Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Congratulations to Artemi Panarin, your 2024 Frank Boucher Trophy winner!
But as spoiled earlier this week on this site – “The Breadman” had baked this trophy long ago.
Put it this way, and as you’ll soon see below, Panarin dominated the voting with 84.3% of all votes tabulated, 669 in total – and with the first runner-up only receiving 5.6% of the vote (45).
In other words, this race was akin to yours truly being matched-up against a Kenyan during the annual N.Y.C marathon!
Simply stated: It was all over before it even started!
For those who are unfamiliar with the Frank Boucher Trophy, I’m going to share an excerpt of my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden,” with you below.
(If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, then you can buy it here: Amazon.com ).
Once explaining this prestigious trophy, I’ll then get into Panarin’s 2024 victory.
In 1952, the official fan club of the New York Rangers (when fan clubs had more power and influence than they do today), created the “Frank Boucher Fan Club Trophy,” which was a trophy that honored the most popular Ranger every year.
At the time, Frank Boucher, then the club’s general manager; “The Original Ranger” was also the longest-tenured employee of the franchise, having previously won two Stanley Cups (1928 and 1933) as a player, and another, his third, as the team’s head coach (1940).
The trophy would last until 2010, upon the dissolution of the fan club due to the age of the internet.
In 2020, I decided to bring back the Frank Boucher Fan Trophy, with permission from both Boucher’s granddaughter, Frankie Baird and one of the presidents from the former fan club.
To fill-in the missing years (2011-2020), I went back and analyzed each season in order to determine who would’ve won the trophy had the fan club still been around and/or had voting been available.
During the pandemic-plagued 2020-21 season, I came up with my own winner, Adam Fox.
Beginning with the 2021-22 season, and now an annual tradition on this site – I’ve opened voting for the trophy, where every site reader has a say – and the right thing to do.
After all, both the history and the spirit of the award/trophy is rooted with the fans, which means that every Blueshirt backer should have their voice heard – rather than one person’s voice speaking the loudest.
Keep in mind, this trophy is pretty much the Rangers’ equivalent of a high-school class presidency race – as it’s a pure popularity contest.
As I did when filling in the missing years, here’s the criteria that I use whenever I put my vote in -and criteria that I suggested to all readers/voters in 2024 too:
— Fan reaction
— Jersey sales
— Worth of a player’s autograph
— Community service/charity work
— Bond with fans
— The featured face of Rangers marketing/advertising
—- Player ability/amount of times featured as one of the “three stars of the game.”
Here are all of the winners of this prestigious trophy, including when the fan club used to determine the winner, “the missing years,” and how this site’s readership have voted too:
1951–52 Don Raleigh
1952–53 Wally Hergesheimer
1953–54 Johnny Bower
1954–55 Edgar Laprade
1955–56 Gump Worsley
1956–57 Andy Bathgate
1957–58 Andy Bathgate
1958–59 Andy Bathgate
1959–60 Dean Prentice
1960–61 Gump Worsley
1961–62 Andy Bathgate
1962–63 Gump Worsley
1963–64 Rod Gilbert
1964–65 Harry Howell
1965–66 Harry Howell
1966–67 Harry Howell
1967–68 Rod Gilbert
1968–69 Eddie Giacomin
1969–70 Walt Tkaczuk
1970–71 Dave Balon
1971–72 Jean Ratelle
1972–73 Jean Ratelle
1973–74 Brad Park
1974–75 Rod Gilbert
1975–76 Rod Gilbert
1976–77 Rod Gilbert
1977–78 Pat Hickey
1978–79 Phil Esposito
1979–80 Phil Esposito
1980–81 Ed Johnstone
1981–82 Nick Fotiu
1982–83 Mark Pavelich
1983–84 Barry Beck and Nick Fotiu
1984–85 Anders Hedberg and Mike Rogers
1985–86 John Vanbiesbrouck
1986–87 Walt Poddubny
1987–88 Walt Poddubny
1988–89 Guy Lafleur
1989–90 Brian Mullen
1990–91 Mike Richter
1991–92 Mark Messier
1992–93 Mike Gartner
1993–94 Adam Graves
1994–95 Mark Messier
1995–96 Mark Messier
1996–97 Mark Messier
1997–98 Wayne Gretzky
1998–99 Mike Richter
1999–00 Mike Richter
2000–01 Brian Leetch
2001–02 Mike Richter
2002–03 Mike Dunham
2003–04 Eric Lindros
2005–06 Jaromir Jagr
2006–07 Henrik Lundqvist
2007–08 Sean Avery
2008–09 Blair Betts
2009–10 Henrik Lundqvist
2010-11 Henrik Lundqvist
2011-12 Henrik Lundqvist
2012-13 Henrik Lundqvist
2012-13 Henrik Lundqvist
2013-14 Henrik Lundqvist
2014-15 Mats Zuccarello
2015-16 Mats Zuccarello
2016-17 Mats Zuccarello
2017-18 Mats Zuccarello & Henrik Lundqvist
2018-19 Mika Zibanejad
2019-20 Artemi Panarin (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/4220/ )
2020-21 Adam Fox (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/5421/ )
2021-22 Igor Shesterkin & Chris Kreider (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/fb22/ )
2022-23 Igor Shesterkin (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/fbt23/ )
As you can see, prior to 2024, there have been thirteen players to have won the Frank Boucher Trophy more than once, including Worsley, Bathgate, Gilbert, Howell, Ratelle, Esposito, Fotiu, Poddubny, Richter, Messier, Lundqvist, Zuccarello and Shesterkin.
With Panarin’s 2024 win, there are now fourteen men that have won this trophy on multiple occasions.
Lundqvist, with eight wins, has won this trophy more than anyone else. Gilbert has won the trophy five times, while Bathgate, Messier, Richter and Zuccarello have each won the hardware four times.
This year, I received 794 votes for the 2024 Frank Boucher Trophy winner.
Votes were collected via email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comments and personal face-to-face interactions with fans.
The final voting results broke down as such:
Artemi Panarin – 669 (84.3%)
Matt Rempe – 45 (5.6%)
Igor Shesterkin – 32 (4.0%)
Jonathan Quick – 26 (3.2%)
Chris Kreider – 9 (1.1%)
Adam Fox – 4 (.5%)
Vincent Trocheck – 3 (.3%)
Alexis Lafreneire – 3 (.3%)
Mika Zibanejad – 2 (.25%)
Connor Mackey – 1 (.01%)
In the effort of full disclosure, I was also one of the 669 fans who voted for Panarin.
When I finished tabulating the voting, I thought that the results were a fair representation of who should have won – but it were the runner-ups that I found most interesting.
Due to Panarin’s overwhelming success this season, not only the best of his potential Hall of Fame bound career, but one of the best in franchise history too – he was a slam-dunk candidate to win the trophy this year.
Having set his career-high in goals this season, Panarin also picked up the first 100+ point season of his career too – and where the Rangers would be without him today, and especially with Mika Zibanejad having a down season – well perish such a thought!
Not only is Panarin the driving force of the Blueshirts today – he has also bettered all of his teammates – and as his fellow GAG LINE 2.0 members, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, will tell you – the two players who regularly play with #10 – and two men who are also having the best seasons of their respective careers too.
I’ve written so much about Panarin this season, and hopefully will continue to shower the praise upon him throughout the playoffs too, so there’s no need to rehash everything here.
By now, no explanation is needed whenever talking about Panarin’s eye-popping and jaw-dropping work from this campaign.
But hands-down – not only is Panarin the best Ranger in 2023-24 – he’s also the most popular too – and even if his name isn’t chanted on a regular basis like the men who finished second- and third-overall, Matt Rempe and CZAR IGOR.
As stated, Panarin’s claim to this trophy was never in doubt, as unlike other recent winners of this trophy, such as CZAR IGOR, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad – he never experienced a slump this season either.
It’s been sheer brilliance all-year.
The Breadman also never received an injury this season, unlike the 2021 winner of this trophy, Adam Fox.
But as the voting would suggest – the number of games played doesn’t really factor into popularity – and as Matt Rempe’s finish tells us.
Heck, the multiple times that Rempe was scratched this season may have only bolstered his cause.
After all, how many times did you hear the “WE WANT REMPE” chants whenever #73 was seated upstairs – and perhaps chants louder than the “REM-PE!, REM-PE! REM-PE!” serenading at M$G that we’ve all now grown accustomed to whenever this beast is in the line-up?
Said one life-long fan, reader Nick L., “My vote is Matt Rempe – and it shouldn’t be close!”
Other voters echoed Nick’s sentiments.
When I talked to several of the Rempe voters, they pretty much all said the same thing – and it’s hard to argue with them:
While Panarin is one of the best players that they’ve ever seen, and one enjoying a career-best season – you also don’t hear “BREADMAN” chants – and not even when he scores a hat trick.
But Rempe?
He already become a cult hero – and where as noted a few nights ago – his jersey sales have led the league ever since his debut – you know – a debut that’s not even two-months removed!
Had Panarin had a season like Zibanejad has had this season, or had The Breadman played like the way he did in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs – then perhaps Rempe would have been able to win this trophy this year.
But even without the trophy – the fact that Rempe out-placed every other name-brand Ranger speaks volumes.
CZAR IGOR, winner of this trophy during the past two seasons, had an up-and-down showing this year. The fact that his back-up, Jonathan Quick, fell only six votes shy of what Shesterkin earned tells us two things:
One, CZAR IGOR, despite his name being chanted the most at M$G (and on the road too), wasn’t at his best all-year.
Furthermore, and unlike previous seasons, it was Panarin, and not the goalie, that carried the team throughout this 2023-24 82-game campaign.
Two, Quick, whose signing from July 1st, 2023 was met with a lot of disdain (I don’t think that I have to remind you of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final again), “quickly” went from a zero to a hero.
Without question, Quick most certainly deserved his nomination as the team’s Bill Masterton candidate – as he just completed a comeback season for the ages.
Better than that, and knock on wood as you read this – should CZAR IGOR suffer an injury during the playoffs – then no one will be worried about the three-time Stanley Cup champion and future Hall of Famer taking over the net.
The other players receiving votes this year are all fan-favorites in their own regards, and where some people just voted for their favorite player rather than who most deserved the trophy this year.
The one person who voted for Connor Mackey, while admitting it was a “joke vote,” and a way to see Mackey get attention, also brought up how it was the AHL’s defenseman’s one-game played this season, where he fought-and-won a tilt against the Senators’ Brady Tkachuk, that ended what had been previously seven-weeks of .500 hockey – and where immediately thereafter – became a ten-game winning streak – and where as a result – the Rangers have held a firm grip and grasp as the top team in the league ever since.
Congratulations once again to Artemi Panarin – who without question – has had the best individual season of any Ranger since Jaromir Jagr’s 2005-06 season – and where wouldn’t you know it – Jagr won the Frank Boucher Trophy that year too!
I’ll be back later tonight with a very belated Rangers/Islanders GAME REVIEW.
And if you haven’t checked it out already, then make sure to take a look at: The Extraordinary Life of Alex Shibicky.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine
