So there is another one of these coming up on Wednesday night, another chance for the Rangers to turn Yankee Stadium into the Bronx Blue against the Islanders the way they did against the Devils on Sunday afternoon.
And when Derek Stepan, who put the cherry on top of the Blueshirts’ 7-3 victory by converting a third-period penalty shot, was asked if the philosophy of going outside in another couple of days would be, “We’ve got to do it again,” or, “We get to do it again,” the center responded affirmatively and enthusiastically.
“Oh,” Stepan said. “We get to do it again.”
Again and again the NHL stages these outdoor extravaganzas and again and again the league pulls it off. One after another, from Edmonton in 2003 to Los Angeles this past Saturday night, they have become a collective greeting card for hockey’s Winter Wonderland.
Too many of these? Bah. Not according to the folks clad in shorts and flip-flops who filled Dodger Stadium 54,099 strong for the Ducks’ 3-0 victory over the Kings and not according to the 50,105 who bundled under scarfs and tuques in The Bronx.
If you don’t think the Islanders are eagerly awaiting their shot at the outdoor stage, if you don’t think every team in the league wouldn’t want in on this, then you’re lost. The folks who are only waiting for the league to fail will be waiting, well, not until L.A. freezes over, because it’s already done that.
“I hope everybody in the league does get the opportunity,” said Stepan. “There’s an atmosphere outdoors that you just can’t get in an indoor stadium.”
Avalanche at home for the Red Wings next year? You bet. The Wild outdoors in the State of Hockey? Why on earth not? And in two years, Ranger fans will be banging on the door for the chance to do it yet another time.
You know what? This sport’s administration that so often trips over itself has gotten this right. Sixth Avenue has seized the moment and turned what can be the grind of January into a spectacle. True enough, when the elements are concerned, it is possible for the ice to break bad as it occasionally did at the Stadium.
But adversity is part of pro sports. The Yankees and Twins played a playoff series in 2009 when it felt colder than it did for this hockey game that began with the temperature around 25 degrees, dropped to 21 in the second period that was played in a snow squall and leveled off perhaps a couple of degrees warmer than that through the third.
The Rangers soaked it all in, every bit of it, even while falling behind 3-1 in the first period with Henrik Lundqvist admittedly “not in the right place” when the match began after a delay to wait out the glare on the third-base end of the ice that had become a sun field. The King didn’t mean at the Garden or at Newark.
Saturday night’s match was trumpeted by a fair amount of pomp and circumstance. Living legend Vin Scully was part of the pregame festivities. No such prelude to the opening draw in The Bronx. Perhaps John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman were otherwise occupied. The party favors were not necessary.
“Walking out for warm-ups, I was taking it all in,” said Lundqvist. “It was a great feeling and a proud feeling.”
This was an opportunity for the Devils to take over second place. It was an opportunity for the Devils to shine in the spotlight. Instead, the day became one of opportunities lost, the day that began with Martin Brodeur in net and ended with the icon on the bench at pro sports’ most iconic venue, pulled after two periods after allowing six goals, the final three on successive shots within a span of 6:47 late in the second.
The Rangers, though, they seized the moment. They basked in the glow of the Stadium lights. They became poster children for the NHL’s winter poster event.
“You want to look back on this as a great memory,” said Lundqvist. “The only way to have a great memory is to win the game.”
The NHL is built on almost a century of indoor memories. Now, they are being created outdoors. The Rangers came to the Stadium on Sunday, turned it into The Bronx Blue and now have the opportunity to do it again on Wednesday.
Let’s play two.