As time passes, and we avidly follow our favorite sports teams, many players come and go. While we may recall them during their time with the team, some slip through the crevices of our memory, only to resurface through a nostalgic memory or an old piece of media, causing us to reconnect their faces and names with the iconic Rangers uniform.
Among the hallowed names like Messier, Leetch, Giacomin, Lundqvist, and others, there are those more unknown Rangers, such as Pascal Dupuis and Ilkka Heikkinen, Enver Lisin, and others who may have faded from our recollection. As we traverse the regular season, we’ll delve into a few of these “Forgotten Rangers.” In this edition, we feature a former Islander captain and the wrong Fedorov brother.
Patrick Flatley, Right Wing
Time with Rangers – 68 games played during the 1996-97 season
Patrick Flatley proudly sported the captain’s “C” on his chest for thirteen seasons with the Islanders until General Manager Mike Milbury, renowned for his “smart hockey decisions,” bought out the remaining year on Flatley’s contract, making him a free agent. Seizing the opportunity, the Rangers secured him just before the training camp to bolster their forward lineup, an area they were lacking in depth at the time.
In his final NHL season, Flatley took the chance to stick it to the Islanders, delivering a commendable performance by notching ten goals and twelve assists in 68 games. He also made a notable appearance in eleven Rangers playoff games that year, contrasting with the Islanders’ absence in the postseason. The Islanders finished seventh in the Atlantic Division with a 29-41-12 record, prompting a skeptical view of Mike Milbury’s proficiency in his role.
Fedor Fedorov, Left Wing
Time with Rangers – 3 games during the 2005-06 season
Sergei’s younger sibling became a fixture for the Manitoba Moose, the Vancouver Canucks’ farm team, during the early 2000s. His standout season with Manitoba occurred in 2003-04, where he recorded 39 points in 58 games. Despite two brief stints with the Canucks, Vancouver eventually traded Fedorov to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jozef Balej and a conditional sixth-round pick.
Although he spent most of his time with the Hartford Wolf Pack, participating in 38 games, Fedorov’s on-ice appearances for the Rangers were limited to just three NHL games. Unfortunately, his performance did not set the world ablaze. In fact, he failed to register a point and accumulated a mere six penalty minutes. It seems like the Rangers have a knack for acquiring the less heralded sibling from hockey families (case in point: Marcel Hossa).
Following a season with the Syracuse Crunch post his Rangers tenure, Fedorov made a beeline for Russia, concluding his hockey career in the KHL.
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