1968–69 New York Rangers season

The 1968–69 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 43rd season. The Rangers finished in third place in the East Division with 91 points and advanced to the playoffs, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the quarter-finals.^[1]

1968–69 New York Rangers
Division	3rd East
1968–69 record	41–26–9
Goals for	231
Goals against	196
Team information
General manager	Emile Francis
Coach	Bernie Geoffrion Emile Francis
Captain	Bob Nevin
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Jean Ratelle (32)
Assists	Rod Gilbert (49)
Points	Jean Ratelle (78)
Penalty minutes	Reggie Fleming (138)
Wins	Ed Giacomin (37)
Goals against average	Gilles Villemure (2.25)
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Regular season

Final standings

East Division^[2]

• v
• t
• e

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Montreal Canadiens	76	46	19	11	271	202	+69	103
2	Boston Bruins	76	42	18	16	303	221	+82	100
3	New York Rangers	76	41	26	9	231	196	+35	91
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	76	35	26	15	234	217	+17	85
5	Detroit Red Wings	76	33	31	12	239	221	+18	78
6	Chicago Black Hawks	76	34	33	9	280	246	+34	77

Record vs. opponents

Vs. East Division 1968–69 NHL records[3] Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR Total Boston — 5–2–1 3–2–3 4–2–2 3–3–2 4–2–2 19–11–10 Chicago 2–5–1 — 3–4–1 1–7 4–3–1 3–4–1 13–23–4 Detroit 2–3–3 4–3–1 — 2–5–1 4–3–1 3–4–1 15–18–7 Montreal 2–4–2 7–1 5–2–1 — 3–4–1 4–3–1 21–14–5 New York 3–3–2 3–4–1 3–4–1 4–3–1 — 4–4 17–18–5 Toronto 2–4–2 4–3–1 4–3–1 3–4–1 4–4 — 17–18–5

Vs. West Division 1968–69 NHL records Team LAK MIN OAK PHI PIT STL Total Boston 5–1 4–0–2 3–1–2 4–2 5–1 2–2–2 23–7–6 Chicago 5–1 5–0–1 1–5 3–0–3 4–2 3–2–1 21–10–5 Detroit 4–2 4–2 3–2–1 3–1–2 4–2 0–4–2 18–13–5 Montreal 4–0–2 5–0–1 2–3–1 5–1 4–1–1 5–0–1 25–5–6 New York 3–3 5–1 5–1 3–1–2 5–1 3–1–2 24–8–4 Toronto 3–3 3–1–2 4–2 1–1–4 3–0–3 4–1–1 18–8–10

Schedule and results

1968–69 Game Log
October: 6–3–0 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 2–2–0) Game October Opponent Score Record 1 13 @ Chicago Black Hawks 5–2 0–1–0 2 16 Philadelphia Flyers 3–1 1–1–0 3 17 @ Detroit Red Wings 7–2 1–2–0 4 20 Los Angeles Kings 7–0 2–2–0 5 23 Oakland Seals 6–1 3–2–0 6 26 @ Minnesota North Stars 3–0 4–2–0 7 27 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 4–3–0 8 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–3 5–3–0 9 31 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–1 6–3–0
November: 8–4–0 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–2–0) Game November Opponent Score Record 10 3 Minnesota North Stars 2–1 7–3–0 11 6 @ Los Angeles Kings 2–0 7–4–0 12 8 @ Oakland Seals 3–2 8–4–0 13 10 @ Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 9–4–0 14 13 St. Louis Blues 3–1 9–5–0 15 16 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2–1 10–5–0 16 17 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 11–5–0 17 20 Los Angeles Kings 4–2 12–5–0 18 23 @ Boston Bruins 5–1 12–6–0 19 24 Oakland Seals 3–2 13–6–0 20 27 Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 13–7–0 21 30 @ Boston Bruins 4–1 14–7–0
December: 5–7–3 (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 1–4–2) Game December Opponent Score Record 22 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 15–7–0 23 4 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–2 16–7–0 24 5 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–2 16–8–0 25 7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2 16–9–0 26 8 Detroit Red Wings 5–2 16–10–0 27 11 Boston Bruins 2–2 16–10–1 28 14 @ Minnesota North Stars 4–1 16–11–1 29 15 Philadelphia Flyers 3–1 16–12–1 30 18 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 16–13–1 31 21 @ St. Louis Blues 2–2 16–13–2 32 22 Minnesota North Stars 4–2 17–13–2 33 25 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–2 17–13–3 34 26 Oakland Seals 3–1 18–13–3 35 28 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–3 18–14–3 36 29 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 19–14–3
January: 8–4–1 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 3–3–1) Game January Opponent Score Record 37 2 Boston Bruins 4–2 19–15–3 38 4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 19–16–3 39 5 Minnesota North Stars 5–1 20–16–3 40 9 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–1 21–16–3 41 11 @ Detroit Red Wings 3–2 21–17–3 42 14 @ Los Angeles Kings 3–1 21–18–3 43 17 @ Oakland Seals 3–1 22–18–3 44 18 @ St. Louis Blues 2–2 22–18–4 45 23 Los Angeles Kings 3–1 23–18–4 46 25 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0 24–18–4 47 26 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 25–18–4 48 29 Detroit Red Wings 2–0 26–18–4 49 30 @ St. Louis Blues 4–3 27–18–4
February: 5–5–2 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 0–5–0) Game February Opponent Score Record 50 1 @ Montreal Canadiens 6–2 27–19–4 51 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–3 28–19–4 52 5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 28–20–4 53 8 St. Louis Blues 2–0 29–20–4 54 9 Philadelphia Flyers 3–3 29–20–5 55 12 @ Oakland Seals 3–2 29–21–5 56 13 @ Los Angeles Kings 4–1 29–22–5 57 15 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 6–2 29–23–5 58 16 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2 30–23–5 59 19 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 30–23–6 60 23 Boston Bruins 9–0 31–23–6 61 26 Chicago Black Hawks 5–3 32–23–6
March: 9–3–3 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 4–3–2) Game March Opponent Score Record 62 1 @ Boston Bruins 8–5 32–24–6 63 2 St. Louis Blues 2–1 33–24–6 64 5 @ Chicago Black Hawks 4–4 33–24–7 65 6 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–1 34–24–7 66 8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 35–24–7 67 9 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 35–24–8 68 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 36–24–8 69 16 Detroit Red Wings 6–4 37–24–8 70 19 @ Minnesota North Stars 4–2 38–24–8 71 22 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–1 38–25–8 72 23 Boston Bruins 4–2 39–25–8 73 26 @ Chicago Black Hawks 6–4 39–26–8 74 27 @ Boston Bruins 3–3 39–26–9 75 29 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2 40–26–9 76 30 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 41–26–9

Playoffs

Main article: 1969 Stanley Cup playoffs

Key:   Win   Loss

1969 Stanley Cup playoffs

East Division Quarter-finals: vs. Montreal Canadiens – Montreal wins series 4–0 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 2 New York Rangers 1–3 Montreal Canadiens Montreal leads series 1–0 2 April 3 New York Rangers 2–5 Montreal Canadiens Montreal leads series 2–0 3 April 5 Montreal Canadiens 4–1 New York Rangers Montreal leads series 3–0 4 April 6 Montreal Canadiens 4–3 New York Rangers Montreal wins series 4–0

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts PIM Jean Ratelle 75 32 46 78 26 Rod Gilbert 66 28 49 77 22 Vic Hadfield 73 26 40 66 108 Bob Nevin 71 31 25 56 14 Phil Goyette 67 13 32 45 8 Jim Neilson 76 10 34 44 95 Donnie Marshall 74 20 19 39 12 Walt Tkaczuk 71 12 24 36 28 Dave Balon 75 10 21 31 57 Ron Stewart 75 18 11 29 20 Brad Park 54 3 23 26 70 Arnie Brown 74 10 12 22 48 Rod Seiling 73 4 17 21 75 Reg Fleming 72 8 12 20 138 Harry Howell 56 4 7 11 36 Larry Jeffrey 75 1 6 7 12 Dennis Hextall 13 1 4 5 25 Bill Fairbairn 1 0 0 0 0 Orland Kurtenbach 2 0 0 0 2 Guy Trottier 2 0 0 0 0 Bob Jones 2 0 0 0 0 Wayne Rivers 4 0 0 0 0 Bob Blackburn 11 0 0 0 0 Al Hamilton 16 0 0 0 8

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts PIM Jim Neilson 4 0 3 3 5 Vic Hadfield 4 2 1 3 2 Brad Park 4 0 2 2 7 Bob Nevin 4 0 2 2 0 Rod Seiling 4 1 0 1 2 Arnie Brown 4 0 1 1 0 Ron Stewart 4 0 1 1 0 Dave Balon 4 1 0 1 0 Walt Tkaczuk 4 0 1 1 6 Donnie Marshall 4 1 0 1 0 Rod Gilbert 4 1 0 1 2 Jean Ratelle 4 1 0 1 0 Al Hamilton 1 0 0 0 0 Larry Jeffrey 4 0 0 0 2 Harry Howell 2 0 0 0 0 Reg Fleming 3 0 0 0 7 Phil Goyette 3 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Ed Giacomin	70	4114	37	23	7	175	2.55	7
Don Simmons	5	206	2	2	1	8	2.33	0
Gilles Villemure	4	240	2	1	1	9	2.25	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Ed Giacomin	3	180	0	3	10	3.33	0
Gilles Villemure	1	60	0	1	4	4.00	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

^[4]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

New York's pick at the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.^[5][6][7]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	19	Barry Buchanan	D	Canada	Weyburn Red Wings (WCHL)

Farm teams

See also

• 1968–69 NHL season