HOCKEY TRAIN REFRAIN

After last night’s defeat at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one game from elimination, and New Jersey commuters may once again walk at ease through the halls of Penn Station without the crush of of red-white-and blue clad hockey fans, with booming echos of  “LETS GO RANGERS!” and “ICE THEM PENGUINS!”  wandering up and around the concourse.

Don’t get me wrong — I love hockey, and played it as a kid. My older brother even plays in a hockey league and admits to enjoy it, but when PLAYOFF FEVER strikes midtown, my sports-tracking device doesn’t “Catch it!”, and I quickly lose my gritty New York Spirit — in favor of a speedy ride home to Jersey, to avoid the soon-to-be pay-per-view games in peace.

My beef is with the incoming NJ Transit trains. Loaded with loaded pre-gaming Ranger fans (from Jersey, admittedly) – we are often treated to delayed departures, pre-read Star-Ledgers or (worse!) Bergen Records covering the seats, spilled Molson Ice tall-boys littered train cars –  for our Tuesday night commute back to the burbs. 

Last night’s 5:50 made it out from under the ice okay, but if all goes well for Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Garden will clear out, and I can rightfully move onto hating the Yankee fans. {^_^}

-jerseyjim

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!”