his own team His name was Tex Rickard and it’s said that Tex’s team was called the Rangers because of a play on words with the famous lawmen known as the Texas Rangers That’s how the baseball team got its name too Hockey fans in New York quickly came to love the Rangers They had a clean and skillful style and they won the Stanley Cup for the first time in just their second season No other expansion team since then has ever won a championship so quickly Tex Rickard The Rangers officially joined the NHL at a league meeting on May 15 1926 and beat the Montreal Maroons 1 0 They played their first game on November 26 1926 The New York Americans played the first NHL game in New York City on December 15 1925 They lost 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens NEW YORK AMERICANS New York Americans Jersey worn by Tommy Anderson in 1936 5
