1976–77 New York Rangers season

1976–77 New York Rangers · NHL
Division	4th Patrick
Conference	5th Clarence Campbell
1976–77 record	29-37-14
Goals for	272
Goals against	310
General Manager	John Ferguson
Coach	John Ferguson
Captain	Phil Esposito
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team Leaders
Goals	Phil Esposito (34)
Assists	Rod Gilbert (48)
Points	Phil Esposito (80)
Penalties in minutes	Nick Fotiu (174)
Wins	John Davidson (14)
Goals against average	Doug Soetaert (2.95)
← Seasons →
1975–76	1977–78

The 1976–77 New York Rangers season was the fifty-first season of the New York Rangers franchise in the National Hockey League. The Rangers finished 4th in the Patrick Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Off-season

Draft Picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/club team

Regular Season

The Rangers had a better regular season record than two playoff teams and the league would change the rules in the following season to place the top twelve teams in the playoffs, regardless of division.

Final Standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Philadelphia Flyers	80	48	16	16	323	213	112
New York Islanders	80	47	21	12	288	193	106
Atlanta Flames	80	34	34	12	264	265	80
New York Rangers	80	29	37	14	272	310	72

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 Schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 6, 1976	6–5	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	1–0–0
2	W	October 8, 1976	5–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	2–0–0
3	L	October 9, 1976	1–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	2–1–0
4	W	October 12, 1976	10–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	3–1–0
5	L	October 13, 1976	1–5	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	3–2–0
6	L	October 16, 1976	4–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	3–3–0
7	W	October 17, 1976	4–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	4–3–0
8	L	October 20, 1976	2–4	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	4–4–0
9	L	October 24, 1976	4–5	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	4–5–0
10	W	October 26, 1976	5–2	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	5–5–0
11	L	October 27, 1976	3–4	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	5–6–0
12	T	October 30, 1976	2–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	5–6–1
13	L	October 31, 1976	5–6	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	5–7–1
14	W	November 3, 1976	6–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	6–7–1
15	T	November 6, 1976	3–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	6–7–2
16	L	November 10, 1976	5–7	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	6–8–2
17	L	November 13, 1976	2–6	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	6–9–2
18	L	November 14, 1976	1–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	6–10–2
19	W	November 17, 1976	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	7–10–2
20	L	November 20, 1976	1–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	7–11–2
21	W	November 22, 1976	3–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	8–11–2
22	T	November 24, 1976	2–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	8–11–3
23	W	November 27, 1976	5–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	9–11–3
24	W	November 28, 1976	4–1	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	10–11–3
25	T	November 30, 1976	2–2	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	10–11–4
26	W	December 1, 1976	4–1	Washington Capitals (1976–77)	11–11–4
27	W	December 4, 1976	11–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	12–11–4
28	T	December 5, 1976	5–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	12–11–5
29	T	December 8, 1976	4–4	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	12–11–6
30	L	December 11, 1976	1–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	12–12–6
31	W	December 12, 1976	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	13–12–6
32	T	December 14, 1976	4–4	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	13–12–7
33	L	December 16, 1976	2–7	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	13–13–7
34	T	December 18, 1976	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	13–13–8
35	W	December 19, 1976	3–2	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	14–13–8
36	T	December 22, 1976	3–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	14–13–9
37	T	December 23, 1976	3–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	14–13–10
38	L	December 26, 1976	1–2	New York Islanders (1976–77)	14–14–10
39	W	December 28, 1976	5–2	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	15–14–10
40	L	December 31, 1976	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	15–15–10
41	W	January 2, 1977	5–3	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	16–15–10
42	T	January 5, 1977	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	16–15–11
43	T	January 7, 1977	4–4	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	16–15–12
44	L	January 9, 1977	4–5	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	16–16–12
45	L	January 12, 1977	1–6	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	16–17–12
46	L	January 13, 1977	5–7	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	16–18–12
47	W	January 16, 1977	5–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	17–18–12
48	T	January 19, 1977	3–3	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	17–18–13
49	L	January 22, 1977	0–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	17–19–13
50	L	January 23, 1977	2–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	17–20–13
51	L	January 27, 1977	0–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	17–21–13
52	W	January 30, 1977	5–2	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	18–21–13
53	L	February 1, 1977	2–5	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	18–22–13
54	L	February 3, 1977	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	18–23–13
55	W	February 6, 1977	4–0	New York Islanders (1976–77)	19–23–13
56	L	February 9, 1977	1–2	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	19–24–13
57	W	February 10, 1977	5–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	20–24–13
58	W	February 13, 1977	8–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	21–24–13
59	L	February 17, 1977	1–7	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	21–25–13
60	L	February 19, 1977	2–5	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	21–26–13
61	W	February 20, 1977	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	22–26–13
62	W	February 23, 1977	5–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	23–26–13
63	L	February 26, 1977	1–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	23–27–13
64	L	February 27, 1977	1–8	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	23–28–13
65	L	March 3, 1977	1–4	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	23–29–13
66	L	March 5, 1977	2–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	23–30–13
67	W	March 6, 1977	4–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	24–30–13
68	W	March 9, 1977	6–4	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	25–30–13
69	L	March 10, 1977	3–10	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	25–31–13
70	L	March 12, 1977	3–6	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	25–32–13
71	L	March 13, 1977	3–5	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	25–33–13
72	T	March 16, 1977	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	25–33–14
73	W	March 19, 1977	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	26–33–14
74	W	March 20, 1977	5–3	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	27–33–14
75	W	March 23, 1977	5–3	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	28–33–14
76	L	March 25, 1977	2–7	@ Washington Capitals (1976–77)	28–34–14
77	L	March 27, 1977	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	28–35–14
78	W	March 30, 1977	4–3	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	29–35–14
79	L	April 2, 1977	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	29–36–14
80	L	April 3, 1977	2–5	New York Islanders (1976–77)	29–37–14

Playoffs

• The Rangers did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Esposito, PhilPhil Esposito	C	80	34	46	80	52	-28	15	0	4
Gilbert, RodRod Gilbert	RW	77	27	48	75	50	-17	7	0	2
Hodge, KenKen Hodge	RW	78	21	41	62	43	-18	6	0	5
Murdoch, DonDon Murdoch	RW	59	32	24	56	47	5	11	0	6
Vickers, SteveSteve Vickers	LW	75	22	31	53	26	-14	4	0	3
Tkaczuk, WaltWalt Tkaczuk	C	80	12	38	50	38	11	1	1	0
Vadnais, CarolCarol Vadnais	D	74	11	37	48	131	-20	3	1	0
Greschner, RonRon Greschner	D	80	11	36	47	89	0	0	2	1
Dillon, WayneWayne Dillon	C	78	17	29	46	33	-14	1	0	1
McEwen, MikeMike McEwen	D	80	14	29	43	38	-24	5	0	0
Hickey, PatPat Hickey	LW	80	23	17	40	35	-11	4	1	1
Polis, GregGreg Polis	LW	77	16	23	39	44	0	3	0	2
Goldsworthy, BillBill Goldsworthy	RW	61	10	12	22	43	-17	0	0	2
Maloney, DaveDave Maloney	D	66	3	18	21	100	-8	0	0	1
Farrish, DaveDave Farrish	D	80	2	17	19	102	-16	0	0	0
Newman, DanDan Newman	LW	41	9	8	17	37	-4	0	0	1
Stemkowski, PetePete Stemkowski	C	61	2	13	15	8	-14	0	1	0
Fotiu, NickNick Fotiu	LW	70	4	8	12	174	-23	0	0	0
Fairbairn, BillBill Fairbairn	RW	9	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	0
Heaslip, MarkMark Heaslip	RW	19	1	0	1	31	-3	0	0	0
Bednarski, JohnJohn Bednarski	D	5	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Beverley, NickNick Beverley	D	9	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson	G	39	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Gratton, GillesGilles Gratton	G	41	0	0	0	13	0	0	0	0
Holst, GregGreg Holst	C	5	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Huras, LarryLarry Huras	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jarrett, DougDoug Jarrett	D	9	0	0	0	4	-6	0	0	0
Sacharuk, LarryLarry Sacharuk	D	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Soetaert, DougDoug Soetaert	G	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tataryn, DaveDave Tataryn	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Davidson, JohnJohn Davidson	2116	39	14	14	6	125	3.54	1
Gratton, GillesGilles Gratton	2034	41	11	18	7	143	4.22	0
Soetaert, DougDoug Soetaert	570	12	3	4	1	28	2.95	1
Tataryn, DaveDave Tataryn	80	2	1	1	0	10	7.50	0
Team:	4800	80	29	37	14	306	3.83	2

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; 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

• The Rangers did not win any awards this season.

References

• Rangers on Hockey Database

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)