Random Rangers: A MSG Moment

Last week Madison Square Garden's brass unveiled Garden 366, an interesting way to pay lip service to the great history that has taken place within the walls of the various buildings to wear the MSG monicker. The SNY guys published the various Ranger-related events that will be included on the new sixth floor wallpaper.

While that list does encapsulate some epic events in Blueshirt history, there are so many more. From time to time I hope to publish them here - whether they are firsthand accounts from fans and the famous or are accounts found in books and other materials.

We'll start with the latter, an excerpt from Scott Young's Hello Canada! The Life and Times of Foster Hewitt, which was published back in 1985. Foster, as you should know, was THE MAN when it came to broadcasting hockey. His radio calls helped entrench the sport in the very being of our northern neighbors and many of his idiosyncrasies have been passed down to broadcasters today: "he shoots ... he scores!"

Foster covered the Leafs and was there when the Buds came up against the Blueshirts in the 1932 Stanley Cup Final. I'll turn it over to Mr. Young, who turns it over to Foster himself:

"When the teams skated out in New York's Madison Square Garden on the night of 5 April 1932, more than sixteen thousand were in the rink, breaking the fire marshal's capacity limit. The New York crowd was always one of hockey's rowdiest, and that night they were definitely up for the game. Newspapers had been feeding the fans every extra bit of animosity that existed between the teams. A few years earlier (Lester) Patrick had decided that (Lorne) Chabot had lost his nerve after a bad eye injury. (Conn) Smythe had crowed ever since that he'd practically stolen Chabot in return for a goalie he didn't want, John Ross Roach, always soft-pedalling the fact that to make the deal he'd also had to give up Butch Keeling, who had become a mainstay of the Rangers.

Back in Toronto, Foster's dramatic account - still only on a local network - had the faithful on the edges of their chairs. Foster, later, eyes shining, smiling and sometimes laughing at some memory, often used the phraseology familiar to his broadcast listeners:

Never, before or since, have I seen such tenseness, or such a brilliantly played, wide-open game. The Cooks were tremendous. Lorne Chabot in the Toronto goal was magnificent. Red Horner was knocking them high, wide and handsome on defense. And every time the Kid Line went out there they seemed to be able to take charge.
Along in the second period, the Leafs were ahead 5-2 when Coach Dick Irvin put a rookie defenseman out on the ice for the first time. Bill Cook went around him like a rocket the first time he came down the ice, and scored. The crowd had been noisy before. But with that goal they let out a roar that never stopped until the end of the period. And they kept right on roaring right through the intermission! When the Rangers came out they'd been listening to that roar from the dressing room and it doubled and tripled and quadrupled when they hit the ice.
It set them on fire. They scored again and made it 5-4. But from then on, the couldn't beat Chabot. And near the end of the period Horner, of all people, broke away and scored the Leafs sixth goal to take the heat off. That game was almost the ultimate in hockey. I'll never forget it."

Ah, the power of loud and proud New Yorkers has virtually no bounds. While that particular moment did not have a happy ending, the Blueshirts were able to recover. They made the Cup final again the next year and avenged their loss with a victory over those same Leafs. It marked the second time Stanley came to the greatest city on Earth, the second of just four. But that is a story for another time.

Stanley Cup Final Game 6: Words Don't Do It Justice

I'v spent the better part of the last day trying to decide how I was going to handle this post. How do you describe the indescribable? The rush of emotions that come with the raising of the Stanley Cup is the culmination of so much energy, effort and passion that it is quite difficult to properly detail.

After good 'ole Gary handed the Cup off to Jon Toews, the media lined up in a queue to rush onto the ice and interview the Blackhawks. The Hawks are jumping up and down, friends and family are joining the rush I ended up standing in line next to former Ranger and current Sportsnet broadcaster Nick Kypreos. I turned and asked him, "you've won one of these - thank you for that by the way - what were you feeling at this moment?" Kypreos turned to me and solemnly said "it was surreal, like you are on a cloud" before turning his attention to his Blackberry.

Now I was at the Finals last year for a few games but was not there to see Sidney celebrate (thankfully); this evening was the first time I've witnessed the Cup awarded in person. As a lifelong hockey fan it has, of course, always been a dream to see Stanley raised and - even though it wasn't the Rangers - the experience was a dream come true. I'm not a religious person but the Cup is like Jerusalem: it means an awful lot to a wide variety of people and much blood was spilled trying to take control of it. Seeing the latest conquerors revel in their victory ... well, it is a religious experience in the church/mosque/temple of hockey.

When they finally opened the Zamboni door to let the media frenzy begin, I looked down and stepped onto the Wachovia Center ice. I would like to say it was like 'walking on a cloud' and that I had a spiritual or mystical experience but I almost slipped and fell on my ass.

Yeah.

After laughing off the near-fall, I waded into the fray and went about business joining in scrums, getting quotes and soaking up the scene. Even with an attempt at focusing on work, part of my head was grossly aware of just how wild things were. One second I am standing there talking with Scotty Bowman, then next I am stepping back from John Madden so he can share the moment with his wife and kids.

I navigated through the scrums to find Antti Niemi talking to a pair of reporters and joined in the interview. While I was waiting for my chance to ask a question, I kept getting hit with something hard in the shoulder from behind - I turned to find that it was the Stanley Cup. The Stanley freakin' Cup. Cristobal Huet was trying to pose with it and his family before a phalanx of photographers and I was in the way.

I think that being shoved with the Cup doesn't count as my intentionally touching it so I still have that going for me. Whew.

But that brings up the point that, if anything, the experience has made me want the Rangers to win the Cup that much more. I want to be one of the fans reaching over the boards begging for a touch. Knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that at that moment, my team is the best in the world. Now that would be surreal ...

Some other notes on the night:

*Jeremy Roenick is coming under fire by some people for what they say is grandstanding with his tearful display on NBC after the game. Personally, I think that is a load of crap. Roenick gave blood, sweat and tears to the organization and was never able to win, so the tears were a culmination of everything - his failure, his passion and the Stanley Cup. I have a hunch that the ones who are maligning JR the most are the ones that don't fully grasp what it takes to win one and what players sacrifice for that chance.

*That being said, he was more emotional than many of the Hawks themselves. They have a lot of young guys who are winning way early in their career so the 'chase' is foreign to them. The vets were a mixed bag. Brian Campbell seemed to be one of the most excited, because he had gone through over 500 games without winning. Andrew Ladd and John Madden had the been-there-done-this attitude while Brent Sopel just seemed to be enjoying his young daughters' wonder. As for Marian Hossa, for all of the hype about him not winning, he said "I am very happy." Now I know that he is European but his english is good enough to articulate his excitement ... had it been the Olympic gold medal, I think he would have been a tad more excited than "very happy." (And that is ok, he just grew up with different priorities.)

*I tried not to be very happy walking along the concourse after the buzzer while seeing Flyer fans openly weeping. It was difficult not to revel in their misery. I hate the Flyers. I hate many of their fans. Why shouldn't I be grinning ear to ear? Because I know that if it had been the Rangers losing, I would have been utterly inconsolable. That being said, I did manage a smirk, haha.

*One fan kept repeating "next year we'll have Carey Price" like the Hab will be the difference maker next year for Philly. Now I am not about to predict the future but I have a hunch that Jesus Price won't be carrying the Flyers to victory in '10-11. At least I hope not.

*I don't believe that goaltending was the difference in this series as both teams got mediocre netminding at best. I do have a bone to pick with Michael Leighton though. I was raving about his five overtime, 98 save AHL performance from a few years back when he gave up the game-winning goal. Nice, right? I turned to the guy and said, "Kane thinks that is in. The Blackhawks are thinking it is in. Did you see it go in? Did anyone? Where is the puck? Oh my. Chicago just won the Stanley Cup. Cool."


By my count, Game 6 finished a season where I caught 72 live games - NHL, AHL, juniors and Olympics - and watched a good number more on tv and the net. What the hell am I doing to do until September? At least we have the schedule release on June 22nd, the draft on the 25th and 26th and free agency on July 1st. Expect the usual coverage from your not-so-humble scribe ...

10 Reasons Why The Pens' Cup Win Sucks

1 - Validation for Crosby lovers and man, do I hate Crosby lovers. As if the Caps bandwagon wasn't bad enough, this one is getting ridiculous. And Pens fans travel well so most every Eastern team will be stuck with them invading to chant for their boy hero.

2 - Now they will say Crosby's resume is complete, what with a Cup ring and all. Next stop? The Hall of Fame of course!

3 - Did you think all of those intermission features (even when the Pens weren't playing) were nauseating? Be prepared for more! Many, many, many more. Crosby's day with the Cup, Crosby's return to Cole Harbour as a champion, Crosby's first Cup vs. Gretzky's first Cup, Crosby and Malkin vs. Gretzky and Messier, Crosby's impact on ratings and sales, Crosby, Crosby, Crosby! Just shoot me now.

4 - We risk blindness every time Marc-Andre Fleury opens his mouth and unleashes that day-glo smile. It's just not worth it. And for that matter, Flower? The Flower won a Cup. No Mr. Zero, no China Wall, no Saint Patrick, no Dominator ... Flower. Gee wilikers.

5 - Hal Gill, Stanley Cup champion. 'Nuff said.

6 - Four former Islanders were on the Cup-winning roster: Fedotenko, Godard, Guerin and Satan. Seeing any Islander find success makes me feel ill; four of them? Hurl.

7 - On that note, the Pens were terrible and close to moving. They got a few top draft picks for sucking so bad and will get themselves a new building. If this means that the Islanders have another Cup in their future then I'm really going to be sick.

8 - Jordan Staal just got himself a Cup, joining his brother Eric. Now the two can gang up on poor Marc and he needs all the confidence he can get coming into Tortorella's no-defense-from-the-offense system this fall.

9 - Rob Scuderi's work in the Finals was outstanding. And how he will be a unrestricted free agent. If Jeff Finger could get $14 million over four years (and Redden $39 mil over six years), just imagine the payday for a legitimate playoff hero. And the lock out and salary cap were good things, right?

10 - And finally, every time the Rangers play the Pens next season it won't just be New York facing Pittsburgh, it will be the New York Rangers facing "the Stanley Cup defending Pittsburgh Penguins."

Stanley Cup Final Game 2

Don't start talkin' sweep just yet. As Scotty Bowman pointed out, it isn't a series until the home team loses and Detroit didn't lose. Getting good minutes from young, fresh legs, the Wings handled back-to-back games quite well and took a 2-0 lead in the series with a 3-1 win. It also helped that the Penguins hit a couple of posts, got frustrated, stopped forechecking and rarely were able to force Chris Osgood to give up a rebound. Some more notes but no pics, sorry:

*Colin Campbell rescinded the mandatory suspension for Malkin, despite him clearly instigating a fight after a whistle in the final five minutes. Soupy said that "Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight. A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded." And thus the NHL avoids the likelihood of a second Richard Riot as the series heads to Pittsburgh. Can't have that happen.

*If Osgood keeps playing this well, you can just start engraving his name in the Hall of Fame. Aside from his 389 regular season wins, Ozzy is 10-2 in the Cup Final and holds a 1.47 gaa and .937 save percentage. The OZZY, OZZY chants were ridiculous and rivaled those that I have heard for the other Ozzy, the one that's the Prince of Darkness, who I have seen live about 10 times (and won't go see again, dude is losing it, it's painful to see).

*The roar in the building was remarkable as Michigan's own Justin Abdelkader scored for the second straight game. His first was a fluke fluttering puck on a rebound and this one was a great shot breaking in 1-on-2. While he clearly holds the hometown hero role, Darren Helm is heading for fan favourite with his dogged play. The guy has been a beast all over the ice and in all situations. He also went 22-10 in the faceoff circle with 15 hits over the two wins. Damn.

*There were certainly less Pens fans for this game than there were for two. The building was quite quiet through much of the first period and a half, something that could be tied to the fact that it is Sunday. As my buddy Tom said, beer sales were probably down too.

*No Pens players were brought into the main interview room; coach Bylsma was the only rep to the media. I'm sure they were less than pleased to be heading home in this manner. But, keep in mind, this was how it was last year too. Babcock said that he thinks that this year is "way different" from last and was quick to give his opponents credit - "every inch of ice is a battle out there with them." He also clarified a comment he made earlier that the Canadian press ran with: he said the series has been a battle of two stars (Zetterberg and Malkin) and wanted to make sure that everyone knew he respected Crosby, who is a "classy player who plays hard." No way in the world is this coach going to give the other guys bulletin board material.

*Gordie Howe was signing his book and the fans went wild. He even had his own police bodyguard helping control the crowd in between periods. Sadly, it was quite the contrast to Ted Lindsay, who was very accessible during Game 1.

And that is about that from Detroit. I head to Pittsburgh in the morning! How cool is that?!?

SCF Game 2 Pregame

It was a truly gorgeous day in Detroit today and I spent a good amount of it outside at the riverwalk. Say what you want about how decrepit much of the city is, they invested good money to make that area look nice and it is.

I didn't make it to the Wings morning skate - 10:30a? Waaaay too early. Considering that these guys didn't get out of the building until 11:30 or so last night, its no wonder they take afternoon naps. I did make it over in time for the Pens, which wasn't fully attended. There were some (much needed) faceoff drills, suicides for the black aces and one really cool tic-tac-toe passing drill that originated at their blue line with several players swirling back before a long pass to the far blue with a player cutting down the wing. It was quite impressive but the players had issues getting good shots off.

Also with issues was Terminator: Salvation, which I went to after the skates. As a fan of the Terminator franchise, I have to say I was a bit disappointed, even after having lowered my expectations beforehand (McG? really?).

Expectations for tonight are high but with the cast of characters involved in Game 2, they should be met and perhaps even surpassed. Well, we shall see ...

Stanley Cup Final Game 1

Seeing as the Rangers weren't playing, and the game itself was covered by most everyone, I will limit this to some firsthand stuff I saw and experienced. I gotta say, it was one helluva game/night.

*For the first time in my life, I was outright star struck as Stevie Y walked past me after the game. Presidents, mayors, athletes, rock stars ... first time ever. He just has a presence, it was impressive. He had been perched in the press box but no fans were able to get autos or even speak to him before being ushered away. No, I wasn't one of them.

*On the Red Wing legends note, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay dropped the ceremonial puck. While I didn't see Gordie again until after the game, Terrible Ted was just sitting in the concourse signing copies of his book talking away and taking pictures. A very nice gentleman. I didn't approach Gordie as he was surrounded by people.

*While the fans did get into the game - and released a massive roar when that hometown Abdelkader kid scored - there is no place like the Garden. We were just as loud for our first round game and we chanted more throughout the game. There were many more "Let's Go Pens" chants through the first two periods than there were "Let's Go Red Wings."

*Then again, the in-house entertainment people didn't do all that well to help. And I thought the Garden was bad with the Chelsea club music! It was almost all techno all the time with the rare appearance of Kiss or Kid Rock. That was, until the end of the game when they busted out the 80s mix.

*As for the arena itself, Joe Louis isn't that impressive once you get past the banners. Inside the arena itself, it looks like a red Nassau Coliseum with the same layout and types of seats. Outside of the bowl proper it is like a warehouse. The concourse was dimly lit and the building looks like any of the other thousand of industrial buildings in the area, just with big steps and an octopus on one side.

*Evgeni Malkin's parents were rock stars. They weren't sitting too far from me and during the first intermission they were mobbed by Pens fans. And they entertained every one of them, which was impressive.

*Even more impressive was a jersey I saw - Joel Kwiatkowski. Dude played one game for Pittsburgh. One! I wish I got a pic, dammit.

*A quick game note, which I gotta mention, is that I now officially heart Darren Helm. He is just like Blair Betts, just with more offense. All he does is hustle and play rock solid defensively. And he is probably the fastest skater I've ever seen, even quicker than Rico Fata (remember him?).

*His teammates are just so smooth that it is sickening. Even with Pittbsurgh pestering them, the Wings never seemed to get flustered. They just moved the puck and moved the puck and were quite remarkable as they took Game 1 - and they didn't even play their best!!

*The icing on the cake that was the night was not the result (nyeh nyeh Cindy lost) but with eight minutes left in the game during a break they played the now iconic Stanley Cup commercial on the big board. Total awesomeness.

One down, three to go!

Mandatory Reading

As we slowly get closer to the end of the 2008 Stanley Cup, Joe Pelletier of Greatest Hockey Legends has been plowing through hockey history to bio each team that has won the Cup since 1930.

And now he put up his bio of the greatest of all Cup champions (or at least the most popular), the 1994 New York Rangers. Quality work by Joe, as always. For those that missed them, he also did the 1933 and 1940 Cup winners as well (he just missed the 1928, for that, you have to turn to Legends Of Hockey).

Let's Go Rangers!!

Wow, What A Commercial

It has been easy to jump on all of the inadequacies of the NHL's marketing in recent years. From the NHL store to the broadcasts to the scheduling to the logo change, the league has made many mistakes and has done quite a poor job. But I have to bow down and say that I have been utterly blown away. Puck Daddy over at Yahoo! posted it last week but I just saw it - the NHL's new playoff commercial:

The concept follows the league's commercial earlier this year that followed a play around the rink with players from different eras playing in the different shot changes. It is simply a brilliant idea and all credit is due to the league for coming up with it. Hopefully they plaster it on every sports channel during every sporting event over the next week - not just Versus and NBC during the game.

The Messiah Delivers Again

As most of you know, I am a sucker for the nice, heart-warming hockey stories. I feel that we pay hockey players (through our tickets, gear, etc.) to entertain us on the ice. That they give back to the community in any way is just icing on the cake. But it certainly does help endear the players to the fans: Adam Graves wasn't one of the the best hockey players, just one of the best human beings and that's why we love him in New York. Well, his old captain Mark Messier did a good thing himself last weekend. Thanks to the CBC's Bring Home the Stanley Cup contest Messier brought the Cup to Adam Bourque, a young man with a disability in PEI (click on the link for the guy's winning entry - it really is quite touching). While I am sure he was compensated for his participation, Mess certainly didn't need the money. He went so far as to tell the Canadian Press that “it’s an incredible experience for me. That’s what the Stanley Cup is really all about, when you see the number of people it touches.”

And it sounds like Mess showed how much he cared by making sure Adam had a good time. Of course, while they played a game of street hockey, Mess had to score a goal on the kid but if he wasn't so competitive, he wouldn't be Mark Messier.

It's a great story on the eve of the Stanley Cup Finals and yet more proof that hockey players are the classiest of all athletes. I love this sport.

Suck It Up

So I had started to do a long-winded piece on the problems the NHL has had in presenting the games, both in the arenas and on television, and you know what? I decided that I don't care. Not now.

The league has botched the marketing of the game for years, the Garden has whitewashed their game presentation so its bland fodder for corporate clients and I don't care. Not now.

The officiating has been ... well, I won't even get started on that one.

We may sit on the eve of something pretty damn impressive, so why should we bitch endlessly about things out of our control? That does include officiating, by the way - every blog on the web can complain about the ineptness of the refs and that won't sway Gary Bettman, so at this point, why bother?

This is the time of year that hockey players show distinction from their fellow athletes by toughing it out. Broken bones, open wounds ... who cares: The Stanley Cup is in sight.

Now is the time for us, as fans, to tough it out. The pitiful officiating isn't going to change their ways (unless Sean Avery dares to try something else new), the droll game night operations folks aren't going to get any better, the inept, annoying colour commentators on television aren't going to become any more watchable.

Deal with it. You have to, and you know why? Because the excitement that they try so hard to manufacture is already there. You bring it. I bring it. We all bring it.

Thunderous ovations, nail-biting silences, unadulterated joy, crushing misery. It's all there and it all starts with the determination of the players and is reinforced with our passion. And that is something that the commissioner has never understood. You can't force that upon the unwilling; that depth of emotion is instilled in the fabric of the game and it calls to those who truly get it - those who appreciate every blocked shot, every clearing pass, every hit, every shift. That's us, and that is something they won't take away from us. It survived the goons. It survived the trap. It survived the lockout.

We are in the throes of the playoffs folks and when that beautiful, beautiful trophy is raised in the air none of the petty nonsense will matter anymore. So suck it up, quit your crying and let's just enjoy some hard-fought, leave-it-all-on-the-ice hockey.

I reserve the right to take everything I just wrote back the second the refs buy into another one of Mmmmmaaaaarrrttttyyy's dives and it costs us the game.

Today In History ...

Courtesy of the NHL Media folks:

April 14, 1928 - In only their second season as an NHL franchise, the New York Rangers captured the 1928 Stanley Cup with a 2-1 triumph over the Montreal Maroons in the final game of the best-of-five title series. The Rangers became only the second American team in history to win the Stanley Cup, joining the 1917 champion Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

On That Panthers Kick ...

Florida unveiled those jerseys at a special game that honoured their 1995-96 Stanley Cup Finalist squad (more on that here), which reminded me of Game 4 of that series. Florida was outclassed from the second they dropped the puck in Game 1, after all they had that defensive system that got them that far and Colorado had a system and a ton of talent - not to mention guys like Joe Sakic. But Game 4 was one of the best games of hockey I have ever seen. It was a goaltending duel between John Vanbiesbrouck and Patrick Roy that went to triple OT before Uwe Krupp scored on a shot from the point. It was the lone goal of the game but there was no lack of excitement. I found a quick clip I had saved on my comp and figured I would share (as there is nothing going on in the hockey world this hot, humid summer day):



Playoff games like that remind us that 1-0 scorelines aren't necessarily the horrible things that Bettman and the current NHL administration make them out to be ...