Andy Bathgate

For availability or more information contact:

Events Edge Entertainment and Speakers Bureau

Phone: 1-877-922-9333 (Toll Free)

Web: http://www.eventsedge.com
Email: events@eventsedge.com

PROFILE

Andy Bathgate is remembered for his bullet-like slap shot and as one of hockey's finest goal scorers. Wearing a special brace for a severely injured knee, Andy Bathgate helped the Guelph Biltmores win a Memorial Cup championship in 1952. After captaining his Guelph team to the Memorial Cup Andy Bathgate joined the New York Rangers for eighteen games in the 1952-53 season. However, it was the 1954-55 season that marked a breakthrough year for Andy Bathgate. He impressed Ranger's fans and hockey fans alike with a 20-goal, 40-point performance over the course of 70 games. Andy Bathgate was now a star player in the NHL. He was the team's leading scorer over the next ten seasons. In the 1961-62 season, Andy Bathgate scored a career high 84 points, tops in the NHL. In that same season, Andy Bathgate accounted for 56 assists, also good enough to lead the league. Andy Bathgate proved to be a dominating player during the late 1950's and early 1960's, earning two berths each on the NHL First and Second All-Star squads. The Rangers' Captain took home the Hart Trophy in 1959 as the NHL's most valuable player and even set a modern-day record on January 5, 1963 when he scored in his tenth consecutive game. Andy Bathgate began the 1963-64 season with the Rangers, but after appearing in 56 contests with New York, Bathgate and Don McKenney were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for five players. Bathgate's 58 assists that season tied Jean Beliveau's record. McKenney and Bathgate combined for nine goals and twelve assists during the 1964 playoffs, leading Toronto to a Stanley Cup. Andy Bathgate played the 1964-65 season with Toronto, but was traded in May of 1965 to the Detroit Red Wings in an eight-player transaction. When expansion came to the NHL in the 1967-68 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins claimed Andy Bathgate from the Red Wings. Pittsburgh however, loaned Andy Bathgate to the WHL's Vancouver Canucks for each of the next two seasons before returning to the Penguins for the 1970-71 campaign, his last in the NHL. Andy Bathgate was a superb player. Perhaps Glenn Hall summed it up best when he stated, "I rank him in the top 20 of all time. He was that great." Andy Bathgate's election into Hockey's Hall of Fame in 1978 was most deserved.

Career Highlights

• Memorial Cup championship - 1952 with Guelph Biltmores
• Stanley Cup Champion - 1963-64 season
• Participated in 8 NHL All-Star contests
• Inducted in to Hockey Hall of Fame - 1978

Career Records

• Set NHL record January 5, 1963 scored in his tenth consecutive game
• Tied Jean Beliveau's record 58 assists - 1963-64 season

Awards And Designations

• Hart Trophy (NHL's Most Valuable Player) - 1959