The nowadays New York Rangers have a first-round series victory to sing about: last night, Peter Laviolette’s President’s Trophy-winning squad cruised past the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 series-clinching win to step up to the second round.

In 1980, when Fred Shero was coaching the Rangers, the team beat the Atlanta Flames in the preliminary round of the playoffs before falling to Shero’s old team, the Philadelphia Flyers, in the quarter-finals. Some of the Rangers made their musical mark that year, too — or, at least, they sang a song and put it on a record that sold by the scads to raise money for diabetes research.

Canadian-born songwriter and actor Alan Thicke was the force behind “Hockey Sock Rock,” a 45 showcasing the … adequate? somewhat unhorrid? trying-hard? stylings of Rangers star Phil Esposito, backed by teammates Dave Maloney (the Ranger captain that year), Pat Hickey, Ron Duguay, and goaltender John Davidson. The b-side featured Dionne And The Puck-Tones —Los Angeles Kings’ Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, and Dave Taylor — working their way through “Please Forgive My Misconduct Last Night.”

In 1980, the single was something of a hit across North America, which is to say it sold 120,000 copies in three months. You can judge both songs, at your peril: