Curse of 1940
Encyclopedia
The Curse of 1940, also called Dutton's Curse, was a superstitious explanation for why the New York Rangers
of the National Hockey League
(NHL) did not win the league's championship trophy, the Stanley Cup
, from 1940 to 1994.
in their second. They would win two more Cups in and , defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs
both times.
During the season, the mortgage on the Rangers' home arena, the third Madison Square Garden
(built in 1925), was paid off. Hence, the management of the Madison Square Garden Corporation symbolically burned the mortgage in the bowl of the Cup. This led some hockey fans to believe that the Cup, which is regarded almost as a sacred object, had been "desecrated," leading the "hockey gods" to place a curse on the Rangers.
Another theory is that the supposed curse came from Red Dutton
, the coach and general manager of the New York Americans
, for whom he had once played. The Amerks were actually the first NHL team to play in New York City, beginning play as soon as the Garden opened for the season. However, their original owner, bootlegger
Bill Dwyer, found the going difficult with the end of Prohibition
, and the NHL took over ownership of the team in 1937. They made five playoff appearances, including a quarterfinal loss to the Rangers in and a quarterfinal win over the Rangers in . However, after beating the Rangers, the Amerks fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks
in the 1938 semifinals, the closest they ever came to winning the Cup.
Following the season, many NHL players entered the armed forces to fight in World War II
. This hurt the Americans more than the other teams, and so Dutton announced his team would suspend operations for the duration of the war. He was named NHL President upon the death of Frank Calder
in 1943, a post he held until 1946, when he resigned and was replaced by Clarence Campbell
.
Dutton had resigned the league presidency with the intention of reviving the Amerks. However, the league, with the encouragement of Garden management, reneged on a longstanding promise to allow the Amerks to return. A bitter Dutton declared that the Rangers would never win the Cup for as long as he lived. He died in 1987, at the age of 88. At that time, the Rangers were in their 47th season without having won the Cup.
The Curse of 1940 "worked" in several ways, some of them odd. The Madison Square Garden Corporation found it could make more money when Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus came to town in the spring. This forced the Rangers, and later the NBA
's New York Knicks
, to use different arenas at the worst possible time — during their respective leagues' playoffs. At the time, it was not possible to configure arenas in a way that would allow a circus and a hockey or basketball game to take place on the same day. Hence, the Rangers used Maple Leaf Gardens
in Toronto
as their "home ice" in the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals
, a move that potentially cost the Rangers that year's Stanley Cup. After the Blueshirts took a 3-2 series lead on the Wings, the NHL cited an obscure rule stating that the deciding game in a Stanley Cup Final could not be played on neutral ice. Maple Leaf Gardens was labelled "neutral" because its tenants proper were the Leafs, and Madison Square Garden was still occupied by the circus at the time. The Detroit Olympia
was thus the venue for the sixth (although the Rangers were to be designated the "home" team for that match) and seventh games, both of which were won by Detroit.
Also, while Dutton was the league president, he oversaw a 1943–44 Rangers team
that inherited the title the Americans left behind upon their folding of hardest-hit NHL team by World War II. The Rangers asked the NHL for permission to fold until the end of the war because of their best players' service in the armed forces overseas — a request Dutton himself had neglected to make before his own team ceased operations, as he had simply folded the Americans franchise. The Dutton-controlled NHL did not honor the Rangers' request, and so they finished well back of the other five teams that year, with career minor-league goaltender Ken McAuley
giving up 310 goals in the team's 50 games, a league record for worst goals-against-average that has stood ever since. The closest any goalie since has come to equalling this record is Greg Millen, whose 4.70 GAA came from allowing 282 goals in 60 games for the Hartford Whalers
forty seasons later
.
again, only to lose to the Boston Bruins
of Bobby Orr
and Phil Esposito
. The next season began with the founding of an expansion team playing on Long Island
, the New York Islanders
. In , the Islanders qualified for the playoffs for the first time and defeated the Rangers. The two teams squared off again in 1979, this time with the Rangers emerging victorious. They went on to lose the 1979 Cup Finals
to the Montreal Canadiens
, who claimed their fourth Stanley Cup in a row.
The Islanders won the Stanley Cup for the first time in , beginning their own streak of four consecutive championships, one more than the Rangers had won in their entire 57-year history to that point (after 1983 the Isles had only existed for 11 years). During the Islanders' second Cup run, in , the Islanders swept the Rangers in the second round. During that series, fans of the younger franchise taunted the Rangers by chanting "1940!" This chant caught on around the league. It was also in the 1980s that the idea of a "Curse of 1940" began to take hold, with Red Dutton's death in 1987 and the occasional publication of the photograph of the Garden mortgage being burned in the Cup's bowl (the third Garden was demolished after the Rangers and Knicks moved into the current Garden
in 1968). Also, in 1982, the Colorado Rockies
moved to suburban East Rutherford, New Jersey
and became the New Jersey Devils
, giving the Rangers a second rival in the New York metropolitan area
.
In , the Rangers finished with the best overall record in the NHL, earning them their first of two Presidents' Trophies
, but they lost to the defending Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins
in the Patrick Division
Finals. Although the Penguins were defending champions, and their victory was hardly a shocking one, an odd moment came when Rangers goaltender Mike Richter
allowed a shot from the blue line by Pittsburgh's Ron Francis
by him. The next season, with hopes high, the Rangers finished last in the Patrick Division, largely because of an injury to defenseman Brian Leetch
. In the kind of incident many fans ascribe to curses, Leetch arrived at the Garden in a taxi, stepped out, and broke his ankle when he slipped on a patch of ice, a most ironic injury for a hockey player.
(14, but none since and had not been to the postseason since 1981
; in fact, the Yankees had been in a period of demise and downfall since losing the 1964 World Series
and their only significant success during that period came in the late 1970s when they won three straight American League pennants and back-to-back championships, their only ones since ), the New York Mets
(two), the New York Giants
baseball team (one, and they had been in San Francisco since 1958
), the Brooklyn Dodgers
(one, and they had been in Los Angeles since 1958
), the New York Giants
football team (three), the New York Jets
(one), the New York Knicks
(two NBA
titles) and the New Jersey Nets
(two ABA titles, playing as the New York Nets). All five of the other Original Six
teams collected Stanley Cup
s since 1940: the Canadiens 20 times, including the previous year
; the Maple Leafs 10 times, but none since ; Detroit five times, but none since ; Boston three times, but none since , and the Black Hawks once, in .
The Rangers stormed through the 1993–94 regular season, scoring 112 points en route to clinching their second Presidents' Trophy in three years. They swept aside the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Washington Capitals
in five games in the second round before meeting the Devils (whom they had beaten in the 1992 Patrick Division Semifinals) in the Eastern Conference Finals. Devils fans had picked up the "1940!" chant and the curse myth from Islander fans, and curiously, the hockey seating capacity
of the Devils' home arena, the Brendan Byrne Arena (later renamed the Continental Airlines Arena and then Izod Center), was 19,040. With the Rangers trailing the series three games to two and facing elimination, it looked as though the curse was at work again. However, Rangers captain Mark Messier
challenged the New York media by offering a "guaranteed" win in Game 6: "We know we're going in there to win Game 6 and bringing it back for Game 7. We feel we can win it and we feel we are going to win it." The New York Post and The New York Daily News both carried back pages offering Messier's guarantee: "We'll Win Tonight." Rangers' coach Mike Keenan
said of the guarantee: "Mark was sending a message to his teammates that he believed together we could win. He put on an amazing performance to make sure it happened."
The Rangers quickly fell behind 2-0, but trailing 2-1 in the third period, Messier scored a natural hat trick (three straight goals) to make good on his guarantee and force a deciding seventh game. The curse threatened again in Game 7 as the Rangers led 1-0 and looked as though they were about to advance to the Cup Finals when New Jersey's Valeri Zelepukin
scored with 7.7 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. But in the second overtime, Stephane Matteau
scored to give the Rangers the game and the series.
The Rangers moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals
against the Vancouver Canucks
and took a 3-2 lead late in the third period of the deciding seventh game. They shot the puck down the length of the ice with seven seconds left. Thinking the game was over, the Rangers poured onto the ice celebration. However, the Canucks touched the puck to stop play with 1.1 seconds left in regulation. The officials reset the clock to 1.6 seconds and ordered a faceoff in the Rangers' zone. Messier and Craig MacTavish
conferred and came up with a gambit to ensure the Rangers' win. Both of them, deciding that the officials wouldn't call a penalty at such a dramatic moment, committed fouls on the final drop of the puck as first Messier, then MacTavish whacked and cross-checked Vancouver's star forward Pavel Bure
.
The CBC
broadcast of Game 7 attracted an average Canadian audience of 4.957 million viewers, making it the most-watched CBC Sports
program in history at the time (a record since eclipsed by the men's ice hockey gold medal game
between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics
, when Canada won its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal since the 1952 Winter Olympics
, which drew 10.6 million). CBC commentator Bob Cole
said that Game 7 was one of his most memorable TV games.
As it turned out, the Stanley Cup victory was the most notable moment of the Rangers' tenure as a subsidiary of Viacom
, who had just purchased Paramount Communications, the owners of the Rangers (and all Madison Square Garden properties) since 1977, when the company was known as Gulf+Western
. Viacom sold the MSG properties shortly thereafter, to Cablevision, who owned them until 2010, when they became their own company
.
Furthermore, the Knicks, co-captained by Patrick Ewing
and Charles Oakley
and head coached by Pat Riley
, were in the NBA Finals
for the first time since their championship season of at the same time the curse ended, which led to Chicago Bulls
head coach Phil Jackson
(himself a former Knick) calling it a great part of a great chapter in New York City sports history, because Keenan had been part of a concurrent finals series in hockey and basketball taking place in the same city before, having coached the Blackhawks to the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals
, but got swept by the defending champions
, the Pittsburgh Penguins
, at the same time Jackson coached the Bulls, led by Michael Jordan
and Scottie Pippen
, to their second straight NBA championship
. Like the Rangers' final, the Knicks final against the Houston Rockets
went to the deciding seventh game. However, as in Chicago, Keenan would not see New York City have NBA and NHL championships in the same year, as the Knicks lost the game. Nevertheless, he was able to draw parallels between the two dramas, according to Jackson, among them a second-round playoff series between the Knicks and the Bulls that went the full seven games.
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) did not win the league's championship trophy, the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, from 1940 to 1994.
Popular theories
The Rangers began play in the season and won a division title in their first season of existence and a Stanley Cup against the Montreal MaroonsMontreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...
in their second. They would win two more Cups in and , defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
both times.
During the season, the mortgage on the Rangers' home arena, the third Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
(built in 1925), was paid off. Hence, the management of the Madison Square Garden Corporation symbolically burned the mortgage in the bowl of the Cup. This led some hockey fans to believe that the Cup, which is regarded almost as a sacred object, had been "desecrated," leading the "hockey gods" to place a curse on the Rangers.
Another theory is that the supposed curse came from Red Dutton
Red Dutton
Norman Alexander "Mervyn" "Red" Dutton was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League and the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans of the National Hockey League...
, the coach and general manager of the New York Americans
New York Americans
The New York Americans were a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League and the second to play in the United States. The team never won the Stanley Cup, but reached the semifinals...
, for whom he had once played. The Amerks were actually the first NHL team to play in New York City, beginning play as soon as the Garden opened for the season. However, their original owner, bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
Bill Dwyer, found the going difficult with the end of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, and the NHL took over ownership of the team in 1937. They made five playoff appearances, including a quarterfinal loss to the Rangers in and a quarterfinal win over the Rangers in . However, after beating the Rangers, the Amerks fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
in the 1938 semifinals, the closest they ever came to winning the Cup.
Following the season, many NHL players entered the armed forces to fight in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. This hurt the Americans more than the other teams, and so Dutton announced his team would suspend operations for the duration of the war. He was named NHL President upon the death of Frank Calder
Frank Calder
-External links:*...
in 1943, a post he held until 1946, when he resigned and was replaced by Clarence Campbell
Clarence Campbell
Clarence Sutherland Campbell OBE, QC was the third president of the National Hockey League from 1946 to 1977.-Early life and career:...
.
Dutton had resigned the league presidency with the intention of reviving the Amerks. However, the league, with the encouragement of Garden management, reneged on a longstanding promise to allow the Amerks to return. A bitter Dutton declared that the Rangers would never win the Cup for as long as he lived. He died in 1987, at the age of 88. At that time, the Rangers were in their 47th season without having won the Cup.
The Curse of 1940 "worked" in several ways, some of them odd. The Madison Square Garden Corporation found it could make more money when Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus came to town in the spring. This forced the Rangers, and later the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, to use different arenas at the worst possible time — during their respective leagues' playoffs. At the time, it was not possible to configure arenas in a way that would allow a circus and a hockey or basketball game to take place on the same day. Hence, the Rangers used Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
as their "home ice" in the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals
1950 Stanley Cup Finals
-References:...
, a move that potentially cost the Rangers that year's Stanley Cup. After the Blueshirts took a 3-2 series lead on the Wings, the NHL cited an obscure rule stating that the deciding game in a Stanley Cup Final could not be played on neutral ice. Maple Leaf Gardens was labelled "neutral" because its tenants proper were the Leafs, and Madison Square Garden was still occupied by the circus at the time. The Detroit Olympia
Detroit Olympia
Olympia Stadium, better known as the Detroit Olympia and nicknamed The Old Red Barn, stood at 5920 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan from 1927 until 1987. It was best known as the home of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team of the National Hockey League from its opening until...
was thus the venue for the sixth (although the Rangers were to be designated the "home" team for that match) and seventh games, both of which were won by Detroit.
Also, while Dutton was the league president, he oversaw a 1943–44 Rangers team
1943–44 New York Rangers season
The 1943–44 New York Rangers season was the 18th season for the team in the National Hockey League . During the regular season, the Rangers had a 6–39–5 record and compiled 17 points, the fewest of any team in franchise history...
that inherited the title the Americans left behind upon their folding of hardest-hit NHL team by World War II. The Rangers asked the NHL for permission to fold until the end of the war because of their best players' service in the armed forces overseas — a request Dutton himself had neglected to make before his own team ceased operations, as he had simply folded the Americans franchise. The Dutton-controlled NHL did not honor the Rangers' request, and so they finished well back of the other five teams that year, with career minor-league goaltender Ken McAuley
Ken McAuley
Ken Leslie McAuley was a professional ice hockey Goaltender who played 96 games in the National Hockey League....
giving up 310 goals in the team's 50 games, a league record for worst goals-against-average that has stood ever since. The closest any goalie since has come to equalling this record is Greg Millen, whose 4.70 GAA came from allowing 282 goals in 60 games for the Hartford Whalers
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
forty seasons later
1982-83 NHL season
-NHL awards:-All-Star teams:Source: NHL.-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = PointsSource: NHL.-Leading goaltenders:...
.
The Islanders
The Rangers struggled for several years after World War II; after their 1950 Finals appearance they only made the playoffs six times in 17 seasons. In 1972, they reached the Stanley Cup Finals1972 Stanley Cup Finals
-Boston Bruins 1972 Stanley Cup champions:-See also:* List of Stanley Cup champions* 1971–72 Boston Bruins season* 1971–72 NHL season* 1971–72 New York Rangers season-References:...
again, only to lose to the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
of Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...
and Phil Esposito
Phil Esposito
Philip Anthony Esposito, OC is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is considered to be one of the best to have...
. The next season began with the founding of an expansion team playing on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, the New York Islanders
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. In , the Islanders qualified for the playoffs for the first time and defeated the Rangers. The two teams squared off again in 1979, this time with the Rangers emerging victorious. They went on to lose the 1979 Cup Finals
1979 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1979 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the New York Rangers and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, making their fourth straight appearance. It was New York's first appearance since . The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to one, to win...
to the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
, who claimed their fourth Stanley Cup in a row.
The Islanders won the Stanley Cup for the first time in , beginning their own streak of four consecutive championships, one more than the Rangers had won in their entire 57-year history to that point (after 1983 the Isles had only existed for 11 years). During the Islanders' second Cup run, in , the Islanders swept the Rangers in the second round. During that series, fans of the younger franchise taunted the Rangers by chanting "1940!" This chant caught on around the league. It was also in the 1980s that the idea of a "Curse of 1940" began to take hold, with Red Dutton's death in 1987 and the occasional publication of the photograph of the Garden mortgage being burned in the Cup's bowl (the third Garden was demolished after the Rangers and Knicks moved into the current Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in 1968). Also, in 1982, the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies (NHL)
The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League that played in Denver, Colorado, from 1976 to 1982. They were a relocation of the Kansas City Scouts, a 1974 expansion team. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and was...
moved to suburban East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
and became the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, giving the Rangers a second rival in the New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
.
In , the Rangers finished with the best overall record in the NHL, earning them their first of two Presidents' Trophies
Presidents' Trophy
The Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the National Hockey League to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. If two teams tie for the most points, then the trophy goes to the team with the most wins. The winning team is also awarded C$350,000...
, but they lost to the defending Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
in the Patrick Division
Patrick Division
The Patrick Division of the National Hockey League was formed in 1974 as part of the Clarence Campbell Conference. The division moved to the Prince of Wales Conference in 1981. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honor of Lester Patrick...
Finals. Although the Penguins were defending champions, and their victory was hardly a shocking one, an odd moment came when Rangers goaltender Mike Richter
Mike Richter
Michael Thomas Richter is a former ice hockey goaltender. One of the most successful American-born goaltenders in history, he is best known for having led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup title in 1994 and for repeatedly representing the United States in international play. Due to his...
allowed a shot from the blue line by Pittsburgh's Ron Francis
Ron Francis
Ronald Michael Francis, Jr. is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs...
by him. The next season, with hopes high, the Rangers finished last in the Patrick Division, largely because of an injury to defenseman Brian Leetch
Brian Leetch
Brian Joseph Leetch is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He is generally considered one of the top defensemen in NHL history, being particularly noted for his...
. In the kind of incident many fans ascribe to curses, Leetch arrived at the Garden in a taxi, stepped out, and broke his ankle when he slipped on a patch of ice, a most ironic injury for a hockey player.
End of the Curse
By , the Rangers had not won the Stanley Cup in 54 years. In that time, championships had been won in the New York area by the Islanders (four), the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(14, but none since and had not been to the postseason since 1981
1981 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 13, 1981 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkIn Billy Martin's return to Yankee Stadium , the Yankees drew first blood in front of their old skipper...
; in fact, the Yankees had been in a period of demise and downfall since losing the 1964 World Series
1964 World Series
The 1964 World Series pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees, with the Cardinals prevailing in seven games. St...
and their only significant success during that period came in the late 1970s when they won three straight American League pennants and back-to-back championships, their only ones since ), the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
(two), the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
baseball team (one, and they had been in San Francisco since 1958
1958 San Francisco Giants season
The San Francisco Giants season involved the 80-74 team finishing in third place in the National League standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves in their inaugural season in The Golden Gate City.- Offseason :...
), the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
(one, and they had been in Los Angeles since 1958
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The Los Angeles Dodgers took the field before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, to usher in the beginning of the team's new life in Los Angeles...
), the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
football team (three), the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(one), the New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
(two NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
titles) and the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
(two ABA titles, playing as the New York Nets). All five of the other Original Six
Original Six
The Original Six is a term for the group of six teams that composed the National Hockey League for the 25 seasons between the 1942–43 season and the 1967 NHL Expansion. These six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and the...
teams collected Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
s since 1940: the Canadiens 20 times, including the previous year
1993 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1993 Stanley Cup Final series was contested by the Los Angeles Kings and the Montreal Canadiens to decide the NHL championship for the 1992–93 season. It was the first appearance in the Final for the Kings, and the 34th for Montreal, their first since the 1989 Final. The Canadiens won the...
; the Maple Leafs 10 times, but none since ; Detroit five times, but none since ; Boston three times, but none since , and the Black Hawks once, in .
The Rangers stormed through the 1993–94 regular season, scoring 112 points en route to clinching their second Presidents' Trophy in three years. They swept aside the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs and defeated the Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
in five games in the second round before meeting the Devils (whom they had beaten in the 1992 Patrick Division Semifinals) in the Eastern Conference Finals. Devils fans had picked up the "1940!" chant and the curse myth from Islander fans, and curiously, the hockey seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of the Devils' home arena, the Brendan Byrne Arena (later renamed the Continental Airlines Arena and then Izod Center), was 19,040. With the Rangers trailing the series three games to two and facing elimination, it looked as though the curse was at work again. However, Rangers captain Mark Messier
Mark Messier
Mark Douglas Messier is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League and current special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He spent a quarter of a century in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver...
challenged the New York media by offering a "guaranteed" win in Game 6: "We know we're going in there to win Game 6 and bringing it back for Game 7. We feel we can win it and we feel we are going to win it." The New York Post and The New York Daily News both carried back pages offering Messier's guarantee: "We'll Win Tonight." Rangers' coach Mike Keenan
Mike Keenan
Michael Edward Keenan is a former head coach in the National Hockey League , most recently with the Calgary Flames, and former General Manager of the Florida Panthers. He is currently working as an analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG Network.Keenan was a player for the St...
said of the guarantee: "Mark was sending a message to his teammates that he believed together we could win. He put on an amazing performance to make sure it happened."
The Rangers quickly fell behind 2-0, but trailing 2-1 in the third period, Messier scored a natural hat trick (three straight goals) to make good on his guarantee and force a deciding seventh game. The curse threatened again in Game 7 as the Rangers led 1-0 and looked as though they were about to advance to the Cup Finals when New Jersey's Valeri Zelepukin
Valeri Zelepukin
Valeri Mikhailovich Zelepukin is a retired Russian ice hockey player who has played in the National Hockey League for the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks between 1991 and 2001. He is 6'1"", weighs 200 lbs and shoots left-handed...
scored with 7.7 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. But in the second overtime, Stephane Matteau
Stephane Matteau
Stéphane Matteau is a former National Hockey League player.As a member of the New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup Championship team, Matteau is most remembered for scoring two overtime goals in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils...
scored to give the Rangers the game and the series.
The Rangers moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals
1994 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1994 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven playoff series contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League...
against the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
and took a 3-2 lead late in the third period of the deciding seventh game. They shot the puck down the length of the ice with seven seconds left. Thinking the game was over, the Rangers poured onto the ice celebration. However, the Canucks touched the puck to stop play with 1.1 seconds left in regulation. The officials reset the clock to 1.6 seconds and ordered a faceoff in the Rangers' zone. Messier and Craig MacTavish
Craig MacTavish
Craig "MacT" MacTavish is the current head coach of the American Hockey League Chicago Wolves and a former ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League. He played centre for 19 NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis...
conferred and came up with a gambit to ensure the Rangers' win. Both of them, deciding that the officials wouldn't call a penalty at such a dramatic moment, committed fouls on the final drop of the puck as first Messier, then MacTavish whacked and cross-checked Vancouver's star forward Pavel Bure
Pavel Bure
Pavel Vladimirovich Bure is a retired Russian professional ice hockey right winger. Nicknamed "The Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers...
.
The CBC
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
broadcast of Game 7 attracted an average Canadian audience of 4.957 million viewers, making it the most-watched CBC Sports
CBC Sports
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, with some additional broadcasts on bold, CBC.ca, and occasionally CBC Radio One...
program in history at the time (a record since eclipsed by the men's ice hockey gold medal game
Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics were held at the E Center in West Valley City and Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, Utah. Both the men's and women's tournaments were won by Canada, defeating the host USA in both games.-Men:...
between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
, when Canada won its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal since the 1952 Winter Olympics
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...
, which drew 10.6 million). CBC commentator Bob Cole
Bob Cole (announcer)
Robert Cecil "Bob" Cole is a Canadian television announcer and former competitive curler.Cole was the primary play-by-play announcer for Hockey Night in Canada 'HNIC' on CBC, usually for Toronto Maple Leafs games, from 1980 to 2008. Aside from the Leafs broadcasts, he was also a staple for the...
said that Game 7 was one of his most memorable TV games.
As it turned out, the Stanley Cup victory was the most notable moment of the Rangers' tenure as a subsidiary of Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
, who had just purchased Paramount Communications, the owners of the Rangers (and all Madison Square Garden properties) since 1977, when the company was known as Gulf+Western
Gulf+Western
Gulf and Western Industries, Inc., for a number of years known as Gulf+Western, was an American conglomerate.- History :Gulf and Western's prosaic origins date to a manufacturer named Michigan Bumper Co. founded in 1934, though Charles Bluhdorn treated his 1958 takeover of what was then Michigan...
. Viacom sold the MSG properties shortly thereafter, to Cablevision, who owned them until 2010, when they became their own company
Madison Square Garden, Inc.
Madison Square Garden, Inc. , is an American entertainment promotion company, headquartered in New York, New York. The company spun off from Cablevision on February 9, 2010.-Divisions:...
.
Furthermore, the Knicks, co-captained by Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
and Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley is a retired American professional basketball player and is currently an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association...
and head coached by Pat Riley
Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
, were in the NBA Finals
1994 NBA Finals
The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1993–94 National Basketball Association season, featuring the Western Conference's Houston Rockets defeating the Eastern Conference's New York Knicks....
for the first time since their championship season of at the same time the curse ended, which led to Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
head coach Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association . His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998;...
(himself a former Knick) calling it a great part of a great chapter in New York City sports history, because Keenan had been part of a concurrent finals series in hockey and basketball taking place in the same city before, having coached the Blackhawks to the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals
1992 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1992 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Prince of Wales Conference and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Clarence Campbell Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks were making their first appearance in the Final since...
, but got swept by the defending champions
1991 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1991 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Minnesota North Stars. It was the Penguins' first Final series appearance and their first Stanley Cup victory. As of 2011, this is the first and only Stanley Cup Final to feature two teams from the...
, the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
, at the same time Jackson coached the Bulls, led by Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
and Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen
Scottie Maurice Pippen is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association . He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA Championships and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins...
, to their second straight NBA championship
1992 NBA Finals
The 1992 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1991–92 NBA season. The Chicago Bulls of the Eastern Conference took on the Portland Trail Blazers of the Western Conference for the title, with Chicago having home court advantage, as they had the best record in the NBA.The two teams appeared...
. Like the Rangers' final, the Knicks final against the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
went to the deciding seventh game. However, as in Chicago, Keenan would not see New York City have NBA and NHL championships in the same year, as the Knicks lost the game. Nevertheless, he was able to draw parallels between the two dramas, according to Jackson, among them a second-round playoff series between the Knicks and the Bulls that went the full seven games.