a day ago
Reliving The Lowest Point In Blueshirts History
While the upcoming Rangers 100th Anniversary Gala will feature the innumerable high points in Blueshirts history, you can be sure the absolute lowest point will be ignored.
So, as a public service to Rangers reality, The Maven will disclose the subterranean depth and the artistic fallout that followed.
The game took place during the awful wartime season of 1942-43 when most of the 1941-42 first place Rangers' stars had marched off to war.
Not surprisingly, the Blueshirts, who were in last place, were playing the Red Wings at Detroit's Olympia Stadium.
"The final score was 15-0 for Detroit," said Jim Burchard of the New York World-Telegram, "but it could have been 16-0 because the Wings scored again at the final buzzer."
Hey, 15-0 was bad enough; an NHL humiliation record has been set. But that wasn't the end of it. A few days later, the foremost sports caricaturist in New York went after the Blueshirts. He's most famous for creating the Brooklyn Dodgers "Bum."
Willard Mullin of the World-Telegram drew daily panels on the Telly sports pages and on February 3, 1944, there it was. And not just one drawing but seven within one gigantic cartoon, all referring to the 15-0 rout.
The headline on top proclaimed REVENGE IS SWEET. In the first panel Mullin drew a sprinting Ranger with pucks bouncing off him left and right. The caption read: "Last week in Detroit, the Rangers suffered the most humiliating defeat in NHL hockey history, 15-0."
The subhead added: "Round the rugged rink the ragged Rangers ran..."
In Panel Two, it read: "Tonight the Patrick Patsies return to the scene of the frozen Waterloo." This time the depicted Ranger pounded his chest and shouted: "I WANT RE-WANGE!!!:
Panel Three: Now a Ranger fan goes up to the coughing player and says, "...And what are you gonna do to him, Big Boy?"
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Panel Four: Angrily, the player yells at the fan: "What Am I going to do?!!" The fan responds: "Nothing could be too drastic, I hope."
Panel Five: The Ranger answers his own question: "I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do! I'm going out there and..."
Panel Six: The Ranger swings hard with his left hand, shouting, "I'm gonna STOP THAT PUCK! If I have to stop it with MY then..." The excited fan eggs him on: "Yes, yes, GO ON!:"
In the Final Panel, the angry Ranger grabs the Ranger Fan by the coat lapels and roars, "I'M GOING TO SUE!" At which point the fan's hat flies off and the cartoon ends.
POSTSCRIPT: In the so-called "Revenge Game" on February 3, 1944, the Rangers gave up nine straight goals before actually scoring a pair – by defenseman Bucko McDonald and forward Fern Gauthier.
Final Score: Detroit 12-2!
