EP 3: Garden Party

The 1994 Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers remain one of the more iconic teams in NHL history. On this episode of NHL Backstory, we take a look at their historic run from every angle, talking to everyone from players (Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Nick Kypreos) to team staff to general manager Neil Smith to head coach Mike Keenan to New York Knicks president Dave Checketts. But it doesn't end there. We provide exclusive access to Rangers players' favorite bar (and its owner John Barounis), the staff at the iconic Gerry Cosby & Co. sporting goods store (through longtime manager Jim Root) and the unique perspective of fans like Conor McDonald (whose father, Steven, remains a major figure in Rangers team lore) and Mike McEvoy. These are the stories about the 1994 New York Rangers you didn't know. Whether it was the Rangers player who lost the Stanley Cup on the way to Gracie Mansion or the unique mishap involving a very special piece of team memorabilia, it's all a part of "Garden Party". 

For years now, the NHL Trade Deadline has been the most hectic period of the league calendar. With help from current general managers Bill Guerin and Ken Holland as well as former GMs Neil Smith and Mike Smith, NHL Backstory takes a look at the history and inner workings of the craziest day of the regular season. But this episode doesn't just dig into the Deadline. We take a look at some of the wildest trades in NHL history, from Gretzky to Bourque and Lindros to Draper. Deals that saw superstars traded for prospects and picks, other deals that saw players exchanged for a dollar. With insights from former players Mike Sillinger and Brent Ashton (who happen to be two of the most-traded players in NHL history), we evaluate all the elements of what happens when players are told to pack their bags and report to their newest team.

In the premiere episode of NHL Backstory, ESPN's Arda Öcal helps explain how a frustrated screenwriter took his love for hockey and turned it into a Disney mega-franchise. But that’s only where the story starts. Within just weeks of the movie’s release, the company was the proud owner of one of the NHL’s newest franchises. Going deep behind the scenes, NHL Backstory talks to the key people (including Steve Brill, Jordan Kerner, Shaun Weiss, Gary Bettman, Michael Eisner, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selänne and Jack Ferreira) and discover how a movie about some mischievous hockey brats morphed into an NHL team competing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. All in a span of just over a decade.

Check out this sneak peak of NHL Backstory, a new podcast series from the NHL.  Throughout its history, hockey has seen countless moments that have reshaped the game in the most unexpected ways imaginable. Unusual events whose legacy grew and grew until the sport was ultimately changed forever. Like the Disney film franchise that became an NHL expansion franchise or the trick shot that changed the nightly highlight reel or the late-night meeting at Nassau Coliseum that turned into a billion-dollar industry. In this podcast, the National Hockey League is going behind the scenes to explore these events and how they completely reshaped the game. That means speaking firsthand with the players, coaches and executives who made it all happen. These are the stories that literally changed the game.