Dec. 2, 1964 - “Not now,” Red Sullivan snapped at a group of autograph seekers outside the Rangers’ dressing room at Madison Square Garden tonight. “I’m not in the mood.”
Sullivan was upset, and it wasn’t because the Rangers’ 3-3 tie with the Black Hawks. He pulled his overcoat collar up and walked over to Margie Nevin, who was waiting in the hallway.
“Best hockey player on the Rangers right now,” he told Mrs. Nevin. “It’s a darn shame.” Margie Nevins grimaced and then managed a half-hearted smile. Her husband Bob, the Rangers’ best player, will be out for a week to 10 days with a shoulder separation suffered when Eric Nesterenko creamed him into the boards in the second period. The doctor said it will be a week to 10 days, but there is no way of knowing on an injury of that kind. It could be a lot longer.
“The news isn’t good,” Sullivan said. “We need him.”
Nevin has become the team leader and has begun to show more than just the promise he showed for four years with Toronto.
The Rangers were lucky to come out with a tie tonight. Had Lou Angotti not put in a short shot with three minutes left, the Rangers would have lost a game they played well enough to lose. With both Nevin and defenseman Arnie Brown injured, the Rangers are hurting.
Donnie Marshall, who will replace Nevin on a line with Earl Ingarfield and Dick Duff, is a fine utility player, but he isn’t a scorer. Larry Cahan, who replaced Brown, deserves to stay in the NHL as a utility defenseman, but he can’t stop people as well as Brown can.
“We need Nevin,” Duff said. “He was just starting to play up to his potential. Remember the year [Frank] Mahovlich scored 48 goals? Well, Nevin was on the line with him. Who do you think was giving him the puck?” Jim Neilson gave Nevin the puck late in the first period, and he blasted a 35-foot shot by goalie Glen Hall for the Rangers’ first goal.
Nevin’s face was white as he was helped off the ice after the injury. He was taken to the dressing room where Dr. Kazou Yanigasawa took a close look at the large black-and-blue mark on the back of the right shoulder and told Nevin to forget the game.
“He hit the boards so hard it tore the shirt underneath his shoulder pads,” said Ranger general manager Emile Francis.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments