Have received word that my story is likely to be cut significantly because of a space crunch in the paper. We'll see. Bathgate and Howell richly deserve the tribute from the Garden and they deserve recognition here as well. So, just in case...
BY STEVE ZIPAY
The Rangers will raise not one---but three---jerseys to the Madison Square Garden ceiling next February: the No. 9s worn by Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate and the No. 3 sweater worn by defenseman Harry Howell.
In two ceremonies that will bring the number of jerseys in the rafters to eight, Graves' sweater will be retired in a ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 3 prior to the game against the Atlanta Thrashers and Bathgate and Howell will be saluted on Sunday, Feb. 22, before the Rangers host the Maple Leafs.
Graves, 40, had learned of the plans to retire his jersey when Brian Leetch, his former teammate on the 1993-94 Stanley Cup championship team made the surprise announcement during the ceremony to retire his No. 2 sweater on Jan. 24. But the Bathgate and Howell plans had been kept under wraps until today.
One of the most popular Rangers ever not only for his on-ice performance but for his tireless community service, Graves played 10 years in New York and was voted the team MVP in 1992-93 and 1993-94. The Rangers said his jersey would be the last retired from that team, which brought the first Cup to New York in 54 years. Along with Leetch, Mark Messier's No. 11 and goaltender Mike Richter's No. 35 already are on display.
Graves, who also won a Cup in Edmonton in 1989-90, scored 329 goals and added 287 assists in his 17-year NHL career that ended in 2003. The left wing, a Toronto native who currently works in the team's hockey and business operations office, ranks third on the Rangers in career goals (280) and 10th in points (507).
Bathgate and Howell starred in another era: the 1950s and 60s. They were called up to the Rangers on the same day in October 1952 and were teammates for 12 seasons.
Captain of the club from 1961 to 1964, Bathgate was the first Ranger to score 40 goals in a season (1958-59) and is fourth in career goals (272), assists (457) and points (729.) He holds the record for most goals in consecutive games (11 in ten games in 1962-63). On Broadway, he was an eight-time All-Star and league MVP in 1958-59. Bathgate, who tied Bobby Hull for the league scoring title in 1961-62, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978.
Howell, a steady defenseman who won the Norris Trophy in 1966-67, holds the franchise record for games played (1,160 in 17 years) and is fifth in club history for assists (263) and points (345) by a defenseman. He was named to the All-Star team six times as a Ranger. Howell followed Bathgate into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
"Rangers history is enriched by players like Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell, who laid the foundation for what a Rangers player should be," said team president and general manager Glen Sather. "They will take their rightful place alongside those players who have carried the tradition through the years."
Comments (52)
Why not cut some of the other stories down for once instead of the hockey stories? Esp the ones about Ranger's history. That pisses me off.
That wasn't directed towards you Zip but more for you and all the hockey fans. Keep doin what you're doin.
About time they honor my favorite ranger of all time Andy Bathgate, Howell deserves it too. Happy for Graves who was the best left winger the Rangers ever had. Hadfield and Vickers were the next best.
Love the honoring thing but I wish the numbers still could be in circulation.
this is great news, all we need now is Gresh up there
I would think it pisses off Steve as well, he takes the time and puts in the effort the write stuff and the thanks he gets is half his story getting thrown out in favor of more garbage about Brett Favre or whatever...
Hey, anyone else think it's another sign they may trade Rozsival considering they just announced #3 will be retired?
Why do the Rangers keep ignoring Brad Park? His #2 should be up in the rafters for sure. He was far more valuable than Graves or Howell, and a better player than every player to have their number retired aside from Leetch and Messier.
I love the name Seter Pavuzzo, that's hot
That's Steve's stage name. :)
Get back to work, Dude! Focus on the Paradigm.
Typical of newsgay to cut a hockey story in favor of some other rubbish. Perhaps if the media gave more coverage to hockey, then the game would appeal to others.
Seter, you're right on Park. He was the second best D man of his era after Orr and helped revolutionize the position. Any time you hear a defenseman quarterbacking the PP, think Orr and Park. They broke the mold. Never understood why his number hasn't been retired.
Howdy fellow Ranger fans, just wondering since Newsday got bought by Cablevision, which is owned by the Dolans will the Rangers get more coverage (that they deserve)?
Lets just retire every number and start doing laps around the Garden. I'm sorry but retiring jerseys needs to be more selective. As much as I think Bathgate, Howell, and Graves deserve the honor... this is getting ridiculous now. Especially retiring 2 guys with the same number. This is stupid.
Blurt, I too wish these #'s would still be in circulation...So, I have an idea...retire those numbers...congrats to Harry Howell, Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate, and just create new #'s...like: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09. One day, some team in the NHL, MLB, NFL or NBA is gonna do it-just a matter of time. I also would have at least given Brad Park serious consideration. If we had a young BP back, we'd be set on D and on the PP....and I have to admit how I feel, and that is (re: retiring #'s) that the NYR Brass are just trying to follow in the footsteps of, dare I say, the Icelanders. I mean, look how many jersey's they retired up in the rafters of the Nassau Col! ...it's like overboard over there.
FYI to all: The entire article did make it into the paper today. Way to go, Steve.
Hockeybuzz says that the Rangers may trade Gomez to make room for Sundin. an "e4"
Believe it, or NOT!
LOL
Eklund is one crazy mofo
Contemplating the other day was I, and thought perchance we may trade Drury and Rozsival to Vancouver for the Sedin twins, making enough cap space to sign Sundin. In doing so we will help Vancouver reach the cap, and soothe the sting of Sundin's snub a tad...However, Gomez is NOT tradeable in my eyes! Ludicrous...
...Could you imagine that much Swedish talent on our team? We would be primed for the cup, and would have enough countrymen for us to lure away Zetterberg in FA next year, maybe...Yeah, I know, rantings of a hockey-starved soul...
...Of course to make a trade like that with Vancouver work, we would have to add Prucha and probably a kid too...but it is within the realms of the possible. Not probable, but possible...
...sorry about that...I am, in fact, retarded.
Drury has a full no movement clause.
Gomez doesn't
hense the reasoning for Gomez to be in this rumor
Drury is going nowhere
...Duely noted...
Gomez & Drury aren't going anywhere....it's unreal that you folks even bring it up in the 1st place.
Rich,
the fact is we have 9 players signed next year for 40 million dollars.
If the cap remains 56 mil next year that means we have to sign 11 players for a total of 16 million. (Including our own RFA's, some of whom will be pretty low paid)
Drury is not tradeable
Gomez is.
Sorry if it offends you to discuss our cap problems, however, ignoring the problems won't make the go away.
Personally I think it's a great idea to trade Gomez and get a bushel of young players and or/picks, especially a 1st rounder or two and then sign Sundin to a one year deal.
I may be in the minority on this, but look at next year's cap and somehow make me not worried.
Dude, I understand all about the cap problems, but when you build a foundation, you just don't trade one of your main building blocks. And with regards to next years cap, aside from wanting another D man, I say don't make any moves at all. Wouldn't you rather maintain your cap space for a chance at signing Zeterberg???? I would because he's younger and has a tremendous upside to him. plus, HE knows what it takes to win a Stanley Cup, and that experience alone is worth it all. Although we needed him, and I like him, signing Rosy to a 4 year 20 mil contract was nuts and it really put us where we are today re: the cap.
I guess I wouldn't mind Gomez being traded--he is a bit undersized and not very physical and overall is not that impressive and is overpaid. And on top of that he is not as hungry to win a Cup as, say, Sundin because he already won 2 Cups.
Gomez can fetch a 1st rounder and after Sundin is gone it frees up the spot for younger forwards like Dubinsky and Anisimov.
That's right...let's dismantle the foundation of Gomez/Drury and keep going around in circles, cause that's all that's gonna happen....Gomez is hungry for another Cup and I don't wanna waste anymore time getting a guy like Sundin-he's NOT the answer to our winning the Cup....we as an organization need to stay focused on the present and the future-he is NOT either. Stay the course, build around Drury and Gomez, groom/grow those in the farm system. You wanna go after someone who's young and can make a huge difference for years?....save 'ya $ and (like I have said) go after Zetterburg next year!
If Gomez is gone, we'll have cap space to go after the likes of Zetterberg.
you can't deny that Sundin is a lot more hungry and desperate to win the Cup than Gomez is.
I don't see any foundation, just 2 overpriced UFAs, undercized and overrated. Gomez sure racked up some assists, but he averaged 19:53 a game and lead the team in PP icetime and after all that he scored only 16 goals.
If we can get a 1st rounder for him and sign Sundin for only 1 season, I say we do it.
I'd rather find another way to create cap space for next year, so we can position ourselves for an offer to Zet. I say we need to commit to keeping the foundation in place and build around it. We certainly are not going to build a future or a foundation w/a 37 year old....the only thing I'll give you is that Sundin might have more of a desire to win a Cup, but big deal. Sather needs to stay the course. If we keep doing what you want the NYR to do, we'll never have stability and a concrete foundation, and we'll be going around in circles-it's gotta stop already. I say No to Sundin, keep Drury and Gomez in place, build the franchise around them and let the kids learn and grow from their experience.
Drury and Gomez are not special enough to build a team around them.
But I can understand building around Dubinsky (who I think is very similar to Getzlaf), Staal, Dawes, Girardi, Zherdev, etc. Gomez and Drury don't really make or break this team.
I also doubt youngsters will learn that much from Drury and Gomez--they are not overly talented, they will not teach anyone how to throw a bodycheck, one is not very serious and the other is not very talkative.
Best way the kids can learn is by having a good coach that will not keep them on a short leash and will allow them to learn from their own mistakes.
I couldn't agree more Bob.
It's becoming more and more clear that signing two centers for the amount of money we did last summer was a mistake.
Do we just live with that mistake because we have some sort of "foundation"?
Neither one of them could take the #1 center spot and they both make over 7 million a year.
Personally, if I had to trade Drury or Gomez, I'd rather trade Drury. I really do like Gomez.
However, realistically, Gomez is the tradeable one, not Drury.
When you think about it, we acquired Gomez for nothing, and if we trade him off, it could bring back a package that really helps solify the future, we then sign Sundin to help with the now.
I want a lot for Gomez if we deal him.
There is no way I would ever just get rid of him to bring in Sundin.
Vancouver needs to do something big, I am looking for at least 1 #1 pick from them as well as a couple of top prospects, maybe even a #1 and Bieksa, if they take back Kalinin or Mara.
I would have to say that trading Gomez would be pretty stupid consitering hes 28 and is our best playmaker. He had 70 points last year in our defensive system and should open up this year. You want to lose cap space? Look at Redden and Rozi for 11.5 million dollars for the next 4 years. I like Redden, i do, but is he really worth Lundqvist money? No! The ONLY way i want Gomez traded is if we get Gaborik for him and even then its only if its a sign and trade. You dont take away things that work. As for you dude we wouldnt be trading Gomez to get youth we would be trading him to get cap space for Sundin.
We are a very very young club we dont need players for the future we need money for the future. Rozi is on the list of people who need to go, im assuming Redden will be up there too when it comes to cap space. Gomez honestly is the only one who knows how to stick handle the puck into the zone. He makes our power play more lethal and takes care of his own zone.
"Gomez honestly is the only one who knows how to stick handle the puck into the zone."
yeah right. That is why he was 2nd on the team with 62 giveaways.
bob: Gretzky usually led the team in giveaways too.
"we wouldnt be trading Gomez to get youth we would be trading him to get cap space for Sundin"
Yes, but we would be getting a substantial package for Gomez, and that's why I would want to do it.
Regardless of the motives, I actually think it is a no brainer to trade Gomez, get the best package they can for him and then sign Sundin short term.
Next year's cap would look a whole lot better with 32.5 million committed than the 40 million it does now.
If I'm not mistaken both Gomer and Drury have no movement clauses in their contracts so all this talk is just that talk.
I think it is pretty obvious that fans are divided into 2 major categories:
1. those that can analyze all the details and causes and effects and glance into what the future holds
and
2. those that can't see much further than their nose, conservative and very hung up big names, those that cannot comprehend that today's small name + more icetime = big name more than 50% of the time.
"Neither one of them could take the #1 center spot and they both make over 7 million a year."
I believe that had to do with Jagr not be able to adapt to their style of play. Everyone was expected to adapt to his.
Anybody want to count how many of Gomez's assists were secondary?
BTW, Gomez had a 6.6 shooting percentage which means he killed the offense with a ton of bad shots that were easily stopped.
Dude,
fair point, im sorry if my message was slightly hostile but i truly am a Gomez fan. I just cvant see what Van could offer us for him that would make it worth our while. Is this even going to be a good draft this year? Plus Van should be pretty good this year so we wont even get a high pick out of it. But i guess 2 is better than 1 in the first round.
Maybe we trade Rozi and Prucha to Van for a pick and a low paid defenseman? That would free up 6.2 million dollars in cap. Planty for Sundin and we get a D-Man back in return. I like that idea more than Gomez. How much more could Gomez bring us than the two of them? Thoughts?
Gomez, Kalinin
for
Pyatt, Elder and a 1st rounder
...that would make me happy.
Gomez is my favorite player on the team BUT 2 major facts make this trade appealing to me:
1. We over-paid for Gomez, and our Cap situation has to be dealt with now rather then later, to try and sign our expiring RFA contracts during this season before they expire (Zherdev, Prucha, Dubinsky, Fritsche, Dawes, and Callahan), instead on worrying about offer-sheets and what not
2. The fact we got Gomez for nothing and can turn around and package him for draft picks and prospects is "smart business". While signing Sundin to help bridge-the-short-term-gap until our picks and prospects are ready to compete for that spot.
I would take any 3 option combo for Gomez:
Burrows, Pyatt, Raymond, Edler, 1st round Draft Pick
somerset – prucha is a non event. zherdev could wind up going back to russia. we’ll see on the others how much they’ll really be worth. and the Rangers trading guys after 1 yr translates to future free agents thinking long and hard about signing here. good thing you’re not gm with this fantasy league approach.
wow, I go away for a few days and I come back to rampant paranoia and "lets trade Gomez" talk. I think its time to chill out and wait for camp.
There is no reason why the cap shouldn't go up as it has in the past few years giving us room to sign players. We also have a few players (Mara/ Rissmiller et al) signed to one year contracts. So I dont think sending Gomez off as a salary dump is all that realistic or needed. He is IMHO in the top 5 play making centers, plays tough as nails and loves MSG but now everyone is calling for his trade? I think training camp can't get here soon enough.
I am so happy you folks are not GM's of our Rangers. Like I said, you create and build a foundation, and commit to it...'ya don't just trade off part of your committed foundation...Drury and Gomez, regardless if we over paid, are our two pillars, if you will. then you add Hendrik as the 3rd pillar (unless you folks want to trade him too???), and then add Eric as the 4th pillar to the NYR Foundation. Then, you add to that foundation, and that is exactly what Sather did...it's called building a team!!!!! If you rid yourself of one of the above, you waste time and go backwards...not gonna work! But many of you want Sundin, get Sundin...PLEASE, he is a gate receipt for the Dolans...yet another old player at the end of his career looking for a place to call home, he is NOT someone we can look forward to having for years to come. Yes, I agree we need balance...some experienced vets and some kids, but not to disrupt the future balance we need to create a strong team for years to come. Look at Detroit...do you see them taking away any of their pillars?...NO you don't...what we see is their team building around them, and that is why I am saying what I am saying. Sometimes not making a deal/trade is better than making one. If J Bo comes avail., yes, we do need 1 more hard hitting D, but after that, I would go to TC w/who we have now.
I meant to say Marc Staal as the 4th pillar....and I agree w/joke...I cannot wait for TC to finally start....olympics were great, but it's time to drop the puck \_ _
I think all these guys are very deserving of their honors.
BTW, I think trading Gomez to make space for Sundin would be the stupidest thing ever. It's amazing how fast people forget about guys like Kamensky and all the other old guys we overpaid. Look where that got us.
Moving Gomez for cap space to re-fill with Matts Sundin is a lateral and foolish move.
I talked Bob into thinking Girardi was better than Orpik in 1 post with some hitting and shooting stats. Don't buy into his ever swaying opinion. It isn't really his.
Now moving Roszival for Sundin cap space is logical.
Trading Gomez only works for us if the return would be a winger/d-man and a high draft pick. But not for cap space, only.
But I will say this, there is a reason Gomez doesn't have a complete NMC. He's from Alaska. I'm sure Vancouver is familiar to him. That's the easy trade speculation connection that Eklund over at Hockeybuzz preys you bite down on.
If you like to read the tabloids could you leave the silly, childish summer starved for hockey fantasies out of this place.
Girardi is better than Orpik, you are a fool if you think you talked me into it.
I would be fine with either staying with Gomez or trading him for picks and signing Sundin for 1 year.