Following Part Two, the continuation of a few brief observations from the games I'm attending while on the wrong side of the Atlantic.
Game #3: New York Rangers 3-0 New Jersey Devils
- Perhaps not the most salubrious surroundings and it's never close to being full, but Prudential Center is a really nice building
- Lots of Rangers fans in the house as normal. Personal welcomes limited to one old guy muttering "scum" under his breath as I walked past. Slightly disappointing lack of commitment to the insult there...
- A lot of injury absences on both sides (most notably, Gáborík, Callahan, Captain Clutch for the Rangers; Brodeur and Parise for the Devils). Olivier Magnan-Grenier's appearance in the Devils' starting line-up produces a "Who the hell is that?" comment from a Devils fan behind me
- Not a whole lot to report from the game, as it's mostly pretty (s)crappy throughout. The second period is perhaps the most poorly played 20 minutes of NHL hockey I've seen in person
- The man Duuuuuuubbbbbbbbbiiiiiiii is on fire - Stamkos Schmamkos...
- Hello, Ilya Kovalchuk? You there? Still, not all his fault or that of Uncle Lou - a lot of the blame needs to go to the Devils' owner (who is, of course, Henrik Lundqvist)
- Always a satisfying win, but it doesn't feel the same without a Maaaarrrrrrtttttyyyyyy chant
I too appreciate the meditative, almost monastic quiet of the Prudential Center. I do enjoy games there though. It sounds like you saw a classic NY/NJ yawnfest! We've only managed to make one trip out to Nassau for an Isles game in 4 attempts due to some kind of transportation issue. But MSG is still my favorite hockey barn in the whole world so I'm still jealous.
ReplyDeleteWhy does it always surprise me to hear that the Devils can't fill the seats? (Insert painfully obvious "Kevin Smith can fill a section himself" joke here.) Geebus, that is just so pathetic. I can say this now with impunity because after a 2 years of it I think people have grown tired of pointing out that despite all games still being technically sold out, the Wings don't fill the Joe every game every day anymore.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, besides Montreal and Toronto (with their winning programs.) who still fills the stands in this league.
Excellent use of "salubrious". I see your three syllable word and raise you one "Dilapidated." (its not as scholarly, of course, but its got 5 Syllables)