You had to love the guy on the 8:16 this morning. As the train approached Grand Central, he looked like any/every other commuter: sculpted iron-gray helmet of hair, taut necktie, grim face of a man about to emark on a hard slalom through Grand Central.

Then there was his Rangers jersey.

Yes, the man wore the full-on Guy Lafleur #10 official NHL jersey, the knot of his tie sticking out of the V-neck.

Which of course got me wondering. Foremost, I checked up on Wikipedia, and Lafleur–nicknamed “the Flower”, mind you–retired in ‘91.

Surely the guy is going to the playoff game at the Garden tonight. But was it really necessary to wear the thing on the train and at work all day, when he could simply slip it over his work duds after work (and, God willing, lose the tie)? I could maybe see doing that with a baseball jersey. But hockey?

It reminded me of the face-painting Puddy character from Seinfeld: “GOTTA SUPPORT THE TEAM!”