# 1971–72 New York Rangers season

The 1971–72 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 46th season. Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert ranked third, fourth and fifth overall in league scoring. The Rangers qualified for the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. The club made its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1950 but lost in six games to the Boston Bruins.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 54 | 13 | 11 | 330 | 204 | +126 | 119 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 48 | 17 | 13 | 317 | 192 | +125 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 46 | 16 | 16 | 307 | 205 | +102 | 108 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 33 | 31 | 14 | 209 | 208 | +1 | 80 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 33 | 35 | 10 | 261 | 262 | −1 | 76 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 16 | 43 | 19 | 203 | 289 | −86 | 51 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 203 | 297 | −94 | 48 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1971–72 Game Log :
October: 6–1–4 (Home: 3–1–2; Road: 3–0–2)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
19@ Montreal Canadiens4–40–0–1
210@ Boston Bruins4–11–0–1
313Boston Bruins6–11–1–1
416@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–32–1–1
517Montreal Canadiens8–43–1–1
620Chicago Black Hawks3–14–1–1
723@ St. Louis Blues4–35–1–1
824Pittsburgh Penguins1–15–1–2
927Detroit Red Wings7–46–1–2
1030@ Pittsburgh Penguins1–16–1–3
1131Toronto Maple Leafs3–36–1–4 :
November: 9–2–0 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 4–2–0)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
123@ Los Angeles Kings7–17–1–4
135@ California Golden Seals8–18–1–4
146@ Vancouver Canucks3–19–1–4
1510Los Angeles Kings7–110–1–4
1613Buffalo Sabres5–211–1–4
1714Vancouver Canucks6–112–1–4
1820@ Minnesota North Stars4–112–2–4
1921California Golden Seals12–113–2–4
2024St. Louis Blues8–314–2–4
2127@ Detroit Red Wings3–114–3–4
2228@ Philadelphia Flyers4–215–3–4 :
December: 10–2–2 (Home: 7–0–1; Road: 3–2–1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
231Buffalo Sabres7–216–3–4
244@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–216–4–4
255Vancouver Canucks6–317–4–4
268@ Chicago Black Hawks2–217–4–5
279@ Philadelphia Flyers5–018–4–5
2812Pittsburgh Penguins6–119–4–5
2915Philadelphia Flyers6–220–4–5
3016@ Boston Bruins8–120–5–5
3118@ St. Louis Blues5–221–5–5
3219Minnesota North Stars1–121–5–6
3322Pittsburgh Penguins4–222–5–6
3425@ Minnesota North Stars2–123–5–6
3526Montreal Canadiens5–124–5–6
3629Philadelphia Flyers5–125–5–6 :
January: 6–4–2 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–3–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
372Boston Bruins4–125–6–6
385St. Louis Blues9–126–6–6
399Los Angeles Kings8–027–6–6
4012@ Chicago Black Hawks5–527–6–7
4113@ Buffalo Sabres5–228–6–7
4215@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–328–7–7
4319@ Los Angeles Kings5–129–7–7
4421@ California Golden Seals5–030–7–7
4522@ Vancouver Canucks5–230–8–7
4626Buffalo Sabres5–131–8–7
4729@ Minnesota North Stars4–231–9–7
4830Minnesota North Stars1–131–9–8 :
February: 10–2–2 (Home: 5–1–1; Road: 5–1–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
492Boston Bruins2–031–10–8
503@ Buffalo Sabres4–232–10–8
515@ St. Louis Blues6–532–11–8
526Toronto Maple Leafs2–232–11–9
539Chicago Black Hawks4–133–11–9
5412@ Pittsburgh Penguins8–334–11–9
5513Los Angeles Kings4–235–11–9
5615@ Vancouver Canucks5–136–11–9
5717@ Los Angeles Kings6–437–11–9
5818@ California Golden Seals2–237–11–10
5920Detroit Red Wings4–338–11–10
6022@ Montreal Canadiens7–339–11–10
6123Philadelphia Flyers4–340–11–10
6227St. Louis Blues2–041–11–10 :
March: 7–4–3 (Home: 3–2–2; Road: 4–2–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
631California Golden Seals4–142–11–10
642@ Buffalo Sabres4–343–11–10
655Vancouver Canucks6–144–11–10
668Chicago Black Hawks3–344–11–11
6711@ Detroit Red Wings4–245–11–11
6812California Golden Seals7–345–12–11
6915@ Chicago Black Hawks3–145–13–11
7016@ Detroit Red Wings2–146–13–11
7118@ Philadelphia Flyers5–347–13–11
7219Toronto Maple Leafs5–348–13–11
7323@ Boston Bruins4–148–14–11
7425@ Montreal Canadiens3–348–14–12
7526Minnesota North Stars5–048–15–12
7629Detroit Red Wings2–248–15–13 :
April: 0–2–0 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 0–1–0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
771@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–148–16–13
782Montreal Canadiens6–548–17–13 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1972 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Jean Ratelle | 63 | 46 | 63 | 109 | 4 |
| Vic Hadfield | 78 | 50 | 56 | 106 | 142 |
| Rod Gilbert | 73 | 43 | 54 | 97 | 64 |
| Brad Park | 75 | 24 | 49 | 73 | 130 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 76 | 24 | 42 | 66 | 65 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 78 | 22 | 37 | 59 | 53 |
| Bobby Rousseau | 78 | 21 | 36 | 57 | 12 |
| Rod Seiling | 78 | 5 | 36 | 41 | 62 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 75 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 22 |
| Jim Neilson | 78 | 7 | 30 | 37 | 56 |
| Ted Irvine | 78 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 66 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 59 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 53 |
| Gene Carr$^†$ | 60 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 25 |
| Dale Rolfe | 68 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 67 |
| Glen Sather | 76 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 77 |
| Ab DeMarco | 48 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 |
| Gary Doak$^†$ | 50 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 54 |
| Dave Balon$^‡$ | 16 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| Pierre Jarry$^‡$ | 34 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 20 |
| Phil Goyette$^†$ | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Jack Egers$^‡$ | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| Ron Stewart$^†$ | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Norm Gratton | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike McMahon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Dorey$^†$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Williams | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Lorentz$^{†‡}$ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bobby Rousseau | 16 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 7 |
| Vic Hadfield | 16 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 22 |
| Rod Gilbert | 16 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 11 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 16 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 18 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 16 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| Brad Park | 16 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 21 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 16 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 35 |
| Ted Irvine | 16 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 19 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Dale Rolfe | 16 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
| Rod Seiling | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| Phil Goyette | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Gene Carr | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 21 |
| Ron Stewart | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Jim Neilson | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Ab DeMarco | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Glen Sather | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Jean Ratelle | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jim Dorey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Andrascik | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Doak | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 44 | 2551 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 115 | 2.70 | 1 |
| Gilles Villemure | 37 | 2129 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 74 | 2.09 | 3 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 10 | 600 | 6 | 4 | 27 | 2.70 | 0 |
| Gilles Villemure | 6 | 360 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 2.33 | 0 |
$^†$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.
    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;

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 10 | Steve Vickers | LW | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 1 | 13 | Steve Durbano | D | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 2 | 27 | Tom Williams | LW | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 3 | 41 | Terry West | C | Canada | London Knights (OHA) |
| 4 | 55 | Jerry Butler | RW | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 5 | 69 | Fraser Robertson | D | Canada | Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL) |
| 6 | 83 | Wayne Wood | G | Canada | Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA) |
| 7 | 96 | Doug Keeler | C | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHA) |
| 7 | 97 | Jean-Denis Royal | D | Canada | Saint-Jerome Alouettes (QMJHL) |
| 8 | 109 | Gene Sobchuk | LW | Canada | Regina Pats (WCHL) |
| 9 | 110 | Jim Ivison | D | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL) |
| 10 | 111 | Andre Peloffy | C | France | Rosemont National (QMJHL) |
| 11 | 112 | Elston Evoy | C | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (NOHA) |
| 12 | 114 | Gerry Lecomte | D | Canada | Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL) |
| 13 | 115 | Wayne Forsey | LW | Canada | Swift Current Broncos (WCHL) |
| 14 | 116 | Bill Forrest | D | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |