Vic Hadfield Legendary Moments No. 8: The Captaincy

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Vic Hadfield describes himself this way: "I am a Ranger through and through."
He was the captain of the Rangers in the 1970s, the first 50-goal scorer in the history of the franchise, the ultimate teammate - and on Dec. 2, his No. 11 will take its place among the Rangers legends in the Garden rafters.
NYRangers.com will present 11 of the great moments of Hadfield's career, 11 snapshots of the Blueshirts' legendary left winger, 11 for No. 11 - counting down to the celebration of Vic Hadfield Night presented by Budweiser before the Blueshirts take on the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 2 at Madison Square Garden.
When the Rangers drafted Vic Hadfield from Chicago in the 1961 Intra-League Draft, they knew they were getting a player who could command respect on the ice. They never could have known they were selecting a future captain.
But the just as the Rangers were emerging from a lean decade of the 1960s into a perennial Stanley Cup contender in an expanded League, Hadfield was emerging from rugged role player into one of the team's stars and leading goal scorers. He had scored 13 points (with eight goals) in the 1971 playoffs, setting a Ranger record that he himself would break in '72. The Rangers had given Bobby Hull and the Blackhawks all they could handle in the '71 NHL semifinal, forcing a seventh game on Pete Stemkowski's triple-overtime goal at Madison Square Garden before coming up short three nights later at Chicago Stadium.
In the summer of 1971, Emile Francis was getting the Rangers reloaded for another run at the Stanley Cup. As part of his offseason maneuvering, that May he had struck a deal with the North Stars that sent the Rangers' captain, Bob Nevin, to Minnesota, for future considerations (which turned into Bobby Rousseau).
When Francis was preparing to travel to Montreal for the NHL Amateur Draft that June, he asked Hadfield to tag along.
"I just thought it'd be interesting for me to go to the draft, see what they were going to do, whatever," Hadfield told NYRangers.com. "I had no idea Emile had any other kind of plan."

Once they were there, Francis phoned Hadfield and asked him to come up to see him in the hotel. It was there - on June 9, 1971 - Hadfield learned he was becoming the 14th captain of the New York Rangers.
"He called me up to his room, and told me at that time. I was just blown away," Hadfield said "Very, very honored. It was very thoughtful. He knew I fought hard for the New York Rangers, and the hockey club, and the fans of New York, and was so determined to turn the franchise around to where we were a winning hockey club."
It was nearly one decade to the day since the Rangers had claimed Hadfield from the Black Hawks in the third round of the 1961 Intra-League Draft. He had scored three goals in 44 games his rookie season; by the time he was named captain, he was coming off a 22-goal season, with more soon to follow. In 1968-69, Francis had put him on a line with Jean Ratelle at center and Rod Gilbert on right wing, forming the legendary GAG Line that would become one of the most prolific forward combinations in NHL history.
Prior to 1971, Hadfield had never served as his team's captain at any level of hockey.
"With that honor, I didn't feel any pressure," he said. "I had full confidence in our team - we had a very, very good team - and everyone, we had full confidence in Emile making the decisions."
In his first year as captain, Hadfield put together one of the legendary seasons in Rangers history, becoming the first player in franchise history to score 50 goals in a season. The Rangers lost Ratelle to an ankle fracture that March but still made a run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they fell to the Bruins in six games.
Gilbert called Hadfield "a tremendous captain and teammate."
"He was the glue - of keeping the families together, of so much," Gilbert said. "So many of the guys lived in Long Beach at that time, and they all had so much in common. They celebrated together, spent a lot of time together, it was kind of like a family reunion for the players. Vic was such a big part of keeping that together."
"We all lived in a three- or four-block area. We were very, very tight," Hadfield said. "We never went on our own, we stuck together. And that's how we stayed so strong as a team.
"And it's that way to today. That bond we have - we're always checking on each other. Everybody's like your brother. It's a wonderful, wonderful feeling. I'm so very proud to have worn that Rangers sweater with them.
READ MORE: Vic Hadfield Legendary Moments No. 9: Overtime Heroics