Down Memory Lane with Hockey's "Original Six".

• Author: BARRETT, WAYNE M.
• Position: Brief Article - Editorial

TO STOP ROOTING for your favorite team may be the ultimate act of sacrilege for those who worship on the altar of athletics. A New York Ranger fan since grade school, I suddenly turned on the Blueshirts--for no plausible reason--during the Wales Conference finals of 1986. I unexpectedly found myself, in my heart of hearts, hoping the Montreal Canadiens would knock off the Rangers, and I got my wish: The Habs went on to win the series and the Stanley Cup, but, just like that, I suddenly was left with no favorite team in my favorite sport.

These and so many other memories came flooding back while reading John Halligan's superb new book, New York Rangers: 75 Years, one of three 75th anniversary celebrations (the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks are the others) put out by Tehabi Books, San Diego, Calif. Ironically, these three teams, along with the Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings, are known as the "Original Six" even though only two of them--the Leafs and Canadiens--were around when the National Hockey League formed in 1917. Actually, the "originals" were the lone six NHL franchises from 1942-1967, before the league doubled in size. Today, there are 30 teams in the NHL.

Memory can be a funny thing, too. Four of the six teams made the playoffs during those years, and, in my mind's eye, each season's standings were pretty much the same when I first became a fan in the 1960s: Montreal and Toronto finished first or second; Chicago and Detroit were either third or fourth, with the Rangers and Bruins flip-flopping in the bottom two spots. In those days, the NHL inexplicably had a playoff system in which first played third and second played fourth, providing disincentives in the top and bottom halves of the standings. Why finish first when second place will earn you an easier opening-round opponent? And why fight to move up from fourth to third when the reward is having to meet the best team in the league?

Like most kids, I had one of those table-top hockey games in which metal players are "skated" around the "ice" surface via movable rods and knobs. I had all six teams, and played with my father constantly so there'd be enough games to tabulate our own standings and set up playoff matchups. He, of course, took his favorite club, the Blackhawks (and Maple Leafs and Red Wings) while I naturally had command of the Rangers (and Canadiens and Bruins).

I, like my dad, was (and still am) obsessed with uniform design and colors, and...