Nick Fotiu – From the Blue Seats to the Blueshirts
Throughout the Rangers’ first 99 seasons in the NHL, over 1,100 players have appeared in at least game with the franchise. Of those 1,100 players, only 30 were born in the state of New York, and even fewer were born in the five boroughs that comprise New York City.
The first New York City native to play for the Rangers, Nick Fotiu, earned that distinction after making his NHL debut on October 6, 1976. It was a remarkable achievement for several reasons, such as Fotiu’s perseverance and dedication to becoming not just an NHL player, but a Ranger, and how his path to the NHL fulfilled a prophecy of Emile Francis, the Rangers’ legendary head coach and general manager.
Nearly a decade before Fotiu signed with the Rangers on June 30, 1976, Francis helped establish the Metropolitan Junior Hockey Association. He promised Rangers president, William Jennings, that within a decade, the Rangers would have a New York native playing for the team.
Fotiu’s desire to become a Ranger began when he was 16 years old, when he attended his first NHL game. The game he attended was the Rangers’ first contest at the current Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1968, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Fotiu improved his skills enough to begin his professional hockey career five years after he first attended Gilbert’s hockey school. At 21 years old, he made his debut in the North American Hockey League with Cape Cod, which was the shared farm team for both the Rangers and Boston Bruins in the league. He led the NAHL with 374 penalty minutes during the 1973-74 season with Cape Cod, and he added 36 points in 72 games.
