Sports This Week: Greschner's NHL dream: From Saskatchewan to the Rangers

YORKTON - Long time New York Ranger Ron Greschner is among a group of three former NHL players headed to the Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame this summer.

“It’s an honour,” said Greschner in a recent interview with Yorkton This Week from New York.

At the same time the call wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“A lot of cousins have been trying to do this for a while,” said Greschner.

Certainly, Greschner’s resume suggests he is a worthy inductee, having played just shy of 1000 NHL games (982 regular season), all for one franchise, the New York Rangers. He would add 84 more games in the playoffs.

Greschner said had a back injury not nearly ended his career limiting his time to 39 games in 1981-82 - 1982-83 he would have hit 1000.

“They didn’t have the technology to put you back together then. I thought my career was over,” he said.

Greschner acknowledged not a lot of players, even in his era, played that long with a single team, then joked, “it could be that nobody else wanted me.”

Still, the induction announcement was a special one coming as it did from Greschner’s home province.

“I’m still a good Saskatchewan boy, even though I’ve been away for 50 years. I still wear the green for the Roughriders . . . Saskatchewan is a great place to grow up,” he said.

Growing up in a small town in northwest Saskatchewan Greschner said hockey, and the NHL was the dream.

“When I was growing up it was all we knew – everybody wanted to play in the NHL,” he said.

It was as a youth one of Greschner’s best hockey memories occurred.

“One of the biggest things was meeting Gordie Howe when I was young. I went to a hockey school in Saskatoon,” he said, adding he still keenly remembers Howe telling him if he ever made it to the point people sought his autograph write so they can make out the name.

Greschner said years later he would play against Howe then in his 50s playing with Hartford. He said he remembers Howe racing Dave Maloney, half his age on an icing call, and winning, testament to just how impressive Howe was.

Interestingly growing up Greschner said he was a Montreal Canadians fan.

Years later as a 19-year-old rookie it would be against Montreal Greschner scored the first of his 179 regular season goals against the great Ken Dryden.

“He was probably the best in the world at that time,” said Greschner.

While the goal was a personal career highlight Greschner said he was never about personal successes.

“It was the name on the front (of the jersey). It was always the Rangers.”

That said, Greschner admitted one regret, that his four children never saw him play, but all were born after he retired. He has however taught them well.

“They’re all Ranger fans. They love coming to the Gardens,” he said, adding later all four will travel to Saskatchewan for the induction ceremony.

The Induction Dinner will take place in Meadow Lake Friday, Aug. 25, at the Pineridge Ford Amphitheatre.

The New York Rangers weren’t even a team friends followed at least until Greschner met his future brother-in-law who followed the team.

“There weren’t any New York Rangers fan I knew back then,” he said, adding his future brother-in-law would eventually visit when he was playing in the WHL with New Westminster and they would go to watch the Rangers visiting the local Canucks.

It was while in New Westminster Greschner made a Yorkton connection playing with Clayton Pachal.

And then it would be the Rangers who called Greschner’s name in the NHL draft.

“I ended up being drafted by the Rangers and Emile Francis,” he said, adding there was a Saskatchewan connection at play as Francis was from North Battleford.

Certainly there was a level of culture shock growing up in Goodsoil, Sask., and then arriving in New York as a 19-year-old NHL rookie.

Greschner said he loved growing up in Saskatchewan, but NYC quickly captured him completely.

“I just loved New York. I just love it today,” he said. “. . . I never thought I could love a place so much.”

While his career began in the 1974-75 season and concluded in 1989-90, Greschner never left NYC, and has worked with the team since retirement too.

“It’s one of the greatest organizations hockey has ever seen,” he suggested.