Hockey Can Be Awesome, Part II

Not only are the Rangers on a six-game winning streak, but nine-year-old Oliver Wahlstrom, a winger for the Portland Junior Pirate Pee-Wee Major 97s-- and the greatest kid hockey player since Gordon Bombay-- demonstrates how to light the lamp, during the first intermission of the Bruins' recent game against the New Jersey Devils. 



Again, if the sport showcased more stuff like this, hockey would be much more popular than it is now: somewhere between reruns of American Gladiator and women's tennis.

Cheap Seats

On Saturday night, I went to the Rangers home opener against the Ottawa Senators. A friend has season tickets, which, in previous years, were located 8 rows behind the net, on the 7th Avenue side of the Garden. This year, however, he downgraded his two seats to the 400s, all the way up on the ninth floor of the Garden, where smoking is not necessarily discouraged, the roof leaks, and the nearest bathroom is one flight down, two sections over. 

This is the only place to watch a hockey game. 

The fans, most of whom sported a Rangers jersey and/or a mullet, were completely into every aspect of the game, from before the team introductions to well beyond the final buzzer. You haven’t experienced a hockey game until a zaftig woman in a Jeff Beukeboom road jersey a few rows over starts yelling about the waning efficiency of a team’s line change from period to period. She was right, too, and if the NHL had enough sense to broadcast every hockey game from the cheap seats, sports fans would flock to hockey faster than an Alex Ovechkin slap shot.

A Fan's Note

I was fortunate enough to take in last night’s Knicks-Blazers game. Here are a few random thoughts from the evening, as experienced from section 345, row D, seat 1.

Chris Duhon is better than advertised. David Lee works hard. Brandon Roy plays like Clyde Frazier. Greg Oden looks lost. LaMarcus Aldridge is nice. So is Travis Outlaw. Rudy Fernandez has lots of fans and is an absolute chucker. Malik Rose has no business playing basketball. Tim Thomas is still Tim Thomas. Channing Frye is irrelevant. Al Harrington is better than Anthony Bonner. Q is fat. Roberson is tiny. The Knicks ran out of gas. D’Antoni pays attention to everything, except Stephon Marbury. Nate McMillan needs to tighten up his team's D. The Knicks City Dancers are off. The Garden overestimates people’s hankering for cotton candy. And, finally, Knicks fans don't drink nearly as much beer as Rangers fans.

Thanks to NT and PF-T for looking out.