Celebrating legendary Rangers goalie Ed Giacomin on his 86th birthday
The chants of “Igor” rock Madison Square Garden on a regular basis these days, saluting another terrific save by goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the cornerstone upon which the New York Rangers of the 2020s have been built.
But back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the “new” Garden was really new, “Ed-die! Ed-die!” was the cry that regularly rolled through the Garden, cheering yet another great save by perhaps the most unlikely Hockey Hall of Famer in Rangers history.
Ed Giacomin turned 86 on June 6, just over 60 years after he became a Ranger via a trade with Providence of the American Hockey League, a team that had no NHL affiliation and could make deals with anyone.
Emile Francis, who took over as general manager of the floundering Rangers in 1964, was determined to find a goaltender he could build around. He found him thanks to scout Johnny Gagnon, who saw the 25-year-old Giacomin in Providence and recommended that Francis take a look. “The Cat,” an NHL goalie in his playing days, liked what he saw.
“I watched him play in Providence many times,” Francis said years later, “and he was playing with a bad hockey club. But he was a tremendous competitor and regardless of what the score was, he hung in there.”
The Rangers had to battle at least three other teams to make a deal with Providence. He ultimately sent four players — starting goalie Marcel Paille plus Sandy McGregor, Aldo Guidolin, and Jim Mikol — to the Reds for Giacomin. When the trade was officially announced on May 17, 1965, Giacomin said later that, “I think I was the happiest guy on this Earth. It was a dream.”
But the dream started off as a nightmare. He couldn’t win the starting job on an awful Rangers team in 1965-66, even spending time back in the AHL with Baltimore, the Rangers’ top minor-league team. The start of the 1966-67 season wasn’t much better.
But after getting a vote of confidence from Francis following a Nov. 9, 1966, game that saw him allow two late goals to turn a 3-1 lead against the Boston Bruins into a 3-3 tie — and Garden fans throw garbage at him –, Giacomin found his game.
Ed Giacomin, Rangers immortal and Hall of Famer, turns 86
“It just takes a couple of words sometimes, somebody to believe in you,” Giacomin recalled years later. “Emile believed in me. He just said, ‘you’re going to be the goalie from now on, and I’ll be right behind you.’ I don’t know what it was; it just seemed like everything turned for the best.”
Giacomin started 59 of the Rangers’ final 60 games, including 38 in a row from Nov. 12, 1966, through Feb. 11, 1967. In a 27-game stretch that began with the first game after the talk with Francis (Nov. 12, 1966, through Jan. 12, 1967), he went 17-6-4 with a 1.89 goals against average, a .938 save percentage, and four shutouts.
By season’s end, the Rangers were back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1962 – and Giacomin ended up as the runner-up for the Hart Trophy. He was also named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team after leading all goaltenders in appearances (68 in a 70-game season), wins (30), and shutouts (nine).
With Giacomin as their starter, the Rangers made the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons. He was a Second-Team All-Star in 1968, 1969 and 1970, then combined with Gilles Villemure to win the Vezina Trophy (then awarded to the goalies on the team that allowed the fewest goals) in 1970-71, when he was again named a First-Team All-Star.
One year later, Giacomin helped the Rangers return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1950; however, a broken ankle that hindered star center Jean Ratelle was too much for the Rangers to overcome, and they lost to Boston in six games. Giacomin helped them avenge that loss the following year, when the Rangers became the first team to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champs in the first round of the following year’s playoffs for three straight seasons.
By then, Giacomin had long since cemented his place among the most popular players in Rangers history. That’s what made the decision to put him on waivers on Oct. 31, 1975, so stunning. Giacomin, now 36, was part of an aging core and was deemed expendable after Francis had acquired talented young goaltender John Davidson (yes, that John Davidson) from the St. Louis Blues that summer.
But perhaps to the surprise of Rangers management, the Detroit Red Wings claimed him. Giacomin was shaken and considered retirement. However, he changed his mind and told Detroit GM Alex Delvecchio he wanted to play against the Rangers, the team he said “threw me to the wolves like a piece of garbage.”
Giacomin and the Wings came to MSG two nights later for what is still among the most emotional nights in New York hockey history – one that showed the lasting impact he had on the franchise and the fans. Giacomin was greeted with cheers and the “Edd-ie! Edd-ie!” chant from the time he stepped onto the ice until after he departed after making 42 saves in a 6-4 victory on a night that saw the home team booed from the first notes of the National Anthem to the final buzzer.
“It’s amazing how everything takes care of itself,” Giacomin said after the game. “The last few days were pretty sad for me, having to play against my old team. It must have been hard for the Ranger players, too. You could see it in their eyes. If I hadn’t been wearing the mask, I’m sure the tears would have rolled down as they skated by.”
Giacomin admitted the fans’ reaction was even more than he had hoped for.
“I was shaking before the game, I was so nervous,” he said. “I kept thinking, let’s get the game going. Then when it started, I kept hoping I’d get a shot or something to end my shaking. thought I’d faint in the middle of the game. I kept getting hotter and hotter. At the end I was exhausted.”
Giacomin retired on Jan. 17, 1978, with a career record of 290-209 and 96 ties; he was 267-172-89 with a 2.74 goals against average and 49 shutouts with the Rangers. When he left, he was first in team history in career wins (267) and shutouts (49), and second in games played (539). He also ranked first in wins for a season (38, 1968-69), tied for first in appearances for a season (70, 1968-69 and 1969-70) and tied for fourth in shutouts for a season (nine, 1966-67) at the time.
The Hall of Fame opened its doors to Giacomin in 1987, and the Rangers retired his No. 1 on March 15, 1989, only the second player in team history (after longtime teammate Rod Gilbert) to be so honored.
Shesterkin is beloved by Rangers fans, with good reason. His career numbers may well end up better than Giacomin’s. But it’s hard to picture Shesterkin, or any other Rangers goaltender, will have the kind of popularity that “Fast Eddie” did with Garden fans of that era.
