How the Rangers Rocked the Red

So, on Wednesday morning, it hit me that the Rangers were going to be in town for the playoffs. Now, I had A LOT to do: Clean my room, do laundry, read for three classes, study for finals, and pack to go to Chicago. There was no way in HELL I was missing this game. So I put my Georgetown sweater over my Rangers jersey (Caps fans aren't big on selling to the other team), and walked through the rain till I got to Verizon Center, where I secured an upper-deck seat for $35.

As I got there about 30 minutes before gametime, I was allowed to mill about in the bottom tier and take pictures during warmups (which will be posted on Facebook at some point). Mark Staal (Ranger defenseman) had some fun shooting slapshots toward the glass right in front of me and another kid in a Ranger jersey. Damn. Those things come in fast, and I'm glad I never tried hockey goalie.

I have to commend the Caps for a pretty sweet pre-game introduction session. First off, it's easy to get the fans psyched for a game with rock; Bush's Machinehead is a popular choice (both the Pirates and Nationals have used this at games I've been to), but the Caps use the intro to DMB's "Warehouse" to great effect. It's just Dave playing, and when he stops, the crowd all goes "Woo!" Very effective. I was able to stay in the lower bowl for half of the first period, until the person whose seat I was in showed up, at which point I was sent to the upper deck. Now, when I say I was in the upper deck, I am not kidding. I was in the penultimate row of the stadium. The Caps fans were less than overjoyed to see me, but soon settled back into watching the game.

The first period ended 0-0, and I went for a walk around the outside of the stadium to check the food options and sample a little bit of the local evironment. While the people in my row had been relative friendly and sober, the people who were milling about near the concession stand were a lot less of both. I was offered 3 fights, and called a homo more times than in the rest of my life combined. But I kept my head held high, and walked back to my seat for the start of the 2nd.

The Caps opened the scoring in the 2nd, as Alex Ovechkin shot a wounded duck towards the net that somehow evaded all the people in the way, and tucked itself into the corner. The Caps fans, as expected, went berserk, to the point that I'm still not sure what song they play when the Caps score. I was kinda worried at this point, but it turned out to be for naught, as Sean Avery (who was roundly booed everytime he got anywhere near the puck) tripped a Caps defenseman, allowing Scott Gomez to walk in and tie it up. The Rangers went on the power play shortly after, and I tend to suppress groans when that happens. For those of you who aren't Ranger fans, the Rangers power play was third-worst in the league. There was a point where we were giving up more shorthanded goals than we were scoring. Not this time. Nik Antropov fired one in, and the other Ranger fans in my section, who had been quiet all game started to get fired up. Even more inexplicably, the Rangers went on another man-advantage, which was quickly capped off by Marcus Naslund putting a wrist-shot in the top corner. The Caps faithful were stunned, while my fellow Ranger fans and I launched into a rousing rendition of the Rangers Goal Song (Lyrics: Oh Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh, Hey, Hey, HeyHeyHey, Hey, Hey, HeyHeyHey). The Caps scored again to finish out the period, and the Rangers went into the break up 3-2.

This break, however, was quiet. No insults, no threats to fight, just a bunch of Ranger fans passing each other in the hallway with knowing smiles, amidst a red sea of silence. The Caps opened the scoring in the third, and the crowd was right back into it, starting "Rangers Suck" chants that echoed through the arena. The Rangers reclaimed the lead off of Brandon Dubinsky's incredible fake, which left a Caps defender flat on the ice, and subsequent wristshot. The Caps fans were subdued once again, but only until 7 minutes to go, when the video board operator decided it was time to play the inspirational movie clips.

Now, I've seen these in every stadium. There are the standard ones: John Belushi in "Animal House," Al Pacino in "Any Given Sunday," Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky," and my personal favorite, the one in "Network" where the guy says "I want you to get up, get up out of your chairs, go to the window, open it, and yell..." Well, the Caps played a montage of ALL of those, plus a bunch more, all culminating with Tom Green in Road Trip yelling (joined by tens of thousands of people), "UNLEASH THE FURY!!!!" This was, in short, awe-inspiring. Fortunately for me, it was not Capitals-inspiring, as the Rangers held off a furious rush to win the game.

As I walked out, every Ranger fan slapped high-fives with one another, like we were part of a special organization, like somehow we had contributed in our own small ways. The Caps fans were less than amused, and a fight broke out outside the Gallery Place Metro. I managed to get home after only a few insults, and didn't get jumped, which is always a good thing. I managed to then get everything I needed done, and jumped on a flight to Chicago, which I'll talk about in a subsequent post, I hope.

May all your hits be crits,
B