There’s a funny way that everything seems to come together. At least from what I’ve learned.
I arrived in New York City at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday -- err, Tuesday.
It was the start of either my fourth or fifth trip to NYC (I can tell you from various bus trips and car rides to the city that it feels like an eternity is spent just getting there), and I was starving. Not like that ‘Hey, let’s stop at this 24-hour Burger King and get a cheeseburger’ kind of hungry, but that ‘My God, somebody get me something real right now’ type of hunger that hits you in the middle of the night. Though I did the former last night and was offered every drug under the sun by two guys in the process (No, seriously, this one guy said he’d give me ‘Molly that would make me afraid of him’ .. as if I wasn’t already), the latter came and went with a 3:30 a.m. trip to a local deli right by Madison Square Garden.
As I waited for my sandwich, I stared at the TV they had in their establishment. They were watching a documentary on Jonestown, the infamous cult led by Jim Jones that ultimately fled (or were forced by Jones depending on what you read) to Guyana. The story of Jonestown is one that eventually ends with a mass suicide (or murder depending on what you read) of some of its people by way of cyanide poisoning, which happened 35 years ago this week.
Totally nuts on its own, right?
But then Tuesday night came with a new brightly lit scoreboard that welcomed me to.. Rangerstown.
And then came a close contest that ultimately left Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers, despite a plethora of chances from a sluggish Boston defense, downed by some Merlot with goals from Shawn Thornton and Danny Paille.
Jonestown, Rangerstown. Cyanide, Merlot.
(Blogger’s note: No, you’re right and I agree-- That’s more than enough of a blog that begins with me comparing hockey teams to three and a half decade old horrors for a Wednesday.) In their first meeting since last year’s five-game second round showdown, episode one of 2013-14’s three-part installment of the Bruins and Rangers played out with an all too familiar story. Like they did last spring, the Bruins’ fourth line wingers took it to the Rangers with their speed and determination. And like last spring, goaltender Tuukka Rask was out of this world.
Bordering on unbelievable, even. Rask’s night began with a successful stop on Chris Kreider’s penalty shot. And from there, with the lone blemish on his night coming by way of Derick Brassard’s power-play snipe, Rask was on another planet. Entering play with a .944 on the year, Rask’s 43-save performance bumped his season save percentage on up to .946. Hah, OK.
You’ve heard the story a thousand times by now though.
Rask, the 26-year-old ace in the crease for the B’s, has been lights out all year long.
It’s been the story of the Boston offense that’s become the club’s ever changing dynamic. And right now, it’s a story focusing on the Bruins’ bottom six, which has combined for four of the team’s last six goals. You’ll take that though, and you’ll happily file it all under finding ways to win games. Games you had absolutely no business even being in.. such as last night’s contest in New York.
A whole new building…
I love adventures. I love exploring cityscapes. I love hockey. Naturally, this makes road trips involving NHL games a whole lot of fun. But man, did I hate Madison Square Garden. It was a dark, drippy arena where cotton candy vendors and everything-else-humanly-imaginable got in your way of watching the game you paid way, way too much money to see live.
Not even Dancin’ Larry could dance his way out of acknowledging these facts.
But last night, I didn’t walk into that building. At all. See, walking into MSG last night felt like walking into an entirely new arena. I could see the ice from the 400s -- I could see the ice!
You simply can't knock the upgrades to the Garden from a pure hockey-viewing standpoint, but some of the building's charm certainly seemed to be affected by the changes. Maybe it's just the layout, or maybe it's the pricing, or maybe it's just what I'm used to from my previous trips to NYC, but my goodness was that one quiet building last night.
Looking down into the lower bowls of the arena, I couldn't help but notice the legion of dudes in suit and ties, barely watching the action. That's, uh, no fun. Quick story: One unnamed Bruin once told me that the Air Canada Centre was 'the worst place to play in the NHL' because the atmosphere was just so bad. Why was it so bad? He said that the suits, a.k.a basically the entire lower bowl, didn't care about the game and were mainly used by businesses to allow out-of-towners to take in a game and shoot the crap.
As a student of the game, and as somebody that's seen MSG at deafening levels, I really hope that the Rangers' diehards aren't priced out by this building's changes.
Pregame trips to both the Blarney Stone and the Molly Wee Pub confirmed to me that those New Yorkers that simply don't like Black and Gold still exist, but there's something I'll really miss about not hearing how much Boston sucks from those old ruffians of MSG if they become at-home viewers thanks to the aforementioned zombies in suits.
Seidenberg goes down, B’s recall Miller
Already down one stay-at-home defensemen with the near two-week absence of Adam McQuaid, the Bruins' point was dealt yet another blow, as the club lost Dennis Seidenberg early in the first period of Tuesday night's game. Uh-oh.
Forced to finish the night with five defensemen, the Bruins have called 6-foot-2 defensemen Kevan Miller up from Providence on an emergency basis. In 12 games with the P-Bruins this year, Miller has recorded a goal, three points, and 30 penalty minutes.
Obviously, the loss of Seidenberg is huge, but it could prove absolutely devastating for a B's blue-line whose inexperience has already been exposed with the loss of McQuaid.