This team was due...
They weren't overdue like the Red Sox and the White Sox but 54 years between Stanley Cups was just a bit too long to ask Ranger fans to wait for another championship. After the night of June 14, 1994, they would wait no more and no longer would they have to endure the "1940, 1940" taunts from opposing fans...
Before this night, the last time the Rangers won the Stanley Cup: FDR was our President, FM radio was demonstrated for the 1st time, gas was 18 cents a gallon, you could buy coffee for 21 cents a pound, the 1st hockey game (Rangers-Montreal) was televised, a new Lincoln Continental would set you back $2,800 and the 1st social security check was issued for $22.54. Appropriately enough the #1 song of the day was "When You Wish Upon A Star" by Glenn Miller...
In 1940 it was Bryan Hextall who scored at 2:07 in overtime to give the Rangers their 3rd Stanley Cup victory. Goalie David Kerr led all play-off goalies with a 1.67 goals against average and 3 shutouts. On this night in 1994 the Vancouver Canucks gave the Broadway Blues all they could ask for before falling to the Rangers 3-2 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Captain Mark Messier, who scored one of those goals was the hero of the game and Brian Leetch, MVP of the series...
One Ranger fan in the Madison Square Garden crowd summed up the 54 years of frustration by holding up a sign that read: "Now I Can Die in Peace" and the Ranger faithful taunted those who taunted them for 54 years with the chant: "We Won the Cup ! We Won the Cup ! 1940! 1940! 1940!"...
More June 14 Memories...
1775] The United States Army is founded by the Continental Congress...
1777] The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopts the Stars and Stripes as our national flag...
1834] Isaac Fischer Jr. of Springfield, Vermont patents sandpaper (after trying to shave with it and suffering 3rd degree abrasions)...
1893] Philadelphia observes the 1st Flag Day...
1943] The Supreme Court rules that schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs (HUH ?)...
1949] Phillie 1st baseman Eddie Waitkus is shot in the chest at a Chicago hotel by a 19-year old fan obsessed with him for years (Waitkus recovered and played for the 1950 pennant-winning Phillies. Waitkus did not know the fan)...
1952] The 1st nuclear submarine, the Nautilus is dedicated...
1953] Elvis Presley graduates from LC Humes High School in Memphis...
1954] President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance...
1964] The Dixie Cups are #1 with "Chapel of Love"...
1965] Paul McCartney records "Yesterday"...
1965] Beatles VI is released...
1965] Bob Dylan records "Like A Rolling Stone"...
1980] Frank Sinatra has a hit with "New York, New York"...
1982] Argentine troops surrender to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands...
1987] Mr. T says "Ah Pity the fool" for the last time as "The A Team" bows out after a 4-year run...
1989] Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is arrested for slapping a Beverly Hills cop (she later appologizes to the officer, "I'm sorry deah, I sought you vere vone of my husbands")...
1994] After a 54-year drought, the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup (feature story)...
1994] Composer and winner of 20 Grammy's, Henry Mancini dies at 70...
1996] "Cable Guy" starring Jim Carrey premieres...
1996] Legendary swing-era singer Ella Fitzgerald dies from bad circulation problems (she had lost both legs in 1994) at 79...
1998] Michael Jordan leads the Chicago Bulls to their second "three-peat" and 6th NBA title of the decade...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
Commentary...
The Flag Day timeline:
1776] George Washington commissioned Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross to create a flag for our new nation...
1977] The Continental Congress approves the design of a national flag...
1916] President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation declaring June 14th as Flag Day...
| If you have our flag, display it. If you don't, go out and buy one and display it. When I owned a house, I proudly flew the red, white and blue everyday. Show everyone what you think of your country. End of sermon... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday"... 1919] Gene Barry... 1931] Marla Gibbs (Florence on "The Jeffersons")... 1945] Rod Argent (Zombies and Argent)... 1946] Donald Trump... 1958] Olympic gold-medal speed skater Eric Heiden... 1961] Boy George a.k.a. George O'Dowd... 1969] Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf... [Today is the 165th day of 2006 with 200 days left in the year and 20 days until July 4th] ... |
