(originally posted on KCSportsNinja on July 30, 2014)
Mainly remembered for his career with the
New York Rangers, more hockey fans should know more about hockey great
Vic Hadfield. Hadfield spent 13 seasons with the Rangers and led them to
the Stanley Cup Finals in 1972. That year Hadfield scored 50 goals (and
added 56 assists for a total of 106 points), and is only one of three
players to score 50 or more goals in a season for the New York Rangers
(Adam Graves, Jaromir Jagr).
Being one of only three players to do that
while playing for the Rangers is quite an accomplishment, considering
other hockey greats like Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky. While Gretzky
was near the end of his career, in the two of the three seasons he was
with the Rangers, he totaled 90 or more points. Mark Messier however was
still in his prime when he played for New York during his first stint
with the team, and led them to a Stanley Cup Title in 1994 (The team’s
first in 54 years). In first six seasons with the Rangers, Messier
recorded 518 points, but unlike Hadfield, he did not reach the 50 goal
mark
during his stint with New York. The closest Messier came was in the
1995-96 season with 47 goals.
One other reason that got me interested in
doing a piece on Hadfield was the fact he had played for the Pittsburgh
Penguins (my favorite team)! Hadfield scored 73 and 65 points
respectively in his first two seasons with the Pens. An interesting note
about Hadfield is that early on in his career he struggled offensively,
but in the 1967-68 season he reached the 20 goal mark for the first
time and would never fail to reach the mark again. But Hadfield had some
history of being plagued by injuries, and in his third season with the
Penguins during the 1975-76 season he suffered a serious knee injury
that forced him into retirement.
I think hockey fans in general need to
acknowledge Hadfield a bit more, (and I hope my fellow Penguin fans feel
the same way). finishing with 712 career points (323 Goals, 389
Assists) it would be a shame not to recognize and honor Hadfield’s
accomplishments.
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