New York Rangers to retire the jersey of Vic Hadfield in December

The New York Rangers logo. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers logo. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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The New York Rangers to enshrine one of their greatest, set to raise the jersey of Vic  Hadfield to the rafters on December 2nd.

This is one for our older generation of fans, and they are already aware that the New York Rangers are overdue with this one.

The team has announced that they are going to retire Vic Hadfield‘s jersey and raise his number 11 to the rafters on December 2, prior to the Rangers game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Hadfield will become the tenth player to have their jersey retired by the Rangers, going along with Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Mike Richter, Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell and Jean Ratelle.

He was a Ranger forever, joining the team in 1961 and remaining with the team through the 1973-1974 season. After his first two seasons, he played no less than 59 games for the Blueshirts.

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Hadfield was a unique player in that he was fast and could score, but was also a tough guy.

He logged over 100 penalty minutes on four separate occasions with the Rangers including leading the league with 151 in 1963-1964.

In the 1971-1972 season Hadfield became the first player in Rangers history to score 50 goals in a season, logging the record goal on April 2, 1972.

As my Dad put it, nobody messed with Vic Hadfield. That’s how tough he was.

He formed a line with Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle called the “Gag” line. It stood for “goal a game”.

They became the first three guys on the same line to all record 40+ goals in the same season.

That is what we call dominance.

In the playoffs, Hadfield was always solid. In 62 playoff games he scored 22 goals and lodged 19 assists for a total of 41 points.

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Do not get Hadfield ticked off. Take a look:

He was tough, and he could score. It’s a rare combination that you don’t see often.

Vic Hadfield will take his well-deserved place high atop the Garden.