It wasn't until the mid '20s that hockey began to flourish on Broadway. In 1924 the New York Life Insurance Company decided to demolish the old Madison Square Garden in favour of an office tower. A Kansas City-born, and Texas bred entrepreneur George Lewis Rickard and a group of "600 Millionaires" organized the Madison Square Garden Corporation and put up the "new" MSG, with its only NHL tenant, the New York Americans.

Rickard and MSG president Colonel John S. Hammond were convinced that hockey was here to stay and began paving the way for a second New York franchise. Conn Smythe who had already built a reputation for being able to successfully manage hockey clubs was signed on to start building the Rangers. Holding true to his reputation Smythe went about signing future hall of famers Bill Cook, brother Fred "Bun" Cook and Frank Boucher and created one of the most potent forward lines ever. Ivan "Ching" Johnson and Clarence "Taffy" Abel were added at defense and Lorne Chabot tended net. Smythe's tenure with the Rangers is perhaps the shortest in NHL history. His management duties came to an end at the Rangers first training camp in Toronto, when Smythe and the Colonel had a disagreement over the roster content of the Rangers and Smythe was fired in the fall of 1926.

Smythe's replacement was already waiting in the wings in the form of Lester Patrick, a former player and co-founder of the defunct Pacific Coast Hockey League. Patrick was hired on for the then outrageous annual salary of $18,000. Patrick proved his worth, and confirmed Smythe's assessment of Ranger talent on November 17, 1926 when the Montreal Maroons were defeated 1-0 in the Ranger home opener. Patrick had a very down to earth, and clear directive for his players, "you're going to win some games, and you're going to lose some games. I just want to stress this: If you lose more than you win, you won't be around."

Patrick established himself in New York quickly, and despite reaching the Stanley Cup finals in only their second season, the Rangers could not play their home games at MSG as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was in town, so all of their playoff games had to be played at the Montreal Forum against the Montreal Maroons. As with every team, there is one story that is always recounted in the history books, and the Rangers are no different. In the second game of the 1928 Finals, goalie Lorne Chabot was injured and in those days teams only carried one goalie. It was however common, to use a neutral goalie and in the stands that night was Alex Connell from the Ottawa Senators and Hughie McCormick, a minor league goalie. Maroons general manager EddieGerard refused and after a quick meeting, Lester Patrick declared he would go in net and suited up. Patrick held the Maroons to a 1-1 tie after regulation time and Rangers Frank Boucher potted the game winning goal. Patrick was later replaced by an unknown Joe Miller, and the Rangers went on to win their first Stanley Cup in just their second year of operation.

During the 1930's the Rangers core players remained together with the exception of Lorne Chabot and Clarence Abel. In 1933, the Rangers faced Conn Smythe and the Toronto Maple Leafs with Smythe looked on as those very players he had signed to the Rangers years ago, defeated his Toronto Maple Leafs for the Stanley Cup, the Rangers second cup win.

The Rangers saw the benefit of having a good farm system and developed the New Haven Ramblers, New York Rovers and the Lake Placid Roamers as a means to feed talented players to the parent club. In the late '30s the Rangers added players such as Bryan Hextall, Dutch Hiller, Alex and Mac Colville along with Patrick's own son Lynn and Murray(Muzz) Patrick. By the end of the decade at one point in the 1939-40 season, the Rangers had lost only 1 of 25 games. Once again forced out of their home rink because of the circus, the Rangers were forced to play all of their Stanley Cup Finals in Toronto. After defeating Toronto for their third Cup, Lester Patrick and his two sons posed for a historic picture, a father and 2 sons on a cup winning team at the same time.

World War II took its toll on the New York roster and for the next 20 years, Ranger fans had little to cheer for. Frank Boucher, then coach and manager, retired in the 1954-55 season but not before he had re-engineered the farm system and centred it around the Guelph Biltmore Madhatters of the Ontario Hockey Association. The Rangers picked up future stars Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell, and Lorne "Gump" Worsley joined the Rangers from the Rovers farm club. Lester Patrick stepped down in 1964 and handed the reigns over to Emile Francis. Unable to turn things around despite having goaltending sensation Ed Giocomin and the Goal-a-Game line of Ratelle, Gilbert and Hadfield, Francis was replaced by John Ferguson after the Rangers lost in the 1971-72 finals to Boston.

1972-73 saw the addition of the New York Islanders a short distance away in Nassau County and they became a contender in only their 3rd year by dropping the Rangers in the first round. The 80's were just as disheartening for New York fans. Coaches and players moved through the system in revolving door fashion and the newer expansion clubs like Edmonton and Philadelphia were winning Stanley Cups in multiples. The '90s saw the veil of doom begin to lift with the signing of Brian Leetch who quickly proved himself on the blue line and won the Norris Trophy in 1992. That same season saw the addition of Mark Messier and for the first time in 50 years the Rangers held the best record in the NHL, 50W 25L 5T. The next year the Rangers fell to the bottom of the pile and coach Roger Neilson was replaced by Mike Keenan. It didn't take Keenan long to turn things around, and by the 1994 finals the Rangers had defeated the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup, their first since 1940, a 54 year drought. Despite his winning ways, Mike Keenan and management didn't see eye to eye and Keenan was gone, replaced by Colin Campbell. Messier was lured away by the Canucks, LaFontaine came over from Buffalo and quickly propelled him to the top of the Rangers scorers, and Gretzky retired.