Post columnist Steve Serby checked in for a Q&A session with Rangers center Brian Boyle.
Q: How would you sum up what it’s like being a New York Ranger?
A: I won’t do it justice how much it really means to me. I know how fortunate I am. Some days are tough. … A lot’s demanded of us by our coaches, by ourselves. … We expect a lot of each other. We’ve been given a lot to be able to play here. To much is given, much is expected. It’s really brought my best game out of me, I think, living here, playing here in the greatest city in the world. It’s unbelievable.
Q: How hungry and driven is this team to bring a Stanley Cup to this city?
A: It’s hard to put that into words. Our play can speak better for that. The sacrifices guys have made … guys don’t think twice.
Q: You were 9¹/₂ when the Rangers won the Cup in 1994 against Vancouver.
A: I remember rooting for them. The whole 54 years, just following [Mark] Messier and his legend as it was growing. I loved Mike Richter, I loved Brian Leetch, Adam Graves. … Those guys were easy to cheer for. … I remember Pavel Bure getting stoned by Richter on the penalty shot.
Q: Do you remember Messier holding the Cup?
A: I’ve seen it enough times in the years since (chuckle).
Q: Can you imagine what that would feel like?
A: To be honest, I try not to imagine it anymore. Who knows what it would feel like? Especially now, I try not to think about it. I know it’s weird. I don’t want to put too much on my plate and get ahead of myself.
Q: Describe the intensity on the ice in the playoffs.
A: You try and stay as poised and calm as you can. It’s a battle for every inch of ice. … It’s a war. You’re gonna get every guy’s best effort. They’re gonna come at you as hard as they can. That’s what makes the NHL playoffs the greatest sports spectacle you can watch. It becomes a game of surges and momentum swings.
Q: Describe Rangers fans.
A: They’re passionate and they’re demanding.
Q: That sounds like John Tortorella.
A: (Laugh) It’s impressive to me the knowledge they have as hockey fans. They know a lot about us. I’ve never heard a building like that. I’ve never played for crowds like this. I’m trying to stay in the moment. It’s been a ton of fun.
Q: Have you gotten goosebumps in the playoffs?
A: I try to downplay it and calm myself down. When I was out of the lineup [with a concussion Game 7 against Ottawa], I was going nuts. I was sweating in my suit pacing back and forth. It was something else.
Q: You actually left your 10th floor seat that night.
A: I was in the weight room for the last six or seven minutes staring at the time clock hoping it would get to zero without anything bad happening. Because you have no control.
Q: What was it like the first time you played at the Garden back when you were with the Kings?
A: My second NHL game. I scored on Hanky (Henrik Lundqvist) (chuckle). I tease him about it. He says he doesn’t remember it.
Q: Describe your first goal in your NHL debut against Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.
A: I got on the ice with 12 minutes left in the first period. My driver from Manchester got lost. I was late for the game. Jeff Giuliano threw the puck in front of the net. He’s a B.C. guy. I was on the left side in the slot area and I kinda one-timed it. It went in blocker side high. I didn’t celebrate too much, but I was going nuts on the inside.
Q: describe the day, three years ago, when you were traded to the Rangers.
A: I was in Cape Cod. It was 12, 12:30 in the afternoon My mother was crying (chuckle). It was bittersweet, some of the guys from L.A. called. That’s the nature of the game. I knew it was a great opportunity for me.
Q: How scary was it for you when you suffered your concussion on Chris Neil’s hit?
A: I really didn’t know what was going on till the next day. It didn’t respond as fast as you wanted it to. My dad was down with the trainers, then he left. He knew I was OK. Five minutes later I asked my girlfriend to make sure he knew I was OK.
Q: What drives you?
A: People better than me. … I’d rather be the best. If a guy’s better than me taking faceoffs or killing penalties, I want to get better at that. If a guy’s a great penalty killer and a great faceoff guy and he’s scoring 25 goals, I want to score 30.
Q: Was your lowest Boston College hockey moment was losing in the NCAA final to Michigan State?
A: Senior year was a tough one to swallow. It took a few years to get over that one.
Q: Who was your boyhood idol?
A: My dad. I thought of him as Superman. He was a great athlete, he was a big, strong guy. … My mom as well. … I never saw him sick or hurt until I got to high school.
Q: What was that period like for you, when your father was stricken first with kidney cancer and later when it spread to his lungs?
A: He didn’t really admit to me how sick he was. You saw his body get frail for a while there. He lost a bunch of weight, his skin was pale. It was pretty scary stuff. It was difficult for all of us.
Q: After he was miraculously healed through faith and prayer, you listened to a tape he had made while driving with your mother.
A: I never really knew the extent how sick he was. For a time there, he thought he was gonna die. He was depressed about it. … He fooled me. Then I heard the tape. It was like, “Oh my goodness, why didn’t I know that?” It kinda floored me. I couldn’t really think about anything except that and what that might have been like. I don’t know where I’d be right now if that was the case.
Q: You were 2 years old when you lost your 6-month-old brother Joseph to SIDS.
A: I think about it periodically. He’d be 25 now. My next brother after him just turned 19. My mother said I was a sad 2-year-old. I don’t really remember the whole ordeal at all. I’ve thought about it my whole life — what if? That might be surprising with so many siblings that it would affect me.
Q: You’re the seventh of 12 children and you have three younger brothers.
A: They can be a pain in the [butt] sometimes (chuckle), but they’re a lot of fun to be around. They text me and call me, and they’re really into the playoffs right now. I appreciate all my siblings. I miss the fact I didn’t get to have that one brother really, really close in age to me.
Q: Any superstitions?
A: It’s not like I have to eat this or tape my stick. … You do things the same way. If it’s not working, I’ll switch it up.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus, Ghandi, John Lennon.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Forrest Gump.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Tom Hanks.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Meryl Streep.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Steak.
Q: What would you want Rangers fans to say about you?
A: You hope you’re giving everything you’ve got. It’s more my coach, my teammates see that. We’re all trying to do it for each other. Hopefully the fans see it, too.
Q: What do you like best about this Rangers team?
A: We’re a very close group. Good, bad, ugly, we find a way to enjoy what we’re doing together.
Q: What’s your biggest single moment in hockey?
A: Hopefully it hasn’t happened yet. So far this ride’s been a lot of fun. It’s been hard, but it’s been a ton of fun.
Q: Would anything short of a Stanley Cup be a failure?
A: That’s the goal. That’s what we put all this effort into and why we sacrifice everything we can, because the payoff is that. If it doesn’t happen, I don’t know if you’d say a failure. It’s disappointing and it’s sad and it can be devastating. You get all summer to think about it and be mad about it.
Q: Does this team have enough will to win a Stanley Cup?
A: I’ll just tell you this: We believe in each other, and we have confidence in the group. If you don’t believe you can win, we wouldn’t be playing anymore. We’d be golfing.
steve.serby@nypost.com