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 Eric Reitz, James Sheppard, Mike Hartman, 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 look at one guy who was a Hobey Baker winner and another who shot the puck hard but did nothing else.
Matt Gilroy, Defenseman
Time with Rangers: 142 games over three seasons in New York (2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13)
I harbored high expectations for Matt Gilroy, envisioning him and Michael Del Zotto as the future stars of the Rangers. Many fellow Ranger fans likely shared this optimism, but as life often unfolds unpredictably, it serves as a reminder of why I’m sitting behind a computer screen and not making decisions in an NHL front office.
Before joining the Rangers, Gilroy made a name for himself at Boston College, achieving the rare feat of winning the Hobey Baker Award and the NCAA championship in the same season, becoming just the third NCAA player to earn three All-American honors. On April 17, 2009, he inked a two-year, $3.5-million contract with the New York Rangers after being linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks in contract negotiations.
A defenseman with agile mobility capable of initiating plays with precise first passes and joining offensive maneuvers yet struggled when defending and navigating through traffic. Gilroy was average at best and could never live up to the hype of what winning a Hobey Baker award would entail.
Subsequently, Gilroy’s NHL journey took him to the Tampa Bay Lightning on a one-year contract in 2011, and he was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2012. During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, he signed with the Connecticut Whale, hinting at a potential return to the Rangers organization. Once the lockout concluded, he signed a one-year contract with the Rangers in January 2013.
Released to free agency by the Rangers, Gilroy signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 8, 2013, marking his fourth NHL club. Limited to 16 games with the Panthers in the 2013–14 season, he was reassigned to the AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.
Facing limited NHL interest, Gilroy decided to explore European hockey, signing a one-year deal with Russian club Atlant Moscow Oblast of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on June 25, 2014. After a year with Atlant, he joined Spartak Moscow. Following his stint with the Finnish KHL club Jokerit in the 2017–18 season, Gilroy chose to sign a one-year deal with the Swiss club SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League on May 15, 2018.
Gilroy would retire from hockey in 2019.
Ales Kotalik, Forward
Time with Rangers: 45 games during the 2009-10 season.
Selected 164th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Kotalik showcased his skills during the 2005–06 NHL season, achieving career highs with 25 goals, 37 assists, and 62 points. In the subsequent 2006–07 NHL season, he excelled in shootouts, boasting a 5-for-7 record and ranking second in the league with four shootout-deciding goals. Despite missing 16 games due to a right knee injury, Kotalik demonstrated his powerful slap shot at the All-Star game, recording a speed of 105.3, making him the second-hardest shooter in the NHL.
On March 4, 2009, Kotalik was traded from the Sabres to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He then signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the New York Rangers on July 9, 2009. However, due to a lack of expected goal-scoring and frequent healthy scratches, he was traded to the Calgary Flames on February 1, 2010, along with Chris Higgins in exchange for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.
Kotalik didn’t do much in blue. Expected to score a ton on the man advantage with his booming shot, Kotalik faded into obscurity, failing to live up to the large presence he maintained with the Sabres.
After being placed on waivers by the Calgary Flames in the off-season, Kotalik cleared waivers on June 29, 2010, with two years and $6 million remaining on his contract. On January 27, 2011, he was placed on waivers again by the Flames and subsequently assigned to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. On June 25, he was traded back to the Sabres, along with Robyn Regehr and a second-round 2012 draft pick, for Paul Byron and Chris Butler.
Facing another waiver placement by the Buffalo Sabres for salary cap reasons on September 24, 2011, Kotalik, instead of reporting to the Rochester Americans, returned to his hometown in the Czech Republic to play for HC Mountfield České Budějovice.
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