We Did Everything But Win: Former New York Rangers Remember the Emile Francis Era (1964-1976)

Terrific book. Always loved these verbal stories

George Grimm’s classic, “WE DID EVERYTHING BUT WIN” only gains importance with the passage of time. Capturing the New York Rangers during the Emile Francis era of 1964-1976, George has gifted hockey fans a precious time capsule. Beautifully written, meticulously researched, insightful interviews, and George’s own touching personal experiences (often with his father) will prevent this important chapter from ever being forgotten. This is a must read for any Ranger fan interested in our team’s history. I was too young to experience these years myself, but this terrific book brings those players and Emile to life.

Terrific read! Brought back many memories of my growing up watching the Francis era Rangers teams.Learned some things as well; never knew how close Francis came to acquiring both Johnny Bucyk and Bernie Parent!One criticism I always had w/Francis was how many talented young players we dealt away. Berenson, Widing, Apps, Dupont, Curt Bennett, to just name a few. If we had been able to infuse young talent like that into those Ranger teams, maybe that would've given them the ingredients to win a Cup.But we'll never know. All we can go by are the facts, and that is those Rangers teams were good enough to give one hope that "this would finally be the year", but in the end, could never put together that one magical run.Great job Mr. Grimm!

Being a Rangers fan since 1956 this book brought back so many memories, bad and good, of the team I have loved since I was 6 years old. I often wondered about some of the deals that were made over the 15 years this book chronicles and Grimm gives the inside scoop as to why we made so many bad deals and had a bunch of bad draft picks. Many former Rangers from that era give the inside skinny on what those teams and teammates were like. If you've ever stood up and hollered "Let's Go Rangers" this book is for you

It's not easy to be a fan of a very good but not great team.It's sort of like knocking on the door for a long time, and no one answers.The New York Rangers of the late 1960s and early 1970s were like that. After years of serving as plankton to the National Hockey League's whales, the Rangers finally got their act together around 1964 when Emile Francis came in as general manager and coach.It started a run of about a decade in which the Rangers were frequently Stanley Cup contenders, which sounded mighty good to the team's loyal fan base that had endured years of suffering with little hope. Those boosters are clearly the target of "We Did Everything but Win."The formula for such oral histories is a rather simple one. Find the people involved, let them talk into a recorder, add some background information, and - presto! - you have the makings of a book. Author George Grimm, a veteran Rangers' fan and sometimes hockey writer, obviously had the chance to talk with Francis for long periods of time, and his comments are the centerpiece of the book. The former GM/coach has a great memory for what happened during his time in New York, and he has plenty of good stories. Some of the key games, personalities and player moves come alive nicely here.The list of players quoted here is a long one - everyone from Phil Goyette and Earl Ingarfield to Walt Tkachuk and Brad Park. There are some stars missing for one reason or another, but we still hear plenty about such players as Harry Howell, Jean Ratelle, Ed Giacomin and Rod Gilbert.Grimm concludes - with the help of some other people's opinions - that the Rangers just didn't have the star power to compete some of the league's best teams in that era. I might go a step farther than that. The Cup winners of that era included the great Montreal squads of the late 1960s, the Boston Bruins with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito in the early 1970s, and the back-to-back Cup winners in Philadelphia in 1974 and 1975 (led by Bernie Parent and Bobby Clarke). There usually was someone better in the Rangers' way. That happens at certain times in sports history. For example, the Buffalo Bills of the NFL lost four straight Super Bowls, but the only time they might have had the better team was the first one in 1991.There are a couple of flaws here. A little more editing would have been nice. A few stories get repeated along the way, and some of the quotes could have been edited down a bit to improve the flow of the story. The game and season descriptions were rather dry; the latter could have been replaced by a table or two quite easily.It's been 50-plus years since some of the people in "We Did Everything But Win" were skating around Madison Square Garden. Therefore, the demographic for the book is shrinking fast. But for those who remember those very good teams, this will bring back some good memories - which will cover a few shortcomings.

The title says it all they didn't win but they came so close. If they beat Montreal in round one, they would lose to Boston, they beat Boston and they lose to Chicago or Philadelphia. I became a hockey fan during this period and eventually became a season ticket holder in 1975. George Grimm does a great job covering this period making this book a must read for NY Ranger fans.

This is the best hockey history book about the New York Rangers I have ever read. Finally, a key era of Rangers history is given to us not through the anti-Rangers prism of Stan Fischler and instead gives you a feel for what the era was like. I have been a Ranger fan all my life but I have never been able to latch into the Francis era because my first season was 1976-77, the year after it ended so for me Jean Ratelle and Brad Park were never Rangers to me, and Phil Esposito was always a Ranger! But George Grimm helps bridge the gap for someone like me and gave me an appreciation for it I never truly had before. (And maybe someday, we'll see a similar book about the frustrating era of the 79 Cup Final team and the Herb Brooks era that could have delivered the Cup sooner but for the Islanders juggernaut!)

Being a long time Ranger Fan this book brings back a lot of memories from the time the Rangers were always in a fight not to finish at the bottom of the then Original Six. The rise to better days came at the time Emile Francis joined the Ranger organization. He was a player , a coach and then a coach-general manager . He brought them to respectability and success but unfortuantely not the Cup. Contains good behind the scenes info too. Highly recommended!