At age 26, he’s already won the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman (2020-21), been a First-Team All-Star twice (2020-21 and 2022-23) and a Second-Team All-Star once (2023-24). He’s exceeded 70 points in each of the past three seasons, finished at least plus-18 in each of his five seasons in the League and set NHL career highs in goals in each of the past three seasons, including 17 in 2024-24.

That’s quite a list of accomplishments for a player so young.

But Fox has already raised another interesting question: Is he the best right-shot defenseman in Rangers history?

The competition isn’t as tough as you might think. Of the 50 highest-scoring D-men in franchise history, only 18 (including Fox) are right-handed shooters. All five defensemen who’ve played at least 800 games with the Rangers were left-hand shots, as were nine of the 13 defensemen who’ve played for them on the way to the Hockey Hall of Fame. None of the Rangers’ four right-handed shots in the Hall have played more than 288 games with the team; Fox (357) will pass the 400-game mark midway through the season.

Brian Leetch? Brad Park? Harry Howell? Ron Greschner? Each a left-shot defenseman.

Related: Alexis Lafreniere ranked No. 14 among NHL players/prospects under 23

Ranking Adam Fox against best right-shot defensemen in Rangers history

So, is Fox the best right-shot defenseman ever to play for the Rangers? It’s hard to come to any other verdict. Here’s a look at Fox and five of the other top candidates (Minimum 150 games with the Rangers).

Adam Fox

Seasons: 5 (2019-present)

Games played: 357

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points-Plus/Minus): 53-255-308, Plus-108 (.86 Pt/G)

Here’s a scary thought: Fox is still getting better. His three 70-point seasons are more than any other New York blueliner not named Brian Leetch. His 308 points are already seventh among defensemen in Rangers history. Another 70-point season will push him into the top-four. His peak seasons are still ahead of him.

Fox can do just about everything. He’s effective in his own zone, moves the puck smoothly and quickly in transition, is the best power-play quarterback the Rangers have had since Leetch’s glory days in the 1990s and developed a shooting touch that’s reminiscent of Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom — he doesn’t shoot rockets, but he knows how to get his shots through to the net, where it often goes in or gives teammates the chance to score on tips and rebounds.

The native of Jericho, New York, made it clear while at Harvard that the Rangers were the only team he would play for. They’re lucky he did.

James Patrick

Seasons: 11 (1984-93)

Games played: 671

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points-Plus/Minus): 104-363-467, Plus-66 (.70 Pt/G)

Patrick was a very good defenseman for the Rangers during his 10-plus seasons — in fact, he was arguably the best right-shot defenseman in team history until Fox came along.

He reached double figures in goals and had at least 40 points for seven straight seasons (1985-86 through 1991-92). He’s third all-time in scoring among Rangers defensemen — and the only right-hand shot among the top five. Patrick is also one of just seven Rangers defensemen to score at least 70 points in a season. He finished plus-34 in 1991-92, the best mark by any Rangers defensemen between 1972-73 and 2005-06.

The only unfortunate part of Patrick’s time in New York was that he missed out on the 1994 Stanley Cup run. After a down season in 1992-93 and a slow start in 1993-94, Patrick was traded to the Hartford Whalers on Nov. 2, 1993, as part of the package that brought back Steve Larmer, a two-way forward who played a key role in the quest for the Cup. The Whalers traded him to the Calgary Flames later in 1993-94; he played four more seasons with the Flames and six with the Buffalo Sabres before finishing his 21-season NHL career in 2004 (he played 2005-06 in Germany before hanging up his skates for good).

Patrick was a solid player who compiled good stats over a long career. But he was never selected for the NHL All-Star Game, never made a postseason All-Star team and never finished better than eighth in voting for the Norris Trophy — which leaves him behind Fox.

Sergei Zubov

Seasons: 3 (1992-95)

Games played: 165

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points-Plus/Minus): 30-126-156, Plus-17 (.95 Pt/G)

Zubov started his road to the Hockey Hall of Fame with three seasons in New York after the Rangers snagged him with a fifth-round pick in the 1990 NHL Draft.

There was no question about Zubov’s skills right from the start. He came to North America in the fall of 1992, was in the NHL in early December and a regular before the new year began. The following season, he led the Rangers in scoring with 89 points, including 77 assists, still the second-highest single-season total in team history. He followed that by contributing 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) to help the Rangers win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.

Zubov put up good numbers in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 regular season (10 goals, 36 points in 38 games), then had three goals and 11 points in 10 playoff games. But the Rangers already had a star offensive defenseman in Leetch and wanted a more physical presence, so they traded Zubov to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the summer of 1995. The Penguins sent him to the Dallas Stars a year later. He excelled in Dallas for more than a decade, helping the Stars win their first Stanley Cup championship in 1999.

Though Zubov averaged nearly a point per game and won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers, his short time in New York leaves him behind Fox among righties.

Reijo Ruotsalainen

Seasons: 5 (1981-86)

Games played: 389

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points-Plus/Minus): 99-217-316, Plus-62 (.82 PT/G)

Few fans who saw Ruotsalainen make his NHL debut at the Garden on Oct. 6, 1981, had any idea who he was. They learned pretty quickly.

The Rangers selected the Finland-born defenseman in the sixth round of the 1980 NHL Draft and came to New York after helping Karpat win the championship in Liiga, Finland’s top league.

At 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, “Rexi” was small even by the standards of the early 1980s. But he could fly — few defensemen in the Rangers’ 98-year history were faster. He also had a tremendous shot, although he wasn’t always on target.

Still, he was accurate enough to score 34 goals in his first two NHL seasons, followed by a 20-goal performance in 1983-84. For an encore, he set a still-standing team record for goals by a defenseman in 1984-85 with 28, as well as an NHL career-high 73 points (though he was also minus-22, the only time in his Rangers career that he finished less than plus-17).

Ruotsalainen’s offensive numbers dropped a bit in 1985-86 (though his plus-minus rebounded to plus-22). But his contract was up and Ruotsalainen opted to play a season in Switzerland; the Rangers traded his NHL rights and he returned with the Edmonton Oilers late in 1986-87 and helped them win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four seasons. After two seasons in Europe, he played with the New Jersey Devils and Oilers in 1989-90, helping the Oilers win their fifth title in seven seasons.

Despite five-season offensive totals that are slightly better than Fox’s, Ruotsalainen never finished higher than 13th in voting for the postseason NHL All-Star teams and was chosen for the All-Star Game just once (1986). He was more exciting than Fox, but not as good a player.

Ott Heller

Seasons: 15 (1931-46)

Games played: 649

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points): 46-176-230 (Plus/Minus not kept) (.35 Pt/G)

Heller played his entire NHL career with the Rangers, signing with the team in 1931 and playing until 1946. He spent three seasons as captain and was the only player who was a member of both the 1933 and 1940 Stanley Cup-winning teams.

To say Heller was durable would be an understatement. He missed all of four games during an eight-season stretch (1933-34 through 1940-41), and his 649 games played are still seventh all-time among Rangers defensemen — but No. 1 among those from the team’s first 25 seasons.

Defensemen weren’t big scorers in Heller’s era, and he broke the 20-point mark just twice in his 15 NHL seasons. His career high was 35 in 1943-44, and his only postseason All-Star selection came in 1940-41, when he was selected to the Second Team after scoring all of 18 points in 48 games. But he was dependable as any team could ask in his own zone, and his offensive numbers would have been a lot higher if he’d played in the expansion era.

It’s hard to compare players from such different eras, but Fox’s abundance of honors puts him ahead of Heller.

Dan Girardi

Seasons: 11 (2007-17)

Games played: 788

Scoring (Goals-Assists-Points-Plus/Minus): 46-184-230, Plus-54 (.29 Pt/G)

No right-shot defenseman in Rangers history has played more games than Girardi, who made a career for himself after signing with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent coming out of junior hockey.

The Rangers called up Girardi midway through 2006-07, his second season in the minors. He turned into one of the most durable Rangers ever, missing a total of five games during his first eight full seasons and averaging 22:15 of ice time with the Rangers. Unlike Fox, Girardi did his best work in his own zone, finishing with at least 123 blocked shots in 10 of his 11 seasons on Broadway, including each of the last nine, and more than 100 hits in all 11.

It’s not that Girardi didn’t produce some offense — he scored 10 goals in his first full NHL season and averaged more than 20 points. That doesn’t look too impressive, until you realize that 57.5 of the face-offs when he was on the ice took place in the defensive zone. He was out there to keep opponents from scoring; his offense was a bonus.

Girardi’s style would have made him an interesting partner for Fox, providing a stay-at-home presence that would let him join the attack.

And the winner is …

By all available measures, Fox is the best right-handed shot the Rangers have ever had on the blue line. Even better for Rangers fans, it looks like there’s a lot more to come. By the time he hangs up his skates, he may well have lapped the field.

The New York Rangers haven’t been immune to the kind of trade that leaves fans scratching their heads and wondering what their GM was thinking when he made the deal. Sometimes it’s a player they acquired who didn’t produce; other times it’s one whose career took off after leaving New York. And sometimes it’s both.

Either way, they’re the kind of move that fans can’t forget — no matter how hard they try.

Related: Rangers best trades in past 50 years, including Mark Messier

Worst Rangers trades in past 50 years

Here’s a look at the seven worst trades the Rangers have made during the past five decades.

7. Singing the Blues on Buch

The Trade: Rangers acquired forward Sammy Blais and a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft from the St. Louis Blues for forward Pavel Buchnevich.

Date: July 23, 2021

Why it mattered: Buchnevich, a third-round pick in the 2013 draft, arrived in New York three years later and took a slow but steady path toward NHL success. He was coming off his best NHL season with 20 goals and 48 points in 51 games during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season — becoming the player the Rangers had been waiting for. But as a restricted free agent that summer and with unrestricted free agency a year away, “Buch” was going to cost the cap-strapped Rangers more money than they could commit.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Chris Drury, who’d just been named general manager, traded Buchnevich to the Blues for Blais, a bottom-six forward, and a draft pick.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, each player continued on the development track he’d been on before the trade.

For Buchnevich, it meant that he became a reliable top-line point producer, one who’s scored 73 goals and averaged nearly a point per game in his three seasons with the Blues. At 29, there’s no reason he shouldn’t continue to put up solid point totals for the foreseeable future.

Blais had been a role player on the Blues’ 2019 Cup-winning team, but never developed into anything more than that and was plagued by injuries during his time with the Rangers. He wound up going back to St. Louis ahead of the 2023 trade deadline as part of the deal that brought Vladimir Tarasenko to New York.

6. Left out

The Trade: Rangers acquired left wing Kevin Stevens from the Los Angeles Kings for left wing Luc Robitaille.

Date: Aug. 28, 1997

Why it mattered: Robitaille is among the all-time greatest scorers in NHL history, but not because of his two seasons with the Rangers. He scored at least 40 goals with the Los Angeles Kings in all eight of his non-lockout NHL seasons when the Rangers acquired him in the summer of 1995, and GM Neil Smith was counting on “Lucky Luc” to give the Rangers an offensive boost on left wing.

But it didn’t happen. After two seasons that saw Robitaille fail to score even 25 goals, the Rangers decided to cut their losses and send him back to L.A. Unfortunately for Smith and the Rangers, the return was veteran left wing Kevin Stevens, a scoring terror with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the early 1990s whose offensive numbers had dropped sharply.

Robitaille turned out to be going through a mid-career lull, but Stevens’ issues were more serious, on and off the ice. His 23 goals and 43 points with the Rangers in 1998-99 were his best single-season numbers from 1994 through the end of his career in 2002. A big reason was that the pain pills he took to cope with a serious head injury sustained in the 1993 playoffs turned into an addiction and a long downslide that ultimately led to his arrest on federal drug charges in 2016 (he’s sober today and helps those dealing with addictions).

Robitaille’s scoring touch returned in Los Angeles, where he scored at least 30 goals three more times — then did it again while helping the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 2002. He’s a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017.

5. Chasing past glories didn’t work

The Trade: Rangers acquired forwards Jari Kurri and Shane Churla and defenseman Marty McSorley from the Los Angeles Kings for center Ray Ferraro, forwards Ian Laperriere and Nathan Lafayette, and defenseman Mattias Norstrom.

Date: March 14, 1996

Why it mattered: Smith’s love for ex-Edmonton Oilers didn’t end when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994. Unfortunately for him, the same formula didn’t work two years later.

Smith added to his collection of former Oilers ahead of the 1996 trade deadline by bringing in Kurri and McSorley, who had previously been dealt by the Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, as well as enforcer Shane Churla. The deal cost the Rangers three young players and Ferraro, a veteran center who had signed with the Rangers as a free agent in the summer of 1995.

It turned out to be a complete failure, with the three newcomers playing a combined total of 78 games with the Rangers. Kurri and McSorley did almost nothing in New York and were gone before the next season began. Churla played the final 55 games of his 11-season NHL career with the Rangers, managing all of one assist.

Even worse for the Rangers was the success of two of the young players they traded away.

Norstrom became a top-four defenseman who played 11 solid seasons in L.A. and was Kings captain. Laperriere became one of the League’s most effective agitators and played 13 more seasons in the League, eight with the Kings.

Add in the 110 goals scored by Ferraro after the trade, giving him 408 for his career, and this goes down as the kind of trade teams have nightmares about making.

4. A Question of style

The Trade: Rangers acquired left wing Luc Robitaille and defenseman Ulf Samuelsson from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Sergei Zubov and center Petr Nedved.

Date: Aug. 31, 1995

Why it mattered: Zubov was a steal when the Rangers grabbed him in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Draft with the compensation pick they received when the Quebec Nordiques signed Guy Lafleur. He led the team in scoring during their 1994 Cup run and had 36 points in 38 games in 1994-95. But the young Russian looked physically overwhelmed in the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers’ “Legion of Doom,” so Smith decided to make some changes.

He got the size and nastiness he wanted on the blue line by sending Zubov to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Nedved for Robitaille and Samuelsson, a defenseman who never saw an opponent he didn’t want to bash.

Unfortunately for Smith, the NHL was shifting away from big, slow defensemen like Samuelsson, who contributed little offensively in his nearly four seasons with New York. The new model was skilled players such as Zubov, who was traded by the Penguins to the Dallas Stars the following summer and went on to a Hall of Fame career that was built on his ability to move the puck and generate offense.

To make matters worse, Robitaille looked little like the player who’d had eight 40-goal seasons with the Kings before a lockout-shortened 23-goal showing in Pittsburgh in 1994-95. In the summer of 1997, the Rangers sent him back to L.A. — and his scoring touch returned. Talk about a trade where nothing went right!

3. A New Year’s dud

The Trade: Rangers acquired center Bobby Carpenter and a second-round pick in the 1989 NHL Draft from the Washington Capitals for center Mike Ridley and forwards Kelly Miller and Bob Crawford.

Date: Jan. 1, 1987

Why it mattered: Phil Esposito was one of the greatest goal-scorers in NHL history, so it’s not surprising that a young player who could put the puck in the net would pique his interest after he became the Rangers general manager in 1986. Carpenter, the first player to jump from high school to the NHL, had the first 50-goal season by a U.S.-born player when he scored 53 times for Washington in 1984-85. His offensive numbers were down in 1985-86 and again in the first half of 1986-87, but he was still just 23 when the impulsive Esposito started 1987 by bringing him to New York. It didn’t look like the price was unduly high. Though Ridley was coming off a 65-point rookie season in 1985-86 and had 36 points in 38 games in year two, he had no pedigree as an undrafted center from a Canadian college. Miller, a ninth-round pick in 1982, didn’t look like he’d be anything special, and Crawford’s 36-goal season with the Hartford Whalers in 1983-84 looked more and more like a fluke.

However, whatever offensive skills Carpenter owned didn’t make the trip. After five straight seasons of at least 27 goals and 56 points, Carpenter couldn’t find the net with radar after coming to the Big Apple. He managed all of two goals and 10 points in 28 games with the Rangers before Esposito, in another bout of impulsiveness, sent him to Los Angeles for future Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne, who lasted two seasons before retiring.

Carpenter went on to an 18-year career that saw him evolve into a solid checking center who helped the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup in 1995, though he never showed the kind of scoring touch that had attracted Esposito. To add insult to injury, Ridley became one of the League’s best two-way centers during the next decade, finishing with 10 seasons of 20-plus goals, and Miller grew into a reliable middle-six forward. The Rangers paid a huge price for Espo’s impulsiveness.

2. M is for Miss

The Trade: The Rangers acquired centers Brett Howden and Vladislav Namestnikov, defenseman Libor Hajek, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2019 draft from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Ryan McDonagh and center JT Miller.

Date: Feb. 26, 2018

Why it mattered: Nine years after the Rangers got McDonagh in one of the best trades in team history, they sent the defenseman to the Lightning in one of the worst.

McDonagh’s terrific two-way play was a big reason the Rangers were among the best NHL teams for much of the 2010s. But by 2017-18, things were falling apart — and GM Jeff Gorton was in rebuilding mode, so he sent McDonagh and center JT Miller, a talented 2011 first-round pick who never quite seemed to fit in New York, to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had beaten the Rangers in Game 7 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final.

It looked like Gorton had gotten quite a haul. In addition to the draft choices, Howden was a 2016 first-round pick, Hajek was a highly regarded young defenseman and Namestnikov had already scored 20 goals in 62 games for the Lightning that season.

Instead, the deal turned into a disaster. McDonagh played a key role in helping the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, then helped them oust the Rangers in the 2022 Eastern Conference Final. He’s still an effective defenseman in his mid-30s. Even worse, Miller has blossomed into a 100-point scorer with the Vancouver Canucks, who acquired him from the Lightning in 2019. Meanwhile, none of the players or picks the Rangers received has made any significant impact in the NHL.

The big swing and miss helped turn Gorton into a former Rangers GM by 2021.

1. Hodge Podge

The Trade: Rangers acquired forward Ken Hodge from the Boston Bruins for forward Rick Middleton.

Date: May 26, 1976

Why it mattered: John Ferguson’s first trade as general manager was one older Rangers fans are still trying to forget.

The scene had been set six months earlier, when the Rangers and Bruins made perhaps the biggest trade in NHL history at that time, with the Rangers getting Esposito, still a high-scoring center, and defenseman Carol Vadnais from the Bruins for center Jean Ratelle and defensemen Brad Park and Joe Zanussi. Espo’s scoring touch diminished in New York, and after the season he went to Ferguson, who got the GM job in January 1976 after Emile Francis was fired, and pushed for the acquisition of Ken Hodge, his longtime right wing.

Ferguson, who was trying to remake the Rangers, was willing to help Espo by bringing in his old linemate. The Bruins wanted 23-year-old Rick Middleton, who had scored 22 and 24 goals in his first two NHL seasons. “Nifty” was talented but flashy — not Ferguson’s kind of player. Hodge, nine years older, was.

To say the trade was a disaster would be putting it kindly. Hodge managed 21 goals and 62 points in his only full season with the Rangers. By the middle of 1977-78, he was in the American Hockey League and never played in the NHL again.

Middleton took a couple of seasons to find a fit in Boston, but he began a streak of seven straight 30-goal seasons in 1978-79 and scored 40 or more from 1979-80 through 1983-84. He helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Final three times (they lost all three), had two 100-point seasons and finished his career with 448 goals and 998 points in 1,005 games. The Bruins retired his number in 2019.

The Rangers traded Middleton’s future for Hodge’s past. It’s a formula that almost never works; in this case, it was a disaster.

Historically, New York has drafted 62 players in the fifth round, with 19 appearing in an NHL game and 12 suiting up for the Blueshirts. Interestingly, the club’s first sixth-round pick was Gord Smith (59th overall) in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, and their most recent ones are Dylan Roobroeck (178th overall) and Ty Henricks (183rd overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Join us each week to see who makes the cut.

Exclusive: Neil Smith reveals why he traded Sergei Zubov

Note: Dates and statistics from Hockey-Reference.com and EliteProspects.com were used to compile this list

Top New York Rangers Draft Picks From Round 5

5. Scot Kleinedorst – 98th Overall 1980

NHL stats: 836 GP – 89 G – 328 A – 417 Pts

New York stats: Never played

After playing with Grand Rapids High and graduating to play with Providence College in 1978, the Rangers drafted Scot Kleinendorst with the 98th pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Upon finishing his NCAA career, which included First (1982) and Second (1980) Team All-Star honors, he would make his NHL debut during the 1982-83 season.

Although his tenure on Broadway was short, just 53 games, the Rangers dealt Kleinendorst to the Hartford Whalers for Blaine Stoughton on Feb. 27, 1984, where he would skate the next five seasons. Eventually, he was traded to the Washington Capitals in 1989, suiting up for just 18 games with the club before leaving the NHL and professional hockey in 1990.

4. Gord Smith – 59th Overall 1969

NHL stats: 299 GP – 9 G – 30 A – 39 Pts

New York stats: Never played

The Rangers used their first-ever fifth-round selection (59th overall) on Gord Smith, who would never skate with the club, opting instead to sign as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings in 1970. However, he did play with the Capitals and Winnipeg Jets from 1974 to 1980, netting 39 points in 299 games while collecting 284 penalty minutes and finishing his career with a plus/minus rating of minus-141.

While an NHL prospect, Smith began playing in the AHL, where he had more success, posting 172 points in 418 games with 632 penalty minutes and winning the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s best defenseman in 1974. Besides earning First Team (1974) and Second Team (1975) All-Star honors, he was an EHL First Team All-Star with the New Haven Blades in 1971 and 1972.

By 1983, Smith was retired from pro hockey, last skating with the Maine Mariners while making a brief appearance as head coach of the Solent Vikings in the Swiss League in 1991.

3. Nigel Dawes – 149th Overall 2003

NHL stats: 212 GP – 39 G – 45 A – 84 Pts

New York stats: 121 GP – 25 G – 24 A – 49 Pts

Nigel Dawes became a prospect of the Rangers through the 2003 NHL Entry Draft when they selected him with the 149th pick. At 21, he made his NHL debut and skated with the Blueshirts for three years, collecting 49 points in 121 games.

Eventually, New York dealt him to the Phoenix Coyotes on Mar. 4, 2009, with Dmitri Kalinin and Petr Prucha for Derek Morris. After just 12 games in the desert, he moved on to the Calgary Flames before finishing his NHL days split between the Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens in 2010-11.

Once Dawes left North America, he had an illustrious career in Russia and Europe, becoming a six-time All-Star in the KHL. Besides his accomplishments in the foreign leagues, he won a Bronze Medal at the 2017 World Championship (D1A) tournament and a Top 3 Player on Team award at the 2016 event to add to his U20 World Junior Championship Silver (2004) and Gold Medals (2005).

Of all the players on this list, Dawes is the only skater who recently played professional hockey, suiting up with Adler Mannheim in the DEL for the 2022-23 season.

2. Aaron Miller – 88th Overall 1989

NHL stats: 677 GP – 25 G – 94 A – 119 Pts

New York stats: Never played

The Rangers drafted Aaron Miller with the 88th pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, and the young prospect, who starred at the University of Vermont, never played for the franchise after the Jan. 17, 1991, trade with the Quebec Nordiques. Interestingly, New York dealt him away with a fifth-round pick in the NHL draft, which turned out to be Bill Lindsay, in exchange for Joe Cirella, who would play 141 contests for the Rangers.

Interestingly, Miller would not play enough games for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, when the franchise won the Stanley Cup. He then missed out on the club’s second championship in 2001 when the club dealt him to the Kings in the Rob Blake megadeal in February 2001. Despite missing out on those opportunities, Miller was a member of Team USA, which walked away with a Silver Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

After six seasons in Hollywood, Miller signed with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played 57 games before retiring from the NHL in 2008. Besides the Olympic medal, he also won a Bronze Medal at the 2004 World Championships, earning a Top 3 Player on Team award.

1. Sergei Zubov – 85th Overall 1990

NHL stats: 1,068 GP – 152 G – 619 A – 771 Pts

New York stats: 165 GP – 30 G – 126 A – 156 Pts

Although Sergei Zubov never won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, he was considered one of the best defenders during his era, earning votes for the award in 12 of his 16 seasons. Besides missing out on those accolades, he was a three-time All-Star, earning postseason NHL All-Star Team honors (2nd team) in 2005-06 at 35.

Initially drafted by the Rangers in 1990, he was just 23 in 1993-94 when he won the Stanley Cup for the first time, contributing 19 points in 22 playoff games when New York ended a 54-year championship drought. However, after three seasons on Broadway, the team traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins (with Petr Nedved) in exchange for Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson on Aug. 31, 1995.

Congratulations to #NYR Stanley Cup Champion and leading scorer in the 93-94 season, Sergei Zubov on your induction into the @HockeyHallFame! #HHOF2019 pic.twitter.com/GV3fSglR9W

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 25, 2019

After just one season with the Penguins, where he tallied 66 points in 64 games, the team dealt him to the Dallas Stars (for Derian Hatcher), where he would spend the final 12 years of his career, winning another Stanley Cup in 1999. Although his NHL career came to an end after the 2008-09 season, Zubov skated one year in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg, where he won the league’s Best Defenseman award, played in the KHL All-Star Game, and earned First Team All-Star honors.

Besides his accomplishments in the NHL and KHL, he won a Gold (1989) and Silver Medal (1990) at the U20 World Junior Championships, plus an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics while capturing the Spengler Cup the same year. Recently, in 2020, Zubov entered the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“We got him in the fifth round of the 1990 draft. It was a great pick that we got for Lafleur in the trade with Quebec,” Smith begins to recall. “He was a fantastic rookie, led the team in scoring [in ’94] and was a huge part for us winning the Cup.”

Zubov was just 23 years-old when he registered 89 points on the strength of 12 goals and 77 assists in 1994. He picked up another 19 points in 22 playoffs games that magical season.

The offensive-minded defenseman would last just one more year in New York after a trade to the Penguins on August 31, 1995. To this day, it remains one of the most criticized deals in Rangers history and Neil Smith wants to set the record straight.

Neil Smith explains why he traded Sergei Zubov

“It still gets under my skin when I see criticism of the trade,” Smith tells me over the phone.

The deal came off the heels of a sweep at the hands of the Flyers’ Legion of Doom led by Eric Lindros, John Leclair, and Mikael Renberg. That line wreaked absolute havoc on the Rangers in the second round of the 1995 playoffs.

“In the 94-95 season, Lindros and the Flyers squash us in four straight,” Smith remembers. “And by his own admission, Zubov was scared in that series. Our coach, Colin Campbell says to me, ‘We’ve got to do something here.'”

New York packaged Zubov with Petr Nedved to Pittsburgh in exchange for two high-profile veterans in Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson.

Campbell was no fan of Nedved’s game and felt he was too similar to Alex Kovalev’s style of play. That’s why he was included in the trade, but Smith wanted to focus on the circumstances that led to his decision to move the slick skating defenseman with a booming shot.

“At the time, I’m on the rules committee and they are talking about changes to how obstruction is going to be called,” Smith reveals. “Any impeding of a forechecker coming down on a defenseman was going to be a penalty. So I’ve got Zubov scared to death and now you can’t hold up players anymore. I had to do something.”

For years, many believed the Rangers traded Zubov solely because of his performance against the Flyers. In truth, it was the potential changes to how the NHL was going to call obstruction that led to Smith ultimately moving him.

“I had an opportunity to get Robitaille, a hall of fame player,” Smith said. “And Samuelsson, who I hated because he was such a pain in our ass, but will make us tougher on defense.”

Smith looks back on the Zubov trade

As we continued to talk about the trade, Smith rightfully recollects how the trade initially worked out well for the Rangers.

“That first year it goes great and we’re a lot better off,” Smith points out. “We were going to get pummeled by the Flyers and [Samuelsson] was great for us turning our defense around. Pittsburgh wasn’t crazy about Zubov and winds up trading him to Dallas a year later.”

The Rangers did indeed finish second in the Atlantic Division that season, but fell to the Penguins in the second round. Robitaille notched 69 points and Samuelsson 19 in their first year on Broadway. Zubov notched 66 in his only season with the Penguins before being shipped to Dallas straight up for 30 year-old Kevin Hatcher.

Zubov went on to play 12 years and amassed 549 points in 839 games for the Stars.

“He had a great career in Dallas after they loosened up on those obstruction rules,” Smith explained. “He was able to do what he does and win a Cup there.”

When the Hall of Fame came calling in 2019, no one was happier for Zubov than the man that drafted him.

“I called Sergei when he was put in the Hall of Fame because I was so proud of him,” Smith remembers. “I jokingly said to him, ‘I still get crap for trading you,’ and his answer to me was, ‘But Neil, the Flyers were coming after us and you had to do something.'”

In the end, Smith trading Zubov wasn’t something he wanted to do. Circumstances being what they were at time it almost became a necessity. The Legion of Doom was just getting it going and the NHL wanted to make plastering a defenseman more common.

As a GM you have to make decisions with the best information available. The Rangers were staring at a bigger, tougher, and younger Flyers team and needed to respond accordingly. The head coach pleaded his case to do something and wanted players like Nedved or Kovalev off the team.

In fairness to Smith, Nedved scoring a career-high 99 points that season wasn’t expected. Oddly, he would trade Kovalev to get Nedved back in 1998 due to a contract dispute with Pittsburgh.

NHL News and Rumors

• Oilers after Patrick Kane, and why the Islanders keep missing on free agents
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• Flames sign Nazem Kadri; trade Sean Monahan to Habs

The Rangers and Islanders Coliseum History

The Nassau Coliseum opened in 1972 on Uniondale, Long Island and has hosted 131 Rangers vs Islanders classics with the last one on tap today. The Blueshirts 56-64-8-3 and would love to close out that building with one final victory.

Each individual Ranger fan will have their own opinion of which game was the greatest Blueshirt win at the Coliseum. Some may not even care if the Rangers won, maybe it was just a special game to be at or something memorable happened.

For younger fans, it could be the 2016, 6-5 come from behind victory. Or maybe it was the Dan Cloutier game in 1998? That was when Rangers’ goalie Dan Cloutier pummeled Tommy Salo then went over the Islanders bench and taunted them to come get him.

Older fans may remark a game from the late 70’s or early 80’s, but those were some lean times for the Rangers as the Islanders had built a dynasty that would capture 4 straight Cups and 5 straight Final appearances.

Rangers break Coliseum hex in 1994

For me, the greatest Rangers/Islanders game at the Nassau Coliseum came in 1994. The Rangers were dealing with the “Curse of 1940″ and the Islanders had just come off a trip to the Eastern Conference Final the year before. Yes, the Rangers were looking like a team of destiny as they were steamrolling teams to the President’s Trophy. However, they needed to do something they hadn’t done in nearly 5 years. The Blueshirts had to win a game at the Nassau Coliseum.

March 5th, 1994 was a crucial game in that Championship season. If they didn’t break the Coliseum Hex, would they have beaten the Isles in the 1st round? In that game the Isles were flying and Richter was pulled early in the second, replaced by Healy. The former Islander did not fair better and was quickly yanked by Keenan in favor of Richter. It was crazy to say the least, as the Rangers had to make a few comebacks to get it tied at 4.

Stan Fischler wrote:

As for wounds, Healy soon would suffer hurt feelings after erroneously wandering from the net to clear a loose puck. Healy missed, Benoit Hogue followed up and scored. Furious, Keenan signaled Healy to return to the Rangers bench.  After just a little more than 11minutes of the game, the Rangers coach had seen enough of Healy and unceremoniously gave his back-up the hook. Glenn hardly kept his displeasure to himself and when he reached the bench the coach and goalie exchanged words. 

Keenan: “There was no discussion whatsoever. Glenn asked if he was coming out because of the mistake he made and I didn’t say one word.”

Healy: “I offered just a kind ‘hello’ to Mike! I don’t play for my coach; I play for myself and my teammates.”

The drama at this point was already as high as the stakes. Late in the third period and I remember it vividly, Sergei Zubov would take a shot that smashed the jinx. The young Russian blueliner was just inside the zone when he reared back and let one fly. The blast was like a rocket that beat Ron Hextall for a 5-4 victory. The sight of Zubov dropping to his knees and looking to the heavens while celebrating still gives me chills (skip to 1:24:00).

BOX SCORE

It was glorious and one of the best feelings I ever had watching a Rangers/Islanders game. The moment that Zubov scored left such a lasting impression on me that whenever these two teams play, that is number one in my mental highlight reel.

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In goal, number 31 Igor Shesterkin

While it’s true that “The Czar” has suited up for just twelve regular season games in his embryonic Blueshirt career, Igor has accepted the torch from incumbent Henrik Lundqvist. There is not a modicum of doubt that this is Shesterkin’s team moving forward. That beautiful day when this dastardly, insidious Covid-19 virus is under control and the NHL resumes its season will undoubtedly see #31 back between the pipes leading his Ranger team to a multitude of victories.

On defense, number 21 Sergei Zubov

Zubov is the answer to a great trivia question. Who was the Rangers leading scorer on their 1994 Stanley Cup winning team? No, it wasn’t Mark Messier or Adam Graves or Brian Leetch. It was a native of Moscow whose 89 points made him an indispensable cog in the Blueshirts championship machine. Zubov, along with his fellow Hall-Of-Famer Leetch, combined to give the Rangers their most lethal and dynamic power play blue-line pairing in team history.

His defense partner, number 51 Fedor Tyutin

Tyutin’s combination of size, skill, skating ability and toughness were on continuous display throughout his four years patrolling the Blueshirt’s blue-line. Tyutin may have flourished into an All-Star caliber player with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But, the fact remains, the 2001 second round draft pick (40th overall) was a rock solid defender for the Rangers and very much deserving to make the All Russian Team.

On right wing, number 27 Alexei Kovalev

From the moment he was drafted with the 15th pick in the first round of the 1991 NHL draft, Kovalev was a lightning rod for controversy and an enigma on the ice. Kovalev’s skill sets were being compared to the “Great One” Wayne Gretzky of all people at the time of his selection. But, “Kovi’s” reputation for selfishness and lack of coordination with his teammates stunted his growth with the Rangers and eventual led to a trade.

However, Kovalev scored a clutch goal towards the end of the second period in the Mark Messier “guarantee game” in Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. That paved the way for the Rangers captain to score his legendary third period hat trick staving off elimination in that magical and memorable series.

At center, number 13 Sergei Nemchinov

The man who was affectionately known as “Sarge” is one of the more unheralded members of the 1994 Stanley Cup winning squad. Nemchinov was a 30-goal scorer. Nemchinov was a solid defender. Nemchinov could even drop the gloves as was the case in 1992 when the Moscow native pummeled Chicago Blackhawks tough guy Mike Peluso. Nemchinov, whose daughter currently works as a translator for those Russian Rangers players still learning the English language, was a tremendous all-around hockey player and most deserving of this team. His class and grace on the ice made him beloved by his teammates and he belongs on this list.

On left wing, number 10 Artemi Panarin

The “Bread Man” was nothing short of brilliant in his first year staring on Broadway. Several “Tony Awards” will assuredly be in Panarin’s future throughout the duration of his seven-year contract on Broadway. Panarin, as has been stated by myself and the rest of the Forever Blueshirts staff repeatedly, is the epitome of a revelation. We watch, we marvel, we shake our heads in amazement. Rangerstown is just not use to players with such an extraordinarily high skill level. Panarin is that rare player in which, every time the puck is on his stick, we instinctively move towards the edge of our seats in anticipation of something wondrous and magical to happen.

Honorary mentions: Pavel Bure, Alexander Karpovtsev, Pavel Buchnevich, and Artem Anisimov.

Sergei Zubov only played 165 games for the Blueshirts, yet he’s a legend. 4B looks back at his career and what was possibly one of the worst trades in Neil Smith’s tenure as GM.

PICKING A GEM

Compensation picks. Other than the hardcore fan, who really keeps track of – or for that matter really cares – if a team receives one when losing a player to free agency? More often than not, these picks don’t usually pan out. In a lot of cases, these picks are often traded, used as commodities to obtain proven stars. Let me take you back to the summer of 1989. The Rangers are coming off a season where they had made the playoffs by virtue of finishing third in the Patrick Division. Their reward for doing so? A first round match-up with the upstart Pittsburgh Penguins led by “Super” Mario Lemieux.

The Penguins swept the Rangers in 4 games that post season but the two things that would leave an indelible imprint on the immediate future of the Rangers franchise was the debut of goalie Mike Richter in the playoffs & the play of hockey legend Guy Lafleur. Lafleur had come out of retirement for the 1988-89 season and played quite well. So well in fact, that when the season ended, several teams inquired about signing the unrestricted free agent. On July 14, 1989, the Quebec Nordiques did just that. As compensation for losing Lafleur, the Rangers received the Nords compensation pick – a 5th round pick (85th overall) which they used to select Moscow Russia native – Sergei Zubov.

THE SEASON

Flash forward to 1994. Pop quiz. Who led the 1993-94 New York Rangers in scoring? Mark Messier? Not quite. Brian Leetch? No. Has to be Adam Graves since he netted 52 goals, right? Not even close! Steve Larmer? Even further off the mark! If you said Sergei Zubov, then pat yourself on the back. Surprisingly to some, Zubov led the Blueshirts in scoring during their magical Stanley Cup winning season by notching 12 goals and a team leading 77 assists for 89 points in 78 games. Messier was second with 85 points, Graves & Leetch each had 79 points while Larmer had 60. Zubov also added 19 points in the post season ( 5g, 14a) in 22 games (he missed one game due to a chest injury). This play enabled him to become one of first Russian born players to win the Stanley Cup joining teammates, Sergei Nemchinov, Alex Kovalev & Alexei Karpovstev for that honor.

I think it is fair to say that a lot of what the Rangers were able to accomplish during their memorable run in the spring of 1994 would not have been made possible without the play of Sergei Zubov. Everyone knows the names of Messier, Leetch, Graves, & Richter. However, one vital cog that other teams could not match was the play of Zubov. When the Rangers were on a power play, they had 2 quarterbacks on the point – Leetch & Zubov. On nights when the first unit wasn’t working, this luxury afforded head coach Mike Keenan to split them up into different units and still have a strong “2nd unit”. At even strength, the pairing of Zubov & veteran Kevin Lowe gave the Rangers a formidable 2nd pairing behind Leetch / Beukeboom.

MOVING A YOUNG STAR

It was a short lived pairing of the Rangers & Zubov though. After the championship season, head coach Mike Keenan departed and Colin Campbell became the new head coach. Campbell & Zubov had their issues and didn’t see eye to eye, especially on the defensive side of the puck. He further incurred the wrath of both Campbell & GM Neil Smith for electing to have wrist surgery early in the 1994-95 labor shortened season. After the 1994-95 season, Smith brokered a deal with the rival Penguins sending Zubov & Petr Nedved to Pittsburgh for veterans Ulf Samuelsson & Luc Robitaille.

It was a trade designed by Smith to give Messier one last run at the Cup. For Zubov, it was an opportunity to be the man on defense that he would not be in NY under the shadow of Brian Leetch. As it turned out this was not to be though as the styles of Lemieux & Zubov did not mesh. After one productive season in the “Burgh (11g, 55a in 68 games), Zubov was shipped off to the Dallas Stars for Kevin Hatcher. Zubov went on to have several productive seasons in Texas and helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999. He also was selected for 4 All Star games as a member of the Stars (1998, 1999, 2000 & 2008).

His time with the Rangers was short (165 regular season games, 32 post season) yet productive (32g, 126a regular season, 8g, 22a post season & a Stanley Cup). Yet Sergei Zubov will always have a place in the hearts and minds of Rangers fans for being an integral part of ending “the Curse”.

Zubov’s final regular season stats: 1068 GP, 152 G, 619 A, 771 PTS

Zubov’s final post-season stats: 164 GP, 24 G, 93 A, 117 PTS – 2 STANLEY CUPS

Editor’s Note: A majority of this article was written by Anthony Long

Latest Rangers buzz.

Zibanejad to miss another

Mika Zibanejad skated on his own but missed another practice. Per Larry Brooks he will be out for Wednesday against the Caps.

Other practice notes are that Kaapo Kakko skated and will be back in the lineup, as well as newly called up Tim Gettinger.

Zubov enters the HHOF

Gettinger ready to go

Trouble in Traktor

Looks like Vitali Kravtsov’s KHL club is about to go through some changes as fans voice concerns with team’s direction.

Haley clears

When the New York Rangers selected defenseman Sergei Zubov in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Draft, the Iron Curtain had yet to fall. Perestroika and Glasnost had yet to take full effect. Neil Smith, who was the team’s general manager at the time, took a calculated risk drafting the talented Moscow native since Russian players coming over to North America was still a bit of a novelty and an abstract anomaly to say the least. Little did Smith, or even the most glass-half-full member of the Garden Faithful, know that Zubov would come over to the NHL and begin what has now officially become a Hall of Fame career.

Zubov’s first taste of North American hockey came in the 1992-93 season at the Rangers AHL affiliate in Binghamton where he notched an impressive 36 points in 30 regular season contests and added ten points in eleven playoff tussles. Zubov made a cameo on Broadway in the Rangers’ futile, frustrating and playoff-less season of 1992-93 and was a rare bright spot on that meandering, underachieving squad, collecting 31 points in 49 games.

In 1993-94, Zubov, along with fellow Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, combined to be the NHL’s most dynamic power-play two-some. Zubov led the Stanley Cup championship team in scoring during the regular year, tallying 89 points in 78 games. Zubov added 19 points in that memorable playoff run, including his now legendary assist on the first goal in Game 7 of the Finals, when he set up none other than his blue-line buddy Brian Leetch for that uber-important first goal. Zubov would join Alex Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov and the late Alexander Karpovtsev as the first Russians to have their names etched on Lord Stanley’s chalice.

Zubov enjoyed another fantastic season in the lockout shortened year that followed the Blueshirts magical and inspiring championship run. In 1995, the right-handed defenseman ranked third for the defending champs in both regular season and playoff scoring. The Rangers were steamrolled by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 1995 playoffs, which led to the Ranger brain trust’s belief that they needed to get bigger and stronger to compete with the “Broad Street Bullies” and others of that elk.

Zubov’s skill and finesse were no longer deemed necessary and, in September 1995, much to the chagrin of most and the shock of some, Zubov was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with fellow European “softie” Petr Nedved in exchange for veteran sniper Luc Robitaille and more importantly, the viscous, incendiary Ulf Samuelsson.

Zubov would continue his stellar career with the Dallas Stars after leaving the Keystone State, and would win another Stanley Cup in 1999 when Brett Hull’s controversial game winning goal gave the state of Texas it’s first ever cup winner. Zubov’s NHL career ended following the 2009 season, when he returned home to his native Russia to finish his hockey playing career in the KHL. Even though Sergei Zubov donned the Broadway Blue for parts of just three seasons, his contributions to the 1994 Stanley Cup Championship team will never be forgotten. His impact on future Russians crossing the pond to play NHL hockey will always be remembered.

Sergei Zubov went from an obscure fifth-round draft pick to lead a cup winning team in scoring to now, officially, a Hockey Hall of Famer. Congratulations, Sergei. The honor is well deserved.

Yegor Rykov and Tarmo Reunanen; two Rangers prospects who seem to have flown under the radar. But how realistic are their chances of making the team? A year ago, I would have called it a long-shot for either of them. But 2018-19 is when things changed.

Tarmo Reunanen is an interesting prospect. He was ranked quite high the year before his draft with a strong showing while a member of the U17 national team alongside Olli Juolevi. Then, in 2015, Juolevi moved to the OHL, while Reunanen stayed in Turku. After a full season in the U20 Liiga as a 16-year old, there was some hope he could make his Liiga debut, but a spinal injury caused him to miss the majority of the season, only playing 16 total games (3 at u18 level, 14 at u20 level) in the season. It saw Reunanen drop in the draft rankings, while Juolevi’s move to Canada got him more exposure, resulting in him being repeatedly ranked in the top-10. The Rangers ended up drafting Reunanen in the fourth round, and reactions were mixed. Personally, I loved the pick, because I knew the talent was there. For a team without picks in the first and second rounds to go with a player like Reunanen made sense.

Having fully recovered, Reunanen started the 2016-17 season with hopes of making the big team. But, with the arrivals of Ilkka Heikkinen, Jesse Dudas and Per Nagander (on loan), there just wasn’t any room for Reunanen who was then loaned out to TUTO in Mestis. Fast-forward a year to 2017, and Reunanen was still in the same position. He was fully healthy but did not get a shot with TPS who eventually moved him to Lukko near the end of the season. Two years after being drafted, he was turning into a long-shot prospect.

500 miles east of Turku, another player drafted late in 2016 was trying to make a name for himself. Yegor Rykov was drafted in the fifth round by the New Jersey Devils and two years later included in a deadline deal for Michael Grabner. Rykov played for three different teams in three different leagues in his draft year. Splitting time between the MHL (Russian Juniors) and VHL (Russian minors), he showed glimpses of brilliance. Having clearly outgrown the MHL level, he was promoted to the KHL team full-time on January 8th and played the remaining ten games. He started off with a few shifts, but the final few games he averaged more than ten minutes of ice-time per game.

The next season he had a limited role, but still played 53 games with an average TOI of 12:24, the most games by any defenseman on the team. Despite that, he never really managed to convince his coaches to give him a bigger role. Slava Voynov, David Rundblad, Vladislav Gavrikov and Patrik Hersley (to name a few) all getting picked ahead of Rykov made sense. Rykov just wasn’t as established as the others yet and with just one year left on his contract, it seemed inevitable Rykov would move to North America once his contract expires. 2018-19 was going to be the turnaround for Rykov as he was traded to HC Sochi, and becoming a top-pair defenseman for them, being an important piece of a team that is currently battling with Dinamo Riga and Vityaz for one of the last two playoff spots in the Western conference.

Which brings us to the current season for both prospects. The season of resurgence. Tarmo Reunanen in Rauma with Lukko and Rykov in the city that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi. Reunanen had a great start to the season with Lukko, with 23 SOG in six games, getting a goal and three assists. His TOI was averaging 18 minutes between September and November, playing on the team’s second pair. November 12th, 2018 was the day things changed. With three goals and six assists in 26 games, his production was already impressive for a 20-year old defenseman, but it was the combination of offense and defense that had him bumped to the top pair. Tarmo Reunanen played 24 minutes that day against Lahti Pelicans and has had at least 20 minutes of ice-time in each of the next 21 games.

Having worked his way up to a true first pair defenseman in the Finnish professional league at the age of 20, he is back in the discussion as a legit prospect. He leads all Liiga blue liners under-21 in points with 21 but, historically he’s also having a great season. Only 7 defensemen 20 years old or younger have registered more points than Tarmo Reunanen in a single Liiga season since 2000.

Yegor Rykov’s story sounds all too familiar after reading what Reunanen has gone through, but it is still worth mentioning. At the start of the season he wasn’t playing for SKA, and he was traded to Sochi in exchange for the rights to Ivan Prosvetov. There were rumors about SKA not playing Yegor Rykov with him expressing interest in moving to North America at the end of the season. The decision to trade Rykov worked out great for HC Sochi. Playing under former Rangers defenseman Sergei Zubov, he has established himself as a legitimate first pair defenseman. With seven points in his last 18 games, Rykov has contributed on both sides of the ice in Sochi’s attempt to qualify for the playoffs.

Six months ago, both Reunanen and Rykov seemed long-shots to make an impact this summer but now, things are different. Going from being a “seventh defensman” to a legit top-pair defenseman in a top-five league in the world is something Ranger fans could have only hoped for with one of their prospects; the Blueshirts had it with two.