How The Nicest Rangers Scorer Pissed Off His Teammates

Everybody loved Alex Shibicky on the 1940 Stanley Cup-winning Rangers.

He played left wing on the team's "Bread Line" with the Colville Brothers – Neil and Mac – and was a major contributor to New York's third title team.

"Alex was the talker of the three," said his coach Frank Boucher. "He was a strong skater who could really fire that puck. Often though he'd hold it too long, seeking a better position."

Although Shibicky was born in Winnipeg, his family originally had emigrated from Belarus. That inspired the Blueshirts press agent to get creative. Alex Shibicky, Jr. remembers the tale:

"The publicity guy had my dad nicknamed 'The Royal Russian,' What's more the press agent added a full name, 'Prince Romanoff Dimitry Shibicky' and that acquired some traction in the media."

Enemy goalies feared Shibicky's shot – one of the hardest in the league. In fact it was so accurate that it was said that Shibicky "could shave the corns off the goalies' toes." Alex, Jr. echoed the complaint of his dad's teammates – that he didn't shoot often enough.

"Dad," added Junior, "would instinctively make one more pass instead of shooting in an attempt to what he called 'put a tassle on it."

Shibicky's hesitancy to shoot annoyed teammates who wanted goals scored rather than the "perfect" pass made. In fact Shibicky's frustrating assaults actually made a page in Boucher's book, When The Rangers Were Young.

"Often," Boucher wrote, "Alex would hold the puck too long, seeking a little better position, and you'd hear the gang on the bench go through a ritual when Alex waited. As Shibicky skated up ice and waited with the puck on his stick, the bench reacted like this:

"'Shoot Shibicky...Shoot Shibicky...SHOOT SHIBICKY...AWW, SHIT, SHIBICKY!'"