In the spring of 1975, a team that was just in its third year in existence was about to shock one of the most storied and successful orginial franchises of the National Hockey League.
The New York Rangers and New York Islanders will meet for the final time ever in regular season play at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday night. It is a rivalry that began in earnest in 1975 when the upstart expansion Islanders scored an improbable upset in a best two out of three playoff series that proved to be a changing of the guard for hockey in the Big Apple. The Isles upset win was what lit the match to what has become one of the great rivalries in all of sports.
Fading Blueshirts
By the end of the 1975 season it was obvious that the New York Rangers were nearing the end of what was one of the greatest eras in their history. Such superstars as center Jean Rattelle, right wing Rod Gilbert, and the goaltending tandem of Gilles Villemure and Eddie Giacomin, were all on the wrong side of 30 years of age. Although still productive, the Rangers were no longer a dominant NHL team.
Another problem for the Rangers that was not yet well known was a sense of pampered entitlement. Phil Esposito was shocked at the carefree attitude of many Rangers players when he arrived to the team in a trade in the fall of 1975. The Rangers had a very casual attitude about winning and losing and it was starting to show. Drug use was another deep dark secret that later came out about certain Ranger players of that era.
The Rangers also had to live with the stigma of never having won a Stanley Cup with such a strong group, with their closest call being in 1972 when they lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Boston Bruins in six games. General manager and head coach Emile Francis had built a formidable team that just couldn’t quite overcome the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, or Montreal Canadiens.
With their Stanley Cup window closing, perhaps that was a part of the reason for a country club type of atmosphere, and sense of resignation over resolve.
Pesky Isles
The New York Islanders were born in 1972 just as the Rangers were basking in the glory of a Stanley Cup Final berth. The Islanders were born out of the NHL’s desperation to thwart a bid by the new upstart World Hockey Association to place a team in Long Island.
After two rough years as an expansion team, the talent that general manager Bill Torrey was amassing began to produce and grow in confidence. The Islanders had a win percentage of just .192 in their first year but improved to .550 in 1974-75 to make the playoffs.
A 21-year-old defenseman named Denis Potvin was in the beginning stages of a Hall of Fame career as he led the Isles with 21 goals and 55 assists to go with a plus-28. Veteran right wing Eddie Westfall, who won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins, provided valuable leadership and guidance as team captain. Goaltenders Glenn Resch and Billy Smith, along with forwards such as Bob Nystrom and Clarke Gillies were forging what was to be the core of a future dynasty that would go on to win four consecutive Stanley Cups.
But in 1975, the Islanders were derided as an expansion team that would have no chance against a Rangers team making its ninth consecutive playoff appearance.
Overtime Shocker Ends and Begins Eras
In 1975, the opening round of the playoffs was a best of three preliminary series. After the Islanders scored an upset road win in Game 1, the Rangers destroyed the Islanders 8-3 in a Game 2 win on the road that seemed to prove their superiority. Game 3 was played at Madison Square Garden and was expected to be a mere formality for the Broadway Blueshirts. But in one of the most stunning playoff upsets in history, the Islanders scored a 4-3 overtime win on a goal by 33 year old veteran J.P. Parise, who remains a cherished part of Islander lore to this day.
The glory days of the Rangers were killed off. Francis would last one more year before being fired. Star defenseman Brad Park and Ratelle would be traded to the hated Bruins for the loathed Phil Esposito. The Rangers would wallow in transition until they repaid the Islanders with an epic playoff upset of their own in 1979 for the sweetest possible revenge.
For the Islanders, the 1975 playoff upset was their berth as a credible playoff contender and as an equal rival to the established Rangers. The fire of a great sports rivalry continues to burn brightly 40 years later.
