The Day They Closed The Old Garden

On Sunday afternoon February 11, 1968, the New York Rangers played their last game at the old Madison Square Garden on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets.

To mark the event, Rangers’ brass staged a closing ceremony highlighted by a re-union of the top living players of the time. The invitees include Ranger stars from every era to the original 1926-1927, as well as opponents who faced the New Yorkers. The attendees featured the likes of Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Elmer Lach, Aurel Joliat, Milt Schmidt, Sid Abel, Syl Apps, Doug Bentley, Roy Conacher, Bill Chadwick, Lynn Patrick, Andy Bathgate and the Cook Brothers (Gordie Howe was in town as a member of the visiting Detroit Red Wings).

We speak with legendary journalist, author, broadcaster and hockey historian Stan Fischler (probably known best as “The Hockey Maven”) about the closing of the old Garden, what it meant back then and what it has come to mean these many years later.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access February, 2008)