1978–79 New York Rangers season

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1978–79 New York Rangers
Division3rd Patrick
Conference3rd Campbell
1978–79 record40–29–11
Goals for316
Goals against292
Team information
General managerFred Shero
CoachFred Shero
CaptainDave Maloney
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Team leaders
GoalsPhil Esposito (42)
AssistsAnders Hedberg (46)
PointsAnders Hedberg (79)
Penalty minutesNick Fotiu (190)
WinsJohn Davidson (20)
Goals against averageJohn Davidson (3.52)

The 1978–79 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 53rd season. The highlight of the season was participating in the Stanley Cup Finals, as the Rangers played 12 consecutive playoff games without losing in regulation.

Offseason

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The Rangers fired their general manager John Ferguson and head coach Jean-Guy Talbot, replacing them with former Philadelphia Flyers and two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Fred Shero.

The Rangers signed forwards Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson away from the WHA's Winnipeg Jets.

The Rangers chose Don Maloney with their first pick, in the second-round, 26th over-all. Maloney was the younger brother of Dave Maloney, a defenceman with the Rangers. Don Maloney would get into 28 games for the Rangers that season.

New team colors

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New Rangers colors

In 1978 the Ranger's introduced a new color scheme. While the logo and design remained the same, the Rangers changed to a much lighter shade of blue, dispensing with the dark blue that had been used since the team's inception in 1926.[1] The Rangers would use the new colors until 1999.

Regular season

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Season standings

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Patrick Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
New York Islanders 80 51 15 14 358 214 116
Philadelphia Flyers 80 40 25 15 281 248 95
New York Rangers 80 40 29 11 316 292 91
Atlanta Flames 80 41 31 8 327 280 90

Record vs. opponents

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Patrick Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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1978-79 Game Log
October: 5-1-3 (Home: 4-0-2; Road: 1-1-1)
Game October Opponent Score Record
1 12 Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 3 0–0–1
2 15 Colorado Rockies 4 – 1 1–0–1
3 18 Detroit Red Wings 3 – 3 1–0–2
4 19 @ Detroit Red Wings 2 – 2 1–0–3
5 21 @ New York Islanders 5 – 3 1–1–3
6 22 Toronto Maple Leafs 5 – 2 2–1–3
7 25 Vancouver Canucks 6 – 2 3–1–3
8 28 @ Montreal Canadiens 2 – 1 4–1–3
9 29 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 – 2 5–1–3
November: 8-3-1 (Home: 2-3-1; Road: 6-0-0)
Game November Opponent Score Record
10 2 @ Colorado Rockies 3 – 0 6–1–3
11 4 @ Los Angeles Kings 7 – 3 7–1–3
12 5 @ Vancouver Canucks 5 – 2 8–1–3
13 8 Minnesota North Stars 5 – 3 8–2–3
14 11 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2 – 1 9–2–3
15 12 New York Islanders 5 – 3 9–3–3
16 15 Chicago Black Hawks 8 – 1 10–3–3
17 18 @ Minnesota North Stars 7 – 2 11–3–3
18 19 Atlanta Flames 3 – 1 11–4–3
19 22 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 – 3 11–4–4
20 26 Washington Capitals 9 – 4 12–4–4
21 29 @ Atlanta Flames 5 – 3 13–4–4
December: 7-9-0 (Home: 4-4-0; Road: 3-5-0)
Game December Opponent Score Record
22 2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5 – 2 13–5–4
23 3 Boston Bruins 3 – 2 13–6–4
24 6 St. Louis Blues 7 – 4 14–6–4
25 7 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5 – 2 15–6–4
26 9 @ Detroit Red Wings 5 – 4 15–7–4
27 10 Philadelphia Flyers 4 – 0 15–8–4
28 13 Los Angeles Kings 8 – 7 16–8–4
29 16 @ Boston Bruins 4 – 1 16–9–4
30 17 Boston Bruins 4 – 1 16–10–4
31 20 Buffalo Sabres 6 – 3 17–10–4
32 22 Detroit Red Wings 4 – 2 18–10–4
33 23 @ New York Islanders 9 – 4 18–11–4
34 26 @ Atlanta Flames 5 – 3 19–11–4
35 28 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6 – 5 19–12–4
36 30 @ Chicago Black Hawks 5 – 4 20–12–4
37 31 Atlanta Flames 6 – 5 20–13–4
January: 9-4-1 (Home: 3-1-1; Road: 6-3-0)
Game January Opponent Score Record
38 3 Montreal Canadiens 6 – 2 21–13–4
39 5 Vancouver Canucks 6 – 4 22–13–4
40 9 @ St. Louis Blues 5 – 3 23–13–4
41 10 @ Colorado Rockies 5 – 3 24–13–4
42 14 @ Atlanta Flames 6 – 4 25–13–4
43 15 Minnesota North Stars 8 – 1 25–14–4
44 17 New York Islanders 5 – 3 26–14–4
45 20 @ St. Louis Blues 3 – 2 26–15–4
46 21 Philadelphia Flyers 5 – 5 26–15–5
47 24 @ Washington Capitals 5 – 1 26–16–5
48 25 @ Buffalo Sabres 5 – 4 27–16–5
49 27 @ New York Islanders 7 – 2 28–16–5
50 30 @ Vancouver Canucks 5 – 3 29–16–5
51 31 @ Colorado Rockies 5 – 4 29–17–5
February: 5-3-2 (Home: 3-0-1; Road: 2-3-1)
Game February Opponent Score Record
52 3 @ Los Angeles Kings 4 – 2 29–18–5
53 14 Boston Bruins 5 – 1 30–18–5
54 15 @ Buffalo Sabres 4 – 3 30–19–5
55 17 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4 – 2 31–19–5
56 18 Washington Capitals 6 – 6 31–19–6
57 21 St. Louis Blues 7 – 3 32–19–6
58 24 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4 – 2 33–19–6
59 25 New York Islanders 3 – 2 34–19–6
60 27 @ St. Louis Blues 4 – 1 34–20–6
61 28 @ Minnesota North Stars 4 – 4 34–20–7
March: 5-6-3 (Home: 2-4-2; Road: 3-2-1)
Game March Opponent Score Record
62 3 Buffalo Sabres 2 – 2 34–20–8
63 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 4 – 2 34–21–8
64 7 Colorado Rockies 5 – 3 35–21–8
65 10 @ Montreal Canadiens 6 – 3 36–21–8
66 11 Chicago Black Hawks 5 – 2 37–21–8
67 14 Atlanta Flames 6 – 4 37–22–8
68 15 @ Boston Bruins 7 – 4 38–22–8
69 17 @ New York Islanders 5 – 2 38–23–8
70 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 5 – 1 38–24–8
71 20 @ Washington Capitals 2 – 2 38–24–9
72 21 @ Chicago Black Hawks 7 – 6 39–24–9
73 25 Montreal Canadiens 1 – 0 39–25–9
74 27 Philadelphia Flyers 4 – 4 39–25–10
75 28 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 7 – 1 39–26–10
April: 1-3-1 (Home: 1-1-1; Road: 0-2-0)
Game April Opponent Score Record
76 1 @ Philadelphia Flyers 7 – 3 39–27–10
77 2 Los Angeles Kings 5 – 4 40–27–10
78 4 Atlanta Flames 3 – 3 40–27–11
79 6 @ Atlanta Flames 9 – 2 40–28–11
80 8 New York Islanders 5 – 2 40–29–11

Season summary

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  • February 25: During a win against the Islanders, Ulf Nilsson was injured on a hip check by Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders. He suffered a broken ankle when his skate blade got caught in a crevice in the Madison Square Garden ice as he was hit by Potvin, which resulted in Nilsson bearing the entire force of the hit on only one leg. Although Nilsson has never characterized the hit as dirty and, in 2009, said, "He [Potvin] was always fair. But the ice was never great in the Garden, because they had basketball and other events. My foot got caught. It was a freak thing." Nevertheless the incident is still commemorated by the "Potvin Sucks" chant that takes place during every Rangers home game, and to this day, this would serve as the origin to this infamous "Potvin Sucks" chant at Madison Square Garden.

Playoffs

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Main articles: 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs and 1979 Stanley Cup Finals

Stanley Cup Finals

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The Rangers faced the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, who were making their fourth straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance. It was the Rangers' first appearance in the finals since the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to one, to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup.

Key:   Win   Loss

1979 Stanley Cup playoffs

Player statistics

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Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SO
John Davidson 39 2232 20 12 5 131 3.52 0
Wayne Thomas 31 1668 15 10 3 101 3.63 1
Doug Soetaert 17 900 5 7 3 57 3.80 0
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SO
John Davidson 18 1106 11 7 42 2.28 1

†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.

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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

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Transactions

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Draft picks

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New York's picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
2 26 Don Maloney LW  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
3 43 Ray Markham C  Canada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
3 44 Dean Turner D  United States University of Michigan (NCAA)
4 59 Dave Silk RW  United States Boston University (NCAA)
4 60 Andre Dore D  Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5 76 Mike MacDougall RW  United States Port Huron Flags (IHL)
6 93 Tom Laidlaw D  Canada Northern Michigan University (NCAA)
7 110 Dan Clark D  Canada Milwaukee Admirals (IHL)
8 127 Greg Kostenko D  Canada Ohio State University (NCAA)
9 144 Brian McDavid D  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
10 161 Mark Rodrigues G  United States Yale University (NCAA)
11 176 Steve Weeks G  Canada Northern Michigan University (NCAA)
12 192 Pierre Daigneault LW  Canada Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
13 206 Chris McLaughlin D  United States Dartmouth College (NCAA)
14 217 Todd Johnson C  United States Boston University (NCAA)
15 223 Dan McCarthy C  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA)

References

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  1. ^ "NEW YORK RANGERS LOGO". 1000 Logos. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1978-79 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
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