When The Rangers Were Outdrawn At MSG By Their Minor League Team

One of the real advantages that New York hockey fans enjoyed during the 1930's and 1940's was that on any Sunday one could see more hockey than anywhere in the world.

How about four games spread from morning to night at Madison Square Garden. Here's how it happened.

GAME ONE: The Metropolitan Hockey League held an early-bird – they called it "Darkhouse" – 10 a.m. game that was free of charge. The MHL comprised the Sands Point Tigers, Manhattan Arrows, Brooklyn Torpedoes and Jamaica Hawks,.

GAME TWO: This was another Met League game at 1:30 p.m. that was part of a double-header and, this time, you had to pay to get in because of the "big-time" contest.

GAME THREE: At 3:30 p.m., the Blueshirts farm team -- the New York Rovers -- played teams from the Eastern Amateur Hockey League. The foes included the Boston Olympics, Philadelphia Falcons, Atlantic City Sea Gulls and River Vale Skeeters among others.

GAME FOUR: In those days, Rangers games didn't begin until 8:30 p.m. so a fan had plenty of time to eat at a Times Square restaurant and get back in time for the NHL event.

In their heyday, the Rovers drew anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 to the old Garden. Capacity for the Rangers was 15,925.

But on Sunday afternoon, February 10, 1946, a spectator miracle of sorts took place at The Garden. Remarkably, the Rovers outdrew the parent Rangers.

How could this possibly happen?

For starters, Rover tickets were much cheaper than Rangers ducats. For another, the Rovers – alias Redshirts – were one of the best teams in the EAHL and the Boston Olympics, their opponents, were equally as good.

The Olympics roster included such future NHLers as Hall of Fame defenseman Fernie Flaman as well future Rangers Paul Ronty and Pentti Lund. One of the Rovers' defensemen was Fred Shero.

Shero later would graduate to the Blueshirts and star on the 1949-50 team that reached the '50 Cup Final only to lose to Detroit in double-overtime of Game Seven.

That afternoon the Olympics and Rovers played to a 4-4 tie but, this time, the score wasn't the story of the game. A headline in the tabloid New York Daily Mirror said it all: ROVERS TIE OLYMPICS, 4-4, BEFORE RECORD 16,186.

Mirror hockey writer Toney Betts called it "The largest crowd to witness a Rover game."

Not only that, but it beat the parent Rangers (15,925) by 261!