New York Rangers (NHL, 1936-37)

1936-37 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons

     This is the third-oldest program in my collection, and the oldest hockey program I own. It's two years older than the 1939 Philadelphia Ramblers program I bought a few years ago.

     The New York Rangers were one of the stronger franchises in the Depression-era NHL. Since being founded in 1926, the Rangers made four trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning in 1927 and 1933. The team was led by Lester Patrick, who came to Madison Square Garden from the Western Hockey League's Victoria Cougars. Patrick took on the dual role of GM/Coach, and the Rangers made the playoffs ever year but one under his watch. Despite being the second team to arrive in New York, the Rangers quickly became the more popular of the two Big Apple NHL teams, leaving the Americans in the dust.
     The Rangers had a so-so season in 1936-37, finishing in third place in the American Division with a 19-20-9 record. The top three teams in each division qualified for the postseason, and the Rangers clinched a playoff berth by finishing 12 points ahead of last place Chicago.
     The Rangers were weak on offense, scoring the third-fewest goals in the league, with just 117 goals. The top scorer that year was Cecil Dillon, who scored 20 goals and 31 points in 48 games. Butch Keeling had the most goals on the year, with 22.
     It was on defense where the Rangers were strongest. The "Broadway Blueshirts" allowed only 106 goals, second-fewest in the league. This was right in the middle of the 1 goalie per team era, and the Rangers had a great netminder that year. Dave Kerr, in his second season in New York after 3 with the Montreal Maroons (and 1 game with the Americans), was in net for all 48 games, with a 2.11 GAA and 4 shutouts.
     Despite the sub-.500 record, the Rangers had a talented lineup with strong goaltending, and ended up having a good run in the playoffs. They opened the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and swept the Leafs aside in two straight (best-of-three), outscoring them 5-1. In the second round, New York faced the Montreal Maroons, who were making their final postseason appearance. New York swept aside the Maroons in two straight, outscoring them 5-0, to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
     New York faced the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. Despite the difference in the two team's records, the series went to the five game limit. Kerr even notched his fourth shutout in Game 3 to give the Rangers a 2-1 series lead, but the Wings' Earl Robertson answered with back-to-back shutouts to lead Detroit to it's second straight Cup win.
     I bought this program recently on eBay, and only paid $9.50 for it. It came with a TIME magazine from March 14, 1938, which had Dave Kerr on the front. The program is in pretty good shape for being 83 years old. It's 48 pages long and full of great advertisements and pictures. One of the things I like about collecting programs is that they're like time capsules with all the vintage ads, and this program doesn't disappoint. 1937 was during the swing music era, and there are several ads featuring jazz bands performing after the game. Page 16 has a full page ad for the Hotel Lincoln, which featured "Isham Jones and His Orchestra", featuring special dinners for $1 and deluxe dinners for $1.25. Pages 30-31 have an ad across the bottom of the pages featuring "Vincent Perez and His Orchestra" at The New Astor Grill in the Hotel Astor on Times Square.
     This program was from the Maroons-Rangers playoff game on April 1st. Dave Kerr blanked Montreal, 1-0, and the Rangers took a 1-0 series lead. The Rangers were ridiculously good on defense during that playoff run. New York allowed only 9 goals during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals, 8 of which were allowed in the finals. The Maroons were shutout in both games of their semifinal series, and Kerr would tie the record for most shutouts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which wouldn't be broken until 2001-02.
     Local advertisements include Ogden Printing Company, Madison Square Garden, The Belvedere Hotel and Jimmy Kelly's (The Montmartre of New York). There are a lot of cigarette ads, including Chesterfield, Camel, and Lucky Strike.

Aftermath: The Rangers would win their third Stanley Cup in 1939-40, then finish first overall in 1941-42. The franchise's fortunes would come crashing down after that, as World War II would lay waste to their roster. The Rangers would remain a mediocre-at-best franchise until the late 1960s, and wouldn't win another Cup until 1994. The 1936-37 Rangers would eventually place nine members into the Hockey Hall of Fame including Lester Patrick and Colonel John Kilpatrick (President of the Rangers and Madison Square Garden). Despite putting up excellent numbers in his career, Dave Kerr is still not a member of the Hall of Fame.

References:

National Hockey League Season Statistics: 1936-37, from hockeydb.com