Wings Top Rangers, 6-2

Feb. 14, 1965 - Gordie Howe scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season tonight as the Red Wings defeated the Rangers, 6-2, at Detroit. The loss practically eliminated the Rangers from the playoffs. The victory left Detroit in fourth place with 58 points, 17 more than the Rangers, who have only 18 games to play.

The loss was New York’s sixth in seven games, a drought attributed by many Ranger fans to the departure of Camille Henry, who was traded to Chicago.

Chicago stayed on top of the NHL race tonight by coming from behind to tie Montreal, 2-2. 

Camille Henry didn’t help Chicago tonight. He spent most of the game on the bench. But that’s the Chicago strategy: rest Camille. He will play on the power play and take an occasional turn, but Chicago coach Billy Reay has a lot more talent to work with than does Ranger coach Red Sullivan. In Chicago, there is Bobby Hull, and with a man like that on your team, you can afford to rest a 140-pounder who must wear a brace around his middle at all times.

“Truthfully, I think they used him too much in New York,” said Reay this week. “He was exhausted.”

Camille rested Saturday night in his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since becoming a Black Hawk. As in tonight’s game, Camille didn’t score or make an assist, but he was the game’s hero — where the fans were concerned.

It will take Ranger fans some time to get used to the idea of Henry not being a Ranger. It’s taken some time for Henry to realize it, too.

“Now, after a week, it’s beginning to sink in,” Henry said Saturday. “I mean I went out there, and I thought a couple of times that I should be passing the puck to the players in blue. But you realize quickly that you have to expect a trade in this business.”

Most fans groaned when Henry was smashed into the sideboards by his close friend Harry Howell late in the second period. Henry shook it off, picked himself up, and started all over again. 

“I’ve always been a Ranger,” Henry said. “I never even thought about being traded. Naturally, that was a shock. But now, I’m used to it. The people in Chicago are good to the players.”

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