Guardians of the Goal: A Comprehensive Guide to New York Rangers Goaltenders, from Hal Winkler to Ed Giacomin, Henrik Lundqvist, and All Those in Between

by George Grimm, Stan Fischler (Foreword by)

Overview

A history of Rangers goalies through the ages!

New York Rangers fans have always loved their goaltenders and, throughout their history, the Blueshirts have been blessed with some of the very best in the game. Through the first nine-plus decades of their existence, eighty-eight men from Canada, the United States, and Europe have toiled between the pipes at Madison Square Garden. They all shared the same responsibility, yet each brought their own style, personality, character, and idiosyncrasies to the position and provided unique memories for those of us who watched them.

In Guardians of the Goal, each one of these brave men is discussed in chronological order, while providing an overview of their era and the general managers and coaches they played for. Such players highlighted in this book include:

·         Mike Richter

·         Ed Giacomin

·         John Vanbiesbrouck

·         Henrik Lundqvist

·         Davey Kerr

·         And many more.

Regardless of whether they were a franchise goalie, a flash in the pan, or an emergency fill-in, each of these “Lone Rangers,” or as Steve Baker once called them, “The few, the proud, and the very busy,” have one thing in common: they all tried their best to keep that little one-inch by three-inch piece of frozen, vulcanized rubber out of the gaping twenty-four square foot chasm behind them. Some were more successful than others, but as you will see, although they may occasionally “steal” a game, in most cases a goaltender is only as good as the team in front of him.

Guardians of the Goal is just that: an ode to those Blueshirts who laid it out night in and night out, leaving it all out on the ice for our Rangers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683583288
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	54 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

George Grimm is a former I.T. Auditor and technical writer who began writing about the Rangers in 1988 when he published SportStat, The Ranger Report. He then wrote the Blueseat Point of View column for the Blueshirt Bulletin for many years. The author of We Did Everything But Win, Grimm currently writes the Retro Rangers column for Insidehockey.com and his work has also appeared in the Rangers Game Night program, Bergen (NJ) magazine, and the LoHud Rangers Report Blog.

Stan Fischler is a legend of sports broadcasting. He began his career as a publicist for the New York Rangers in 1954 and has been covering hockey in the over half a century since. The winner of seven Emmy Awards, Fischler has worked in every medium from print to TV to Twitter. This "Hockey Maven" currently serves as the resident hockey expert for MSG and MSG Plus. He appears on weekly MSG Networks features and as a commentator on Islanders and Devils games. The author of more than one hundred books, Fischler lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Stan Fischler: About Goalies and Me xi

Preface xv

Introduction xvii

A Look Back xix

Chapter 1 The Early Years 1

Hal Winkler 4

Lorne Chabot 6

Lester Patrick 9

Joe Miller 13

John Ross Roach 15

Andy Aitkenhead 17

Percy Jackson 19

Davey Kerr-Franchise Goaltender 20

Bert Gardiner 24

Chapter 2 The War Years 27

Sugar Jim Henry 30

Steve Buzinski 32

Jimmy Franks 35

Bill Beveridge 36

Lionel Bouvrette 38

Ken McAuley 38

Harry Lumley 40

Doug Stevenson 42

Chapter 3 Postwar Recovery 45

Chuck Rayner-Franchise Goaltender 49

Bob DeCourcy 53

Emile "The Cat" Francis 54

Lorne Anderson 59

Chapter 4 No Direction 61

Gump Worsley-Franchise Goaltender 64

Johnny Bower 69

Gordie Bell 72

Marcel Paille 73

Julian Klymkiw 76

Bruce Gamble 77

Joe Schaefer 79

Al Rollins 81

Jack McCartan 83

Dan Olesevich 85

Dave Dryden 87

Marcel Pelletier 89

Jacques Plante 90

Gilles Villemure 97

Chapter 5 Rangers Practice and Emergency Goaltenders 103

Emergency Backup Goaltenders in the Twenty-First Century 112

Chapter 6 The Emile Francis Era 115

Ed Giacomin-Franchise Goaltender 118

Cesare Maniago 124

Don Simmons 126

Terry Sawchuk 128

Peter McDuffe 133

Curt Ridley 136

Dunc Wilson 141

John Davidson-Franchise Goaltender 143

Chapter 7 John Ferguson's Brief Reign 153

Doug Soetaert 157

Gilles Gratton 159

Dave Tataryn 163

Wayne Thomas 165

Hardy Astrom 167

Chapter 8 Freddie the Fog Finally Gets His Chance 169

Steve Baker 171

Chapter 9 Another Patrick Takes the Helm 179

Steve Weeks 181

John Vanbiesbrouck-Franchise Goaltender 183

Eddie Mio 188

Glen Hanlon 191

Ron Scott 193

Terry Kleisinger 194

Chapter 10 Espo's Chaotic Era 195

Bob Froese 199

Mike Richter-Franchise Goaltender 204

Chapter 11 Return to Glory 211

Corey Hirsch 217

Glenn Healy 218

Jamie Ram 221

Jason Muzzatti 222

Dan Cloutier 223

Kirk McLean 225

Milan Hnilicka 227

Jean-Francois Labbe 228

Chapter 12 Sather Swings and Misses 231

Jason LaBarbera 235

Johan Holmqvist 236

Vitali Yeremeyev 237

Guy Hebert 238

Dan Blackburn 239

Mike Dunham 241

Jussi Markkanen 242

Jamie McLennan 244

Steve Valiquette 245

Kevin Weekes 247

Henrik Lundqvist-Franchise Goaltender 249

Chris Holt 254

Chad Johnson 255

Alex Auld 256

Matt Zaba 258

Martin Biron 259

Cam Talbot 261

Mackenzie Skapski 262

Chapter 13 A New Beginning 265

Antti Raanta 266

Magnus Hellberg 267

Ondrej Pavelec 268

Brandon Halverson 269

Alexandar Georgiev 270

Chapter 14 The Next Generation 273

New York Rangers Goaltending Records 275

New York Rangers Top 10 Goaltender Rankings 276

Acknowledgments 279

Bibliography 281

Editorial Reviews

“Guardians of the Goal is a charming gift for Rangers fans both young and old.” —Matthew Dibiase, Inside Hockey

From the Publisher