Tales from the New York Rangers Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Rangers Stories Ever Told

by Gilles Villemure, Mike Shalin, Ed Giacomin (Foreword by)

Overview

In the late 1960s the New York Rangers transformed from NHL also-rans to Stanley Cup contenders. Gilles Villemure was part of that transformation. The little goaltender had a long wait to make it to the National Hockey League, which had only six teams until after the middle of the decade. Eventually Villemure joined Eddie Giacomin to give the Rangers a strong 1-2 goaltending tandem. The Vezina Trophy–winning twosome was a fixture for the Rangers, threatening to end the franchise’s long Stanley Cup drought, only to come up short. Now, forty years later, Villemure writes about his days with the Rangers in the newly updated Tales from the Rangers Locker Room. Villemure tells stories about old pals like Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield, Brad Park, Jean Ratelle—and his boss, Emile “The Cat” Francis.

The Rangers finally won that Stanley Cup in 1994, ending over fifty years of frustration, but it was those Francis-led teams—the ones with Villemure and Giacomin in the goal—that brought New York’s Blueshirts, Madison Square Garden’s finest, to the top of the NHL. It is their influence that has continued to propel the Rangers forward even today, with a conference championship win in 2014 and the President’s Trophy in 2015. Fans young and old will want to hear Villemure’s stories come to life.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613219034
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Series:	Tales from the Team
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	282,962
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mike Shalin is a veteran of over four decades in sports journalism, working for the Boston Herald and the New York Post. He spent much of his early career covering hockey before moving on to baseball and college sports. He is now a freelancer in the Boston area and has spent the last fifteen years as an official scorer at Fenway Park. Shalin is the author of Donnie Baseball: The Definitive Biography of Don Mattingly, as well as several books for young readers. He is also the coauthor of Out by a Step: The 100 Best Players Not in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Tales from the New York Rangers Locker Room.

Table of Contents

Foreword Ed Giacomin vii

Preface ix

Introduction Gilles Villemure xviii

Introduction Mike Shalin xxiii

1 Getting Started 3

2 A little Help from My Friends: Emile Francis 14

3 Glory Days 24

4 A Little Help from My Friends: Eddie Giacomin 49

5 Teammates 57

6 A Little Help from My Friends: Rod Gilbert 83

7 Derek Sanderson 94

8 A Little Help from My Friends: Brad Park 101

9 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do 108

10 A Little Help from My Friends: Peter Stemkowski 121

11 Fun and Games 131

12 A Little Help from My Friends: Vic Hadfieid 141

13 Life Away from the Ice 147

14 A little Help from My Friends: Rod Selling 154

15 A View of the Game 160

16 A Little Help from My Friends: Bill Fairbairn 166

17 A New Beginning 172

18 A Little Help from My Friends: Ted Irvine 174

Gilles Villemure's Career Record 183

NY Rangers Playoff Results during Gilles Villemure's Time with the Team 185

All-Time Rangers Shutouts, Including Playoffs (Entering the 2015-16 Season) 188

Trivia Answers 188