March 23, 1952: The NHL regular season comes to an end. The Chicago Black Hawks play the New York Rangers at the old Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are in 5th place, the Hawks in 6th, and there are only 6 teams in the League. So both teams are playing out the string, for little more than pride.
According to the great New York hockey writer Stan Fischler, then about to turn 20 and vice president of the Rangers' fan club:
Anticipating the smallest crowd of the season, Garden moguls closed off the entire side and end balconies as well as the mezzanine. By the opening faceoff, the crowd count was 3,254, giving the massive arena an unusually eerie, surreal look. Based on the record-breaking event that would take place it was a shame that all 15,925 seats were not filled.
At the 3:37 mark of the 3rd period, Ed Slowinski scored his 2nd goal of the game, giving the Rangers a 6-2 lead. The game looked like it was wrapped up in the Broadway Blueshirts' favor.
It wasn't. At 6:09 of the period, Black Hawk Captain Bill Mosienko scored. In an interview for Chris McDonnell's book The Game I'll Never Forget: 100 Hockey Stars' Stories, he spoke of being assisted by Gus Bodnar: "I remember it like it was last night. Suddenly, Gus got me the puck in center ice, I went in around Hy Buller on the New York defense, on top of the goalkeeper. That was my 29th goal of the year, so I reached into the net for the puck as a souvenir."
At 6:20, Mosienko scored again. He recalled: "Right off the next face off, Bodnar got me the puck again. I slipped around Buller again and moved right in on Anderson." That was his 30th goal of the season, which was considered a big deal in a 70-game season.
His other linemate was George Gee. And, right at the faceoff, the referee called a penalty, and the Hawks went on the power play. At 6:30, Mosienko scored again, this time assisted by Gee: "Georgie was on the left wing. When he got control of the puck he began moving toward the blue line. As he reached the blue line, I made my move. He saw me cutting over the line and he laid a perfect pass on my stick." He drew the goalie out, and, certain Anderson would be looking for a shot on the ice to the right, flipped the puck into the top righthand corner.
Three goals in 21 seconds. A 21-second "hat trick." He recalled, "The funny thing is that, about 45 seconds later, I was alone again. I faked Anderson out of position, had an open goal to hit, and shot wide." So he almost had four goals in 66 seconds.
So, what happened? How did the Rangers let this happen? Injuries. The Rangers were down to their 3rd goalie: Hall-of-Famer Chuck Rayner and future coach Emile Francis were both injured, and Lorne Anderson was an emergency call-up from their top farm team, the New York Rovers, who also played at The Garden. And Hy Buller, a good defenseman, was playing on an injured ankle.
The thing is, though, the Hawks were still losing, 6-5. It would be Sid Finney who tied the game at 13:50, and won it with 38 seconds left: Black Hawks 7, Rangers 6.
Born in 1921, the son of immigrants from Dnipro, Ukraine, Mosienko lived his whole life in the North End of Winnipeg, and debuted with the Black Hawks late in the 1941-42 season. He helped them reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1944, but that was as close as he would ever get to the Cup.
A right wing, he was put on a forward line with brothers Max and Doug Bentley. Because of their small size and their speed, they were nicknamed the Pony Line. In 1945, Mosienko won the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL's "most gentlemanly player." In 14 seasons, he got into only 1 fight, and was penalized only 121 minutes. At the start of the 1947-48 season, he played in the NHL's 1st official All-Star Game, but broke his leg in it. By the time he returned, Max Bentley had been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, ending the Pony Line.
He scored 258 goals, all with the Black Hawks. He last played in the NHL in 1955, and played 4 more years for the Winnipeg Warriors in the Western Hockey League. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965, and lived until 1994.
And poor, beleaguered Lorne Anderson? He was just 20 years old when Mosienko treble-victimized him. It was his 3rd NHL game, and his last. The native of Renfrew, Ontario remained in professional hockey until 1931, and died in 1984, a footnote to a footnote in hockey history.
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March 23, 1952 was a Sunday. Rex Tillerson, the oil company chairman who served as Secretary of State during Donald Trump's 1st year as President, was born.
Elsewhere in the NHL, the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at the Boston Garden; and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Gordie Howe had a hat trick.
Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:
* The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 101-97 at The Garden, which hosted this game and the Rangers' regular-season finale on the same day. Ed Macauley scored 36 in defeat for the Celtics.
* The Syracuse Nationals beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 84-73 at the Onondaga County War Memorial, now the Upstate Medical University Arena.
* And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Indianapolis Olympians, 78-70 at the Minneapolis Auditorium.
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