Editing New York Rangers (section)

===Early years (1926–1967)===
[[Tex Rickard|George Lewis "Tex" Rickard]], president of [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]], was awarded an NHL franchise for the [[1926–27 NHL season|1926–27 season]] to compete with the [[New York Americans]], who had begun play at the Garden the previous season. The Americans' early success in their inaugural season exceeded expectations, leading Rickard to pursue a second team for the Garden despite promising the Americans that they were going to be the only ice hockey team to play there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CEED6133AF935A25751C0A9659C8B63|title=F.Y.I.|last=Boland |first=Ed Jr.|date=February 16, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 17, 2008}}</ref> The team was originally incorporated under the name "New York Giants Professional Hockey Club" during a league meeting with NHL president [[Frank Calder]] on April 17, 1926, but during the meeting the name was then changed to "New York Rangers Hockey Club." The new team was quickly nicknamed "Tex's Rangers".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rappaport |first1=Michael |title=The Beginning of the Blueshirts |url=https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/the-beginning-of-the-blueshirts |website=NHL.com |access-date=May 16, 2025 |date=May 15, 2025}}</ref>

Rickard's franchise began play in the 1926–27 season. The first team crest was a horse sketched in blue carrying a cowboy waving a hockey stick aloft, before being changed to the familiar "RANGERS" in diagonal.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boucher |first1=Frank |last2=Frayne |first2=Trent |title=When the Rangers Were Young |year=1973 |page=74 |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |publication-place=New York |isbn=0-396-06852-9 |lccn=73007485 |ol=5415647M |oclc=799524 |quote=Even before our training camp opened we were widely known as Tex's Rangers, a name given us by George Daley, the sports editor of the New York ''Herald Tribune'', and one that seemed likely to stick. In fact, our first team crest was that of a horse sketched in blue carrying a cowboy waving a hockey stick aloft. The horse was rearing, with the word TEX'S in a crescent at the top of the emblem with RANGERS looped below. But Rickard didn't like the idea and before the season opened our insignia was changed to the present diagonal splash of the word RANGERS.}}</ref> Future [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] owner [[Conn Smythe]] was hired to assemble the team, however he had a falling-out with Rickard's hockey man, [[John S. Hammond|Col. John S. Hammond]], and was fired as manager-coach on the eve of the first season – he was paid a then-hefty $2,500 to leave. Smythe was replaced by [[Pacific Coast Hockey Association]] co-founder [[Lester Patrick]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E7DC1638F936A25756C0A962958260|title=Sports of The Times; The Original Ranger, Murray Murdoch, Turns 90 |last=Anderson|first=Dave|date=May 15, 1994|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 17, 2008}}</ref> The new team Smythe assembled turned out to be a winner. The Rangers won the [[American Division (NHL)|American Division]] title their first year but lost to the [[Boston Bruins]] in the playoffs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/nhl19271927.html|title=NHL Standings|publisher=The Internet Hockey Database|access-date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=September 3, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903211802/http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/nhl19271927.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/playoffdisplay.php3?league=nhl1927&season=1927&leaguenm=NHL|title=1926–27 NHL Playoff Results|publisher=The Internet Hockey Database|access-date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=June 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616131248/http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/playoffdisplay.php3?league=nhl1927&season=1927&leaguenm=NHL|url-status=live}}</ref>

The team's early success led to players becoming minor celebrities and fixtures in New York City's [[Roaring Twenties]] nightlife. It was during this time, playing at the Garden on 49th Street, blocks away from [[Times Square]], that the Rangers obtained their nickname "The Broadway Blueshirts". On December 13, 1929, the Rangers became the first team in the NHL to travel by plane when they hired the [[Curtiss-Wright Corporation]] to fly them to [[Toronto]] for a game against the Maple Leafs, which they lost 7–6.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dryden|first=Steve|title=The Hockey News: Century Of Hockey|year=2000|page=32|publisher=McClelland & Stewart Ltd.|location=Toronto|isbn=0-7710-4179-9}}</ref>

In only the [[1927–28 NHL season|second season]], they won the [[1928 Stanley Cup Finals|1928 Stanley Cup]], defeating the [[Montreal Maroons]] three games to two.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/cup02/cuphistory.htm|title=Stanley Cup history|date=June 14, 2002|work=USA Today|access-date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=January 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107193424/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/cup02/cuphistory.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the most memorable stories that emerged from the finals involved Patrick playing in goal at the age of 44. At the time, teams were not required to dress a backup [[goaltender]]. When the Rangers' starting goaltender, [[Lorne Chabot]], left a game with an [[eye injury]], Maroons [[coach (ice hockey)|head coach]] [[Eddie Gerard]] vetoed Patrick's original choice for an emergency replacement, [[Alex Connell]] of the [[Ottawa Senators (original)|Ottawa Senators]], who was in attendance. An angry Patrick lined up between the pipes for two periods in game 2 of the finals, allowing one goal to Maroons center [[Nels Stewart]]. [[Frank Boucher]] scored the game-winning goal in overtime for New York.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/05/Lightning/Injuries_sideline_pla.shtml|title=Injuries sideline players only rarely|last=Brink|first=Graham|date=June 5, 2004|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|access-date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=January 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111001956/http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/05/Lightning/Injuries_sideline_pla.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

After a loss to the Bruins in the [[1929 Stanley Cup Finals]]<ref name="Rangers Bruins">{{Cite news|last=Anderson|first=Dave|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/14/sports/sports-of-the-times-at-boston-garden-there-s-much-more-gold-than-green.html|title=Sports of The Times – At Boston Garden, There's Much More Gold Than Green|work=The New York Times|date=May 14, 1995|access-date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=January 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131065831/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/14/sports/sports-of-the-times-at-boston-garden-there-s-much-more-gold-than-green.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and an early struggle in the early 1930s, the Rangers, led by brothers [[Bill Cook|Bill]] and [[Bun Cook]] on the right and left wings, respectively, and Frank Boucher at center, defeated the Maple Leafs in the [[1933 Stanley Cup Finals]] to win their second Stanley Cup. The Rangers spent the rest of the 1930s playing close to 0.500 hockey until their next Cup win. Lester Patrick stepped down as head coach and was replaced by Frank Boucher.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=tra_history|title=Team History|website=New York Rangers|access-date=June 17, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411054021/http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=tra_history|archive-date=April 11, 2008}}</ref>

[[File:The Bread Line.jpg|thumb|The Bread Line was the Rangers' first notable [[Line (ice hockey)|line]]. Consisting of [[Bill Cook]], [[Bun Cook]] and [[Frank Boucher]], they played together from 1926 to 1937.]]
In the [[1939–40 NHL season|1939–40 season]], the Rangers finished the regular season in second place behind Boston. The two teams then met in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins gained a two-games-to-one series lead from New York, but the Rangers recovered to win three-straight games, defeating the first-place Bruins four games to two. The Rangers' first-round victory gave them a bye until the finals. The [[Detroit Red Wings]] defeated the New York Americans in their first-round best-of-three series two games to one, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ousted the [[Chicago Blackhawks|Chicago Black Hawks]] two games to none. The Maple Leafs then swept Detroit a best-of-three series to advance to the finals. The [[1940 Stanley Cup Finals]] commenced in Madison Square Garden. In game 1, the Rangers needed overtime to gain a 1–0 series lead, but they won game two more easily with a 6–2 victory. The series then shifted to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs won the next two games, tying the series at two games apiece. In games 5 and 6, the Rangers won in overtime, taking the series four games to two to earn their third Stanley Cup.

However, the Rangers collapsed by the mid-1940s, losing games by scores as lopsided as 15–0. In [[1943–44 NHL season|1943–44]], goaltender [[Ken McAuley]] led the league with 39 losses and 310 goals allowed in 50 games played; his 6.24 goals-against average that year remains the worst in NHL history by a goaltender playing at least 25 games in a season.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rocky Records: The worst seasons by goaltenders in NHL history|url=https://thehockeynews.com/news/rocky-records-the-worst-seasons-by-goaltenders-in-nhl-history|author=Ellis, Steven|magazine=The Hockey News|access-date=December 11, 2021|date=March 6, 2020|archive-date=December 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211160926/https://thehockeynews.com/news/rocky-records-the-worst-seasons-by-goaltenders-in-nhl-history|url-status=live}}</ref> They missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons before earning the fourth and final playoff spot in [[1947–48 NHL season|1947–48]]. They lost in the first round and missed the playoffs again in [[1948–49 NHL season|1948–49]]. In the [[1950 Stanley Cup Finals]], the Rangers were forced to play all of their games, including "home" games, in Toronto, while the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus|circus]] was held at the Garden. They lost to the Detroit Red Wings in overtime in the seventh game of the finals.

During this time, Red Wings owner [[James E. Norris]] became the largest stockholder in the Garden. However, he did not buy controlling interest in the arena, which would have violated the NHL's rule against one person owning more than one team. Nonetheless, he had enough support on the board to exercise de facto control. The Rangers remained a mark of futility in the NHL for most of the remainder of the [[Original Six]] era, missing the playoffs in 12 of the next 16 years. However, the team was rejuvenated in the late 1960s, symbolized by moving into the [[Madison Square Garden|fourth version of Madison Square Garden]] in 1968. A year earlier, they made the playoffs for the first time in five years on the strength of rookie goaltender [[Eddie Giacomin]] and 37-year-old former 1950s [[Montreal Canadiens]] star right wing [[Bernie Geoffrion|Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion]], signed out of retirement in 1966.