1963-64 Topps 63 Jean Ratelle Hockey Card (Front)
1963-64 Topps 63 Jean Ratelle Hockey Card (Back)
Card Notes
He started each of the last two seasons with Rangers, then wound up in minors. Tall, rangy and fast in deceptive way, he has potential for NHL stardom.
En Français
A commence les deux dernières saisons avec les Rangers: mais il a été retourné aux mineurs. Jean possède un lancer précis. Il lance de la gauche et a les qualités requises pour devenir une étoile dans la ligue Nationale.
Details
1963-64 still wouldn’t be the year that Jean Ratelle would break out as a NHL regular with the New York Rangers. He appeared in just 15 games, spending most of the campaign in the AHL with the Baltimore Clippers. In fact, Topps had pretty much given up on him being a NHL regular and didn’t include him in the 1964-65 Tall Boys set.
However, by that 1964-65 season, Ratelle was a regular and never looked back at the minors over his Hockey Hall of Fame career. In 1971-72, he became the first Rangers player to top the 100 point plateau, totaling 109. Teammate Vic Hadfield also reached the milestone that year with 106.
On November 7, 1975, Ratelle was involved in a major trade that sent him to the Boston Bruins, along with Brad Park and Joe Zanussi for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais. He would finish out his NHL career in Bean Town.
Between 1960-61 and 1980-81, Jean Ratelle appeared in 1,281 regular season and 123 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Bruins and Rangers. The two time Lady Byng Trophy winner was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.