Despite his problems, Dutton wheeled and dealed so that by the fall of 1937 he had a lineup that could favorably compete with the Rangers. One of his finds, forward Dave “Sweeny” Schriner, eventually would be voted to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“What made me so proud,” Dutton said, “was that I signed Schriner to his first pro contract. I brought him in along with Art Chapman and Lorne Carr and together they made one of the greatest lines in hockey.”
Dutton also gambled by signing future Hall of Famers who many in the NHL believed were over the hill. They included ex-Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Hap Day and former Rangers defenseman Ching Johnson. In addition, Dutton persuaded another old-time scoring ace, Nels “Old Poison” Stewart, to join the team.
The venerable additions helped the Amerks finish 19-18-11, second in the four-team Canadian Division. What made it even more exciting was that Dutton’s oft-mocked sextet would face the high-falootin’ Rangers in the opening playoff round.
“This playoff was the biggest sports hit in town with fans lining up outside the Garden the morning of the opening game,” Olan remembered. “I was too young to go so I listened to the games on the radio.”
The Rangers were favored but Dutton’s patchwork lineup, a blend of aged future Hall of Famers and talented youngsters, startled Big Apple sports fans by taking the best-of-3 opener 2-1 in two overtimes. The Rangers rebounded, winning the second game 4-3 This set the stage for the climactic finale March 27, 1938, before 16,340 fans, the largest Garden crowd of the season.
The Rangers jumped to a 2-0 lead, but the Amerks rallied on goals by Carr and Stewart. That sent the game into never-ending overtimes.
Writing in Sports Life Magazine, editor Bruce Jacobs suggested that it was more like a Hollywood thriller.
“The contest couldn’t have been more adaptable to drama, had a script been written in advance by (prize-winning producer) Alfred Hitchcock,” Jacobs enthused.
The game began at 8:30 p.m. ET and took four overtimes. It was the longest hockey game ever played in New York and ended at close to 1:30 a.m. There were many near goals, but goalies Dave Kerr (Rangers) and Earl Robertson (Amerks) were equal to the tasks.
“Surprisingly few fans departed by midnight even though it appeared that the game would go on indefinitely,” Jacobs said. “Here and there spectators rushed out to the lobby refreshment stands, which finally ran out of food, but most of the huge crowd was on hand when the end came.”
Olan had fallen asleep while listening to the play-by-play broadcast. When he awakened the next morning, he neither had no idea who won nor what he missed.
In the third overtime, each team almost broke the tie. First, Amerks defenseman Joe Jerwa hit the post behind Kerr, but the puck caromed harmlessly to the side boards.
Then, Rangers sharpshooter Cecil Dillon broke free but Robertson “took it off his pads,” according to one newspaper report.
“The two teams came tearing out for the fourth extra session and took up where they stopped in the third,” Jacobs said. “It was slam-bang hockey, and at the 40-second mark Lorne Carr smashed through.”
“I intercepted the puck from Lynn Patrick,” said Carr in “The Game I’ll Never Forget: 100 Hockey Stars’ Stories,” written by Chris McDonell, “and my first instinct was to shoot, and my shot beat Kerr, giving us the win and the series but we were too exhausted to celebrate the victory.”
Apart from the joyous Carr, Dutton appeared to be the happiest guy in the Garden. He later confessed, “That was the greatest thrill I ever got in hockey. The Rangers had a high-priced team then and beating them was like winning the Stanley Cup to us.”
Upon awakening, Olan still didn’t know who won. His heart throbbing, he rushed to his local newsstand.
“I was a nervous wreck as I picked up the Daily News,” he remembered. “I feared the worst as I slowly — very, very slowly — reached the sports section.”
Then, a pause: “I finally turned the page until I saw the headline: “AMERKS BEAT…and I nearly cried.”
A good 20 years later, when Olan as hockey editor recounted the story to me in his Associated Press office, he darn near wept for joy once again!
