Comments on: This Week in Rangers Hockey (Jean Ratelle Edition)

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:24:53 +0000

Jean Ratelle was not only a gentleman on the ice but off it as well. Living in Long Beach, I grew up with the Rangers as my neighbors and Jean was always happy to give the local kids sticks and pucks so we could play in the street. His time with the Rangers was the golden age of hockey. I saw him fight only once and even that he did like a gentleman. No one has ever had such a long an graceful reach for the puck as he did. The Rangers should absolutely hang his number from the rafters.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:56:03 +0000

As an NHL Hockey fan,Jean Ratelle was the true athelete.A man who enjoyed playing and not exploiting his celebrity or bandwagoning with goon hockey of the 60s&70s.Knowing exactly how he fit in the system.Performing so consistantly.He was a gifted skater and playmaker.Backchecked in textbook form.A lost skill.Played the sport the way it was meant to play.Why he didn’t take up behind the bench is a total loss to hockey’s future stars.Retiring his number is the least the Ranger organization owes to such a loyal and unparalleled player.

By: ruben strunk

ruben strunk — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:32:26 +0000

Why have The Rangers forgotten this great player? It’s almost as if his name were stricken from the history books. It’s time for The Rangers to do the right thing, whether or not Ratelle is willing to participate at this time.

By: John Cassagne

John Cassagne — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:36:18 +0000

Long overdue to retire # 19. I wrote to Sather about this some time ago.

Ratelle should have never been traded. A Class Act and truly a great Player .

Rangers need to do the Right Thing on Ratelle.

True Ramgers Fans know how good and cvaluable he was.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:50:48 +0000

Not even close. The greatest ranger ever. And that includes Gilbert, Messier, PArk, Giacomin, etc. Graves? Nice player who won a Cup. Ratty? Great player who didn’t. Good luck playing in the Orr era.

By: craig

craig — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:50:00 +0000

There is no question this superb athelete deserves, and this should have been done along time ago, his number retired. I remember the first time I saw Ratty play, back in 1967. He captured my imagination and I became a lifelong fan. The man is one of the few superstars that were equally great offensively as well as defensively. In Boston he was as taken for granted then as now. He was appreciated by the fans but because of his quiet manner and stylish play, they never really appreciated how great he really was. Ask Ken Hodge, those are his words, not mine,though I totally concure. It’s been said that Jean didn’t skate, he floated over the ice. He was that smooth. Textbook hockey player, an example for anybody to emulate.I could wax eloquent about Jean forever, suffice it to say, he was the professionals/professional. Class on or off the ice. A final thought, how many players can you name that played at such a high level and had so few penalties, no majors/no fights, and is universally respected by the entire league. I’ve never seen a negative comment about the man. Jean Ratelle the player and the man was and is pretty hard to beat.Raise that number 19 New York Rangers.

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:50:36 +0000

TOTALY TOTALY AGREE!!! Jean Ratelle more than deserves this honor, especially now that the Rangers went back and added Howell and Bathgate. One of the nicest guys to ever wear a Ranger jersey. Had he not been so quiet he would have had his number retired long time ago. Great job of showing his Ranger statistics but I’d like to add one more. Jean Ratelle is the highest “true Ranger” (started career as a Ranger and played the majority of it in NY) on the NHL all-time scoring list at No. 34!!! No doubt the Rangers would have won the cup in 72 had he not broken his ankle. Not his fault the he was traded to Boston in the worst trade the Rangers ever made. I don’t want the Rangers to retire numbers like crazy. It must be reserved for the true greats and clearly Ratelle fits that definition.

Well done Jeff, I think there are few of us who think that way.

By: Rob Abruzzese

Rob Abruzzese — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:02:48 +0000

This article is going to make my dad’s day. Although he’s still riding high because he feels totally vindicated after saying Arod was on steroids since his days in Seattle.