Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News
After the Rangers unlikely victory tying the 1928 Cup Final with manager Lester Patrick in goal, they still needed a netminder.
The best-of-five series was tied at 1-1 and it was a tossup whether the Rangers could survive.
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Patrick’s ultimate goalie choice was as unlikely as Lester playing goal – and winning – to tie the series. I kid you not; the man he finally selected to save the New Yorkers happened to be one of Canada’s all-time great FOOTBALL players.
The Grey Cup was Canada’s version of what American’s Super Bowl is now and Lester’s choice, Joe Miller, was a two-time Grey Cup-winner. The only trouble here was that the Stanley Cup was played on ice not on the gridiron.
“That didn’t bother me,” said Patrick, “Miller was a great athlete and I had seen him play goal for the New York Americans. Hey, we had no choice; we had to gamble and we gambled on Joe Miller.”
It wasn’t that Miller was a complete unknown. In addition to starring at football, Joe had been a minor league hockey goalie for several years. But, then again, this wasn’t the minors; these were the games that would decide the Stanley Cup.
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Patrick: “Since my Rangers shared Madison Square Garden ice with the Amerks, I had seen enough of Joe Miller. Even though his record wasn’t impressive, I figured he just might come up big in the final games.”
Other Rangers endorsed the move and Frank Boucher was one of them. “Joe was playing for a bad Americans team and that’s why his numbers were not that good.”
The NHL records revealed that Miller played 28 NHL games for the Americans and finished with a 8-16-4 record and a decent 2.68 goals against average. However, that was not the playoffs.
With the series knotted at one win apiece, Miller lost Game Three 2-0, but with The Cup within the Maroons’ grasp, Joltin’ Joe blanked Montreal, 2-0, and what had become a monumental playoff now was tied with the finale coming up at Montreal’s Forum.
As it happened, on the night of April 14, 1928, Joseph Anthony Miller of Morrisburg, Ontario – Ottawa football ace – would record his finest hour as a hockey goalkeeper.
