Originally published on May 16, 2022
By Zane Miller
The New York Rangers of the 1940’s were one of the worst
teams in the history of the National Hockey League in terms of sustained
failure, finishing dead last in the standings five times in a 10-year span,
including four seasons in a row as the team struggled to stop the slide before
the end of the decade.
As the Sun rose in New York City on January 1st, 1940,
it didn’t look as though the Rangers were headed for one of the worst decades in
NHL history. After all, the team was sitting at a 10-3-7 record and was coming
off of a victory against the cross-town rival New York Americans the night
before. The Rangers were also led by head coach Frank Boucher and general
manager Lester Patrick, both of whom would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of
Fame.
The Rangers would finish the 1939-40 campaign at
27-11-10, good for second in the overall standings as well as a first-round bye
in the playoffs. The team disposed of the Boston Bruins in the second round
before knocking out the Maple Leafs four games to two in the Finals to win
their third Stanley Cup in franchise history. The team qualified for the
playoffs in 1941, before falling in the first round to the Detroit Red Wings. The
Rangers followed up their performance the next season with the best regular
season record at 29-17-2, although they would be eliminated in the second round
by the eventual Cup champion Maple Leafs.
Although it seems odd that such an abysmal decade for
a team would start on such a high note, it would not be long before the Rangers
would drop off the map, starting with the very next season in 1942-43.
The offseason would see the departure of goaltender
Jim Henry, who was the team’s starter for every game of the 1941-42 season, as
he returned to his native Canada to serve in the military following the start
of World War II. As Henry had led the league in wins along with placing fourth
in goals against average, finding a replacement to match his defensive output
would be a difficult task. However, this would not be the only notable
offseason exit, as 20-goal scorer Alex Shibicky, forwards Mac and Neil Colville
and defensemen Art Coulter and Bill Juzda would also enlist in military service.
Although every NHL team would be impacted by World War
II, the Rangers in particular struggled to find solid replacement players. As a
result, the team fell from first to last in the standings, holding an 11-31-8
record.
While the team were able to remain somewhat competitive
with the other five teams in the league offensively, scoring 161 goals and only
eight behind the regular season champion Red Wings, their lack of defense would
be the primary factor in their disastrous season. The Rangers gave up a total
of 253 goals, easily the worst in the league as the next closest team, the
Montreal Canadiens, only allowed 191 goals on the year.
Due to the recent success of the team, it would have
been fair to say that the 1942-43 season was only a one-off struggle as a
result of the unusual circumstances surrounding them. However, the downward
slide would continue for the next several seasons.
The 1943 offseason would continue to see the exit of established
players in the Rangers organization, as following the trade of future Hall of
Fame defenseman Babe Pratt to the Toronto Maple Leafs just six games into the
1942-43 season, Hall of Fame forwards Lynn Patrick and Clint Smith, along with
veteran forward Phil Watson, would not return to the team for the upcoming
1943-44 season.
Any hope that the Rangers would be able to turn the
season around would be squashed as the team would be unable to score a win
until the 16th game of the 50-game season. While the middle portion of the
season saw New York claim all their victories on the campaign, taking a
season-best showing of 6-22-1, they would not get any wins for their final 21
games to easily fall to last place in the season standings for a second
consecutive season.
While one of the few remaining bright spots for New
York in veteran forward and future Hall of Famer Bryan Hextall led the team in
goals with 21, starting netminder Ken McAuley would be thrown directly into the
fire for his rookie season as he took a 6-39-5 record along with a goals
against average of 6.24, which remains as of this writing as the worst average in
a full-season effort in league history.
Unlike the previous season, where the Rangers at least
had the saving grace of remaining somewhat competitive in terms of goals
scored, this would not be the case in 1943-44, as they would finish 16 goals
behind the second-to-last Chicago Black Hawks (now Chicago Blackhawks) in
offensive output. If you’re thinking that the team would at least be able to
improve a little bit on defense, you would be very wrong as they also gave up 310
goals, 63 more than they had allowed the previous season. For the second year
in a row, the Rangers were the worst in every aspect of the game, and it unfortunately
would struggle to improve in the upcoming seasons.
The 1944-45 season continued the downward trend for
New York with their third consecutive last-place finish, holding an 11-29-10
record. After leading the team in both goals and assists the previous season, Hextall
would be unable to rejoin the team for 1944-45 after being denied entry back
into the United States by the Canadian government. Nevertheless, forward Ab
DeMarco picked up the team lead in scoring with 24 goals and 54 points, helping
the team to not lead the league in losses for the first time since 1941-42, with
the Black Hawks and Boston Bruins each finishing with 30. However, McAuley’s
second season in the NHL would also be his last, getting a 4.93 GAA with an
11-25-10 showing. McAuley would return to his hometown of Edmonton to play for
the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Canada Senior Hockey League from 1945 to 1947,
before joining the Saskatoon Quakers of the same league from 1947 to 1949. Although
the Rangers would again take the last spot in goals allowed with 247, their
offense would pick up a bit with 154 goals scored, 13 above the last place
Black Hawks.
1945-46 would prove to be an important turning point
for the team, as the end of World War II allowed the return of many players who
had left the team for military service prior to the 1942-43 offseason,
including forward Neil Colville, who would named as team captain. However, the
reunion would not immediately go according to plan as the team suffered their
fourth consecutive last place finish at 13-28-9. DeMarco would again lead the
way on offense on the strength of 20 goals and 47 points, with new goaltender
Chuck Rayner taking the reigns for a 12-21-7 record and a 3.72 GAA. While the
Rangers again placed last in overall offense and defense, they would still
remain competitive in both categories, finishing just two behind the Detroit
Red Wings in goals for and six behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in goals against.
In spite of their recent disappointments, however, the Rangers’ fortunes would
begin to turn around the following season.
Although the 1946-47 campaign would again see the
Rangers miss the playoffs, they would finally break their bottom of the
standings streak, finishing eight points ahead of the Black Hawks to avoid
finishing last for the first time since 1941-42. New York mounted an even
stronger challenge the following year, making the 1948 playoffs as goaltender
Jim Henry completed his full-time season in over half a decade, although the
team would be defeated in the first round by the Red Wings.
Going into the 1948-49 season, the situation was
looking up for the Rangers, as it seemed the organization would be able to end
a tumultuous decade on a high note. However, the 1940s would have one more
trick up its sleeve to throw at the Rangers, as the team dropped from a playoff
appearance the year before to last place in the standings for a fifth time. Following
the trade of Henry to the Black Hawks, Rayner claimed the starting goaltender
spot once again, going 16-31-11 with a 2.90 GAA, as forward Edgar Laprade led
the team in goals while 1947-48 Hart Trophy winner Buddy O’Connor earned the
most assists with 24. Keeping up with tradition for the decade, the team claimed
last in goals scored, but would finish well above last in goals against, allowing
39 less than the Black Hawks on the campaign.
The first half of 1949-50 would see the Rangers
struggle to get going initially, although by December they would hit their
stride, closing out 1949 with a four-game winning streak, punctuated by a 4-1
home victory over the Bruins on December 31st. The team would go on to reach
the Stanley Cup Finals later in the season.
With that, the Rangers claimed a final record of 183-271-82
throughout the 1940s, reaching the playoffs four times including a Stanley Cup
championship to start off the decade. However, they would fall short with a
total of five last-place results afterwards. Despite the hardship, the team
would largely be able to bounce back in the seasons that followed. As of this
writing, the team has not finished in last place since the 1965-66 season.
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