Wearing Blue in the Red Zone

I've always been of the opinion that playoff hockey is as good as it gets in terms of overall excitement, intensity and entertainment. As the season drew to its close and it seemed as if the New York Rangers would end up matched against the Washington Capitals, I excitedly pondered the idea of catching a game. It turned out that we were able to get tickets for Game 2 of the potential 7 game Rangers/Caps series for Saturday, April 18 at 1:00 pm.

Entering the arena we (my mother, father, girlfriend and I) were immediately greeted by Capitals cheerleaders handing out signs informing us that we should "Rock the Red", a popular slogan for the remade, bright red Capitals image. As I've mentioned in previous articles, Alex Ovechkin has helped to remake a once sleepy hockey landscape into a raucous, hockey town.

However, the cheerleaders seemed inadequately trained as they willingly gave me, in my blue Mark Messier jersey one of their signs. I immediately ripped up said sign (view picture above) and was met with a chorus of boos and hisses as other early arrivals were making their way into the arena.

Despite this, which was a result of my own blatant and infelicitous action, the Capitals fans, down 1-0 in the series already, seemed less sanguinary than usual. Still, it was but 11:30 in the morning, and everyone's blood alcohol level had not yet emerged as a deciding factor in their behavior.

Our tickets came with passes to the Dewar's Clubhouse, which provided some buffet food and beer in a lounge setting. Once again undone by their own generosity or a poor grasp of the situation, Capitals staffers handed all of us a red hat and towel to be used at the game. I promptly used my red Capitals towel as a napkin to take care of any unsightly stains that I acquired after eating several rounds of nachos, wings and sandwiches.

As it approached 1 pm the fans noticeably picked up their taunting. This was of course no coincidence to the fact that they had had an extra hour and a half of acquaintanceship with their favorite beers and other alcoholic beverages. Especially in the Dewar's Clubhouse, where beer was included in the price and therefore access was unlimited, red hats and shirts began being matched by red faces and bloodshot eyes.

Finding our way to our seats in the nosebleeds, we did spot several other groups of Rangers fans in attendance. After surveying the arena my guess was that there was somewhere around 200 advertising Rangers fans in an arena of 18,000. Considering it was a playoff game, this wasn't a bad showing for the Rangers, and it was comforting to be within eyesight of several other blue enclaves (although as you can see in the picture above, the blue was few and far between).

The building was pulsating with excitement and having already alerted my girlfriend to the most beautiful sound in all sports, the silence that falls over a home team's arena when the visiting team takes the lead, we were thrilled at the opportunity to experience just this when the Rangers took a 1-0 lead at about 8 minutes into the opening stanza.

Ryan Callahan, arguably the best player on the Rangers over the last two months of the season, scored when Markus Naslund fed him the puck on a 2-1 rush. It would be the only goal scored by either team throughout the entire, intense contest. Led by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers were able to suppress the strong Capitals offense throughout the game.

As the game went on the Capitals fans became increasingly more disenchanted with the referees, to the tune of repeated "Ref, you suck" chants. This of course worked out beautifully for us and the other 196 Rangers fans, because their ire was pointed in their direction instead of ours. It allowed us to escape the arena unharmed, and with a 2-0 series lead in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The series continues Monday night in New York.