As I said in my previous post, it’s a great time to be a Ranger fan! The boys are rolling so far, heading into Thanksgiving atop the Metro Division. Star players are performing at a high level and new faces are making a strong impression under first year coach Peter Laviolette. The good vibes aren’t confined to the Garden ice though. They extended north of the border as Henrik Lundqvist was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last Monday to cap off a weekend celebration of the sport.
The Hall of Fame induction is always a first class event that truly makes you appreciate the history of the game, but this one will go down as many Ranger fans favorite. Lundqvist and his fellow inductees took part in several special events to commemorate the occasion. From emotional feature interviews to taking part in on ice events, there was something for everyone to enjoy. They even got to compete one last time, as they took part in the Hall of Fame game with fellow alumni.
While it was all very cool to watch at home, I could only imagine being there in person. Fortunately some new friends of the blog were kind enough to share their thoughts on the experience. Die hard fans Little Ed, Cousin Ed, and Coach Ed, whom some of you might know from the Rangers Ed. Podcast made the trip to Toronto for the induction ceremony. They were joined by fellow fan and podcast contributor Oscar, along with a host of Blueshirts faithful. They all helped to put this piece together, and are a welcome addition to our production here.
All four of our guest contributors met a dream lineup of players, coaches and family members in Toronto. It was a real who’s who of the sport and Rangers history. What started as a chance encounter with Henrik’s brother Joel Lundqvist, evolved into meeting beloved Ranger Adam Graves, goalie coach Benoit Allaire and the voice of God himself, Sam Rosen.
As far as favorite moments go, seeing Lundqvist play again in the Hall of Fame game is near the top of Little Ed’s list. “I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to see him play again live. We were able to chant his name like we were back in the garden. Seeing him compete again and want to win was amazing. He looked so happy to be back.” Little Ed put it best when discussing Hank’s play in goal, “nobody moves like him.” Peter Forsberg would agree with his scouting report, number 30’s still got it.
Little Ed also had a fun interaction with Henrik postgame as he nearly caught a shirt from the King. “He skated towards me after the game and tried to toss me a shirt because I was wearing his jersey. We were sitting in row 1. It went right over my head and I looked at him and he locked eyes with me and shrugged his shoulders.”
The highlight of the weekend for Cousin Ed was getting to ask Lundqvist and the rest of the inductee’s a question at the Hall of Fame fan forum. “Who was the best trash talker?” Lundqvist said it was Brad Marchand while Pierre Turgeon and Tom Barasso picked Matthew Barnaby and Sean Avery.
On top of sharpening his media skills in the Q&A, Cousin Ed shared these thoughts on Hanks career as he reflected on the weekend. “Henrik meant so much to me as a fan. He is the first player I’ve been able to watch from draft day to the Hall of Fame. Being there for his induction with my family was a once in a lifetime experience. What a legend.”
Coach Ed’s favorite moments from the weekend were mostly his interactions with the hockey legends in attendance. Sam Rosen, Mike Gartner, Mike Vernon, and Benoit Allaire were just a few of the guests he spent time with. He also was lucky enough to win some exclusive signed memorabilia at the Hall’s silent auction. Out of the many wonderful quotes everyone was willing to share with us, I think this one from coach best describes the Hall and what it means. “The casual fan just looks at the glamour of a pro athlete and doesn’t realize the magnitude and stress level mentally people go through and the sacrifice so many people make for an athlete to reach that level, hearing those people speak, really puts it in perspective.”
Of course when discussing Lundqvist career there is the elephant in the room. The King not winning a Cup pains us all and Little Ed encapsulated this feeling well. “Seeing Henrik over the weekend brought back all of those memories. It was heart wrenching to hear all of the other speeches mentioning the amount of cups the other inductees won. Henrik didn’t get his and he deserved it more than anyone.” While we’re all in agreement on that, the memories we made with Henrik will last a lifetime, and we’re all forever grateful for them. Hopefully he can be a part of the Cup celebration soon, with the rest of the MSG family.
The perfect cap on the weekend came when our guests got to chant “HEN-RIK” as he left the induction ceremony. Little Ed even shook Lundqvist’s hand as he walked out. Safe to say he won’t be washing that hand anytime soon.
To put a bow on “The Kings” induction I’d like to share my own thoughts on his career. I wasn’t a big hockey fan at all for much of my youth. But after years of talking about it my mother, who is a life long Ranger fan, said “we’re going to watch hockey and you’re going to be a Ranger fan.” That summer she got me tickets for my birthday and I went to my first game on October 15th, 2010. It was the home opener, one that they lost (shocker) to the Maple Leafs 4-3 in OT. Michal Rozsival and Brian Boyle scored the Ranger goals, Marian Gaborik and current GM Chris Drury left the game injured. Brandon Prust fought Mike Brown while two fans fought right behind us in the old blue seats. After experiencing that night, thought to myself “man this sport is the best.”
But out of all the memories of that home opener, I’ll never forget walking into the game and passing the Rangers mural at the Garden. It had players from the team painted on it and each one had a speech bubble above their head. Lundqvist was the last one and his speech bubble read “me and my buddy Hank at my first NYR game.” I posed for a picture with it and from that point on number 30 was my guy, especially after seeing him show off in net. In those days the Rangers weren’t really blessed with offensive stars. While they became the likable grind it out Torts Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist was their constant shining light. His intensity, skill, and kind personality endeared him to me like it did everyone else.
He helped me fall in love with this team and the sport of hockey. He and the Blueshirts brought me and my family closer together as the Rangers are a family affair. Hank and the boys introduced me to new friends in my extended Blueshirts family, ones I value having to this day. I am quite frankly forever in debt to him. Henrik thanked all Ranger fans for the support over the years. In return I can only thank him for everything he’s done for all of us. He will always be “The King!”
I’d like to give a big thank you to our special guests! This piece really benefited from their contributions, and I am truly grateful to work with them on it. Check out Oscar’s site and business, Oscar’s Pro Stitch Hockey, where he’ll satisfy all your custom jersey needs with some excellent work. You can also catch Little Ed, Cousin Ed, and Coach Ed on the Rangers Ed. Podcast as they really provide some sharp and fun analysis of the team. The show is available on Youtube and all podcast platforms! We will be doing plenty more with all four of them as we’ll discuss the podcast, the custom jersey world, and of course our beloved Rangers.
Follow me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen and entering email address. We’ll take a short break to celebrate Turkey Day and then be back with plenty of content next week. Enjoy the holiday weekend everyone!
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