My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
December 7, 2008 – New York, NY
The Big Apple. Not only one of my favourite places to visit, but also home to one of the NHL’s “Original Six” teams, the New York Rangers. We were in town to see the Flames play the Rangers at the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden. To get to New York, we had flown to Toronto and then caught a short flight from there, arriving at LaGuardia Airport the afternoon of the game. If you’ve never been to New York City, nothing can match the electricity you feel walking around Manhattan. The streets are filled with people coming from work, going to work, shopping, or simply walking around. In New York, it is the people that are the real sights to see.
In an effort to save money, something that isn’t easy to do in Manhattan, we booked a room in Newark, New Jersey. Despite being in a different city, and a different state for that matter, it is easily accessible by the PATH train system which runs between Newark’s Penn Station and Manhattan 24 hours a day, and conveniently has a stop underneath Madison Square Garden.
We arrived at ‘MSG’ two hours before puck drop, giving us enough time to grab some food from New York’s many street vendors before heading inside. Entering off 7th Avenue, you pass through a giant atrium that features team stores for the Knicks and Rangers, an entrance to another theatre and the escalators of Madison Square Garden. Unlike most arenas, where the ice level is below ground or at least at street level, the ice at MSG is four storeys up. The theatre entrance we had seen was for a smaller venue that is below the main seating bowl. At the time of the Flames-Rangers game, there was a Cirque du Soleil performance taking place as well.
After taking four escalators to reach the lower concourse, we did our customary walk of the arena. Due to it being built in 1968, and being four floors above the street, the concourses are quite narrow, featuring cinder block walls with concessions and shops tucked into corners underneath the seating. For the most part the concessions were fairly standard, selling the usual assortment of hot dogs, pretzels, nachos etc. The seating bowl itself is also reminiscent of the past, with the luxury suites circling the roof; almost as if they were put in as an afterthought and much like Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The bowl is divided into three levels, but again like the Joe, there isn’t a balcony like in modern arenas. The different tiers are separated by large concourses that circle the arena within the seating bowl.
Our seats were located on the second level, in the first row above the concourse, behind the Flames attack zone. Being in the first row, our seats offered a great view of the ice. However, as the game started we realized there was a problem with the concourse being directly in front of our seats. Throughout the game our view was constantly being blocked by an endless parade of vendors hawking beer, pretzels, popcorn, souvenirs and the like. As we neared puck drop, we grabbed a couple of beers from the bar nearest our seats. Offering a selection of draft beers, this vendor also featured the most unique beer service I’ve yet seen. The plastic beer cups had handles like you’d find on a mug, and in each handle was a pretzel stick! Few combos are better than beer and pretzels, so kudos to the folks at MSG for putting the two together so conveniently.
The game started off slowly, as both teams failed to score in the first period. Finally, late in the second, Iginla was able to score on a pass from Mike Cammalleri. Early in the third period, David Moss added a goal to give the Flames a 2-0 lead, and Rene Bourque would followed that up with a short-handed tally in the final two minutes, as the Flames defeated the Rangers 3-0. The victory marked the first road game shutout we’d ever witnessed, so I’m unable to comment on what the Rangers goal celebration was like. During the game, the crowd was for the most part quite docile, most likely because they didn’t have much to cheer for. We did hear an MSG staple though, as the crowd broke into a “Potvin Sucks!” cheer midway through the second period; a Ranger-fan tradition since 1979.
During the second intermission, while sending a text to a buddy, I was approached by a man who said, in a heavy accent, “I see you are fan of my countryman!”, as he pointed at my red Flames jersey. It turns out that he and a buddy were in town from their native Finland, and were at the game to cheer on Kipper. Both Finns were from Turku, Kiprusoff’s home town, and had played pee-wee hockey with him. “Only until we were about six or seven years old, then he was much too good,” we were told. We ended up going for a beer with the two after the game, discussing the Flames, the NHL and the Winter Olympics until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks for the beers Ville and Jarkko! Along with the Flames victory, it was another great night in the city that never sleeps.
Twelve arenas in the books, eighteen more to see…
-TheRev
Madison Square Garden Fast Facts
Seats: Section 349; $75, Ticketmaster
Score: Flames 3, Rangers 0
Arena Rating: 7.4
Unique Concession: Pretzels in beer
Souvenir Stick: Rangers, wooden, no color
Public Transit: Everywhere. World’s busiest train station (Penn Station) underneath arena; PATH train below that; NYC subway below that.
Unique Arena Trait: Ice level four storeys above street level, theatre underneath ice
Swag: none
Photos
Next stop is in Montreal to see the Flames play the Habs tomorrow…
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