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The New York Rangers are an ice hockey team based in New York, New York, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise. They are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six, along with the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Chicago Blackhawks. The Rangers were the first NHL franchise in the United States to win the Stanley Cup, which they have done four times (most recently in 1993–94).
The Birth of the Rangers It might seem hard to believe, but the New York Rangers were once an NHL expansion team. The year was 1926, and hockey was already a popular sport at Madison Square Garden – only the team of choice was not yet the Blueshirts. Back then, another NHL squad, the old New York Americans, were drawing big crowds in their first season at The Garden. In their first 16 seasons, the Rangers missed the playoffs only once, and only twice did they fall lower than third place. By the early 1940s, the Blueshirts’ popularity contributed to the decline of the Americans, who left The Garden for Brooklyn before eventually folding in 1942. During that 16-year span in which they were one of two New York hockey teams, the Rangers won three regular-season championships, finished second five times and third on six other occasions. Rangers’ nights at The Garden became popular, attracting a ‘dinner-jacket’ crowd that often included sports figures, Broadway entertainers, New York’s society elite and City Hall politicians.
