Andy Bathgate Passes Away

Andy Bathgate is one of the NHL's greatest players ever to grace a sheet of NHL ice, yet it is amazing that he even played hockey after suffering a horrific injury in juniors.

In 1951, while playing with the Guelph Juniors, he received a check that severely damaged his left knee. A steel plate was fixed beneath the kneecap yet it plagued him throughout his career. Despite this, he missed only five games in more than eleven seasons with the New York Rangers.

Even though this undoubtedly limited Bathgate's play, his immense talent prevailed. Bathgate was named twice to the NHL's first and twice to the second All-Star teams. He undoubtedly would have made it more times except that his principal rivals were Gordie Howe, Boom Geoffrion and Maurice Richard.

Andy was never much of a backchecker or a physical player, but when he had the puck there were none better. He could weave his way through a team single-handedly, and possessed one of the hardest shots ever witnessed

Bathgate enjoyed his greatest season in 1958-59 when he scored 40 goals and 88 points and won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP. In 1961-62 he tied Bobby Hull for the league lead in scoring, though Hull got the Art Ross trophy because he scored more goals.

Bathgate was a less charismatic version of Hull. He was a smooth skater and a deft puckhandler, but he too was known for his heavy shot. In fact some say it was Bathgate, not Hull or Geoffrion who perfected the slap shot. Regardless, his shot was feared around the league. It was his shot that hit Montreal goalie Jacques Plante in the face and saw witness to the birth of the goalie mask in the National Hockey League.

Being the first true hockey superstar since the days of Frank Boucher and brothers Bill and Bun Cook, Bathgate was the toast of Manhattan. He was the first Rangers player ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His penalty shot goal against Detroit on March 14th, 1962 that all but assured the Rangers of a playoff spot is still talked about by the old time hockey fans in the city.

Andy was traded to Toronto in 1963-64. It is in Toronto that Andy earned his only Stanley Cup ring. He was later acquired by Detroit, then by Pittsburgh in the 1967 expansion draft.

In total, Handy Andy Bathgate played in 1069 games, scoring 349 goals and 973 points. He was included in Hockey's Hall of Fame in 1978. He briefly played and coach in Switzerland and the WHA following retirement from the National League.

Bathgate stayed in Southern, Ontario upon his departure from the ice. His new passion became golf, and he ran a golf facility in Mississauga for years.

The Best News Andy Bathgate Ever Heard

When Andy Bathgate was just nine years old, he lost a tooth, cracked another and bloodied his home made jersey so bad that he was certain his mother would forbid from playing hockey ever again.

Andy probably didn't care about the teeth or sweater too much, but the thought of never playing hockey again terrified the young lad.

Much to his surprise, when he made it home his mother calmly cleaned up the blood. No scolding, no threats about never playing again.

Then she took him to the dentist.

"I'll never forget the words as he greeted me," recalled Bathgate. " 'Andy,' the dentist said, just remember you'll never be a hockey player if you've got all your teeth. And, son, it looks to me like you're going to be a hockey player!"

A NHL team should have signed up that dentist as a scout, because he was right. Andy Bathgate would become a hockey player. And a Stanley Cup champion. A Hockey Hall of Famer. A Hart Trophy winner.

Read all about the career of Andy Bathgate.

Andy Bathgate: Ahead Of The Curve

From Matt Dennis of the Windsor Star in 1962:

Andy Bathgate can stickhandle and pass, but his shot has been his greatest stock in trade. To us it has always appeared "different" and when Rangers were at Detroit Tuesday, we asked him whether we were right or was it just an optical illusion. At times, we had thought his shot actually "curved". Sounds unbelievable although hockey observers from another area had told us all was possible and that Cy Denneny was able to do that little thing while playing with Ottawa and Boston in the 1920's.
When queried re "curving" a puck, Andy said:

"It's no secret, at times there is a spin on my shots. I picked it up from curling. Talking to curlers in Winnipeg, I was told that a curling rock delivered straight doesn't go true because of the irregularities of the ice. So by twisting the rock, it goes true and is under control.

When I can, I cradle the puck on the heel of the stick, not in the middle as so many other players. I think the puck spins. Others have remarked about it but I do believe it gives me better control once I take aim."

Andy Bathgate's Side of the Story

It is one of the most famous moments in all of hockey history.

November 1st, 1959. Goaltender Jacques Plante takes a puck to the face and is injured badly. He leaves the ice, and returns with a protective mask, literally changing the face of hockey forever.

Most people know those integral details. But did you know the puck that hit Plante in the face came off of an Andy Bathgate shot? And did you know Bathgate's intentions in that moment were not so innocent?

Here's what Bathgate had to say about what led up to shot:

Jacques Plante tripped me one night in New York. Jacques Plante used to come out of the net, he was the first one to stop the puck behind the net and circle the net. We had sort of a verbal talk on the ice. One time playing the puck, he sort of showboated, 'Like picking cherries, Bathgate.’ Then later I said, ‘Oh, you played great tonight, you had five shots.’ I had to remind him he didn't have much to worry about. Later he came back behind the net and he tripped me. I hit the end boards pretty hard, luckily I didn't hurt myself or break my neck, I hit it hard. Just cut my ear, got it stitched up and came back out. He tried to hurt me. There's other ways I can get you back. You want to play that way, I can play that way, too. Later he had his stick out and I gave him a shot right on his cheek, it wasn't a slapshot. He went off and came back on with the mask on. We thought it was a joke. But he revolutionized the game. I'm not taking credit, but it changed the game for sure."

Bathgate of course was a Hockey Hall of Famer in his own right, best known with the New York Rangers but also with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2009 Pittsburgh drafted another Andy Bathgate - his grandson.

Pioneers of Hockey: Andy Bathgate

NHL Network presents Pioneers of Hockey: Andy Bathgate

Andy Bathgate Back In The NHL?

This is Andy Bathgate, one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He is a Hockey Hall of Famer and a Stanley Cup champion.

On the weekend his grandson Andy Bathgate was drafted by Pittsburgh, one of Grandpa's old teams.

The odds of the 151st draft pick sticking in the NHL are long, but grandson may actually have an easier time making the NHL than his grandpa. That's because in junior hockey the original Andy Bathgate suffered a most horrific injury that almost forced him off of the ice for good.

In 1951, while playing with the Guelph Juniors, he received a check that severely damaged his left knee. A steel plate was fixed beneath the kneecap yet it plagued him throughout his career. Despite this, he missed only five games in more than eleven seasons with the New York Rangers.

Hopefully the younger Andy Bathgate, who plays for the OHL Belleville Bulls, keeps that in mind on those days when his NHL dream seems unreachable.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting note from The Globe And Mail's Tim Wharnsby:

Interesting little tidbit concerning the Pittsburgh Penguins drafting Andy Bathgate of the Belleville Bulls in the fifth round, 151st overall.

The pick was originally owned by the Penguins, but was shipped to the Toronto Maple Leafs two years ago in exchange from Hal Gill. The Leafs then moved that pick last summer to the Rangers for Ryan Hollweg.

The Rangers traded the pick back to Pittsburgh on Saturday for an unsigned goaltender, Chad Johnson of Calgary, and drafted Bathgate, a forward who is the grandson of the great Andy Bathgate.

The connection is the older Bathgate started his career with the Rangers, played for the Leafs and was the Penguins leading scorer in their first season, 1967-68.

Who Invented The Curved Stick?

Stan Mikita is generally regarded as the father of the curved stick. One of the all time greats, nowadays Stan Mikita is synonymous with his famous banana blade.

The legend of the curved stick goes something like this: Mikita and teammate Bobby Hull were taking extra shots after practice when Mikita's blade cracked and curved. Mikita fired off a shot in frustration, and was surprised by the puck's velocity. He and Hull would experiment with curving sticks over the coming weeks, eventually convincing coach Billy Reay to use the boomerang blade in games.

But another all time great claimed to have first curved his blade back in the early 1940s, and even accused Mikita of getting the idea from him.

Here's what Andy Bathgate told author Bruce Dowbiggin in the book The Stick:

"Back in Winnipeg, where I grew up, my brother Frank and I used to curve our sticks. We'd get them wet and give them a nice bend. It helped us raise the puck. I used them all the time, even when I got to junior in Guelph. When I got to the Rangers, my coach, Alf Pike, would go around stepping on the blades to break them. 'You can't use those in a game,' he'd say. When he was gone and Phil Watson came in, I started curving them a little more."

And about Mikita getting the idea from him:

"Chicago was in to play us one Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden - it was one of those CBS TV games, I think - and Stan had run out of sticks. I guess their trainer went to our trainer to see if he could borrow sticks for the game - we were both right handed shots. I had some some I was using that had a little curve in them and so our trainer lent them to Stan. I think he just took it from there."

Mikita flatly denies that story. But it might not matter anyways, as another Hall of Fame player made an even earlier claim than either Mikita or Bathgate.

Bert Olmstead, meanwhile, says he was curving sticks in his youth in Alberta in the 1930s. "Oh we used to curve them all the time. That's how we lifted the puck. They were so whippy that when we got the wet, it was easy to curve the blade." Olmstead says he and other NHL players put slight curves in their blades when the vigilant eyes of their bosses were trained elsewhere.

Howell, Bathgate Honored Tonight

New York Rangers legends Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell will be honored Sunday night at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers host the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both stars first joined the Rangers in 1952. Tonight they, 57 years later, they will have their Nos. 9 and 3 retired.

Bathgate, now 76, played for the Rangers from 1952 through 64, captaining the team the last three seasons. He still ranks fourth all-time in club history with 272 goals.

The Hall of Famer was one of hockey's most devastating shooters, injuring many goalies, including Jacques Plante the night hockey was introduced to the goalie mask.

He was also the first Ranger to score 40 goals in a season in 1958 and was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1964 and helped them win the Stanley Cup. He retired in 1971.

Howell, also 76, played in a Rangers record 1,160 games, and despite playing in a lower scoring era still ranks fifth among defensemen in team history with 263 assists and 345 points.

Here are some interesting articles from around the internet:

No masking the pleasure for Bathgate and Howell - Newsday
Two Rangers Sweaters Will Rise Where a Cup Banner Didn’t - NY Times
Hats off to Harry - Hamilton Spectator

The New York Rangers website also has some great content.

John Halligan: Harry Howell Was 'Mr. Reliable'
John Halligan: Bathgate Gets His Due
Stan Fischler: Staal Stirs Memories of Howell
Stan Fischler: Bathgate a Remarkable Star
Stan Fischler: Bathgate Should Have Win Ross in '62

And some vintage articles too:

1957: Stars Make Room for Bathgate
1958: Andy Has a Touch of Greatness
1963: Howell Unsung Ranger Hero
1968: Howell 'Too Good a Man to Lose'

Andy Bathgate: Video Biography

Leetch's #2 Heading To Rafters Next Week

On January 24th, the New York Rangers will honour one of their all time greats when they officially retire Brian Leetch's jersey #2. Leetch will forever be immortalized at Madison Square Gardens, right beside fellow Rangers standouts Eddie Giacomin, Rod Gilbert, Mike Richter, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky.

Leetch is one of three new players from the New York Rangers profiled here today. I've also added Andy Bathgate and Bones Raleigh, bringing my Rangers biography count to an even 40.