Ever get stuck for that perfect gag-line on a photo of your friends?
|
|
Hadfield is the final member of the GAG line to have his number honored by the team.
|
|
They formed the Goal-a-Game, or GAG, line with left wing Vic Hadfield, one of franchise's most famous trios.
|
|
"I couldn't be happier for Jean," said Francis, 210, who lives in Florida and remains close with his players from the GAG line era.
|
|
A dominant force on the left wing, Hadfield teamed with Ratelle at center and the high-scoring Gilbert on right wing to form the so-called Goal-a-Game, or GAG, line.
|
|
Four decades since he played his final game, he revels in traversing the arena on game nights with the same enthusiasm with which he skated as part of the GAG line with Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield in the 235s and '70s.
|
|
Every new Melissa McCarthy performance, even in a movie as uneven as The Boss, makes you marvel at her talent: the extravagant physical comedy, the outrageousness that never blots out believability, the skill at parsing out a single gag line so that it multiplies like loaves and fish.
|
|
The next day, French newspaper Le Monde titled its front-page obituary, "Billy Wilder dies. Nobody's perfect." – quoting the final gag line in Some Like It Hot.
|
|
Ratelle's hockey career almost ended at age 23 when he suffered a serious back injury and had to undergo major spinal cord surgery. He recovered to become a regular with the Rangers from 1963 to 1975. His greatest success came with linemates Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert in the "GAG Line" (i.e. Goal-a-Game Line).
|
|
The Ratelle-Hadfield-Gilbert line, called the GAG line, proved formidable for years. He played with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1976 for his perseverance over his back troubles. At the beginning of the 1977–78 NHL season, Gilbert and Rangers' General Manager John Ferguson got into a contract dispute.
|
|
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. It consisted of Jean Ratelle at center, Rod Gilbert on right wing and Vic Hadfield (also the Rangers team captain) on the left side.
|
|
Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (born July 1, 1941) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played right wing on the GAG line (i.e. Goal-a-Game Line) with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the first player in New York Rangers history to have his number retired.
|
|
Until the end of his life, old fans would greet him on the street with his signature introductory gag line, "Mudd with two D's." Other television credits include Dragnet, The Silent Service, and M Squad. He appeared in four episodes of the final two seasons of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as Friendly Freddy, an unsuccessful con-artist who bilks Gomer and Sgt. Carter, among others, but always gets caught, sometimes several times in the same episode.
|
|
By the 1963–64 season, Hadfield had secured a place in the Rangers' lineup as an enforcer. Over time he concentrated more on scoring than on fighting, especially with feared enforcer Reggie Fleming on the team. He joined teammates Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert to form the famous GAG line (which stood for "goal a game"). From the 1967–68 season on Hadfield always scored at least 20 goals in any full season.
|
|
Within the context of the series, "Time to Change" was devised as a way to incorporate Peter Brady, whose voice started changing due to puberty. The second verse of the song explicitly refers to growing from a child into an adult. The televised version includes an off-key gag line from Peter in the chorus, which was not included on the commercially released single. "Time to Change" was also featured in The Brady Kids episode "Jungle Bungle: Part 2" which aired on September 16, 1972.
|
|
In his e-mail he explained that in large department stores in the 1940s and 1950s there were lift operators that would request which department the customers wanted and it had become a standard gag line to reply "ladies' lingerie" when someone asked which floor you wanted. Lebow indicated that he will not apologize. Initial media coverage reported Sharoni's action as an example of political correctness. Columnist Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post sided with Lebow. "Let’s maintain some sense of proportion and civility," she said.
|
|
The trio combined for 203 points that season, out scoring the Rangers' famed Goal-A-Game, or "GAG Line". After the line had a particularly productive November, including a game against Boston in which the line accounted for 4 goals and 10 points, Rangers' general manager Emile Francis decided to keep the line together, even after Nevin recovered from his injury. Fairbairn went on to play 8 seasons in New York. Linemate Balon was traded to Vancouver in 1971-72, temporarily placing the Bulldog line on hiatus; the name was resurrected the following season when rookie Steve Vickers joined the team.
|
|
Hadfield's best season was 1971–72. Named the team's captain after the trade of longtime captain Bob Nevin, he became the first Ranger - and only the sixth NHL player - to score 50 goals in a season, nearly doubling his previous best marks; with his linemates Ratelle and Gilbert, the GAG Line totalled 139 goals and 325 points en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers signed Hadfield to a controversial and lucrative contract the following summer to deter him from defecting to the newly created World Hockey Association. He scored fewer points thereafter and was traded after the 1973–74 season to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenceman Nick Beverley.
|
|
An exciting scoring race in which Ranger Jean Ratelle had been leading Bruin Phil Esposito was shortcircuited when Ratelle broke his ankle in a game against California, putting him out for over a month of play. Ratelle still ended up third in scoring behind Esposito and Bruin Bobby Orr, while his teammates Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert – all three linemates on the renowned GAG line—finished fourth and fifth. A resurgent Frank Mahovlich, rejuvenated by a trade to Montreal, finished sixth, while Bobby Hull, in his final year in Chicago, finished seventh in points and second to Esposito in goals. Although they had fallen somewhat from their overwhelming offensive dominance from the previous season, once again the Boston Bruins had the best record in the league, while the Chicago Black Hawks topped the West Division.
|
|
The NHL's extension of the Boston–New York rivalry – present in the other leagues with the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry, Celtics–Knicks rivalry and Jets–Patriots rivalry – had its peak during the 1970s, but saw a resurgence in the 2010s. In the Original Six era, the teams had six matchups, with the Rangers only winning in 1928 and 1940 – both on the way to a Stanley Cup title. Between 1970 and 1973, where the Rangers' GAG line and the Bruins led by Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito had strong showings; the teams met three times, with the highest point being the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals, which the Bruins won in six games, but Rangers won in 5 games, in 1973. 40 years passed before the next series between the Bruins and Rangers, and in 2013 the Bruins eliminated the Rangers in five games.
|
|
Jean Ratelle played with the Rangers from 1960 to 1975. The Rangers made the finals twice in the 1970s, but lost both times to two '70s powerhouses; in six games to the Boston Bruins in , who were led by such stars as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Johnny Bucyk and Wayne Cashman; and in five games to the Canadiens in , who had Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard. By , the Rangers reached the Stanley Cup finals despite losing high- scoring center Jean Ratelle (who had been on pace over Bruin Phil Esposito to become the first Ranger since Bryan Hextall in 1942 to lead the NHL in scoring) to injury during the stretch drive of the regular season. The strength of players such as Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert (the last three constructing the famed "GAG line", standing for "goal- a-game") carried them through the playoffs.
|
|