1971–72 New York Rangers season

1971–72 New York Rangers
Division2nd East
1971–72 record48–17–13
Home record26–6–7
Road record22–11–6
Goals for317
Goals against192
Team information
General managerEmile Francis
CoachEmile Francis
CaptainVic Hadfield
Alternate captainsJim Neilson
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Team leaders
GoalsVic Hadfield (50)
AssistsJean Ratelle (63)
PointsJean Ratelle (109)
Penalty minutesVic Hadfield (142)
WinsGilles Villemure, Ed Giacomin (24)
Goals against averageGilles Villemure (2.09)

The 1971–72 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 46th season. Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert ranked third, fourth and fifth overall in league scoring.[1] The Rangers qualified for the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. The club made its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1950 but lost in six games to the Boston Bruins.

Regular season

Final standings

East Division[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Boston Bruins 78 54 13 11 330 204 +126 119
2 78 48 17 13 317 192 +125 109
3 Montreal Canadiens 78 46 16 16 307 205 +102 108
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 78 33 31 14 209 208 +1 80
5 Detroit Red Wings 78 33 35 10 261 262 −1 76
6 Buffalo Sabres 78 16 43 19 203 289 −86 51
7 Vancouver Canucks 78 20 50 8 203 297 −94 48


Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

1971–72 regular season[4]
October: 6–1–4 (home: 3–1–2; road: 3–0–2)
Game October Opponent Score Record
1 9 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–4 0–0–1
2 10 @ Boston Bruins 4–1 1–0–1
3 13 Boston Bruins 6–1 1–1–1
4 16 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 2–1–1
5 17 Montreal Canadiens 8–4 3–1–1
6 20 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 4–1–1
7 23 @ St. Louis Blues 4–3 5–1–1
8 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–1 5–1–2
9 27 Detroit Red Wings 7–4 6–1–2
10 30 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1–1 6–1–3
11 31 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3 6–1–4
November: 9–2–0 (home: 5–0–0; road: 4–2–0)
Game November Opponent Score Record
12 3 @ Los Angeles Kings 7–1 7–1–4
13 5 @ California Golden Seals 8–1 8–1–4
14 6 @ Vancouver Canucks 3–1 9–1–4
15 10 Los Angeles Kings 7–1 10–1–4
16 13 Buffalo Sabres 5–2 11–1–4
17 14 Vancouver Canucks 6–1 12–1–4
18 20 @ Minnesota North Stars 4–1 12–2–4
19 21 California Golden Seals 12–1 13–2–4
20 24 St. Louis Blues 8–3 14–2–4
21 27 @ Detroit Red Wings 3–1 14–3–4
22 28 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 15–3–4
December: 10–2–2 (home: 7–0–1; road: 3–2–1)
Game December Opponent Score Record
23 1 Buffalo Sabres 7–2 16–3–4
24 4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 16–4–4
25 5 Vancouver Canucks 6–3 17–4–4
26 8 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 17–4–5
27 9 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5–0 18–4–5
28 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–1 19–4–5
29 15 Philadelphia Flyers 6–2 20–4–5
30 16 @ Boston Bruins 8–1 20–5–5
31 18 @ St. Louis Blues 5–2 21–5–5
32 19 Minnesota North Stars 1–1 21–5–6
33 22 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 22–5–6
34 25 @ Minnesota North Stars 2–1 23–5–6
35 26 Montreal Canadiens 5–1 24–5–6
36 29 Philadelphia Flyers 5–1 25–5–6
January: 6–4–2 (home: 3–1–1; road: 3–3–1)
Game January Opponent Score Record
37 2 Boston Bruins 4–1 25–6–6
38 5 St. Louis Blues 9–1 26–6–6
39 9 Los Angeles Kings 8–0 27–6–6
40 12 @ Chicago Black Hawks 5–5 27–6–7
41 13 @ Buffalo Sabres 5–2 28–6–7
42 15 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 28–7–7
43 19 @ Los Angeles Kings 5–1 29–7–7
44 21 @ California Golden Seals 5–0 30–7–7
45 22 @ Vancouver Canucks 5–2 30–8–7
46 26 Buffalo Sabres 5–1 31–8–7
47 29 @ Minnesota North Stars 4–2 31–9–7
48 30 Minnesota North Stars 1–1 31–9–8
February: 10–2–2 (home: 5–1–1; road: 5–1–1)
Game February Opponent Score Record
49 2 Boston Bruins 2–0 31–10–8
50 3 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–2 32–10–8
51 5 @ St. Louis Blues 6–5 32–11–8
52 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–2 32–11–9
53 9 Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 33–11–9
54 12 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 8–3 34–11–9
55 13 Los Angeles Kings 4–2 35–11–9
56 15 @ Vancouver Canucks 5–1 36–11–9
57 17 @ Los Angeles Kings 6–4 37–11–9
58 18 @ California Golden Seals 2–2 37–11–10
59 20 Detroit Red Wings 4–3 38–11–10
60 22 @ Montreal Canadiens 7–3 39–11–10
61 23 Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 40–11–10
62 27 St. Louis Blues 2–0 41–11–10
March: 7–4–3 (home: 3–2–2; road: 4–2–1)
Game March Opponent Score Record
63 1 California Golden Seals 4–1 42–11–10
64 2 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–3 43–11–10
65 5 Vancouver Canucks 6–1 44–11–10
66 8 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 44–11–11
67 11 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–2 45–11–11
68 12 California Golden Seals 7–3 45–12–11
69 15 @ Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 45–13–11
70 16 @ Detroit Red Wings 2–1 46–13–11
71 18 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 47–13–11
72 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 48–13–11
73 23 @ Boston Bruins 4–1 48–14–11
74 25 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–3 48–14–12
75 26 Minnesota North Stars 5–0 48–15–12
76 29 Detroit Red Wings 2–2 48–15–13
April: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–1–0)
Game April Opponent Score Record
77 1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 48–16–13
78 2 Montreal Canadiens 6–5 48–17–13

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Main articles: 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs and 1972 Stanley Cup Finals
1972 Stanley Cup playoffs[4]
Quarterfinals vs. (E3) Montreal Canadiens – Rangers win 4–2
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 5 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 6 Montreal Canadiens 2–5 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3 April 8 New York Rangers 1–2 Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers lead series 2–1
4 April 9 New York Rangers 6–4 Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers lead series 3–1
5 April 11 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3–2
6 April 13 New York Rangers 3–2 Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers win series 4–2
Semifinals vs. (W1) Chicago Black Hawks – Rangers win 4–0
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 16 New York Rangers 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 18 New York Rangers 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks New York Rangers lead series 2–0
3 April 20 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3–0
4 April 23 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 New York Rangers New York Rangers win series 4–0
Stanley Cup Finals vs. (E1) Boston Bruins – Bruins win 4–2
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 30 New York Rangers 5–6 Boston Bruins Boston leads series 1–0
2 May 2 New York Rangers 1–2 Boston Bruins Boston leads series 2–0
3 May 4 Boston Bruins 2–5 New York Rangers Boston leads series 2–1
4 May 7 Boston Bruins 3–2 New York Rangers Boston leads series 3–1
5 May 9 New York Rangers 3–2 Boston Bruins Boston leads series 3–2
6 May 11 Boston Bruins 3–0 New York Rangers Boston wins series 4–2

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SO
Ed Giacomin 44 2551 24 10 9 115 2.70 1
Gilles Villemure 37 2129 24 7 4 74 2.09 3
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SO
Ed Giacomin 10 600 6 4 27 2.70 0
Gilles Villemure 6 360 4 2 14 2.33 0

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[5]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1971 NHL amateur draft in Montreal, Canada.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 10 Steve Vickers LW  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
1 13 Steve Durbano D  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2 27 Tom Williams LW  Canada Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
3 41 Terry West C  Canada London Knights (OHA)
4 55 Jerry Butler RW  Canada Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
5 69 Fraser Robertson D  Canada Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL)
6 83 Wayne Wood G  Canada Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
7 96 Doug Keeler C  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHA)
7 97 Jean-Denis Royal D  Canada Saint-Jerome Alouettes (QMJHL)
8 109 Gene Sobchuk LW  Canada Regina Pats (WCHL)
9 110 Jim Ivison D  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
10 111 Andre Peloffy C  France Rosemont National (QMJHL)
11 112 Elston Evoy C  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (NOHA)
12 114 Gerry Lecomte D  Canada Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL)
13 115 Wayne Forsey LW  Canada Swift Current Broncos (WCHL)
14 116 Bill Forrest D  Canada Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)

References

  1. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
  2. ^ "1971–1972 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "1971-72 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  5. ^ "1971–72 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
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