If you look at the Rangers teams of the 1950s and 1960s, then two names feature prominently for the Rangers.  Andy Bathgate was a skilled forward who lead the offense for the team for much of his twelve seasons, while Harry Howell was your prototypical stay at home defender.  Both players joined the Blueshirts in 1952, as the team continued to make progress from the damage that World War II had done on the roster in the previous decade.

While the Rangers teams of that era struggled to be competitive, it was clear that both players were amongst the elite, with Bathgate ultimately being traded to the Maple Leafs and helping them win the cup in the 1963-64 season.  Howell for his part stayed with the Rangers for 17 seasons up until the cusp of the great teams of the early 70s, finally leaving the organization after the 1968-69 season.

There since the beginning of the franchise, Lester Patrick was the Rangers in the first twenty years.  He was the first coach, and took the Rangers through to the 1937-38 season and two Stanley Cups before handing the reigns to Frank Boucher.  He had played a game as a defenseman, and another as an emergency goalie as the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals during the team's first successful Cup campaign, and he's been General Manager for nearly twenty years.

Now in his mid sixties, he'd had enough.  He'd seen the team through the rough years during World War II, when the majority of his leading players went off to fight, and now was the time to hand it over.  Patrick would shortly be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and his descendants continue to be involved in the NHL, including Nolan Patrick who currently plays for the Flyers.