Was Superman the only "Man Of Steel," or did the Rangers have one on defense during the 1945-46 season?
Detroit Red Wings manager Jack Adams thought so and wanted New York rookie blueliner Bill Moe punished for it.
As it happened, defenseman Moe had introduced an advanced type of hip-checking to the National Hockey League. It drove opponents crazy and hockey photographers were very grateful. After all, upside-down hockey players make good pictures.
The way it would work was simplicity itself. When an enemy forward approached the Danvers, Mass. product, Moe would crouch in such a way that his foe often would spiral upside down before hitting the ice.
"There were other good body-checkers in the league," said Rangers press agent and original historian Stan Saplin, "but no one else could consistently turn a guy 180-degrees like Moe."
This both infuriated and puzzled Detroit hockey boss Adams who feared that one of his stars would wind up like the Titanic after Iceberg Bill hit him.
"Adams accused Moe of wearing specially constructed steel knee pads not properly covered," noted a story in the New York Post.
The headline read: SUSPECT RANGERS TOGS - WINGS WANT EQUIPMENT EXAM BEFORE GAME.
The story added: "Adams has been invited to watch Moe do a strip tease in reverse before tomorrow night's game on Garden ice. And Adams, if he wishes, may escort the big defenseman right to the dasher to see that no skullduggery is practiced; that Moe has nothing up his sleeve - or down his stocking."
Of course, Adams found nothing and Moe continued to deposit players from horizontal to vertical in one easy hip check.
Body checking Bill's all-time best hit took place at the Garden during the 1946-47 season when his hip caught Toronto Maple Leafs forward Gaye Stewart in precisely the right place.
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Photographer Andy Lopez's prize-winning-picture has Stewart's head barely touching the ice and his skates looking up at the ceiling.
Leafs manager Conn Smythe didn't file any equipment charges against Moe but one of Toronto's young defensemen, Bill Barilko, carefully studied Moe's style.
Soon, Barilko did a "Bill Moe" so well that Bashin' Bill became known as "Snake Hips!'