Moving right along with our special segment to the second NHL Saturday miniseries, as we have not explored the Original Six era (1943-1967) much on The Daily McPlay. This was that 25-year stretch where the National Hockey League had just six teams: the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, the Montréal Canadiens, and the New York Rangers. It’s time to explore that era, sorta properly.

Thus, it’s a go for the New York Rangers today. Like the Boston Bruins, the Rangers did not win a single Stanley Cup during the Original Six era. The franchise won Cups in 1928, 1933, and 1940 before going until 1994 before winning another—and the Rangers haven’t won another since then. So, overall, that’s 4 Cups, 62 playoff appearances, and 8 division titles for the organization since its inception in 1926. Pretty meh.

No. 5: 1961-62 New York Rangers

The pickings are slim when you don’t win a Cup for a 25-year stretch (and 54 years overall, as noted above). This team finished fourth: 26-32-12 for 64 points. The Rangers pulled off the perfect feat of also having the No. 4 offense, the No. 4 defense, and the No. 4 overall SRS ranking. Woohoo?! In the postseason, as we already covered, New York lost in six games to the Maple Leafs, losing Game 6 on the road by a 7-1 score.

The team had three decent skaters for scoring: right wing Andy Bathgate (28G, 56A, 44 PIMs), left wing Dean Prentice (22G, 38A), and center Earl Ingarfield (26G, 31A). Defenseman Doug Harvey (6G, 24A, 42 PIMs) anchored the blue line, while goaltender Gump Worsley (.912 S%, 2 SOs) did the dirty work in the crease. Alas, it didn’t amount to much in the postseason, although the team did its only two home games.

No. 4: 1966-67 New York Rangers

The ’60s were as good as it got for the Original Six Rangers. This club also ended up fourth, though, albeit with a winning record this time (30-28-12 for 72 points)! New York was No. 5 on offense, No. 3 on defense, and No. 3 overall in the SRS rankings. However, the team was swept by the Canadiens in the semifinals, losing the first games by two goals apiece on the road and losing the next two at home by one goal each.

C Phil Goyette (12G, 49A) was the only skater to crack 50 points in the regular season; perhaps that’s why the Rangers were so lowly on offense. D Harry Howell (12G, 28A, 54 PIMs) was a contributor on both sides of the ice, and G Ed Giacomin (.197 S%, 9 SOs) was pretty darn solid; he had a very good career, overall. Game 4 of the Montréal series went to overtime, as the Rangers really did give it their all, despite losing.

No. 3: 1955-56 New York Rangers

Posting a 32-28-10 record for 74 points, this team finished third behind the No. 2 offense, the No. 5 defense, and the No. 3 overall SRS ranking. However, this meant the Rangers drew the top-dog Canadiens in the semifinals, and Montréal emerged victorious in five. New York stole Game 2 on the road, but it only seemed to wake up the beast: the Habs won out, including two victories on the road, by a combined 15-4 margin.

Bathgate (19G, 47A, 59 PIMs), C Dave Creighton (20G, 31A, 43 PIMs), and D Bill Gadsby (9G, 42A, 84 PIMs) led the scoring corps, as Worsley (.923 S%, 4 SOs) tried to hang on for dear life at the other end of the sheet, admirably so. But the Canadiens were just too strong, outscoring the Rangers 24-9 in the playoff matchup. Take away the one N.Y. win, and the Habs won their four games by a 22-5 margin. That’s dominant play.

No. 2: 1957-58 New York Rangers

Taking second in the regular season with a 32-25-13 record for 77 points, these Rangers still couldn’t make it to the Cup Finals—despite the No. 3 offense, the No. 2 defense, and the No. 2 overall SRS ranking. Facing the Bruins, a sub-.500 team during the regular season, New York went down in six games, somehow. The series was tied at 2-2 before Boston won the last two games in blowout fashion: 6-1 and 8-2. Embarrassing!

Bathgate (30G, 48A, 42 PIMs) and Creighton (17G, 35A, 40 PIMs) were joined by C Camille Henry (32G, 24A, 0 PIMs) atop the scoring sheet for New York; Gadsby (14G, 32A, 48 PIMs) and Worsley (.927 S%, 2.32 GAA, 4 SOs) again were anchoring the defense. But it all fell apart in the semifinals. Even before losing the final two games, the Rangers were down 2-1 after losing Game 2 in OT and Game 3 by a 5-0 score. Crash!

No. 1: 1967-68 New York Rangers

Just like Boston, the Rangers’ best Original Six era team came in the final year of the 6-team league. Another second-place finish came on the backs of a 39-23-12 record and 90 points. New York survived the No. 4 offense and the No. 4 defense, though, somehow ending up with the No. 3 SRS ranking overall. Yet again, though, the Rangers choked in the playoffs against the No. 4 seed, the Black Hawks, losing in six.

C Jean Ratelle (32G, 46A), RW Rod Gilbert (29G, 48A), and Goyette (25G, 40A) topped the scorers for this roster, and Giacomin (.915 S%, 2.44 GAA, 8 SOs) was again a very underrated netminder. But after taking a 2-0 lead in the semifinals against Chicago, the New York roster just packed it in, strangely. The Rangers lost four straight by a 16-7 combined score. Losing Game 5 at one by one goal was the tipping point, for sure.