Ranheim as a member of the Wisconsin Badgers
He left the minors behind when he joined the Flames full time in 1989-90, scoring 26 goals and 54 points as a rookie, which would prove to be career highs in both categories. After playing all 80 games in 1989-90, The left winger's sophomore season was ruined when he suffered a shattered ankle which caused him to miss half the season. Once Calgary was eliminated from the playoffs, Ranheim extended his season by appearing at the World Championships for the United States, scoring 4 times in 9 games.
He rebounded by playing in all 80 games in 1991-92, which saw him reach the 20 goal mark for the second time with 23. The 1992-93 season saw Ranheim play in all but one of Calgary's 84 games and top 20 goals for the third time with 21.
After 67 games of the 1993-94 season, Ranheim was dealt to the Hartford Whalers as part of a six player deal along with Ted Drury and Gary Suter in exchange for Michael Nylander, James Patrick and Zarley Zalapski going to Calgary.
The move to Hartford had a dramatic effect on his offensive numbers, as he would never again score more than 10 goals in a season for the remainder of his career, but would remain a valuable penalty killer and responsible defensive forward. After four seasons with the Whalers in Hartford, Ranheim relocated with the franchise when they became the Carolina Hurricanes. Following the Whalers final season in Hartford, Ranheim would make his second appearance at the World Championships, scoring twice in 8 games in 1997.
Ranheim scoring against Martin Brodeur
He would rarely miss a game for the remainder of his career, playing 230 our of a possible 246 games over the next three seasons with the Hurricanes, which included a return to the playoffs in 1999, Ranheim's first post season appearance since 1993 with Calgary, owing to the extended poor play of the Whalers
A trade sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers in time for the 2000-01 season. There, his habit of staying in the lineup continued with 159 games out of 164 over the next two seasons, which were extended with playoff appearances in both 2001 and 2002.
His final NHL season of 2002-02 began in Philadelphia but 28 games in, Ranheim was sent back west in a trade that sent him to the Phoenix Coyotes for the final 40 games of his career, which included his 1,000th NHL game on this date in 2003 in a game against the St. Louis Blues.
He would retire with 1,013 games played, 161 goals and 199 assists for 360 points.
Today's featured jersey is a 2002-03 Phoenix Coyotes Paul Ranheim jersey as worn during his 1000th NHL game on this date in 2003. They Coyotes introduced this alternate style for the 1998-99 season and it immediately became of the the strangest jerseys to ever see the ice in an NHL game, as it's eerie, dark landscape and disembodied coyote head logo looked like some sort of drug hallucination in progress!
After it's first season of use, the crest was outlined in sand beginning in 1999-00 to better separate it from the dark green background.
Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1999-00 Carolina Hurricanes Paul Ranheim jersey. This jersey is one of the rare times when a jersey features three different patches at once, as all teams in the NHL wore the NHL 2000 patch in recognition of the Millennium. Carolina then added the Raleigh Arena inaugural season patch and then unfortunately the #3 patch on the left sleeve in memory of Steve Chaisson, who died in an automobile accident following a team party just after the conclusion of the Hurricanes season in the spring of 1999.
The Hurricanes original jerseys get high marks for the italicized names and attractive numbers as well as the clever waist striping made of hurricane warning flags. They also boasted one of the better secondary logos on the league, their tattered flag flying from a bent hockey stick whipped by high winds.
We have often wondered why more teams do not use italicized numbers, as they give the players the appearance of speed even when standing still. During the 1999-00 season, only five teams used italicized numbers, those being Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Nashville and Tampa Bay. In 2015-16 that number had shrunk to just two, Calgary and Winnipeg.
The only thing that really bothered us about the Hurricanes jerseys was the main crest, as we always felt we were looking at the underside of the puck because the crest was upside down!
Today's video section are the Top 5 Goals of the Week, featuring a stunning goal by Ranheim.
I'm the owner of the Coyotes jersey, and it is indeed from his 1,000th game. Thanks for featuring it! I also have two of his red Hurricanes jerseys with the three patches, but oddly enough, the one in this post is not mine (both of mine are signed on the back).
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