Playoff Hockey!

So as I watch the Rangers playing in the Stanley Cup Final my mind keeps drifting back to perhaps my best hockey moment before this.

It was back in 2007 when the Rangers were playing the Buffalo Sabres. I had left NYU and gone to the bar/restaurant in Penn Station to watch the game before I jumped on a train. As I sat down a woman across the bar called out to me something along the lines of:
"Look at this girl she is a true fan she has a Ranger jacket and hat and jersey." I waved and we maybe had a short exchange. At the end of the game I was getting ready to leave and something else caught her attention and she repeated the list. So I went over to her and we talked. I told her I was a crazy fan and showed her pictures of our car which Meg and I had painted for the Rangers playoffs.  She asked me if I went to a lot of games and I said no just a few. She asked why and I told her it was to expensive. Then she said to me "well I'm about to make your day." She worked for the Rangers and she told me to call her the next day and she would get me tickets. Well I was in shock and I thanked her and told her she didn't know how much this meant to me.

It was more than just going to see a playoff game. I had tickets to the final game of the season and planned on going with Meghan. However she had just had her last surgery after her car accident a few days before the season ended and couldn't make it to the game. Now a few weeks later she could. The next day when I called she told me the tickets would be in the nose bleeds and I said I didn't care. She asked me when I could get in on Sunday and I told her whenever she needed me there I could be there. On Sunday we took the LIRR in to the city and I left Meg by the playoff bus that circled Times Square while I went to get the tickets. As I walked over she smiled and told me she had another surprise for me. The tickets weren't nose bleeds. They were in a suite. I was in tears. I went running back to Meg (almost fell down the steps of MSG). We rode the playoff bus around the city and then went in to the Garden. Just when we thought it couldn't get better the elevator door opened at the suite level and there in front of us was Ron Duguay signing autographs.

As exciting as our pre-game experience was the game followed more than held its own. As Michael Roszival ended up getting the winning goal in a double over time. The Rangers didn't end up advancing but that didn't matter. Just to go to a playoff game and see a win with my sister (especially after missing the last game) was all I needed. 


Now the Rangers are in the third period against the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. All last round I felt like I was satisfied. I never thought the Rangers would get past the first round let alone make it to the third. They fought Philly and Pittsburg and came out strong against Montreal and I really felt like if they lost I would be ok because they could hold their heads high with how they played. But now they are here. They are in the final and there is no reason they can't beat the Kings (or any team) in a series. They need to stay focused, keep their sticks on the ice, support each other especially in the neutral zone, they need to use their speed to draw penalties rather than take dumb penalties and they need to clear the puck away from Hank.  All last round I felt like I was satisfied. I never thought the Rangers would get past the first round let alone make it to the third. They fought Philly and Pittsburg and came out strong against Montreal and I really felt like if they lost I would be ok because they could hold their heads high with how they played. But now they are here. They are in the final and there is no reason they can't beat the Kings (or any team) in a series. They need to stay focused, keep their sticks on the ice, support each other especially in the neutral zone, they need to use their speed to draw penalties rather than take dumb penalties and they need to clear the puck away from Hank.