[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 76 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF THE NEW YORK RANGERS' STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the New York 
Rangers on winning professional hockey's coveted Stanley Cup 
championship, named for Lord Stanley of Preston, the 16th Earl of 
Derby, and the Governor General of Canada.
  The return to New York of Lord Stanley's Cup after a 54-year struggle 
was marked by near misses and a most curious curse. After the 1940 
championship, Madison Square Garden's recently paid-off $3 million 
mortgage note was burned over the Cup. As hockey folklore has it, this 
demonstration of disrespect unintentionally cursed the Rangers. It was 
said that the Cup would never again enter the Garden. But alas, the 
curse is over.
  Led masterfully by Assistant Captain Brian Leetch, the first 
American-born Con Smythe Trophy winner, the Stanley Cup Playoffs' Most 
Valuable Player Award, the Rangers fought off a spirited challenge by 
the Vancouver Canucks, besting them in the seventh game of the 
championship series by a score of 3 to 2.
  The last time the Rangers accomplished this feat in 1940, we had yet 
to fight a second World War, fellow New Yorker Franklin D. Roosevelt 
was President, and a subway ride cost a nickel. Fifty-four years, 
indeed!
  I salute the courage and fortitude of the New York Ranger 
organization, its coaches and of course all the players. And let us not 
forget the loyal fans who have waited so long. Perhaps a cheering fan's 
placard said it best: ``Now I can die in peace.'' Peace at last.
  And now they can celebrate. On Friday, June 17, New Yorkers will 
honor their champions with an old-fashioned ticker-tape parade worthy 
of heroes. A most fitting conclusion to a most spectacular season.

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