"Eddie Giacomin Returns" (#41 of the 50 Greatest Moments at MSG)

[@richardzink6026]

All Rangers fans will always love Eddie

[@Greatvocalmajority4America]

I am proud to say, I WAS THERE! And it was exactly as described in this video. Everyone loved Eddie Giacomin. There was a relationship between the fans and the players back then, but it was really special with Eddie Giacomin because he had such guts and fire. He was one of the last goaltenders to wear a mask. I remember that night so well. Eddie was crying during the National Anthem. I was in the first row of the blue seats right behind the Red Wings net. Fans were crying, but mostly angry with Ranger management for letting him go so unceremoniously. And it's true, we rooted for the Red Wings the entire game. There were some cheers for Rangers goals, but that night, Eddie Giacomin was the goaltender for the home team. The fans. It was so emotional. God Bless Eddie Giacomin.

[@michaelpagliaro8095]

I was at that game the whole crowd rooted for the Wings!! So did i!!!

[@ralphmelvin1046]

It's one of the greatest moments in sports and I remember it. Eddie, Eddie, Eddie

[@rustykuntz94]

I WASN'T EVEN BORN YET at that time but as a die hard Ranger fan I almost teared up watching that.

[@katherineharris6678]

I know he’ll never see this but here goes - Mr Giacomin, sir, you are my hero. I have 3 Rangers goaltender jerseys hanging in my collection (easy guess who the other 2 are but you are #1) I truly hate puns but in this case it’s completely warranted. I have a hand-written account of your return to the Garden. It’s something I would never, ever give up. You are a huge reason why we love our goaltenders and why the best of them owe you a nod every second their skate hits the ice. Thank you.

[@nyrfanstl8314]

"Kick save and a beauty!"

[@dansmith6748]

Always wondered how it would have worked out if he had been picked to play for Team Canada '72. One thing I know is that the Russians would not have intimidated him, he would have swung his stick back at them! I LOVED Eddie's attitude, "If the puck goes in the net, it's my fault because it had to go past me to get in. It doesn't matter if I was screened, or the puck was deflected, it still had to get past me to enter the net, so it was my fault. Far too many times you hear a commentater say: The goalie had NO CHANCE, crap! The goalie always has a chance to make the save, it's not like he was playing out in the parking lot!" Great attitude!

[@QJby1Hod]

My Mom's boyfriend got my friends and I four tickets a week before the game. It turned out to be the game of the year!

[@MainEventPoint]

Eddie was my dad's favorite Ranger of all time...

[@jacksmith5692]

Heard the game on WNEW and it was emotional for sure. The Red Wings jumped out to a big lead and held on for a 6-4 win.

[@willcallan9352]

purely touching...

[@steveking2144]

Giacomin was my boyhood idol. And this moment was amazing. I always thought he should have been picked to play for Team Canada in the 1972 summit series against the Russians. Twice he brought the Rangers to the finals only to lose to Bobby Orr and the Bruins on both occasions. You'll always be great in my mind Eddie!

[@reneleclerc6119]

Emile Francis' Rangers only reached the Stanley Cup Final once: 1971-72. When the Blueshirts returned to the Final in 1978-79, Both Francis and Eddie Giacomin were gone.

[@MultiPetercool]

@@reneleclerc6119 Francis was called “The Cat”. When he let Eddie go, I said “The Cat is a Rat!”

[@jeffdworkin915]

They came as close as a Brad Park slapshot that hit the crossbar dead on.

[@RRaquello]

I remember what WPIX News sports guy Jerry Girard said when this happened, about the "Eddie Eddie" chant. When Giacomin was waved, the Rangers back-up goalie was Dunc WIlson, so Girard said: "What are the Ranger fans gonna chant now? Dunc Dunc?"

[@MultiPetercool]

We used to call him Dunc the Drunk.

[@drlecter8145]

What a night. EDDIE EDDIE EDDIE

[@allsystemsgo8678]

As an Islander fan I hate the rangers and their fans, but I've always respected Ranger fans for cheering for him. Very cool.

[@joeymoey26]

Was gald to be there that night chanting ED-DIE, ED-DIE all night long.

[@BStone-qj4vg]

amazing.

[@kchamz]

I remember how odd that uniform and number looked on my favourite goalie after the Detroit trade. I DIDN'T remember the crowd booing the Rangers, in MSG, when they scored on him. That's love and respect.

[@icedoc]

Joseph De Vito Actually Marv Albert was the Rangers main play by play guy, though his brother Al did fill in at times. Signature phrase:"'Kick save, and a beauty!" His sidekick on radio broadcasts during those days was "The Big Whistle" Bill Chadwick, the first American born NHL ref who invented the system of hand signals for penalties in use today. Great announcers, great team, great goaltender. For me as a high school kid playing net myself in the early 70s, that was the golden age of hockey, and Giacomin was my hero.

[@TheMarcweissman]

Joseph De Vito not really. Case in point, Eddie's in the HHOF, Villemure never received consideration.

[@ziggymorris8760]

Marc Weissman I didn't think Giacomin deserved to be in the hall.

[@buffalobraves9]

I think Villemure was equal to Giacomin. His stats reflect it. His .601 winning % is better than Giacomin's .580. His GAA is 2.81 to Giacomin's 2.82 and his playoff record at 5-5 is better than Giacomin's 29-35.

[@steveking2144]

Don't forget.... Giacomin's playoff record includes losing twice to one of the greatest teams of all times... Bobby Orr and the Big Bad Bruins ...both times in the finals.

[@waltermameli2026]

Giacomin's return to MSG was Epic.....Most shameful thing ever done by Rangers to a player.....The crowd let EDDIE know what they thought of him.....for 60 minutes they chanted his name.....plus the warm up.....

[@GoPackGo2621]

We were pretty bad to Adam Graves after his kid died and he took a puck to the face…not the fans but the organization.

[@PhillyLeotardo25]

The only way you see this again is Hank getting dealt but even that since he has a no trade some people would boo him. It was a unique situation that I don’t see happening again in Rangers history

[@erikshen1107]

Hi... I'M HOWIE ROSE!

[@thomaskirby6706]

Eddie was truly a one of a kind who was beloved by Ranger fans.

[@100spurs]

You got Larry Johnson 4 point play?

[@RicPhlare]

Some speculate that the Rangers put Eddie on waivers for the Wings to obtain to repay a favour. The Red Wings sat out their best players against New York on the last game of the 1969-70 season. The Rangers won the game 9-5 and squeaked into the playoffs ahead of Montreal based on 'goals for'.

[@TheMarcweissman]

Doubt that was the case, not to mention you can't put a player on waivers for a specific team. All teams had a shot at Eddie.

[@RicPhlare]

Marc Weissman True, but the team with the lowest points in the standings actually got the player. The team waiving a player can also recall the waived player (at least in those days) - sometimes waivers was used to determine how much interest there was around the league for a player that a team wished to trade. In the 1970's, Detroit was usually at the bottom of the standings. On the day Eddie was waived, only the Capitals and North Stars were below Detroit. It could have been arranged beforehand that if either of those teams claimed Eddie, the Rangers would recall him and make a trade instead.

[@marcweissman5752]

RicPhlare Excellent points. Tx for clarifying :)

[@davidrohlfing9055]

I was at the 9-5 game and Howe, Delvecchio, etc., played that afternoon and Howe even scored a goal. Crozier played goal for the Wings and the Rangers bombarded him with 65 shots. They needed to score as many goals as they could because, as Jim says here, they needed to beat Montreal in total goals to finish fourth and get into the playoffs. The game took a strange turn some time in the 3rd period when the Rangers pulled Giacomin and played 6 on 5 with an empty net. I do think that the "power play" worked in that the Rangers got a goal and also the Wings got a couple of empty net goals. That night, Montreal played at Chicago and in the third period they pulled Vachon (I think it was him) and the Hawks ended up putting, if I recall, 5 open net goals on the board and won 10-2. That was a real burlesque of the rules and they got rid of the total goals tie breaker later on. I listened to the Montreal-Chicago game that night on CBC radio and it sure sounded odd. As far as the Giacomin return, I was at that one too and it was one of the loudest crowds that I ever heard there in the hundreds of games that I attended there.

[@RicPhlare]

+David Rolfing I checked out what you wrote about the 9-5 game and you were right. The best players were in the lineup. I checked Frank Mahovlich's book and what he talked about was the big party the Red Wings owners had for the team on the flight to New York. The Wings weren't in good form for the game and Mahovlich claimed the Production line was benched for most of the first two periods. In essence he puts some of the blame for the Wings being swept out of the playoffs by Chicago on management. The team hadn't really won anything and the celebration was premature. Management didn't keep the team 'in the zone', so to speak.

[@PeterMayer]

Wow

[@negtype13]

And NOW... the EQUIVALENT... The Captain w/o the "C"... The RIDICULOUSLY DISHONORABLE trade of Zuccarello!

[@BonkoPlayzMinecraft]

negtype13 neccesary trade

[@negtype13]

@@BonkoPlayzMinecraft No Chef...when you've EARNED it...NOTHING is necessary....it's just RIGHT!!

[@slapshot68]

Probably the same management that let Messier go to Vancouver let Eddie go

[@MultiPetercool]

Eddie was the last great non-flopper goalie. I like John Davidson but he was just too big and had to be a flopper and he sucked by comparison.

[@bb-gc2tx]

youtube has exposed the myth of jds 1979 playoff performance. he let in terrible goals and even the saves he made that were considered great at the time would be routine by todays standards

[@Ryan2022]

They did not deserve that victory vs the islanders

[@PeterKKraus]

Crap video. Recording a tv .