Welcome to a series I’ve kind of cooked up on the fly here. In “I was there,” myself and other members of The Breakdown team will talk about some of the games we’ve gone to over the years. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily the best games, or that they stood out for great reasons. They are featured in the series because they wound up holding odd historical value and come with a humorous personal experience for the writer.

Allow me to take you back to October 11th, 2018 at Madison Square Garden. This Thursday evening has stood out in my mind for years, not because it was a playoff game of a crazy achievement, but rather the journey it took to get to this tilt. The aforementioned contest pitted two teams headed in opposite directions against one another, as the San Jose Sharks took on the New York Rangers, and yours truly was one of the 17,004 in attendance.

This game resurfaced in my consciousness as I was cleaning out my beloved man cave this past weekend. The memories of the night hit me instantly, especially given the return of a certain someone to the Ranger bench. The 2018-19 season the first post “letter” campaign for the Rangers as they embarked on a rebuild after breaking up their aging core. They entered the season figuring to be a middling club at best, with some big names on the roster trying to help young players find their way. The lowered expectations didn’t bother me or my usual game partners in the slightest, we still wanted to see our Blueshirts as much as possible, something cheaper tickets made more feasible.

The first game I was supposed to go to that season, was the season opener against the Nashville Predators played at MSG on Thursday October 4th, 2018. The tickets, a gift from my father, were a treat to have as the first home game of the season is always special to attend and while the Rangers were probably going to struggle this season, hope springs eternal on opening night. Combine that with seeing them playing one of the best teams in the NHL, and it felt like a recipe for a great night. So, my friend Anthony and I headed for the train station in Secaucus to head to MSG for the opening ceremonies and the game. We surrounded by fellow Blueshirts on the platform, buzzing with anticipation when we noticed the train was delayed…really delayed…like “we might have a problem” delayed. Then all of a sudden, the trains from NYC had turned around and we’re coming back towards us rather than getting out of the way for the next pickup…why you ask? Because a separate train had derailed in Penn Station, pausing all arrivals from New Jersey. The game was now on the brink of starting, there was no mass transit, and an hour of traffic to the city…so the game was abandoned, and we were forced to go watch at a local bar.

So, with the 3-2 loss in the opener behind us, the Rangers hit the road to play the Sabres and Hurricanes, who beat them as well, making the Rangers 0-3 on the season. With the rebuild growing pains in full affect, my dad decided to try and make up for the missed game with tickets to the October 11th contest at the Garden against the Sharks. So, I purchased two more as a belated make up birthday gift, and since I was told to take a friend, which wound being my friend Mike (Anthony wasn’t around). Mike met me at Secaucus Junction once again, and what do you know, NJ Transit’s trains didn’t malfunction, and we were on our to the game.

We made our way up into the 7th Ave entrance and went to the turnstile to scan our ticket…which wasn’t scanning. I try it again, no scan, so now I go to see an MSG employee who after examining my digital stub, says we can’t get in because the Stub Hub seller didn’t upload the bar code correctly and the tickets weren’t valid. Determined to get into our first game of the season, Mike and I headed to the box office, where the attendant sold us a pair of absurdly priced tickets. We bit the bullet and headed inside to our seats, something I didn’t want to even tell my dad who did so much to try and get us into the arena twice now. If you’re reading now this dad, thanks for being awesome and sorry Stub Hub robbed you 7 years ago.

So, the game gets underway and the do their usual act of trying “competing hard” but not getting much in the way of results. They’d fall behind 4:31 into the tilt as Marcus Sorensen would beat Henrik Lundqvist making it 1-0 for the visitors. The unfortunate start was washed out by the Rangers youngsters pulling them into the game and eventually getting them on the board, as Brett Howden slipped one past Aaron Dell…or at least it seemed like it as the goal went to review for offsides.

We waited…and waited…and waited…and waited for the lengthy review to conclude (I seem to remember it taking about 10 minutes of real time). It got to the point that the players went out and skated around just to stay loose during the stoppage, a truly silly feature of the NHL’s poor review system. Fortunately, the goal counted and the game on tied into the second period, until Joonas Donskoi potted a goal to make it 2-1 San Jose. That Sharks lead went into the third period where the Rangers were plugging away, trying desperately to get the tying goal and they worked the puck down the wall into the corner to the right of Dell where Pavel Buchnevich was waiting to feed the puck in front.

A waiting Brendan Smith, who had become a leader of this young group during training camp, hammered one past Dell to tie the game at 2-2. The Garden roared to life as Mike and I high fived the strangers around us. The tie lasted to the end of regulation, sending the contest to overtime. As we all know, a Ranger overtime is usually filled with a scary combination of both standing around and death defying saves on high danger chances that last the full five minutes. Fortunately, this one wasn’t one of those typical overtimes as after a Sharks turnover, defenseman picked the puck up on a 2 on 1 with Mats Zuccarello. Me, Mike and the other 17,002 people in attendance that night all screamed “PASS” but Skjei didn’t listen. Good thing he didn’t!

Skjei found enough room to sneak the puck past Dell and the Rangers got their first win of the season. Mike and I jumped for joy like they just won the Cup, but hey, that’s what being a fan is all about. So, why write about a mostly unremarkable game from an unremarkable season on the brink of an offseason that is all about transition? Because this game was David Quinn’s first win as head coach, a stat that made me save my ticket stub from that night on the chance that Quinn was the special coach the Rangers have been waiting for. He wasn’t…but that tends to be how things go around here, and while he wasn’t a special head coach, he is about to get a crack at being a special assistant coach for the Rangers as they re-hired him on Mike Sullivans staff. So, as I cleaned out my beloved man cave to complete my move out, I found the program from that season (celebrating the 94 Cup team) and the ticket stub inside it which inspired this piece.

Of course it’s fun to go to legendary games. I can say I was fortunate enough to be at the Stadium Series comeback against the Islanders and Vincent Trocheck’s double OT winner in the 2024 season. But what makes sports awesome is the little moments you share with your friends and family at the random ball game in May or the meaningless hockey game in November. They become the night’s you always remember years later and that is what “I Was There,” will be all about for us here at The Breakdown. We’ll talk about some epic games myself and other members of our team went to, but there will be plenty more random ones too, so stay tuned for more! I think our new featured quote best describes what I’m getting at here and thank you to the great Bill Simmons for nailing what sports is all about.

“Our favorite teams bring people together, keep family members close, bond people from different generations. Some of the happiest moments of my life involve something that happened with one of my teams.” – Bill Simmons

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.