May 8, 1979: New York's hockey establishment and its rising tide collide at Madison Square Garden, with a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals on the line.
There were priors.
From the folding of the New York Americans in 1942 until the expansion that admitted the New York Islanders in 1972, the New York Rangers were the undisputable rulers of hockey in New York City, and in the New York Tri-State Area. Unless you were from another metropolitan area, or you were weird, if you were a hockey fan in the City, New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, or the New York side of Connecticut, you were a Ranger fan. (If you were from the New England side of Connecticut, or you had a Bobby Orr fetish, which would be included in "if you were weird," you rooted for the Boston Bruins.
The Islanders, in only their 3rd season of play, had humiliated the Rangers in the 1975 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 1978 and 1979, the Islanders won the regular-season title of the Patrick Division, which was named for Lester Patrick, (not quite, but for all practical purposes) the founding coach and general manager of the Rangers.
Meanwhile, the Rangers crashed and burned, and rebuilt, with a team led by former Boston Bruins legend Phil Esposito. They were one of the earliest teams to sign European players, luring Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson from the Winnipeg Jets, then in the World Hockey Association. They hired Fred Shero, who had coached the Philadelphia Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and '75. Islanders were coached by Al Arbour, once an All-Star defenseman.
On February 25, 1979, at The Garden, in a game the Rangers won 3-2, Nilsson chased the puck, and got his skate caught in the boards. All-Star defenseman Denis Potvin, Captain of the Islanders, hit him, and the hit broke Nilsson's ankle. But no penalty was called on the play, because the hit was legal. It didn't matter: Nilsson had not yet returned when the Playoffs began, and Ranger fans blamed Potvin for it.
Since then, for over 40 years, Ranger fans have chanted, "Potvin sucks!" Not just when the Islanders come in, long after Potvin has retired, but at every game. Other players named Potvin, not related, and not familiar with the history, must have wondered, "What did I do?"
Both teams advanced to the 1979 Stanley Cup Semifinals. The 1st 2 games were at the Nassau Coliseum. The Rangers won Game 1, 4-1. Game 2 went to overtime, and not only did the Islanders win, 4-3, but, rubbing salt in Ranger fans' wounds, it was Potvin who scored the winning goal at 8:02.
The next 2 games were at The Garden. The pattern held: The Rangers won Game 3, 3-1, but the Islanders won Game 4 in overtime, 3-2, this time with Bobby Nystrom tallying at 3:40. It was the biggest goal Nystrom had yet scored. It would not remain so.
The pattern held for Game 5 at the Coliseum: The Rangers won, 4-3, with Hedberg scoring the winning goal with only 2:13 left in regulation. Game 6 was at The Garden. Mike Bossy, the Isles' best offensive player, scored at 8:56 of the 1st period. Don Murdoch tied it at 5:03 of the 2nd period.
At 8:45 of that period, on a power play, defenseman Ron Greschner scored, to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. For the last 19 minutes of the game, the Isles fought like mad for an equalizer, to keep the pattern going by sending it to overtime, but Ranger goalie John Davidson turned away 21 out of 22 shots, and the 2-1 lead held. The Rangers were going to the Stanley Cup Finals.
A native of Goodsoil, Saskatchewan, Canada, Greschner was an unexpected hero, as far as scoring winning goals was concerned: A 5-time All-Star, he was one of the best "defensive defensemen" of his era, playing 16 seasons for the Rangers. (His Number 4 is still in circulation.) He served as team Captain in the 1986-87 season. In 981 regular-season games for the Broadway Blueshirts, he had 431 assists, but just 179 goals. This was 1 of 17 goals he scored in Playoff play, 6 that season.
From 1983 to 1996, he was married to supermodel Carol Alt, a native of Flushing, Queens. They even did a Pontiac car commercial together. As it turned out, she was an Islander fan, and left him for Islanders player Alexei Yashin. Greschner married again, and lives in Florida with his wife and their 5 children.
Islander goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch turned away 25 of 27 shots. This game would be his last hurrah on The Island: Billy Smith would be made the starter, which went a long way toward starting their dynasty. After the 1982 Cup win, Resch was traded to the Colorado Rockies, who were then moved to become the New Jersey Devils, making it a 3-way New York Metropolitan Area rivalry.
Both goalies went on to become renowned broadcasters: Davidson with the Rangers, and for national network broadcasts, earning him the Foster Hewitt Award, the Hockey Hall of Fame's honor for broadcasters; Resch for the Devils, after a few years of mediocre results in goal, then going into the booth and becoming a beloved figure among the team's fans.
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May 8, 1979 was a Tuesday. In the other Stanley Cup Semifinal series, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-2 at the Boston Garden, in Game 6. The Canadiens won Game 7, and would beat the Rangers in the Finals in 5 games, despite Ulf Nilsson returning for the round.
Game 4 was played in the NBA Western Conference Finals. The Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 100-91 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, tying the series. But the Sonics went on to win it in 7 games.
The WHA Playoffs were between the Semifinals and the Finals. The Winnipeg Jets, with old Bobby Hull, went on to beat the Edmonton Oilers, with young Wayne Gretzky, in 6 games.
Football was out of season. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Reggie Jackson hit a home run. Jim Beattie was the winning pitcher. This was during Goose Gossage's injury, and Ron Guidry's experiment in filling in as closer, getting his 2nd and, as it turned out, last save of the season. He went 18-9 as a starter, after going 25-3 the year before.
* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Willie Stargell did not play.
* The California Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Joe Rudi (whom the Red Sox had once purchased, but had it canceled by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn) and Carney Lansford (whom the Red Sox would later trade for) hit home runs for the Angels. Rod Carew went 0-for-3 with a walk, but had an RBI on a groundout. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with a walk, and Dwight Evans hit a home run.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray, Lee May and Gary Roenicke hit home runs.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-8 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Johnny Bench went 0-for-4 with a walk.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 16-6 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. George Brett went 1-for-5.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Lou Brock went 0-for-3.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 9-8 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Pete Rose went 3-for-6 with 4 RBIs, including a 2-RBI double in the top of the 12th inning. The Padres got a run back in the bottom of the 12th, but it wasn't enough. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5. Dave Winfield went 0-for-4 with a walk, and had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Scott Sanderson allowed only 2 baserunners: A single by Terry Whitfield in the 1st inning, and a walk to Darrell Evans in the 5th.
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