Thanks to this damn coronavirus and the subsequent NHL hiatus, New York Rangers fans need something else to do.
Pavel Buchnevich had just scored the tying goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game between the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche.
As it turns out, that goal might be the last one Rangers fans cheer about for a long time.
On Thursday afternoon, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league would be suspended due to the pandemic coronavirus. Hockey arenas through North America would go dark indefinitely.
For the fanatic Rangers hockey fan, these are uncharted waters. Thursday night was the first night without any hockey to be seen on television. The first night of what certainly will be plenty of boring nights dreaming of what might have been.
Now What Do We Do
Suffering Rangers hockey withdrawal is nothing to laugh at. Blueshirts fans are a unique breed of people. March normally consists of a playoff chase, something fans have missed for a few years.
To fill the gap in time and to help overcome the urge to watch replays of the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2014, here are a few things to take up the time while fans wait for the game to start up again.
Movies
There are plenty of hockey-themed movies to watch.
- SlapShot — The movie starring Paul Newman as player/coach Reggie Dunlop of the Charlestown Chiefs is a great flick. Here you’ll meet the Hanson brothers (Jack, Steve, and Jeff), Ned Braden, and goalie Denis Lemieux as the Chiefs look to save their team while winning a championship in the Federal League.
- Miracle — The story of the 1980 US Hockey team that defeated the mighty CCCP Russian team en route to winning the gold medal in Lake Placid, NY.
- Youngblood — A story of a hotshot hockey player named Dean Youngblood, played by Rob Lowe, and teammate Derek Sutton, played by Patrick Swayze. It’s a little farfetched in the hockey department but you can’t go wrong with a movie that has Cynthia Gibb playing Youngblood’s girlfriend. The movie has plenty of hockey action that will help kill off a long boring non-hockey evening.
- Ice Guardians — The documentary that covered the goon/enforcers of the National Hockey League. Dave Semenko, Bobby Hull, and Derek Boogaard are some of the players interviewed for this excellent project.
Books
If movies aren’t your cup of tea grab a book that covers your favorite team.
- Losing the Edge: The Rise and Fall of the Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers –– The story of how things fell apart following the team’s first Stanley Cup win in 54 years.
- The Big 50: New York Rangers: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Rangers — A look at the 50 men and moments that made the Rangers the Rangers. The book recounts the history of the team, counting down from No. 50 to No. 1.
- Tales from the New York Rangers Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Rangers Stories Ever Told (Tales from the Team) — Gilles Villemure tells stories from the locker room about the likes of Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield, Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, and Emile “The Cat” Francis.
There aren’t too many things that can replace watching a live hockey game. Unfortunately, this “pause” in Rangers hockey will last at least 30 days. For most Rangerstown fans, the need for the sport will force hockey fanatics to look for alternative means to satisfy their hockey hunger.
Movie and books might be enough to change the pace of life just for a little while with the hopes of seeing the Blueshirts battle on the ice in hopes of a Stanley Cup run sometime in the near future.
