Vic Hadfield - NHL Career

NHL Career

By the 1963–64 season, Hadfield had cemented a place in the Rangers' lineup as an enforcer. Gradually, he focused more on scoring than on fighting - especially with feared enforcer Reggie Fleming on the squad - and paired with teammates Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, became known as the famous "GAG line" (which stood for Goal A Game). From the 1967–68 season on and with the resurgence of the long-time doormat Rangers as a strong team, Hadfield would never again score less than 20 goals in any full season.

Hadfield's best season was 1971–72. Named the team's captain after the trade of longtime captain Bob Nevin, he became the first Ranger - and only the sixth NHL player - to score 50 goals in a season, nearly doubling his previous best marks; with his linemates Ratelle and Gilbert, the GAG Line totalled 139 goals and 325 points en route to leading the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Signed to a lucrative contract the following summer seen to deter Hadfield from defecting to the newly created World Hockey Association, he could not maintain his 1971–72 level of scoring, and was traded after the 1973–74 season to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenceman Nick Beverley. He scored thirty goals in each of his two full seasons for the Penguins, although plagued by injuries and weight troubles, but sustained a knee injury towards the end of the 1975–76 season which forced his retirement.