By Mark La Monica
After writing how I felt the atmosphere at the Garden for the Islanders-Rangers game on Monday night was flat except for the key moments in the game, blog reader "shuskky" was the first to suggest I attend the Islanders-Rangers game at the Coliseum on Thursday. A few others followed suit. (And a few others suggested I do other things, none of which sounded pleasant. Amusing, but not pleasant.)
So I did. (Attend the game, that is.)
The Coliseum felt a bit more energized throughout the game Thursday night, a 2-1 win for the Rangers.
To be clear, I'm not talking about the moments of the game that elicit screams of excitement or anguish, such as goals scored, great saves, skirmishes, extra skaters, pucks trickling along or across the goal line or terrible cheap shots such as the one Chris Simon inflicted on Ryan Hollweg. These moments are supposed to cause great emotional responses from fans.
Rather, I was attempting to gauge the energy in the Coliseum throughout the game, much as I did at the Garden.
From the pregame warmups right through the third period, there seemed to be more general buzz in the Coliseum for the game. My guess is that much of that has to do with Rangers fans as a whole being more vocal at the Coliseum than Islanders fans are at the Garden. While that may not always be true in this rivalry, this week it was. The Isles-Rangers atmosphere at the Coliseum this week, moreso than at the Garden, could make a hockey fan out of just about anyone.
The final minute of Thursday night's game, which lasted about 10 minutes, was as intense an atmosphere I've seen at a sporting event. That excitement was more than just a byproduct of what took place: an apparent goal waved off by the referees, then reviewed for close to eight minutes and not overturned. The crowd cheered. The crowd booed. It all depended on the color of the jersey you were wearing. Again, an intense moment regardless of the teams and place, but greatly magnified because of the teams and place.
About 50 or so Rangers fans had gathered along the glass during the pregame skate and began chanting "Let's go Rangers!"
There were plenty of "Let's go Eye-lan-ders" chants throughout the game. In the space of time typically reserved for clapping to match the rhythm of that chant, Rangers fans drowned out much of it with their "Let's go Rangers" chant.
Some of the additional energy had to do with it being the second rivalry game of the week, along with the fact that it was a Thursday and not a Monday. The day of the week makes a difference in people's minds, albeit a very slight difference. Thursday night, mentally, is the unofficial start to the weekend.
Blog reader Hendry posted a comment on my previous piece about the acoustics at the Garden not being as good as at the Coliseum. An interesting theory, but I don't buy it. While each arena has different acoustics, in a rivalry game such as Islanders-Rangers, that should never be a concern. It should be loud, regardless.
Again, remove yourself from focusing just on the crucial moments of the games and look at the entire picture. That's what I'm talking about.
In terms of atmosphere, the Coliseum won.
Of course, Islanders fans shouldn't get too excited about that since this blog offers no points in the NHL standings. The Rangers won both games and picked up three points on the Isles this week in a race for the final two playoff spots.
• Poll: How should Simon be punished?
• See photos from last night's game
• See photos from Isles-Rangers game dating back to 2001
Comments (10)
This guy is a tool. Two wins equals four points and not three.
Actually, he's correct. Rangers only gained three points on the Islanders because Monday's game went to OT.
Rangers did pick up four points relative to anybody who lost or loses two games between Monday and Saturday, when the Rangers play again.
James,
Please re-read what I wrote. Rangers picked up three points on the Isles.
Two wins = 4 points for Rangers.
One shootout loss = 1 point for Isles.
4 - 1 = 3.
One thing for sure is the sight lines at NVMC blow away the ones at MSG. Especially for a hockey game. Its a good thing there wont be any Playoff games their again this year eh?
The reason why there is more energy & excitement at Nassau Coliseum versus MSG for an Isles-Rags game is because the Coliseum is full of your average Joe Lunchbox hockey fans. MSG is full of corporate box seats, leaving only the blueseats for real Rangers fans.
La Monica,
Your article does say three points on the Isles - my bad. As far as your comment on sight lines you are wrong. I can't spell it and have not lived on the Island for years but don't they still call it the Mosaleum? It is one of the worst arenas in hockey and that is saying a lot. I was at the hockey hall of fame this summer and they had an exhibit on the greatest arenas in the NHL and MSG was top five. I realize you are writing a blog for the Isles but why pretend you are actually reviewing the arenas fairly? If you think more Isles fans go to MSG than Rangers fans to Nassau you are crazy. Even biased Wallace Matthews calls Long Island mixed among fans. That is why Nassau is more lively.
Rangers and Carolina in 7 & 8 with Isles out. By the numbers Rangers have lowest goals against since all-star break in the league.
The Coliseum is more lively because there is a mixed crowd. On the other hand, there aren't many Islander fans at the Garden. The Devils and Flyers bring far more fans to the Garden than the Islanders do. To Islander fans, the Ranger-Islander rivalry is all they have. The Ranger web site ran a poll a few weeks ago asking who the Rangers biggest rival was; most fans picked the Devils.
not sure you know what your talking about, but thats okay, your just trying to make money!! have a good day
James,
I never made mention of the sightlines at the Coliseum being better than at MSG. That was a comment posted by another reader.
I also wrote that more Rangers fans go to the Coliseum than Isles fans go to the Garden.
But I will agree with your sentiment that the Coliseum is pretty much a dump of an arena.
I've been to three of the four ranger-islander games played this year, 2 at the garden and 1 at the coliseum. I've gotta agree with you that the coliseum is much mre intense.
My reasoning is this:
Like it was said earlier, there are a lot more corporate seats.
On top of that, the Rangers have a much greater following than the Islanders, therefore the fans that are willing to pay the money tickets cost at the garden usually tend to be Ranger fans.
Regardless of the reason, the crowd is almost 50-50 if not 60-40 in favor of Ranger fans at the Coliseum. Maybe not lately since the Islanders have been sucessful, but earlier in the year that seemed to be the case. At the Garden it's usually about 70-30 Ranger fans, although Monday's game the Islander fan turnout was very impressive, and that's coming from a Rangers fan. I sat in section 324 and there was only about 10 Ranger fans. It was as intense a game as I've ever been too, and I love rivalry games, as I've also been to two devils-rangers games in Jersey this season including the 8 round shootout win for the Rangers.