Comparing Rangers Opening Nights From Now To 98 Years Ago

Opening nights – this evening for example – are gala events, no matter what the season.

But, as far as The Maven is concerned, there never has been a more fabulous Rangers debut than the club's World Premiere in 1926.

It was a gala affair captured in a number of books including Frank Boucher's "When The Rangers Were Young" and Bryan Reilly's novel "The Last Original Ranger Of New York."

The date was November 16, 1926, a year after the third Madison Square Garden was built on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets

This was not the original NHL opening since the New York Americans made their MSG debut a year earlier amid pomp, circumstance and the attire you'd normally see at an opera opening in The Met.

"Our first game also was very formal," Boucher recalled. "We even had the Army band come down from West Point to entertain our crowd before the opening faceoff."

Flamboyant Mayor Jimmy Walker – already a hockey fan vis the Amerks – sat behind the Blueshirts bench with his date, the beautiful Broadway star Betty Compton.

"Walker had a twinkle in his eye," wrote Boucher in his autobiography and a quip for everyone."

It was ultra-special to be a Ranger in those days. Columnist Paul Gallico called it "The wildest, maddest, most glamourous period in all the history of sport – an incredible period."

"The Rangers added to the glamor that opening night after referee Lou Marsh addressed the teams before the opening faceoff. "If things get too bloody, I'm throwing you from the game," warned the official.

A one time Stanley Cup-Winner, the Montreal Maroons proved to be a formidable foe but the Rangers won the game on right wing (captain) Bill Cook's goal. "The drinks flowed freely after the game," said Murray Murdoch, who was to become the Blueshirts "Iron Man."

Guess what? Just a year later – when The Garden was only three years old – Lester Patrick's Rangers won their first Stanley Cup!"