Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell – The Intertwined Legacy of Two Rangers Legends

Through 100 years of Rangers history, 11 players have received the highest honor a franchise can bestow upon a player – having their jersey number retired. Only once, however, did two players have their jersey numbers retired as part of the same ceremony.

On February 22, 2009, the Rangers retired Andy Bathgate’s No. 9 jersey and Harry Howell’s No. 3 jersey in a pre-game ceremony at Madison Square Garden. It was fitting that the two Blueshirts legends received the honor at the same time since they began their tenures with the Rangers together on October 18, 1952, and had come up through the team’s system even before they made their NHL debut.

Bathgate and Howell were born four months apart in 1932 (Bathgate was born on August 28 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Howell was born on December 28 in Hamilton, Ontario). From a playing standpoint, the two players couldn’t have been further apart; Bathgate was a right winger who became a prolific scorer with a terrific slap shot, while Howell was a left-handed, stay-at-home defenseman whose contributions weren’t necessarily reflected in the box score.

Their paths overlapped for the first time when they were members of the Rangers’ junior team in the Ontario Hockey Association, the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters (known as the Biltmores). Bathgate and Howell were teammates in Guelph for two seasons, and in their last year together in Guelph in 1951-52, they helped the Biltmores win the Memorial Cup.

Bathgate and Howell were part of what was known as the “Guelph Gang” – eight players who excelled with Guelph in 1951-52 and ultimately played for the Rangers in years to come. While the Blueshirts advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 1949-50, Frank Boucher – the Rangers’ general manager at the time – knew that the organization would soon need an infusion of young talent, and he worked to rebuild the Blueshirts’ farm system.

The Rangers entered the 1952-53 season with one of their youngest rosters in years, and shortly after the year began, the team would get even younger. After the Blueshirts lost their first three games of the season, and after All-Star defenseman Leo Reise Jr. was sidelined with an injury, Boucher recalled Bathgate, Howell, and Dean Prentice prior to the Blueshirts’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Bathgate and Howell both made their NHL debut against the Leafs on October 18, 1952, at Maple Leaf Gardens. That night, Howell scored his first career NHL goal on his first NHL shot, beating Hall of Fame goaltender Harry Lumley.

“I was only supposed to be up for the proverbial ‘cup of coffee,’” Howell recalled years later. “But one game led to two, and the next thing I knew, I was here to stay.”

Howell remained with the Rangers for the remainder of the season, ultimately playing alongside Reise as his defense partner and learning the NHL game from him. Bathgate’s path to sticking with the Rangers was not as direct as Howell’s was – he needed knee surgery and only played 38 NHL games between the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons. But by 1954-55, Bathgate joined Howell as a mainstay in the Rangers’ lineup, and he tallied 20 goals in his first full NHL season.

At the start of the 1955-56 season, Howell was named the Rangers’ captain. At 22 years old, he was the youngest captain in franchise history (Dave Maloney would later hold that distinction). Looking back years later, Howell said that it was a role that probably should have been held by someone with more experience. Even though Howell felt his play suffered during the two seasons that he wore the “C”, the Rangers made the playoffs in both years.

A big factor in the team’s success in making the playoffs those seasons was Bathgate. He tallied 66 points in 1955-56 and then registered 77 points in 1956-57. The 1956-57 season was the first of eight consecutive seasons in which Bathgate recorded at least 70 points, and it was also the first of three consecutive years in which he was named the Rangers’ Most Valuable Player. In 1958-59, Bathgate was not only the Rangers’ MVP; he was also the MVP of the entire NHL, as he won the Hart Trophy. With 40 goals and 48 assists for 88 points in 1958-59, No. 9 became the first Ranger to score at least 40 goals in a season, and his 88 points were also the most in one season by a Ranger at the time, eclipsing his own record.

“He was big, strong, and almost statuesque,” said legendary broadcaster Sam Rosen, who idolized Bathgate as a kid growing up in New York and watching the Rangers. “He was an excellent skater, had a great shot, and was a great scorer. He was the guy. He was the Rangers’ star player and the leader of the pack.”

While Howell didn’t accumulate the points or headlines in the same way that Bathgate did, his impact on the team was no less valuable. As a stay-at-home and reliable defenseman, No. 3 did everything the right way defensively and enabled his primary defense partner throughout the late-1950s and early 1960s, Lou Fontinato, the ability to play physical and move around more frequently in his own zone.

“I go back to the old school,” Howell said years after his career ended when he was asked to describe his style of play. “When I got to New York as a kid, I was told when you get the puck, look for a forward and give it to him. That’s the way they used to play back then, so I did that. I stayed back, hardly got any points at all. … I did what they asked me to do. I also killed all the penalties and played against all the top lines, so you had to be a defensive defenseman.”

Affectionately known as either “Old Reliable” or “Harry the Horse”, Howell played in 1,160 out of a possible 1,200 games during his tenure with the Rangers. Throughout his career with the Rangers, he would also be paired with either the team’s young defensemen and/or physical defensemen, as his coaches knew that he would be the right defense partner to teach players the proper way to defend, and that if a physical defenseman was going to jump up to make a hit, Howell would always be in the right position to cover for him.

In 1961-62, Howell became the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, breaking the record that was held by Ott Heller. During that same season, Bathgate – who was named the Rangers’ captain at the start of the year and had already become the franchise’s all-time leader in points – tied for the NHL lead with 84 points and scored one of the most memorable goals of his NHL career, a penalty shot goal that led the Rangers to a victory over the Detroit Red Wings and ultimately helped the team advance to the playoffs.

As hockey historian Stan Fischler described it, “Bathgate’s fake on (Red Wings goaltender Hank) Bassen was so good that if there weren’t boards around the rink, Bassen would have ended up in the Hudson River. It was the absolute perfect, dramatic move.”

Bathgate’s tenure with the Rangers ended in February of 1964 when – as the team looked towards the future and began to replenish their farm system with young players – he was traded to the Maple Leafs. Howell remained with the Rangers until the 1968-69 season, and in 1966-67, he had the most memorable season of his career.

First, he played in his 1,000th career NHL game on January 21, 1967, at Boston, and four nights later back at MSG, the Rangers held “Harry Howell Night”. The event marked the first time that the Blueshirts had a ceremony to honor an active player. Howell also won the Norris Trophy that season, as he established career-highs with 12 goals and 40 points while continuing to play at a high level in his own zone.

Both Bathgate and Howell were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame shortly after their careers ended, and their Rangers legacies were cemented when their jerseys were raised to the MSG rafters. Their careers are forever intertwined and among the most legendary in the history of this iconic franchise.

“He had the pure talent and was always ready to play,” Howell said of Bathgate prior to their jersey retirements. “He also was a hard worker and he always wanted to be the best player.”

“Harry was solid as a rock,” Bathgate said about Howell. “He did everything. He killed penalties and played the power play. The chemistry between us was always there.”