People, no matter how uninterested they are in professional sports, should declare their sports loyalties. I have never been to an NFL game or an NBA game but I’m a Jets fan and a Knicks fan. I insist on children will be raised as New York Yankee fans even though we live about a mile from where the sorry New York Mets play.
I long ago declared myself a New York Rangers fan even though until last year I couldn’t have named one of their players. I’m from New York City and the Rangers are my team. There was no other reason necessary.
But recently I became much more interested in hockey. I can’t deny that the Rangers making the Stanley Cup finals this past season was a big part of it. I found myself watching hockey on television again. Unfortunately the Rangers lost to the L.A. Kings, four games to one.
As part of my new job, I was charged with helping plan an evening of entertainment for people from our company visiting from London. As it turned out, most of the Londoners and the workers in my company’s New York office had never been to a professional hockey game. My boss, a Detroit native and rabid Detroit Red Wings fan (is there another kind of Red Wings fan?), found out that the Red Wings were playing the Rangers the week our London colleagues were in town and the event was decided.
Years ago, when I lived in Connecticut, I attended a few games of the minor league New Haven Nighthawks, an L.A. Kings farm team. The hockey was raw and brutal, played by people trying to scrap their way into or back into the N.H.L. It was cheap and many in the crowd were more battle scarred and dangerous-looking than the players.
I decided that I would take my hockey fandom seriously and purchased a nice Rangers baseball cap and scarf. I need little excuse to buy a hat or scarf, and supporting my local hockey team is a virtue. But there’s no denying I am a latecomer to hockey fandom and was lacking in important knowledge.
Luckily for me, one of my coworkers is a knowledgeable hockey fan and was able to fill us in on important information. We had great seats at Madison Square Garden, sitting in a handicapped section that was close to the action.
For example, during every Rangers game, after fans whistle the final bars of the song “Let’s Go Band,” the crowd chants “Potvin sucks!” Our coworker exclaimed that the chant has been around since 1979 and references retired New York Islanders defensemen Denis Potvin, responsible for injuring Rangers forward Ulf Nilsson.
The Red Wings have a player that shares my last name. Riley Sheahan is a center for the Red Wings and got one assist in the game. In 2012 he was arrested for drunk driving while wearing a purple Teletubby costume. While I always want a Sheahan to do well, I must stay loyal to the Rangers.
Hockey is famous for its many fights. One Rangers game against the New Jersey Devils in 2012 started with a big fight before a second of actual hockey was played. We were hoping that two aggressive teams such as the Rangers and the Red Wings would provide some entertaining on-ice fireworks for the newcomers to the sport. But the blood on the ice we promised our London colleagues did not appear. While there were a few tense moments when it looked like a fight might break out, none did.
But no matter; the game was still exciting. Hockey moves quickly and works excellently as a spectator sport. Our visitors from England, usually frustrated by the slow pace of baseball and American football, were wowed at the speed of the play in hockey. There’s not a lot of time wasted in the sport. It has two intermissions that are long enough to do what you need to do and then the game is back on again.
The Rangers took a two goal lead but the Red Wings quickly caught up. Detroit scored a goal late in the third period to send the game into overtime, where the Rangers won.
One of our London colleagues bought tickets to this past Sunday’s game before the work week was over (unfortunately the Rangers lost to the Edmonton Oilers 3-1).
But I will definitely be back. Being at the game was exciting and hockey is a fun, fast-paced sport to watch.
Things promise to get more exciting next year when the Rangers’ in-state archrival New York Islanders move to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Go Rangers!
B. Sivertsen
Me and my daughter will see next week’s match against Buffalo. Does anybody know where the player entrance is, and what time the players arrive before the match. My daughter would like to jave the autograph of Zuccarello.