VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-rangers-to-retire-no-19-for-jean-ratelle/c-290784632
And from the all-time draft board here at HfBoards:
Ratelle also had six 30-goal seasons, more than any player in Rangers history. He scored the final goal at the old Madison Square Garden in a 3-3 tie with the Red Wings on Feb. 11, 1968. Seven days later, he took the first faceoff for the Rangers at the current Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers.
His No. 19 will join goaltenders Ed Giacomin (1) and Mike Richter (35), defensemen Brian Leetch (2) and Harry Howell (3), and forwards Gilbert (7), Adam Graves (9), Andy Bathgate (9) and Mark Messier (11) in the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
And from the all-time draft board here at HfBoards:
ATD 2017 said:... Jean Ratelle, the alternate captain of Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, scoring 4 points while playing a defensive and penalty-killing role on the team. That year in the NHL he had scored 109 points in just 63 NHL games, a Rangers record until Jagr broke it in 2006. Interestingly, that year he wasn't a Hart trophy finalist (was 2 votes behind Esposito) but the NHL players voted for him and he won the Lester B. Pearson (Ted Lindsay) Award. Over an 11-year span from age 28 to 38, ending in 1978, Ratelle was 2nd in NHL points with 946 points in those 828 games, trailing only Esposito. After 10+ years as a Ranger, the 6'1 center and Brad Park were traded to Boston in a deal for Esposito, and then Ratelle played 6 more years as a Bruin, retiring with 1267 points in 1281 NHL games. He was six times a Lady Byng finalist, winning it one of those times in New York and another time in Boston. Ratelle was known for his face-off ability, playmaking, hockey sense, skating and defensive responsibility.
Comments in his ATD bio from a teammate, an NHL coach and two GMs:"Some people noticed Ratelle's effectiveness with the puck, but they didn't see what a great positional player he was. I very rarely saw an opposing center score a goal from the slot with Jean on the ice."
"Jean was terrific at picking passes off in front of our net."
"I knew he was a good player, but I had no idea how good he was until he joined our team. I always recognized his offensive ability but I hadn't realized that he was such an excellent defensive player, too."
"He is superb at faceoffs, does an awful lot of work on defence and passes like Beliveau."