1971–72 New York Rangers season

1971–72 New York Rangers
1971–72 New York Rangers
Division	2nd East
1971–72 record	48–17–13
Goals for	317
Goals against	192
Team information
General manager	Emile Francis
Coach	Emile Francis
Captain	Vic Hadfield
Alternate captains	Jim Neilson
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Vic Hadfield (50)
Assists	Jean Ratelle (63)
Points	Jean Ratelle (109)
Penalty minutes	Vic Hadfield (142)
Wins	Gilles Villemure, Ed Giacomin (24)
Goals against average	Gilles Villemure (2.09)
	← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 New York Rangers season was the 46th season in franchise history. Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert ranked third, fourth and fifth overall in league scoring.^[1] The Rangers qualified for the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. The club made its first appearance in the Stanley Cup final since 1950 but lost in six games to the Boston Bruins.

Regular season

Final standings

East Division^[2]
v
t
e
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	78	54	13	11	330	204	+126	119
2	New York Rangers	78	48	17	13	317	192	+125	109
3	Montreal Canadiens	78	46	16	16	307	205	+102	108
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	78	33	31	14	209	208	+1	80
5	Detroit Red Wings	78	33	35	10	261	262	−1	76
6	Buffalo Sabres	78	16	43	19	203	289	−86	51
7	Vancouver Canucks	78	20	50	8	203	297	−94	48

Schedule and results

1971–72 Game Log

October: 6–1–4 (Home: 3–1–2; Road: 3–0–2)

November: 9–2–0 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 4–2–0)

December: 10–2–2 (Home: 7–0–1; Road: 3–2–1)

January: 6–4–2 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–3–1)

February: 10–2–2 (Home: 5–1–1; Road: 5–1–1)

March: 7–4–3 (Home: 3–2–2; Road: 4–2–1)

April: 0–2–0 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 0–1–0)

Playoffs

Key: Win Loss

1972 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Quarter-finals: vs. Montreal Canadiens – New York Rangers win series 4–2
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 5	Montreal Canadiens	2–3	New York Rangers		New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2	April 6	Montreal Canadiens	2–5	New York Rangers		New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3	April 8	New York Rangers	1–2	Montreal Canadiens		New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4	April 9	New York Rangers	6–4	Montreal Canadiens		New York Rangers lead series 3–1
5	April 11	Montreal Canadiens	2–1	New York Rangers		New York Rangers lead series 3–2
6	April 13	New York Rangers	3–2	Montreal Canadiens		New York Rangers win series 4–2

Semi-finals: vs. Chicago Black Hawks – New York Rangers win series 4–0
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 16	New York Rangers	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks		New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2	April 18	New York Rangers	5–3	Chicago Black Hawks		New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3	April 20	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3	New York Rangers		New York Rangers lead series 3–0
4	April 23	Chicago Black Hawks	2–6	New York Rangers		New York Rangers win series 4–0

Stanley Cup Finals: vs. Boston Bruins – Boston wins series 4–2
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Series
1	April 30	New York Rangers	5–6	Boston Bruins		Boston leads series 1–0
2	May 2	New York Rangers	1–2	Boston Bruins		Boston leads series 2–0
3	May 4	Boston Bruins	2–5	New York Rangers		Boston leads series 2–1
4	May 7	Boston Bruins	3–2	New York Rangers		Boston leads series 3–1
5	May 9	New York Rangers	3–2	Boston Bruins		Boston leads series 3–2
6	May 11	Boston Bruins	3–0	New York Rangers		Boston wins series 4–2

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Jean Ratelle	63	46	63	109	4
Vic Hadfield	78	50	56	106	142
Rod Gilbert	73	43	54	97	64
Brad Park	75	24	49	73	130
Walt Tkaczuk	76	24	42	66	65
Bill Fairbairn	78	22	37	59	53
Bobby Rousseau	78	21	36	57	12
Rod Seiling	78	5	36	41	62
Bruce MacGregor	75	19	21	40	22
Jim Neilson	78	7	30	37	56
Ted Irvine	78	15	21	36	66
Pete Stemkowski	59	11	17	28	53
Gene Carr^†	60	8	8	16	25
Dale Rolfe	68	2	14	16	67
Glen Sather	76	5	9	14	77
Ab DeMarco	48	4	7	11	4
Gary Doak^†	50	1	10	11	54
Dave Balon^‡	16	4	5	9	2
Pierre Jarry^‡	34	3	3	6	20
Phil Goyette^†	8	1	4	5	0
Jack Egers^‡	17	2	1	3	14
Ron Stewart^†	13	0	2	2	2
Norm Gratton	3	0	1	1	0
Mike McMahon	1	0	0	0	0
Jim Dorey^†	1	0	0	0	0
Tom Williams	3	0	0	0	2
Jim Lorentz^†‡	7	0	0	0	0

Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bobby Rousseau	16	6	11	17	7
Vic Hadfield	16	7	9	16	22
Rod Gilbert	16	7	8	15	11
Pete Stemkowski	16	4	8	12	18
Bill Fairbairn	16	5	7	12	11
Brad Park	16	4	7	11	21
Walt Tkaczuk	16	4	6	10	35
Ted Irvine	16	4	5	9	19
Bruce MacGregor	16	2	6	8	4
Dale Rolfe	16	4	3	7	16
Rod Seiling	16	1	4	5	10
Phil Goyette	13	1	3	4	2
Gene Carr	16	1	3	4	21
Ron Stewart	8	2	1	3	0
Jim Neilson	10	0	3	3	8
Ab DeMarco	4	0	1	1	0
Glen Sather	16	0	1	1	22
Jean Ratelle	6	0	1	1	0
Jim Dorey	1	0	0	0	0
Steve Andrascik	1	0	0	0	0
Gary Doak	12	0	0	0	46

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Ed Giacomin	44	2551	24	10	9	115	2.70	1
Gilles Villemure	37	2129	24	7	4	74	2.09	3

Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Ed Giacomin	10	600	6	4	27	2.70	0
Gilles Villemure	6	360	4	2	14	2.33	0

^†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.

^[3]

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;

Roster

1971–1972 New York Rangers Roster

Goaltenders

1 – Ed Giacomin
30 – Gilles Villemure

Defensemen

2 – Brad Park
3 – Gary Doak
4 – Mike McMahon
5 – Dale Rolfe
8 – Jim Dorey
15 – Jim Neilson
16 – Rod Seiling
24 – Ab DeMarco

Wingers

6 – Glen Sather
7 – Rod Gilbert
8 – Pierre Jarry
10 – Bill Fairbairn
11 – Vic Hadfield –C
12 – Ron Stewart
14 – Bruce MacGregor
17 – Dave Balon
17 – Tom Williams
20 – Gene Carr
20 – Jack Egers
23 – Norm Gratton
27 – Ted Irvine

Centers

9 – Phil Goyette
18 – Walt Tkaczuk
19 – Jean Ratelle
21 – Pete Stemkowski
22 – Bobby Rousseau
25 – Jim Lorentz
GM/Coach:
Emile Francis

Awards and records

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	10	Steve Vickers	LW	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
1	13	Steve Durbano	D	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2	27	Tom Williams	LW	Canada	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
3	41	Terry West	C	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
4	55	Jerry Butler	RW	Canada	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
5	69	Fraser Robertson	D	CAN	Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL)
6	83	Wayne Wood	G	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
7	96	Doug Keeler	C	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
7	97	Jean-Denis Royal	D	Canada	Saint-Jerome Alouettes (QMJHL)
8	109	Gene Sobchuk	LW	Canada	Regina Pats (WCHL)
9	110	Jim Ivison	D	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
10	111	Andre Peloffy	C	France	Rosemont National (QMJHL)
11	112	Elston Evoy	C	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (NOHA)
12	114	Gerry Lecomte	D	Canada	Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)
13	115	Wayne Forsey	LW	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
14	116	Bill Forrest	D	Canada	Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)

References

Rangers on Hockey Database

^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
^ "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
^ "1971–72 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-08.

[1] National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5

[standings-div-2] "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

[3] "1971–72 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-08.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 1971–72 NHL season
East	Boston Buffalo Detroit Montreal New York Toronto Vancouver
West	California Chicago Los Angeles Minnesota Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
See also	Amateur draft Intra-league draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup Final Blues–Flyers brawl

v t e New York Rangers
Founded in 1926 Based in New York, New York
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (James Dolan, chairman) General manager Chris Drury Head coach Peter Laviolette Team captain Jacob Trouba Current roster
Arenas	Madison Square Garden III Madison Square Garden IV
Rivalries	New Jersey Devils New York Islanders Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
Affiliates	AHL Hartford Wolf Pack ECHL Bloomington Bison
Media	TV MSG Network Radio WEPN-FM
Culture and lore	Curse of 1940 "It's a power play goal!" GAG line Eric Lindros trade George Kalinsky Emile Francis Award Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award Ice Hockey in Harlem Hockey Night Live! "Good Feeling" (Flo Rida song) "Hockey Sock Rock" "I Wanna Be a NY Ranger" "Slapshot" Theme from New York, New York "The Face Painter" (Seinfeld episode) Mystery, Alaska John Amirante 1991 Las Vegas outdoor game June 17th, 1994 2011 NHL Premiere 2012 NHL Winter Classic 2014 NHL Stadium Series 2018 NHL Winter Classic 2023 Big City Greens Classic 2024 NHL Stadium Series
Category Commons

v t e New York Rangers seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship