Editing New York Rangers (section)

===Post-Original Six era (1967–1993)===
[[File:Jean Ratelle 1972.JPG|upright|thumb|[[Jean Ratelle]] played with the Rangers from 1960 to 1975.]]
The Rangers made the finals twice in the 1970s, but lost both times to two 1970s powerhouses; in six games to the [[Boston Bruins]] in [[1972 Stanley Cup Finals|1972]], who were led by such stars as [[Bobby Orr]], [[Phil Esposito]], [[Ken Hodge]], [[Johnny Bucyk]] and [[Wayne Cashman]]; and in five games to the Canadiens in [[1979 Stanley Cup Finals|1979]], who had [[Bob Gainey]], [[Guy Lafleur]], [[Larry Robinson]], [[Ken Dryden]], [[Guy Lapointe]] and [[Serge Savard]].

The Rangers reached the [[1972 Stanley Cup Finals]] despite losing high-scoring center [[Jean Ratelle]] (who had been on pace over Bruin [[Phil Esposito]] to become the first Ranger since [[Bryan Hextall]] in 1942 to lead the NHL in scoring) to injury during the stretch drive of the regular season. The strength of players such as [[Brad Park]], Jean Ratelle, [[Vic Hadfield]] and [[Rod Gilbert]] (the last three constructing the famed "[[GAG line]]", standing for "goal-a-game") carried them through the playoffs. They defeated the defending-champion Canadiens in the first round and the Chicago Black Hawks in the second, but lost to the Bruins in the finals.

In the 1972 playoffs, with Ratelle sidelined with a broken ankle and Gilbert hampered by injuries, [[Walt Tkaczuk]] played a key role as the Rangers defeated the defending champion Canadiens and the previous year's finalists, the Black Hawks, to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. While the Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins in six games, Tkaczuk earned much respect for holding the Bruins' Phil Esposito without a goal in the series.

The Rangers played a legendary conference semifinals series against the [[Philadelphia Flyers]] in the [[1973–74 NHL season|1974 playoffs]], losing in seven games and becoming the first Original Six club to lose a playoff series to a 1967 expansion team. This series was noted for a game 7 fight between [[Dale Rolfe]] of the Rangers and [[Dave Schultz (ice hockey)|Dave Schultz]] of the Flyers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Schultz vs. Rolfe: Fight resonates 40 years later|date=April 26, 2014|first=Mike|last=Sielski|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|url=http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-26/sports/49408641_1_dave-schultz-dale-rolfe-carl-hagelin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120022644/http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-26/sports/49408641_1_dave-schultz-dale-rolfe-carl-hagelin|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 20, 2015|access-date=March 28, 2015}}</ref> The Rangers' new rivals, the [[New York Islanders]], who entered the League in [[1972–73 NHL season|1972–73]] after paying a hefty territorial fee – some $4 million – to the Rangers, were their first-round opponents in the [[1974–75 NHL season|1975 playoffs]]. After splitting the first two games, the Islanders defeated the more-established Rangers 11 seconds into overtime of the deciding game 3, establishing a rivalry that continued to grow for years.

In a blockbuster trade with the [[Boston Bruins]], the Rangers acquired Esposito and [[Carol Vadnais]] from the Bruins for Park, Ratelle and [[Joe Zanussi]] in [[1975–76 NHL season|1975]], while Swedish stars [[Anders Hedberg]] and [[Ulf Nilsson (ice hockey)|Ulf Nilsson]] jumped to the Rangers from the League's rival, the [[World Hockey Association]] (WHA) in [[1978–79 NHL season|1978]]. In the [[1979 Stanley Cup playoffs]], New York defeated the surging Islanders in the conference semifinals and advanced to the [[1979 Stanley Cup Finals]], losing to the Canadiens. In the three consecutive [[1982 Stanley Cup playoffs|1982]] through [[1984 Stanley Cup playoffs|1984]] playoffs, the Rangers were eliminated by the rival Islanders, who went on to win the Stanley Cup each of those years.

[[File:Marcel Dionne 1987 (2).JPG|thumb|[[Marcel Dionne]], who signed with Rangers in the 1986 off-season, in 1987]]
The Rangers stayed competitive through the 1980s and early 1990s, making the playoffs each year. In the [[1986 Stanley Cup playoffs]], the Rangers, behind the play of rookie goaltender [[John Vanbiesbrouck]], upended the [[Patrick Division]]-winning Flyers in five games followed by a six-game win over the [[Washington Capitals]] in the Patrick Division finals. Montreal, however, disposed of the Rangers in the [[Wales Conference]] finals behind a rookie goaltender of their own, [[Patrick Roy]]. For the [[1986–87 NHL season|1986–87 season]], the team acquired superstar center [[Marcel Dionne]] after almost 12 years with the [[Los Angeles Kings]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Craig Wolff|title=Rangers Get Kings' Dionne|website=The New York Times|access-date=March 28, 2015|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/11/sports/rangers-get-kings-dionne.html|date=March 11, 1987|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402183645/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/11/sports/rangers-get-kings-dionne.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1988, while a Ranger, Dionne moved into third place in [[List of NHL players with 500 goals|NHL career goals scored]]. Dionne spent nine games in the minors before retiring during the [[1988–89 NHL season|1988–89 season]].

Frustration was at its peak when the [[1991–92 New York Rangers season|1991–92 Rangers]] captured the [[Presidents' Trophy]]. They took a 2–1 series lead on the defending champion [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] and then faltered in three-straight (some observers note a [[Ron Francis]] slapshot from outside the blue line that eluded goaltender [[Mike Richter]] as the series' turning point).<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Kay|first1=Jason|title=Greatest Teams of All-Time: 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/greatest-teams-of-all-time-1991-92-pittsburgh-penguins/|magazine=The Hockey News|access-date=April 1, 2015|date=December 31, 2013|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125418/http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/greatest-teams-of-all-time-1991-92-pittsburgh-penguins/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Bondy|first1=Filip|title=Hockey – Rangers Squander Lead and Lose|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/10/sports/hockey-rangers-squander-lead-and-lose.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2015|date=May 10, 1992|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402190113/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/10/sports/hockey-rangers-squander-lead-and-lose.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, injuries and a 1–11 regular season finish landed the Rangers at the bottom of the Patrick Division after being in a playoff position for much of the season. Head coach [[Roger Neilson]] did not finish the season.

During this period, the Rangers were owned by [[Gulf+Western]], which was renamed to Paramount Communications in 1989, and sold to [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] in 1994. Viacom then sold the team to [[ITT Corporation]] and [[Cablevision]], and a couple of years later, ITT sold their ownership stake to Cablevision, who owned the team until 2010, when they spun off the MSG properties as their own company.