The New York Rangers joined the NHL in 1926 as an expansion team. In their 95-year existence, the franchise has weaved their way into the fiber of the NHL and are now considered to be a cornerstone franchise, being one of two franchises based out of New York City. Playing in Madison Square Garden since their inception, the Rangers, along with the New York Knicks, are a large part of the lore of MSG. The Rangers have also hosted some legendary players on their roster including Wayne Gretzky, Jaomir Jagr and Hendrik Lundqvist. With such a storied history, how many Stanley Cups have the New York Rangers won?
The New York Rangers have won 4 Stanley Cups in their 95 years. Their first came only 2 years after their induction in 1928, then they added two more Stanley Cups in 1933 and 1940 with their most recent coming in 1994.
Stanley Cup Finals 1928: New York Rangers vs Montreal Maroons
With only 2 years under the franchise’s belt, the Rangers found themselves playing for the Stanley Cup in 1928. The series against the Montreal Maroons was a best of 5 series and went all 5 games. The Rangers were led by center Frank Boucher who scored 4 goals in the series. The only other member of the Rangers to score was winger Bill Cook.
Stanley Cup Finals 1933: New York Rangers vs Toronto Maple Leafs
After 5 years, the Rangers again played their way to a Stanley Cup, facing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Finals. The series was again a best of 5, but the Rangers only needed 4 games to win the Cup. Bill Cook, age 36, scored 2 goals for the Rangers with young winger Cecil Dillon and young defenseman Ott Heller also adding 2 goals. New York goalie Andy Aitkenhead allowed just 5 goals, and the Rangers were able to secure a shutout for the Game 4 win.
Stanley Cup Finals 1940: New York Rangers vs Toronto Maple Leafs
Fast forward another 7 years and the Rangers again find themselves matched up against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This time, the series was the best of 7 format that is more familiar. The Rangers were led by Dave Kerr in goal and Bryan Hextall at winger. Kerr allowed 11 goals in 6 games, and Hextall scored 4 goals in the series. Alf Pike and Neil Colville both scored 2 goals for the Rangers. The series had 3 overtime games with Game 5 going to double overtime.
Stanley Cup Finals 1994: New York Rangers vs Vancouver Canucks
Rangers fans were then forced to wait another 54 years before getting to experience another Stanley Cup win. The 1994 team was headlined by legendary forward Mark Messier and young winger Alex Kovalev at the attack. Rangers’ defenseman Brian Leech won the Conn Smythe after scoring 11 goals and earning 23 assists. Vancouver was led by forward Pavel Bure, who led the playoffs with 16 goals and scored 3 of those goals in the Finals. New York was able to win the series in 7 games, with the series winning goal coming from the stick of Messier.
Watch: Mark Messier scores the game-winning goal to secure New York’s first Cup since 1940.
I hope you found all the information you were looking for about the New York Rangers in the article. If you are interested check out some players below to see how many Stanley Cups they have won in their NHL careers:
Jamie is the founder of Hockey Response and he is the chief writer/ lead editor. Jamie has been playing hockey for over 20 years. He was the defenseman of the year in NL and has played Jr A level hockey. Jamie has coached several kids hockey camps and he was the assistant coach of the Western Kings.