Jean Ratelle

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| halloffame = 1985

| image = Jean Ratelle 1972.JPG

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Ratelle with the New York Rangers in 1972

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|10|3}}

| birth_place = Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 175

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| played_for = New York Rangers
Boston Bruins

| ntl_team = CAN

| career_start = 1960

| career_end = 1981

}}

Joseph Gilbert Yvon Jean Ratelle (born October 3, 1940) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. He featured in three Stanley Cup Finals (1972, 1977, 1978). In twenty-one seasons he averaged almost a point a game and won the Lady Byng Trophy twice in recognition of his great sportsmanship. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

In 2017 he was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.{{cite web|title=100 Greatest NHL Players|url=https://www.nhl.com/fans/nhl-centennial/100-greatest-nhl-players|website=NHL.com|access-date=January 27, 2017|date=January 27, 2017}}

Playing career

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). He led the Rangers in scoring between 1968 and 1973 when the team was a powerhouse among the league's best.

Ratelle was poised to beat out Boston Bruins' legend Phil Esposito for the scoring title in 1972 when he had to sit out fifteen games due to an injury but came back for the Stanley Cup finals against Boston to lead his team. Only three other players - Esposito, Bobby Orr and Johnny Bucyk - had scored as many points in any season as Ratelle had done in his shortened season. His 109 points that season remained a Rangers' scoring record until 2006, when Jaromír Jágr broke it.

In November 1975, Ratelle was traded with Brad Park and Joe Zanussi to the Boston Bruins for Esposito and Carol Vadnais. Rangers general manager Emile Francis made the trade out in part out of respect so that Ratelle did not have to relocate his family far, plus the Bruins had sought Ratelle's skills at center.{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2017/09/13/the-moment-jean-ratelle-gave-his-loyalty-back-to-rangers/|title=The moment Jean Ratelle gave his loyalty back to Rangers|date=13 September 2017}}

With the Bruins for the remainder of the 1975-76 season, Ratelle scored over 100 points that season for the second time in his career. He played five more seasons with Boston, gaining admiration for his slick passing, skill at faceoffs, and all-around excellent play.

File:1961 Topps Jean Ratelle.png

At the time of his retirement after the 1980-81 season, Ratelle was the league's sixth all-time leading scorer. While he never played on a team that won the Stanley Cup (being a finalist in 1972, 1977, and 1978), he was a member of the 1972 Team Canada squad that defeated the Soviet Union in the first Summit Series. He was well known as a gentlemanly player, finishing in the top five for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and excellence nine times, including a stretch between the 1970 and 1978 seasons where he was in the top three six times and won the trophy twice.

Post-playing career

Ratelle retired as a player after the 1980-81 season and remained in the Bruins organization, serving for four years as an assistant coach and then sixteen years as a scout.{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2017/09/13/the-moment-jean-ratelle-gave-his-loyalty-back-to-rangers/|title=The moment Jean Ratelle gave his loyalty back to Rangers|date=13 September 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://thehockeywriters.com/rangers-jean-ratelle-underrated/|title = Jean Ratelle: Most Underrated Ranger of All-Time|date = 27 February 2018}}

In 1985, Jean Ratelle was inducted{{cite news|title=Page C1: 11 named to Hockey Hall in ceremonies at Toronto|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19850913&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|access-date=December 28, 2013|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=September 13, 1985}} into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Ratelle at No. 7 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.{{cite book|url= https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6860998-100-ranger-greats#bookDetails |title=100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters |first1=Russ |last1=Cohen |first2=John |last2=Halligan |first3=Adam |last3=Raider |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn= 978-0470736197 |date=2009 |access-date=February 3, 2020|page=240}}

On August 28, 2017, the Rangers announced that they would retire Ratelle's number 19 jersey on February 25, 2018;{{cite web|title=Jean Ratelle's Number 19 to Be Retired on February 25, 2018|url=https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/jean-ratelles-number-19-to-be-retired-on-february-25-2018/c-290780064| website = NHL.com|access-date=August 29, 2017|date=August 28, 2017}} this was done in a pre-game ceremony.{{cite web|title=Rangers retire Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle's No. 19|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/sports/rangers-retire-hall-famer-jean-ratelle-no-19-article-1.3841741|website=NY Daily News|access-date=February 26, 2018|date=February 25, 2018}}{{cite web|last1=Tasch|first1=Justin|title=Jean Ratelle's No. 19 finally retired by Rangers, Vic Hadfield's No. 11 to be retired next season|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/rangers/jean-ratelle-no-19-finally-retired-rangers-article-1.3841740|website=NY Daily News|access-date=February 26, 2018|date=February 25, 2018}}

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM
1958–59 \| Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters \| OHA \| 54	20	31	51	11 \| 10	5	4	9	2
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1959–60 \| Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters \| OHA \| 48	39	47	86	15 \| 5	3	5	8	4
1959–60 \| Trois-Rivières Lions \| EPHL \| 3	3	5	8	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1960–61 \| Guelph Royals \| OHA \| 47	40	61	101	10 \| 14	6	11	17	6
1960–61 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 3	2	1	3	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1961–62 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 31	4	8	12	4 \| —	—	—	—	—
1961–62 \| Kitchener Beavers \| EPHL \| 32	10	29	39	8 \| 7	2	6	8	2
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1962–63 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 47	11	9	20	8 \| —	—	—	—	—
1962–63 \| Baltimore Clippers \| AHL \| 20	11	8	19	0 \| 3	0	0	0	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1963–64 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 15	0	7	7	6 \| —	—	—	—	—
1963–64 \| Baltimore Clippers \| AHL \| 57	20	26	46	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1964–65 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 54	14	21	35	14 \| —	—	—	—	—
1964–65 \| Baltimore Clippers \| AHL \| 8	9	4	13	6 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1965–66 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 67	21	30	51	10 \| —	—	—	—	—
1966–67 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 41	6	5	11	4 \| 4	0	0	0	2
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1967–68 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 74	32	46	78	18 \| 6	0	4	4	2
1968–69 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 75	32	46	78	26 \| 4	1	0	1	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1969–70 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 75	32	42	74	28 \| 6	1	3	4	0
1970–71 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 78	26	46	72	14 \| 13	2	9	11	8
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1971–72 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 63	46	63	109	4 \| 6	0	1	1	0
1972–73 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 78	41	53	94	12 \| 10	2	7	9	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1973–74 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 68	28	39	67	16 \| 13	2	4	6	0
1974–75 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 79	36	55	91	26 \| 3	1	5	6	5
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1975–76 \| New York Rangers \| NHL \| 13	5	10	15	2 \| —	—	—	—	—
1975–76 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 67	31	59	90	16 \| 12	8	8	16	4
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1976–77 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 78	33	61	94	22 \| 14	5	12	17	4
1977–78 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 80	25	59	84	10 \| 15	3	7	10	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1978–79 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 80	27	45	72	12 \| 11	7	6	13	2
1979–80 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 67	28	45	73	8 \| 3	0	0	0	0
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1980–81 \| Boston Bruins \| NHL \| 47	11	26	37	16 \| 3	0	0	0	0
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 1,280 !! 491 !! 776 !! 1,267 !! 276 ! 123 !! 32 !! 66 !! 98 !! 24