1993–94 New York Rangers season

The 1993–94 New York Rangers season was the 68th season for the franchise. The highlight of the season was winning the Stanley Cup and hosting the NHL All-Star Game. The Rangers clinched the Presidents' Trophy by finishing with the best record in the NHL at 52–24–8, setting a franchise record with 112 points.

This marked the last season in which the Rangers (and all other MSG properties) were owned by Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western), which was sold near the end of the season to Viacom, which in turn sold them to ITT Corporation and Cablevision. A couple of years later, ITT would sell their share to Cablevision, who owned the Rangers until 2010, when the MSG properties became their own company.

Regular season

The 1993–94 season was a magical one for Rangers fans, as Coach Mike Keenan led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years. Two years prior, they picked up center Mark Messier, who was an integral part of the Edmonton Oilers' Cup-winning teams. Adam Graves, who also defected from the Oilers, joined the Rangers as well. Other ex-Oilers on the Blueshirts included trade deadline acquisitions Craig MacTavish and Glenn Anderson. Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov were a solid 1–2 punch on defence. In fact, Zubov led the team in scoring that season with 89 points, and continued to be an all-star defenceman throughout his career. Graves would set a team record with 52 goals, breaking the old record of 50 held by Vic Hadfield. This record would later be broken by Jaromir Jagr on April 8, 2006, against the Boston Bruins. New York was not shut out in any of their 84 regular-season games.^[1] The Rangers led the league in wins (52), points (112) and power-play goals (96, tied with the Buffalo Sabres and power play percentage (23.02%). They also allowed the fewest shorthanded goals (5) of all 26 teams.^[2]

Season standings

^[3] Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Schedule and Results

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Finals

After going down in the Eastern Conference Finals 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils, Rangers' captain Mark Messier made one of the most famous guarantees in sports history, stating that the Rangers would win Game 6 in New Jersey to tie the series 3-3. Not only did the Rangers back up Messier's guarantee, but Messier scored a hat trick in the Rangers 4-2 win, sending the game back to New York for game 7.^[4] In Game 7, the Rangers held a 1-0 lead after a 2nd period goal by Brian Leetch. The lead would hold up until 7.7 seconds remaining, when Valeri Zelepukin was able to beat Mike Richter to send the game to overtime. In double overtime, Stephane Matteau scored his second second-overtime goal of the series to send the Rangers to the Finals. The series-winning goal prompted the famous call of "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau!" by Rangers radio announcer Howie Rose.^[5]

Stanley Cup Finals

The Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, dating back to 1940.

During the finals, Coach Mike Keenan made history by becoming the first head coach in a Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, having been with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987 when they lost to the Oilers. Mike Babcock would join him in this feat in 2009 while with the Detroit Red Wings, having been with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim when they lost to the New Jersey Devils in 2003 (the home team won all seven games of the series).^[6] With the Rangers winning Game 7, Keenan avoided becoming the first coach in NHL history to lose a Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, but this unfortunate fate would meet Babcock in 2009 when the Red Wings lost to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers' in-state rivals.^[6]

Impact on the Knicks and the NBA Finals

The New York Knicks, co-captained by Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and coached by Pat Riley, were in the NBA Finals when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, which made their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years a great part of a great chapter in New York City sports history, according to Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson (himself a former Knick and now coach of the Los Angeles Lakers)^[7] because Keenan had been part of a concurrent finals series in basketball and hockey in the same city before. In 1992, he coached the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals, though they got swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins, as Jackson coached the Bulls, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, to the second of their first three straight NBA titles.

However, like in Chicago, Keenan would not see New York City have the distinction of having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year, as the Knicks fell to the Houston Rockets, led by Ewing's rival, Hakeem Olajuwon, in seven games. Nevertheless, this great chapter helped him draw many parallels between the two dramas, according to Jackson.^[7] Among them were the Rangers' win, because they had many characteristics that were there in his 1992 Bulls, and a second round playoff series between the Knicks and the Bulls that went the full seven games.^[7]

Key:      Win      Loss

Player stats

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

^[8]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

• June 25, 1993 – Doug Lidster was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Rangers in exchange for John Vanbiesbrouck.
• November 2, 1993: Nick Kypreos traded from Hartford Whalers with Barry Richter, Steve Larmer and round 6 pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft (Yuri Litvinov) to New York Rangers for Darren Turcotte and James Patrick.
• March 21, 1994:
  • Phil Bourque traded from NY Rangers to Ottawa for future considerations.
  • Tony Amonte and the rights to Matt Oates traded from NY Rangers to Chicago for Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan.
  • Peter Andersson traded from NY Rangers to Florida for future considerations.
  • Mike Gartner traded from NY Rangers to Toronto for Glenn Anderson, the rights to Scott Malone and Toronto's 4th round pick in 1994 Entry Draft.^[9]
  • Craig MacTavish traded from Edmonton to NY Rangers for Todd Marchant.

New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

Stanley Cup engraving

• 1991, 1992 Pittsburgh, and 1993 Montreal included at least one player on the Stanley Cup who did not officially qualify. When the New York Rangers submitted their list of names for engraving, Ed Olczyk and Mike Hartman were included. Ed Olczyk played 37 regular-season games, and played 1 game in the conference finals. Mike Hartman played 35 regular-season games, but did not play in the playoffs. Both players spent the entire season with New York Rangers, and missed over 10 games due to injuries. When the Stanley Cup was engraved, Olczyk and Hartman's names were not included. The Rangers protested so the NHL added Olczyk and Hartman to the bottom of the cup. The NHL does not add missing names after the cup has been engraved, but made an exception in this case.

• NHL now agrees to allows players who do not officially qualify on the Stanley Cup (40 Regular season game, or played in the finals) on the Cup. However, some players who played in playoffs are still left off the Cup. While other players who play less than 10 regular season games and are not dressed in playoff are included.

• Alexander Karpovtsev, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov became the first four Russian-trained players to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. Sergei Priakin played in the playoffs for the 1989 Stanley Cup champion Flames. Anatoli Semenov played in the playoffs for 1990 Stanley Cup champion Oilers. Oleg Petrov played in the playoffs for the 1993 Stanley Cup champion Canadiens. Neither of these 3 Russian-trained player played enough games to qualify for engraved on the Stanley Cup, but were given Stanley Cup Rings.

Awards and records

• Brian Leetch, Conn Smythe Trophy
• Most wins by goaltender, season - Mike Richter (1993–94) - 42
• Mike Richter, MVP of NHL All-Star Game

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada at the Colisee de Quebec.

Supplemental Draft

New York's picks at the 1993 NHL Supplemental Draft.

References

• Rangers on Hockey Database

1. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/NYR/1994.html
2. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1994.html
3. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy et al. ed. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0. 
4. ^ Greatest NHL Playoff Moments: Messier Guarantees Win
5. ^ "Howie Rose". MSG.com. Madison Square Garden, LP. http://www.msg.com/tv/network-talent/howie-rose. Retrieved March 28, 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Dye, Dave (June 13, 2009). "Broken Wings". Detroit News: p. B1. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} Spring of '94 (television). MSG Network. 2007-05-21. 
8. ^ "1993-94 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000481994.html. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 
9. ^ NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out