|
Ever had a close encounter with a Ranger
that you'd like the world to know about...then drop us a line and we'll add you to the list.
Is That You Rod?
Submitted by Lewis Cohen April 14th, 2009
I have been a Ranger fan since the early sixties. About a week after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup I went one afternoon to the supermarket, and saw a gentleman who I was sure was Rod Gilbert. After a few seconds I decided to ask him if he was indeed Rod Gilbert. I was
correct and I will tell you he is as nice a person as they say he is. He took time to talk to me about the Rangers and the Cup and about the teams he played on. We shook hands and I thanked him for taking the time to speak to me. I will always remember how friendly and easy
he was to speak to, like he was an old friend. He was my favorite Ranger player growing up and will be forever. He is a class act, and a true Ranger icon.
Mom's New Friend
Submitted by slammediam30 July 19th, 2006
I went to my first NHL
game at Ottawa a few years ago, must have been 99, when Gretz, Richter,
and Beukeboom played. We got to the Corel center early, to pick up our
tix that we ordered online. In front of us was this 6ft tall, elderly
white/blonde haired woman with a think think accent (sounded, Austrian,
but I don't really recall), also waiting for some tickets. Just making
chit chat, my mom and her started to talk, and she mentions that she's
here to see her son play. So she asks what his name was, turn out, we
were talking to Jeff Beukeboom's mother!
Mistaken Identity
Submitted by LETSGORANGERS
July 17th, 2006
Several years ago, I went to see the Rangers play in Tampa, because I
knew they would stay in the hotel right across from the arena. So I went
with my girlfriend at the time and we took her niece, we all got there
very early, so we could catch the players walking across the street to
practice. We met several of the players, Barnaby, Blackburn, Nedved, and
Bure, to name a few, we took pictures and got autographs. We even met
Sam and JD, and got to chat with them a while.
We really wanted to meet Messier, but we saw he had taken a bus back and
forth from the hotel to the arena. He was on the bus with some of the
more popular players, such as Leetch, Richter and Fleury. So we were
kind of bummed out and walked back to the hotel lobby. When we got to
the entrance we were pleasantly surprised, we could see in through the
vestibule windows the back of a bald man in a suit.
We rushed in and ran through the lobby and up to the gentlemen,
flabbergasted expecting to meet the Captain. The startled gentleman herd
us coming like a stampede, he turned around only to see us even more
shocked, and disappointed. It was Sylvan Lefebvre, we politely said
never mind, and saw Rem Murray laughing, because he could see that we
obviously thought the bald man we saw from out side the hotel was
Messier. We asked Rem if he knew where Mess was he shook our hands and
shook his head no. He was a nice guy and got a kick out of our
enthusiasm to meet the storied leader.
We never did run into Mr. Messier, but all the players we met were very
nice and we got a birds eye view of the team in warm ups. Nedved gave us
a puck, and Fluery and Mess, acknowledged all the Rangers fans that were
in attendance.
We enjoyed the game it was a good one, the Rangers won, and Samuelsson,
gouged Lecavalier's eye out in a fight. We ran into Vinny and company
later that night and they were pissed, I said good game, with a huge
smile on my face.
I look forward to doing it again, Tampa is a good place to go meet the
players, as my story tells most of them will just walk across the
street, to get to practice. Too bad Our great leader did not that day.
After New York
Everything Else Was Just Grave-y
Submitted by Stacy July 17th, 2006
Being a HUGE #9 fan, I was obviously very upset when they traded "my
Adam" to San Jose. I vowed to see him in NY the following season so a
friend and I started the "Stacy stalks Adam tour" and I went to see San
Jose play against the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders over a one week
period.
We
had no idea how long it would take to get out to the island so we left very
early and got there hours before game time. Luckily, one of the friends I
was with wanted a picture of the Mausoleum so we went around front to do
that and not 15 minutes later, members of the Sharks came walking across the
parking lot from their hotel. Here I was in my Rangers #9 jersey when the
next thing I know Adam Graves is introducing himself to us. From that point
on is a blur.....I cannot for the life of me remember what I said to the man
but I got my jersey signed, got my pic taken (which still sits framed on my
desk at work), and had a moment I will NEVER forget!
Make a wish
Submitted by TXNYR April
20th, 2002
I
am currently living in Houston, Texas (yeah, I know) and find myself
having to drive to Dallas just to catch an NHL game. Finally, the NHL
decided this year decide to play an exhibition game in Houston. The
matchup was the Capitals and the Lightning. Not hardly a game that I would
usually find much interest in, but being able to catch an NHL game in
Houston is indeed rare.
A
friend of mine was also at the game and somehow this guy always finds me.
This night was no different. He had found Barnaby sitting in lower prom
and knowing that I am a Barnaby fan, he came to point out where he was
sitting. I got to meet him and we talked a bit. I mentioned to him that I
really was wishing that he would have become a Ranger instead of going to
Tampa Bay. How I think that he could add some grit on the Nedved line and
pick up his momentum again as a player. I asked him what he thought about
that. He said that he wouldn't mind playing in New York and added
"hey, you never know, maybe one day." Three months later he was
donning the red, white, and blue! I am also glad to say that he has seemed
to have had a resurgence since coming to NYC.
Meeting
your favorite player...
Submitted by Frank April
16th, 2002
It
was the Rangers-Isles game on Jan. 30th 2002.
I
took my cousin, an Islander fan to his first game, and after the game
we went for some autographs. Now I am not much of an autograph
getting type of fan, but being caught up in the moment, I decided to be a
kid again.
Standing
outside the Ranger exit, a guy in a suit comes out, and starts signing, I
didn't recognize him...he was no Mess, Leetch or Theo. So he signs my
Rangers hat, its white and made out of hockey jersey material. So he
signs it and then writes #55 under his name...Igor "@#%$@"
Ulanov. I say out loud with Igor about a foot from me: "Damn, I
didn't think my hat could go down in value." Well the look on
Ulanov's face was priceless.
That's
my fave encounter so far.
A
Dinner With Dave Maloney
Submitted by skullcrusher March
17th, 2002
The
dinner I had with Dave Maloney some 10 years ago....
I was still in high school and my father's co-worker knew him
personally. It was mentioned to Dave about my loyalty to the Rangers even
though my father jumped over to the Devils' bandwagon when they made the
playoffs for the 1st time, and the Rangers didn't (1985).
Sure enough I got a 3x5 picture that read, "John, Thanks for being
a loyal Rangers fan, unlike some other members of your family. Dave
Maloney"
It was very funny and when he found out I still had a Dave Maloney
poster hanging in my room, he mentioned to my father's co-worker, "So
that's where that one went".
Definitely has a good sense of humor.
Eventually my father, his co-worker, Dave and I ate dinner at Keen's
Chophouse and then went to a Rangers game after. We talked hockey the
entire time.
Certainly I won't forget about it
Espo
shares his thoughts
Submitted by 94 March 16th,
2002
I
thought that you guys might be interested in something that happened years
back between Espo and myself...I use to write to everybody in the old days
and have letters from Sonny Werblin and Mr. Jaffe to name a few.
Anyway, I’d been writing letters to Espo complaining about our wimpy
team (yes, my friends...back then too)...and then instead of picking up
some tough guy (PLETT I think his name was) ...Espo picked up this little
timid defenseman Bruce Bell from the Blues and I fired off a beauty of a
letter to him.
About 2 weeks later I’m at work and my son calls me from work and
says that somebody claiming to be Espo called my house and wanted my work
number. He said it really sounded like him so he gave it to him.
About an hour later my phone rings...and it’s a woman asking me to
hold on as Espo wants to talk to me....the next thing I know, Espo ‘s on
the phone screaming who the hell do I think I am...so I told him...LOL....Well
for the next 25 minutes we were yelling and screaming at each other about
many different aspects of the team...and I mean yelling and screaming.
Finally Espo says to me, Mike, I see you know your team, so can we stop
yelling and screaming...so for the next 40 minutes we talked
hockey...actually we spoke two more times after that.
I will always remember and treasure those talks until the day I die..it
was my 15 minutes of fame as they say.
|
