On October 4 in Rangers history: A trade for the Messiah

What happened on October 4 in the history of the New York Rangers.

On this date in 1991, the New York Rangers made a trade that changed the future of the team, a trade that had effects on the franchise for the next 15 years.  On October 4, 1991, General Manager Neil Smith traded Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice, Louie DeBrusk to the Edmonton Oilers for Mark Messier, one of the great leaders in sports.

Not only that, there was a second piece of the deal that sent David Shaw to Edmonton for big defenseman Jeff Beukeboom a month later.   The Rangers ended up with a player who would lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years and a defense partner for Brian Leetch.

The Rangers were able to swing the deal because Messier had held out in Edmonton, demanding a trade.  The holdout left Edmonton GM Glen Sather with few options though some observers thought the Blueshirts had given up too much for an aging player with bad knees.

In fact, Messier had to pass a physical exam to prove that his knees were sound and though he was 30 years old when the deal was made, he stuck around for another 13 seasons.

In his first season, Messier led the Rangers to the Presidents Trophy under coach Roger Neilson, but they met an early exit in the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.   After missing the playoff in 1993, Messier orchestrated a coup, getting Neilson fired and replaced by Mike Keenan.  The rest is history.

Many of the moves made by the team for the next decade were determined by how it would affect The Captain from the signing of Wayne Gretzky to the trading of Petr Nedved.  Even when Messier departed to sign in Vancouver after a feud with Neil Smith, it led to the Rangers offer sheet to Joe Sakic and a series of misguided free agent signings in an effort to replace him.

To Ranger fans the arrival of the Messiah will be hailed as one of the most momentous events in Blueshirts history.

Today’s birthdays

15 NHL players have been born on October 4 with one of them a former player and the other a former coach.

Vic Hadfield was born on this date in 1940 in Oakville, Ontario.  The left winger on the famous GAG line spent 13 years with the Rangers and was team captain from 1971-74.  He is most famous as the first Blueshirt to score 50 goals in a season, a feat he accomplished in 1971-72 when he also notched a career high 106 points.   His 262 goals are fifth most in franchise history and he is also fifth all-time in penalty minutes with 1,041.   He is the only Ranger to score over 200 goals and accumulate 1,000 penalty minutes.  At 34, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Nick Beverly.  Many believe he was banished after he was seen laughing in the penalty box in the last minute of the seventh game of a playoff loss to the Flyers.  Hadfield had his number 11 retired in December 2018.

Tom Webster was born this date in 1948 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.  He played 11 years in the NHL and WHA as a right winger, mostly for the New England Whalers.  His connection to the Rangers was his brief stint as head coach in 1986-87.  Hired by Phil Esposito to succeed Ted Sator, it was a disastrous season.  Webster developed an inner ear infection that prevented him from flying and he ended up only coaching the team for 18 games before he was forced to resign in April, 1987.  His health problems cleared up enough for him to coach the Los Angeles Kings for three years.