Butch Keeling

Butch Keeling was a regular left winger with the New York Rangers in the 1930s. Playing behind the famous Boucher-Cook brothers line, Keeling pulled second line duty often with Murray Murdoch and either Cecil Dillon or Paul Thompson.

Words that commonly described him as a player were "underrated," "consistent," and "reliable." Keeling was known as a big and strong player, although he was clean and rarely took penalties. He was a solid goal scorer, though not much of a set up man. His best season came in 1936–37 when, playing on a line with Phil Watson and Dillon, he led the Rangers with a career-high 22 goals, the third highest total in the league. In the playoffs he notched three goals and five points before bowing to the Detroit Red Wings.

Keeling was a member of the Rangers 1933 Stanley Cup championship team. In fact it was Keeling who assisted on Bill Cook's famous Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime.

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Tomas Sandstrom

Tomas Sandstrom was one of the most hated players of his day.

He had a reputation as a shit disturber at best, and as a dirty player at worst. He was very abrasive, always yapping, giving facials with his gloves and keep his stick high whenever someone came nearby. He infuriated opponents regularly enough that they would often try to retaliate, allowing Sandstrom's team to go to the power play. Once in a while they got him good, like, infamously, Dave Brown:



Sandstrom had the finesse skills to make that team pay, too. He combined good size, speed, strength and skill. Nine times in his career, including seven seasons in a row, Sandstrom topped 25 goals or more, including a couple of 40 goal campaigns. He surprised goalies with virtually no backswing to his shot, showing velocity and accuracy regardless. He could even release shots while the puck was still in his feet. He was also an underrated passer.

Despite his reputation as a dirty player, the bottom line on Tomas Sandstrom was that he loved to compete and you had to respect that. That being said, he had a general disregard for his opponent's safety, and that does not need to be respected. He was like an Esa Tikkanen or Claude Lemieux - an elite pest with a good all around game to match it.

Sandstrom was best known as a New York Ranger until he and Tony Granato were traded to Los Angeles. That trade was not without controversy - heading to New York was Bernie Nicholls, the long time popular King who had scored 70 goals along side Wayne Gretzky the previous season.

Sandstrom never put up incredibly unusual numbers along side The Great One, but he did have a real strong playoff in 1993. The Kings made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals that year, bowing out Montreal. Sandstrom's most famous moment as a King - being winked at by Patrick Roy in that Stanley Cup final.



Sandstrom later joined the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, continued to being overshadowed by superstar teammates like Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya/Teemu Selanne.

He also briefly played with Detroit, finally winning a Stanley Cup in 1997.

All told Tomas Sandstrom played 983 career NHL games, scoring 394 goals and 462 assists for 856 points. He also registered 1,193 career penalty minutes.

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Miloslav Horava

When Miloslav Horava came to the NHL late in the 1988-89 season he was a 27-year old veteran of both the Czechoslovakian league and the Czech national team. He had already participated in two Olympic tournaments, three Canada Cups and four World Championship tournaments. He went on to play in two more Olympic tournaments for a total of four. Miloslav played well over 200 games for the Czech national team.

Miloslav grew up playing in Kladno. He played for PZ Kladno between 1969-77 and then continued to play for Poldi Kladno in the Czech league as an adult. Miloslav wasn't the easiest player to coach when he was a youngster. He didn't like to listen to the advice given to him by older players and coaches. He was very outspoken and often said things that didn't sit well with people around him, mostly coaches. His coaches let him get away with a lot of stuff because he was a great talent, and he displayed that talent best when he got some slack. In his early years he was an offensive defenseman with a booming shot. He had one of the better shots in the entire Czech league.

Miloslav's long time dream of playing in the NHL became a reality when he laced 'em up for the NY Rangers at the end of the 1988-89 season. He played six games. Before the 1989-90 season was to begin a lot of changes happened in New York. Miloslav had to start from scratch during the training camp. He played so well that he earned himself a regular spot on the blueline for the 1989-90 season

Miloslav was greatful to his Swedish teammate Tomas Sandstrom who helped him a lot. They used to play against each other in Europe. Sandstrom gave him valuable advice.

"Now you are in America, which means that everything for you will be a new experience. Try to adapt to the flow of the game, because if you don't then you'll be history pretty fast," Sandstrom advised "There will be times when you'll hit rock bottom. You'll come up with thousands of reasons to leave and go back home. Don't do it, there will be times when you are dead tired, but you have to dig in and continue. Around you there are a lot of wolves who can't wait until they can get a bite of you, get rid of the uncomfortable European. There will be moments when you will be ready to throw in the towel, but you have to fight through it and work even harder.Just smile and stare them in the eye, and tell them them that you expected it to be a lot worse. That way you'll earn respect and the guys who want to take your spot will be perplexed, asking themselves: ' we are down on our knees and this Horava guy is still going.'  This will eventually cut you some slack."

Sandstrom's pep talk was really important to Miloslav who often thought about Sandstrom's words when he had doubts about himself. The change wasn't just huge on the ice but off the ice as well. Miloslav barely could speak English and he wasn't used to all the luxury given to him by the Rangers. They fixed him a huge house in Rochester and a fancy car. Miloslav, who was a pretty well travelled fellow, was impressed by how professionally things worked in the NHL.

He also admitted that he didn't realize how stereotypical an NHL'ers life was. Eat, sleep, travel, train and play hockey day in and day out. The rebel in Miloslav was still present and he had a hard time to cope with the constant roster changes. One day you were in and the other you were out of the lineup without any explanation from the coach.

After the 1990-91 season Miloslav left North America to play in Sweden and Modo. He was one of the best defensemen in the league and played there until 1994. He then went on to play for Slavia Prague in the Czech league and Karlovy Vary, also of the Czech league. He retired in 2000.

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Bob "Killer" Dill

Decades after the infamous incident, Bob "Killer" Dill still denies it.

Dill, a gigantic tough guy out of Minnesota, was quickly carving out a reputation as the baddest man in hockey. Opponents feared Dill's rabbit punches that annihilated many players.

Dill's reputation, and his effectiveness as a NHL hockey player, came to an abrupt halt at the hands (quite literally) of Rocket Richard. Dill was assigned the duty of neutralizing the Rocket one night at the Madison Square Gardens. The idea was to intimidate the Canadiens superstar.

Legend has it that as the two tangled for the first time that night, Richard had knocked out Dill with a quick fist to the head before Dill even had a chance to land a punch. Minutes later, Dill staggered to the penalty box, yelling and taunting Rocket the whole way. Rocket, who was in the penalty box already, didn't appreciate whatever Dill had to say. With no barrier to separate the two penalty boxes, Richard leaped into Dill's area, and caught him with another blow, knocking out the big bad Dill for a second time!

"Its a hell of a thing to be remembered for, especially since the incident never took place," said Dill.

"Sure, the Rocket and I had a little set-to in that game and he knocked me down and I was groggy. And yes, we got penalties. In the box, I called him a dirty so-and-so and he reached over and punched me over the eye. It bled a little enough for three stitches as I recall. But that was it. There was no second knockout. Geez the reporters built it up and the books have been written with they story about how I got beaten up that night. You'd think I had been knocked out for 15 minutes the way it was told."

Dill's son Bill Jr. also denies the accuracy of this legend.

Dill Jr. says "I do have the original paper from the famous fight and it does not mention anyone being knocked out etc. It was described like just like my father's description."

While Dill's reputation had taken a beating more so than his body, common sentiment was that Killer Dill's career was ruined because of this incident. He quickly disappeared from the NHL scene after playing in just 76 games, scoring 15 goals and 30 points, plus 135 PIMs.

Not so, says his son Bob Dill Jr.

"The truth is that after the 44-45 season Boston wanted to make a trade for him but Lester Patrick refused because he wanted my father to play for St Paul in the USHL, reason being my father was from St Paul and Lester saw in him as a hometown favorite to draw the crowds which he did for the next 5 years."

"His game never changed," Dill Jr. goes on to say "as he was selected twice to all star teams and lead St. Paul in scoring for a defenseman each of the 5 years and also in penalty minutes."

"Lester Patrick was not a huge supporter of the American player (there were very few in the NHL at that time) and that bothered my father more than any fight, as he had many many more during the rest of his career.

As his son points out, he did go on to a strong career outside of the NHL - a career that was distinguished enough to land him in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hopefully this article will help dispel the myth of the Dill/Richard encounter.

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Alexander Karpovtsev

Moscow native Alexander Karpovtsev was an intriguing Soviet import.

Blessed with good size (6'2" and 210lbs) and great skating strength (in terms of balance and agility, and even quickness out of his pivots), the New York Rangers had high hopes for Karpovtsev when they acquired him from the Quebec Nordiques. The Nords drafted the Moscow Dynamo defenseman 158th overall in the 1990 Entry Draft but never brought him to North America. That only happened after the Rangers, led by general manager Neil Smith's enthusiasm for Soviet players, brought him over in 1993. Sergei Nemchinov, Alexei Kovalev and Sergei Zubov were also amongst the influx.

Karpovtsev enjoyed 5 seasons in New York, including in 1994 when the team won the Stanley Cup. It may have been the Rangers' first championship in over 50 years, but Karpovtsev hoisted the chalice as a NHL rookie. In doing so, he, Nemchinov, Kovalev and Zubov became the first Russian players to have their name on the Stanley Cup!

But Karpovtsev never really got untracked. The Rangers had great depth on the blue line, limiting Karpovtsev's playing time. Also limiting his playing time was a series of injuries. He missed half of two seasons in New York due to injuries.

The Rangers moved Karpovtsev to Toronto in 1998 in exchange for Mathieu Schneider. The Rangers were looking for an experienced upgrade as they figured Karpovtsev was no better than a third pairing dman who could make safe outlets from his own zone, tie up larger forwards in front of the net and maybe eat up some second pairing power play minutes.

Karpovtsev played two seasons in Toronto (quietly having a really solid 1998-99 season) before moving to Chicago for four seasons. He seemingly spent as much time in the medical room as he did on the ice, drawing famous criticism of his desire to play. Chicago broadcaster Pat Foley was not shy to rip into Karpovtsev's character, damaging Karpovtsev's reputation. He essentially left the NHL, rightly or wrongly, known for poor work ethic. He certainly is remembered in Chicago with great despise.

Karpovtsev briefly appeared with the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers, but for all intents and purposes he moved back to Russia to complete his career. He retired from the game for good in 2007.

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Troy Mallette

Troy Mallette certainly made quite the impact on the NHL when he first came into the league.

The 22nd overall draft pick in 1988, Mallette joined the New York Rangers a year later, tallying 13 goals and an  amazing 305 penalty minutes. He followed up that with a sophomore season that saw him register 12 goals and 252 penalty minutes.

Mallette's reputation was pretty much set by that stage. He was hard working, hard hitting winger who would crash and bang on his wall and in the corners. He could be counted on to score a few goals and drop the gloves regularly. But he was a bundle full of energy and guts, but he was not exactly the most menacing player in the league.

When the New York Rangers signed Adam Graves to a free agent contract in 1991, the NHL awarded the Oilers Mallette as compensation. Graves of course went on to become a 50 goal scorer in New York. After just 15 games Mallette demanded to be traded.

Mallette's wish was granted later in the season, moved to New Jersey in exchange for David Maley.  But he would not fit in well there either. He would sit out many games as a healthy scratch.

Mallette badly wanted to be a regular player, but increasingly it became obvious that if he was going to stay in the NHL he needed to accept the role of team goon. He didn't have the speed or puck skills to play a significantly bigger role, no matter what the uninformed free agency arbitrator said.

Mallette went on to play in Ottawa, Boston and Tampa Bay. When all was said and done he played in 456 NHL games, scoring 51 goals, 119 points and 1226 penalty minutes.

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