# 1949–50 New York Rangers season

The 1949–50 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 24th season. The season saw the Rangers finish in fourth place in the National Hockey League (NHL) with a record of 28 wins, 31 losses, and 11 ties for 67 points. They upset the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the Semi-finals before losing a close seven-game Stanley Cup Finals to the Detroit Red Wings. The team reached double-overtime of the seventh game of the Finals before Detroit's Pete Babando scored to give the Red Wings the Cup. The Rangers would not win another playoff series again until 1971.
Also of note during this season was that the Rangers were forced to use Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the home ice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as their "home ice" during the Stanley Cup Finals, as the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus was then at Madison Square Garden. Garden management found that they could make more money having the circus at the Garden instead of the Rangers. Moreover, at the time, arenas could not be configured to host a circus and a hockey game on the same day, thus forcing the shift in venue.
The Rangers would not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until 1972.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 37 | 19 | 14 | 229 | 164 | +65 | 88 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 29 | 22 | 19 | 172 | 150 | +22 | 77 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 31 | 27 | 12 | 176 | 173 | +3 | 74 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 28 | 31 | 11 | 170 | 189 | −19 | 67 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 22 | 32 | 16 | 198 | 228 | −30 | 60 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 22 | 38 | 10 | 203 | 244 | −41 | 54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1949–50 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 5–7–2 | 3–8–3 | 4–5–5 | 5–5–4 | 5–7–2 |
| Chicago | 7–5–2 | — | 3–9–2 | 4–8–2 | 4–9–1 | 4–7–3 |
| Detroit | 8–3–3 | 9–3–2 | — | 5–3–6 | 7–5–2 | 8–5–1 |
| Montreal | 5–4–5 | 8–4–2 | 3–5–6 | — | 7–5–2 | 6–4–4 |
| New York | 5–5–4 | 9–4–1 | 5–7–2 | 5–7–2 | — | 4–8–2 |
| Toronto | 7–5–2 | 7–4–3 | 5–8–1 | 4–6–4 | 8–4–2 | — |

## Schedule and results

1949–50 Game Log :
October: 2–4–2 (Home: 1–2–0; Road: 1–2–2)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
115@ Montreal Canadiens3–10–1–0
216@ Boston Bruins2–20–1–1
319@ Detroit Red Wings6–10–2–1
422@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–20–2–2
525@ Chicago Black Hawks2–11–2–2
626Boston Bruins5–22–2–2
729Chicago Black Hawks2–02–3–2
830Toronto Maple Leafs4–22–4–2 :
November: 3–4–4 (Home: 2–2–2; Road: 1–2–2)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
92@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–32–4–3
106@ Detroit Red Wings7–02–5–3
119Montreal Canadiens2–22–5–4
1212Montreal Canadiens5–32–6–4
1313Detroit Red Wings1–12–6–5
1416Boston Bruins2–13–6–5
1520@ Chicago Black Hawks5–24–6–5
1623@ Detroit Red Wings4–34–7–5
1726@ Montreal Canadiens5–14–8–5
1827@ Boston Bruins1–14–8–6
1930Montreal Canadiens5–25–8–6 :
December: 9–3–1 (Home: 7–1–0; Road: 2–2–1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
203@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–05–9–6
214Chicago Black Hawks4–06–9–6
227Chicago Black Hawks2–17–9–6
2310@ Detroit Red Wings1–08–9–6
2411Detroit Red Wings2–19–9–6
2514@ Chicago Black Hawks5–39–10–6
2617@ Boston Bruins3–110–10–6
2718Toronto Maple Leafs2–010–11–6
2821Montreal Canadiens4–111–11–6
2924@ Montreal Canadiens0–011–11–7
3025Toronto Maple Leafs3–112–11–7
3128Chicago Black Hawks5–213–11–7
3231Boston Bruins4–114–11–7 :
January: 3–8–2 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 1–5–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
331@ Boston Bruins6–014–12–7
344Detroit Red Wings2–115–12–7
357@ Montreal Canadiens3–116–12–7
368Chicago Black Hawks1–116–12–8
3711Toronto Maple Leafs2–116–13–8
3814@ Detroit Red Wings4–216–14–8
3915Detroit Red Wings1–016–15–8
4018Boston Bruins4–216–16–8
4121@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–116–17–8
4222@ Chicago Black Hawks4–316–18–8
4325@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–116–19–8
4428@ Boston Bruins2–216–19–9
4529Montreal Canadiens2–017–19–9 :
February: 7–3–2 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 3–3–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
461@ Boston Bruins3–217–20–9
472@ Montreal Canadiens4–117–21–9
485@ Detroit Red Wings5–517–21–10
499@ Chicago Black Hawks5–318–21–10
5012Detroit Red Wings4–019–21–10
5115Boston Bruins2–219–21–11
5218@ Montreal Canadiens4–220–21–11
5319Toronto Maple Leafs2–121–21–11
5422Chicago Black Hawks3–022–21–11
5523@ Chicago Black Hawks7–323–21–11
5625@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–223–22–11
5726Boston Bruins4–324–22–11 :
March: 4–9–0 (Home: 3–5–0; Road: 1–4–0)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
581Detroit Red Wings5–224–23–11
594@ Boston Bruins5–124–24–11
605Toronto Maple Leafs5–225–24–11
618@ Chicago Black Hawks4–226–24–11
629Detroit Red Wings3–127–24–11
6311@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–027–25–11
6412Montreal Canadiens5–127–26–11
6515Boston Bruins4–127–27–11
6618@ Montreal Canadiens5–327–28–11
6719Montreal Canadiens4–227–29–11
6821Chicago Black Hawks6–327–30–11
6922@ Detroit Red Wings8–727–31–11
7026Toronto Maple Leafs5–328–31–11 :

## Playoffs
### Stanley Cup Finals

It was the Rangers' first appearance in the Final since their Stanley Cup victory in 1940. Two games were played in Toronto as the circus had taken over Madison Square Garden in New York. New York's Don Raleigh scored two overtime winners and Detroit's Pete Babando scored the Cup-winning goal in overtime of game seven, the first time ever in which the stanley cup was won in extra frames in game seven. Detroit won the Cup without Gordie Howe, who was injured in the first game of the playoffs. As Stanley Cup runner-up, the Rangers would be awarded the O'Brien Cup, the last team to win the trophy, at one time the National Hockey Association championship trophy, which was retired after the season.
Key: Win Loss
1950 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Edgar Laprade | 60 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 2 |
| Tony Leswick | 69 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 85 |
| Ed Slowinski | 63 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 12 |
| Don Raleigh | 70 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 11 |
| Dunc Fisher | 70 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 42 |
| Herbert O'Connor | 66 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 4 |
| Alex Kaleta | 67 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 40 |
| Pentti Lund | 64 | 18 | 9 | 27 | 16 |
| Nick Mickoski | 47 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 |
| Pat Egan | 70 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 50 |
| Jackie McLeod | 38 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 2 |
| Fred Shero | 67 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 71 |
| Norman Poile$^‡$ | 28 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Allan Stanley | 55 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 58 |
| Walter Kyle | 70 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 143 |
| Frank Eddolls | 58 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| Jean Lamirande | 16 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Jack Lancien | 43 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 27 |
| Winston Juckes | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Norman Lowe | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Don Smith | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Wally Stanowski | 37 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Sherman White | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Jean-Paul Denis | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Doug Adam | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fern Perreault | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Gordon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Kyle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Evans | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bill McDonagh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| John Webster | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Pentti Lund | 12 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| Don Raleigh | 12 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| Edgar Laprade | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| Ed Slowinski | 12 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Allan Stanley | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| Herbert O'Connor | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Dunc Fisher | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| Tony Leswick | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| Nick Mickoski | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Pat Egan | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Walter Kyle | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 30 |
| Alex Kaleta | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Jack Gordon | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Frank Eddolls | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Jack Lancien | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fred Shero | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jean Lamirande | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackie McLeod | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Chuck Rayner | 69 | 4140 | 28 | 30 | 11 | 181 | 2.62 | 6 |
| Emile Francis | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 8.00 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Chuck Rayner | 12 | 775 | 7 | 5 | 29 | 2.25 | 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.
    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

* O'Brien Cup: New York Rangers
* Hart Memorial Trophy: Chuck Rayner
* Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Edgar Laprade
* Tony Leswick, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
* Chuck Rayner, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star