Jean Ratelle
Encyclopedia
Joseph Gilbert Yvon "Jean" Ratelle (born October 3, 1940) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
. It has often been said of Jean Ratelle that he was so consistently effective at a high level of play day in and day out that he has been overlooked by some as one of the greatest to have played the game.
organization, Ratelle's hockey career almost ended when he suffered a serious back injury at age 23 and had to undergo major spinal cord
surgery. He recovered to become a regular with the Rangers from 1963 until 1975—his greatest success coming with his linemates Vic Hadfield
and Rod Gilbert
in the so-called "GAG line
" (which stood for Goal A Game) -- and was the perennial scoring leader for the Rangers between 1968 and 1973 when the team was a powerhouse annually among the league's best.
Ratelle was poised to beat out Boston Bruins
' legend Phil Esposito
for the scoring title in 1972 before he lost fifteen games due to an injury, but came back for the Stanley Cup finals against Boston to lead his team. Only Esposito, Bobby Orr
and John Bucyk had scored as many points in league history as Ratelle had managed in his shortened season. His 109 points that season remained a Rangers' scoring record until 2006, when Jaromir Jagr
broke the mark.
In November 1975, Ratelle was traded with teammates Brad Park
and Joe Zanussi
in a blockbuster deal to the Boston Bruins
(ironically, for Esposito, and for Carol Vadnais
). Ratelle finished strongly that year for his second 100-point campaign. On March 21, 1976, he played his 1,000th game against the Montreal Canadiens
. He starred for several more seasons for Boston, gaining admiration for his slick passing, skill at faceoffs and all-around excellent play, retiring a Bruin after the 1981 season. He served for several years thereafter as an assistant coach for the Bruins.
Remembered as a gentlemanly player (perennially in the running for the Lady Byng sportsmanship award), Ratelle played centre ice in the NHL for twenty-one seasons, accumulating 1267 points on 491 goals and 776 assists. At the time of his retirement, he was the league's sixth all-time leading scorer. While he never played on a team that won the Stanley Cup
, Ratelle was a member of the 1972 Team Canada squad that defeated the Soviet Union
in the first-ever Summit Series
.
In 1985, Jean Ratelle was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
, along with Bernie Parent
and Bert Olmstead
.
In 2009, Ratelle was ranked No. 7 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons
).
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
. It has often been said of Jean Ratelle that he was so consistently effective at a high level of play day in and day out that he has been overlooked by some as one of the greatest to have played the game.
Playing career
A product of the New York RangersNew York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
organization, Ratelle's hockey career almost ended when he suffered a serious back injury at age 23 and had to undergo major spinal cord
Spinal cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...
surgery. He recovered to become a regular with the Rangers from 1963 until 1975—his greatest success coming with his linemates Vic Hadfield
Vic Hadfield
Victor Edward Hadfield is a retired professional ice hockey player. One of the most popular players in New York Rangers history, Hadfield had a sixteen-year career in the NHL, tallying 323 goals and 389 assists with 1154 penalty minutes in 1002 career games with the Rangers and the Pittsburgh...
and Rod Gilbert
Rod Gilbert
Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. He played right wing on the GAG line that also featured Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle...
in the so-called "GAG line
GAG line
The GAG line, which as an acronym for Goal-A-Game, was a famous ice hockey line for the New York Rangers in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as these linemates averaged over 1 goal a game while playing together...
" (which stood for Goal A Game) -- and was the perennial scoring leader for the Rangers between 1968 and 1973 when the team was a powerhouse annually among the league's best.
Ratelle was poised to beat out Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
' legend Phil Esposito
Phil Esposito
Philip Anthony Esposito, OC is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and is considered to be one of the best to have...
for the scoring title in 1972 before he lost fifteen games due to an injury, but came back for the Stanley Cup finals against Boston to lead his team. Only Esposito, Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...
and John Bucyk had scored as many points in league history as Ratelle had managed in his shortened season. His 109 points that season remained a Rangers' scoring record until 2006, when Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr
Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Jágr formerly played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers...
broke the mark.
In November 1975, Ratelle was traded with teammates Brad Park
Brad Park
Douglas Bradford Park is a retired ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings...
and Joe Zanussi
Joe Zanussi
Joseph Lawrence Zanussi is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 149 games in the World Hockey Association and 87 games in the National Hockey League...
in a blockbuster deal to the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
(ironically, for Esposito, and for Carol Vadnais
Carol Vadnais
Carol Marcel Vadnais is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1966–67 until 1982–83...
). Ratelle finished strongly that year for his second 100-point campaign. On March 21, 1976, he played his 1,000th game against the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
. He starred for several more seasons for Boston, gaining admiration for his slick passing, skill at faceoffs and all-around excellent play, retiring a Bruin after the 1981 season. He served for several years thereafter as an assistant coach for the Bruins.
Remembered as a gentlemanly player (perennially in the running for the Lady Byng sportsmanship award), Ratelle played centre ice in the NHL for twenty-one seasons, accumulating 1267 points on 491 goals and 776 assists. At the time of his retirement, he was the league's sixth all-time leading scorer. While he never played on a team that won the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, Ratelle was a member of the 1972 Team Canada squad that defeated the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the first-ever Summit Series
Summit Series
The Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972...
.
In 1985, Jean Ratelle was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
, along with Bernie Parent
Bernie Parent
Bernard Marcel Parent , better known as Bernie Parent, is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 13 National Hockey League seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs, and also spent one season in the World Hockey Association with the...
and Bert Olmstead
Bert Olmstead
Murray Albert Olmstead is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League . Olmstead began his career with the Black Hawks in 1949. In December 1950, he was traded to the...
.
In 2009, Ratelle was ranked No. 7 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
).
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1958–59 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the... |
54 | 20 | 31 | 51 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1959–60 | Guelph Biltmores | OHA | 48 | 39 | 47 | 86 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1960–61 | Guelph Royals | OHA | 47 | 40 | 61 | 101 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 6 | ||
| 1960–61 | New York Rangers New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1961–62 | New York Rangers | NHL | 31 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 1962–63 AHL season The 1962–63 AHL season was the 27th season of the American Hockey League. Nine teams played 72 games each in the schedule. The Buffalo Bisons finished first overall in the regular season, and won their fourth Calder Cup championship.-Team changes:... |
Baltimore Clippers Baltimore Clippers The Baltimore Clippers were an American ice hockey team. They were the first of three Baltimore entries into the American Hockey League, who played from 1962–76... |
AHL American Hockey League The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League... |
20 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1963–64 | New York Rangers | NHL | 15 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 1963–64 AHL season The 1963–64 AHL season was the 28th season of the American Hockey League. Nine teams played 72 games each in the schedule. The Quebec Aces finished first overall in the regular season... |
Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 57 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | New York Rangers | NHL | 54 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 1964–65 AHL season The 1964–65 AHL season was the 29th season of the American Hockey League. The league inaugurates the James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding media coverage of the AHL.Nine teams played 72 games each in the schedule... |
Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 8 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1965–66 | New York Rangers | NHL | 67 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966–67 | New York Rangers | NHL | 41 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1967–68 | New York Rangers | NHL | 74 | 32 | 46 | 78 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1968–69 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 32 | 46 | 78 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1969–70 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 32 | 42 | 74 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1970–71 | New York Rangers | NHL | 78 | 26 | 46 | 72 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 | ||
| 1971–72 | New York Rangers | NHL | 63 | 46 | 63 | 109 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1972–73 | New York Rangers | NHL | 78 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1973–74 | New York Rangers | NHL | 68 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1974–75 | New York Rangers | NHL | 79 | 36 | 55 | 91 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 1975–76 | New York Rangers | NHL | 13 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Boston Bruins Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the... |
NHL | 67 | 31 | 59 | 90 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | ||
| 1976–77 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 78 | 33 | 61 | 94 | 22 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 4 | ||
| 1977–78 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 25 | 59 | 84 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1978–79 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 | 27 | 45 | 72 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 2 | ||
| 1979–80 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 67 | 28 | 45 | 73 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1980–81 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 47 | 11 | 26 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 1281 | 491 | 776 | 1267 | 276 | 123 | 32 | 66 | 98 | 24 | ||||