1969–70 New York Rangers season

1969–70 New York Rangers
Division	4th East
1969–70 record	38–22–16
Goals for	246
Goals against	189
Team information
General manager	Emile Francis
Coach	Emile Francis
Captain	Bob Nevin
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Dave Balon (33)
Assists	Walt Tkaczuk (50)
Points	Walt Tkaczuk (77)
Penalty minutes	Dave Balon (100)
Wins	Ed Giacomin (35)
Goals against average	Ed Giacomin (2.36)

The 1969–70 New York Rangers season was the 44th season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Rangers finished 4th in the East Division and lost in the Quarter-finals to the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2.

Regular Season

Final Standings

East Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	250	170	99
Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	277	216	99
Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	246	199	95
New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	246	189	92
Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	244	201	92
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	222	242	71

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 12, 1969	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	0–1–0
2	W	October 15, 1969	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	1–1–0
3	L	October 18, 1969	3–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	1–2–0
4	W	October 19, 1969	1–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	2–2–0
5	T	October 22, 1969	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	2–2–1
6	W	October 25, 1969	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	3–2–1
7	L	October 26, 1969	3–8	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	3–3–1
8	W	October 29, 1969	3–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	4–3–1
9	T	October 30, 1969	3–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	4–3–2
10	W	November 1, 1969	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	5–3–2
11	W	November 2, 1969	6–4	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	6–3–2
12	L	November 5, 1969	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	6–4–2
13	W	November 7, 1969	8–1	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	7–4–2
14	W	November 8, 1969	4–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	8–4–2
15	W	November 12, 1969	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	9–4–2
16	W	November 15, 1969	6–5	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	10–4–2
17	W	November 16, 1969	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	11–4–2
18	T	November 19, 1969	1–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	11–4–3
19	W	November 22, 1969	5–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	12–4–3
20	W	November 23, 1969	5–2	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	13–4–3
21	W	November 26, 1969	3–0	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	14–4–3
22	T	November 29, 1969	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	14–4–4
23	T	November 30, 1969	2–2	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	14–4–5
24	T	December 3, 1969	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	14–4–6
25	W	December 7, 1969	6–3	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	15–4–6
26	W	December 10, 1969	5–2	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	16–4–6
27	L	December 11, 1969	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	16–5–6
28	W	December 13, 1969	5–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	17–5–6
29	L	December 14, 1969	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	17–6–6
30	T	December 17, 1969	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	17–6–7
31	W	December 20, 1969	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	18–6–7
32	W	December 21, 1969	3–1	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	19–6–7
33	L	December 26, 1969	2–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	19–7–7
34	T	December 28, 1969	3–3	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	19–7–8
35	W	December 31, 1969	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	20–7–8
36	T	January 3, 1970	3–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	20–7–9
37	W	January 4, 1970	5–2	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	21–7–9
38	W	January 7, 1970	5–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	22–7–9
39	L	January 11, 1970	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	22–8–9
40	W	January 14, 1970	7–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	23–8–9
41	T	January 15, 1970	4–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	23–8–10
42	W	January 17, 1970	3–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	24–8–10
43	L	January 22, 1970	3–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	24–9–10
44	W	January 24, 1970	8–1	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	25–9–10
45	W	January 25, 1970	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	26–9–10
46	L	January 28, 1970	4–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	26–10–10
47	W	January 30, 1970	2–1	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	27–10–10
48	W	February 1, 1970	6–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	28–10–10
49	W	February 4, 1970	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	29–10–10
50	W	February 8, 1970	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	30–10–10
51	W	February 11, 1970	6–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	31–10–10
52	L	February 13, 1970	2–4	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	31–11–10
53	W	February 15, 1970	2–0	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	32–11–10
54	T	February 18, 1970	3–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	32–11–11
55	T	February 19, 1970	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	32–11–12
56	L	February 21, 1970	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	32–12–12
57	W	February 22, 1970	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	33–12–12
58	W	February 25, 1970	2–1	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	34–12–12
59	L	February 26, 1970	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	34–13–12
60	T	February 28, 1970	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	34–13–13
61	L	March 1, 1970	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	34–14–13
62	L	March 4, 1970	0–2	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	34–15–13
63	L	March 6, 1970	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	34–16–13
64	T	March 8, 1970	0–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	34–16–14
65	L	March 11, 1970	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	34–17–14
66	L	March 14, 1970	4–7	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	34–18–14
67	L	March 15, 1970	2–4	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	34–19–14
68	W	March 18, 1970	2–0	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	35–19–14
69	T	March 19, 1970	2–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	35–19–15
70	L	March 22, 1970	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	35–20–15
71	L	March 25, 1970	1–3	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	35–21–15
72	T	March 28, 1970	1–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	35–21–16
73	W	March 29, 1970	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (1969–70)	36–21–16
74	W	April 1, 1970	2–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	37–21–16
75	L	April 4, 1970	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	37–22–16
76	W	April 5, 1970	9–5	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	38–22–16

Playoffs

Boston Bruins 4, New York Rangers 2

The Bruins and Rangers last met in the 1958 Semi-finals which Boston won in six games. Gerry Cheevers played five games in the series while the Rangers Eddie Giacomin was spelled off by Terry Sawchuk for two games. The Bruins were powered by 10 points by Phil Esposito and 7 goals by Bobby Orr and took the series in six games.

Bobby Orr makes it 3-1 Bruins, Game 1 of the Quarter-finals, April 8, 1970.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden was a wide-open, fight-filled game dominated by Phil Esposito. He opened the scoring 3:51 into the first period with a goal mouth tap-in and then scored on the power play from the slot. Jack Egers scored on a long slapshot to make it 2-1. In the second period, Bobby Orr rushed out of the Bruins zone and after a give and go with John McKenzie, fired a low shot glove side that beat Eddie Giacomin at 4:56. Don Marcotte took a tripping penalty but Orr wasn't dissuaded, deking three Rangers and scoring with a low slapshot to Giacomin's stick side to make it 4-1 Boston. The Rangers then gave up another shorthanded goal on the same power play to Derek Sanderson, who scored on a breakaway. Before the period ended, Esposito scored his Hat trick goal and Wayne Cashman added another. Terry Sawchuk went in the net for the Rangers in the third period, which degenerated in multiple fights. Fred Stanfield and Bob Nevin traded power play goals as the Bruins romped to an 8-2 victory.

Ken Hodge scores the game winner on Terry Sawchuk, Game 2 of the Quarter-finals, April 9, 1970.

Game 2 at Boston saw Terry Sawchuk start for the Rangers. After Jim Lorentz scored on a beautiful passing play with Ed Westfall and Wayne Carleton, the Rangers took their first lead of the series with goals by Jack Eger and Rod Gilbert. In the second period, John McKenzie tied it up with a one-timer from a great feed from Fred Stanfield. John Bucyk gave Boston the lead when he squeaked a shot from a sharp angle past Sawchuk. Early in the third period, Ken Hodge stripped Ab DeMarco, Jr. of the puck at the Rangers blueline and scored the game winner on a breakaway. A few minutes later, Orr sent Westfall into the Rangers zone and he beat Sawchuk with a low backhander. Tim Horton got one back but the Bruins triumphed 5-3 and took a two games to none lead in the series.

Derek Sanderson ganged up on, Game 3 of the Quarter-finals, April 11, 1970.

Game 3 at Madison Square Garden saw Giacomin back in goal and the Rangers target Derek Sanderson early. A massive brawl broke out two minutes into the game which resulted in six fighting majors as well as Sanderson and Dave Balon receiving game misconducts. Police dealt with fans attacking the Bruins bench and showering the ice with debris. It took nearly 20 minutes to restart the game. Bill Speer opened the scoring with a point shot, his only career playoff goal. Gary Doak and Jack Egers fought before Jean Ratelle tied the game on a rebound. Wayne Cashman and Orland Kurtenbach fought and a penalty to Speer resulted in Walt Tkaczuk scoring on the power play. The second period was calmer and Gilbert put the Rangers up 3-1 as he took a goal mouth pass and put it into the open net. In the third period, Ted Irvine put the Rangers up 4-1 with a goal mouth rebound. Bobby Orr scored on a point shot before Cashman and Bill Fairbairn fought. With eight minutes left in the game, Fred Stanfield tipped in a Dallas Smith point shot to trim the deficit to a goal. The Rangers held on and nipped the Bruins 4-3 in a game that saw 174 penalty minutes and New York out shoot Boston 42-29.

Game 4 at New York saw the Bruins Eddie Johnston play his only game of the 1970 playoffs and Danny Schock play his only career playoff game. Rod Gilbert staked the Rangers to a 2-0 lead with a pair of first period goals. In the second period, an Orr rush into the Rangers zone resulted in Phil Esposito shovelling a goal in from the edge of the crease. Less than a minute later, Derek Sanderson turned over the puck at the Bruins blueline and Dave Balon skated in alone and beat Johnston for a 3-1 New York lead. Wayne Cashman and Tim Horton fought before Giacomin robbed Sanderson on a breakaway. At 8:41 of the third period, Bobby Orr scored from the point on a power play to make it 3-2. Hard work by Dave Balon in the Bruins zone resulted in Walt Tkaczuk firing a one-timer past Johnston for a 4-2 Rangers win. New York again out shot Boston and the series was tied at two games each.

Bobby Orr's solo rush opens the scoring during Game 5 of the Quarter-finals, April 14, 1970.

Game 5 at Boston saw Cheevers back between the pipes for the Bruins. A melee broke out on the first shift of the game. Two minutes later, Bobby Orr rounded the Bruins net and skated through the entire Ranger team to open the scoring. Phil Esposito sent Wayne Cashman in on a breakaway but he was stopped by Ed Giacomin before Jack Egers tied the game up on the power play. In the second period, Orr was tripped on a rush but no penalty was called. The puck was fed to Orland Kurtenbach who scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1 Rangers. At 2:20 of the third period, Cashman won a puck battle in the Rangers zone and fed it to Esposito in the slot who scored to tie the game 2-2. At 7:59, Orr fed a brilliant pass to Esposito, who was in full flight. Esposito evaded the New York defense and fired the winner past Giacomin. Cheevers preserved the lead making several excellent stops, including a point blank chance by Dave Balon as the Bruins won 3-2 and took the series lead.

Derek Sanderson makes it 4-1 Boston, April 16, 1970.

Game 6 at New York saw Brad Park open the scoring on the power play after a give and go with Rod Gilbert. In the second period, Orr broke into the Rangers zone, passed it back to the blueline, headed for the Ranger net and tipped in a John McKenzie shot to tie the game. Two minutes later, Wayne Cashman pounced on a Tim Horton turnover and scored stick side on a surprised Ed Giacomin. At 3:09 of the third period, Orr slapped one in from the point through a screen to make it 3-1 Bruins. Four minutes later, Derek Sanderson deflected a corner pass from Ed Westfall for an insurance goal. Boston blunted New York's attack, even once they pulled Giacomin and the Bruins won 4-1 to take the series in six games.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 8	New York Rangers	2–8	Boston Bruins	1–0
2	April 9	New York Rangers	3–5	Boston Bruins	2–0
3	April 11	Boston Bruins	3–4	New York Rangers	2–1
4	April 12	Boston Bruins	2–4	New York Rangers	2–2
5	April 14	New York Rangers	2–3	Boston Bruins	3–2
6	April 16	Boston Bruins	4–1	New York Rangers	4–2

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk	C	76	27	50	77	38	5	0	2
Ratelle, JeanJean Ratelle	C	75	32	42	74	28	10	0	6
Balon, DaveDave Balon	LW	76	33	37	70	100	4	1	3
Fairbairn, BillBill Fairbairn	RW	76	23	33	56	23	3	0	5
Hadfield, VicVic Hadfield	LW	71	20	34	54	69	3	0	5
Gilbert, RodRod Gilbert	RW	72	16	37	53	22	3	0	1
Nevin, BobBob Nevin	RW	68	18	19	37	8	3	1	4
Park, BradBrad Park	D	60	11	26	37	98	6	1	2
Brown, ArnieArnie Brown	D	73	15	21	36	78	3	0	2
Seiling, RodRod Seiling	D	76	5	21	26	68	0	0	0
Stewart, RonRon Stewart	RW	76	14	10	24	14	1	4	5
Marshall, DonDon Marshall	LW	57	9	15	24	6	2	0	3
Neilson, JimJim Neilson	D	62	3	20	23	75	0	0	0
Widing, JuhaJuha Widing	C	44	7	7	14	10	2	0	0
Kurtenbach, OrlandOrland Kurtenbach	C	53	4	10	14	47	1	0	0
Lemieux, RealReal Lemieux	LW	55	4	6	10	51	0	0	0
Horton, TimTim Horton	D	15	1	5	6	16	1	0	0
Hamilton, AlAl Hamilton	D	59	0	5	5	54	0	0	0
Egers, JackJack Egers	RW	6	3	0	3	2	2	0	0
Luce, DonDon Luce	C	12	1	2	3	8	0	0	0
Brown, LarryLarry Brown	D	15	0	3	3	8	0	0	0
Irvine, TedTed Irvine	LW	17	0	3	3	10	0	0	0
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	G	70	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Sawchuk, TerryTerry Sawchuk	G	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Blackburn, DonDon Blackburn	LW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DeMarco, AbAb DeMarco	D	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Robitaille, MikeMike Robitaille	D	4	0	0	0	8	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	4148	70	35	21	14	163	2.36	6
Sawchuk, TerryTerry Sawchuk	412	8	3	1	2	20	2.91	1
Team:	4560	76	38	22	16	183	2.41	7

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Gilbert, RodRod Gilbert	RW	6	4	5	9	0	3	0	0
Egers, JackJack Egers	RW	5	3	1	4	10	1	0	0
Ratelle, JeanJean Ratelle	C	6	1	3	4	0	0	0	0
Brown, ArnieArnie Brown	D	4	0	4	4	9	0	0	0
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk	C	6	2	1	3	17	1	0	0
Irvine, TedTed Irvine	LW	6	1	2	3	8	0	0	1
Kurtenbach, OrlandOrland Kurtenbach	C	6	1	2	3	24	0	0	0
Park, BradBrad Park	D	5	1	2	3	11	1	0	0
Balon, DaveDave Balon	LW	6	1	1	2	32	0	0	1
Horton, TimTim Horton	D	6	1	1	2	28	0	0	0
Nevin, BobBob Nevin	RW	6	1	1	2	2	1	0	0
Luce, DonDon Luce	C	5	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Fairbairn, BillBill Fairbairn	RW	6	0	1	1	10	0	0	0
Neilson, JimJim Neilson	D	6	0	1	1	8	0	0	0
Blackburn, DonDon Blackburn	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marshall, DonDon Marshall	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Seiling, RodRod Seiling	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hamilton, AlAl Hamilton	D	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
DeMarco, AbAb DeMarco	D	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Stewart, RonRon Stewart	RW	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Sawchuk, TerryTerry Sawchuk	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	280	5	2	3	19	4.07	0
Sawchuk, TerryTerry Sawchuk	80	3	0	1	6	4.50	0
Team:	360	6	2	4	25	4.17	0

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

• Brad Park, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star
• Eddie Giacomin, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Gallery

J.P. Parise ties the game, November 30, 1969.

See Also

• 1969–70 NHL season

References

• 1969–70 New York Rangers Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.

New York Rangers
Team	Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • History Madison Square Garden
Stanley Cups	1928, 1933, 1940, 1994
Affiliates	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL), Maine Mariners (ECHL)