My trip to Madison Square Garden in NYC

In November 2008, my boyfriend and I also made a trip to Madison Square Garden (MSG). This was my first time ever going to MSG as well as my first non-Red Wings hockey game. Here is my experience.

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November 15, 2008 was my first trip to Madison Square Garden (MSG), home of the New York Rangers and the greatest arena in the world. My trip to MSG was to see the New York Rangers take on the Boston Bruins. An Original Six match up with so much intensity; intensity that could be felt the second you stepped though the doors.

Being a Detroit Red Wings fan and seeing as I have been to many games at Joe Louis Arena, my first instinct was to compare the two arenas. Joe Louis Arena was completed in 1979 and holds 20,066 fans (includes suites). MSG has had 4 arenas and the 4th and current MSG was completed in 1968 at 7th Ave between 31st and 33rd Street. For hockey the Garden holds 18,200.

Upon entering Madison Square Garden you are welcomed with the history of the arena. To find your seats you have to go up escalators to get to your tower which leads to your gate in which your section is. My boyfriend and I had to go to Tower A, Gate 70 and then find our section, 349 Row D. Once we got to our seats you could not move down to a level without having to go through the towers and gates; a hassle overall and not worth it. Our seats were good; sat behind New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist. I could see the ice clearly from our seats. My only complaint about how the seats are is that if a fan or a concession guy walked by or stopped in from of our section (depending where they stopped) you could not see the action on the ice. Joe Louis Arena gets brownie points for having stadium seating and not having this type of distraction.

The concourse at MSG was different compared to JLA or any of the sporting arena's I have been to. Each Tower had their own concourse. If you have ever been to Joe Louis Arena you know that they have just one big concourse surrounding the arena. I am more partial to the setting of Joe Louis Arena and this is because it means more restrooms. When looking for a restroom in my Tower at MSG they seemed to have only 2 big ones; one for women and one for men. I could be wrong seeing I didn't really venture or tour around my concourse area much by myself and when I did, I felt as if I was going to get lost. I guess JLA is second nature to me because I never feel as if I am going to get lost when I am there.

Passionate. That is the best word to describe New York Rangers fans. Oh and loud. To say that Detroit fans are passionate and loud (we are!) is one thing but NY Rangers fan blow us out of the water. Throughout the game it wasn't quiet for a second; even when they were down 2-0 into the 3rd period. Fans were cheering their team on, heckling the Boston Bruins Fans that were in their sections and waiting patiently for their team to score a goal. Once the Rangers scored their first goal MSG came alive even more. I imagine what I heard when the NY Rangers tied the game with 52.9 seconds to go in the 3rd is what it sounds like when your team wins the Stanley Cup at home. You have fans cheering and hugging each other about the tie. The Rangers went on to win the game in a shootout. The second the ref announced that it was a no goal, I think all of NYC heard the Rangers fan cheering. Again, you see fans among the stands hugging each other for the victory and cheering. Walking out of MSG you could hear chants of "Let's Go Rangers!" and "Boston Sucks!". New York Rangers fans are passionate and loud about their team.

I enjoyed my trip to Madison Square Garden and I look forward to many more. I appreciate the building for what it is and I know next year they are renovating it and I look forward to seeing those new renovations. MSG means a lot to the Rangers fans and they let you know it too. I will always love Joe Louis Arena more than any other sports arena and that is because Joe Louis Arena is home to my Detroit Red Wings. Go Rangers and Go Wings!

Game highlights of the Boston Bruins Vs. New York Rangers, November 15, 2008

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Again, blogger is being fussy and won't allow me to post pictures. Sorry.

The NHL Store in NYC

Back in November 2008 I made a trip to the NY to visit my boyfriend. We spent the day in NYC and made a trip to the NHL Store. Here is my experience.

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On November 15th, 2008 my boyfriend took me to the NHL Store in NYC. When I stepped into the store it I was like a kid on Christmas. To see all this hockey merchandise and NHL apparel made me excited. Granted, I am a girl and do like shopping at times but this was different. I am not such a girly girl and shopping for me is something I actually do little of. But this was different. There was so much I wanted but knew I could not have it all *tear*.

The stores layout was nice. I enjoyed seeing the super sized fathead images on the walls. I surprisingly didn't notice that much Crosby loving going on in the store; this is something I heard and have seen from people I know who have been to the store before. However, for me I instantly noticed the Datsyuk fathead on the wall and eventually noticed the fathead image of the Wings locker room.

The prices in the NHL store are slightly expensive. I bought 3 shirts; 1 Red Wings tshirt and 1 Red Wings hoodie and 1 New York Ranger's shirt. I spent about $160 for 3 items. Granted, it cheaper if you think about it because I didn't spend money on shipping as I would on the shop.nhl.com. The store had shirts from NHL teams that no longer exist. I am hoping to go back and buy a North Star t-shirt in February. Now, the NHL store lacked in the Red Wings merchindise which made me sad. You would think that with them being the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions they would have more merchindise. The one thing I did like about making a purchase there was their bags. One bag was a back pack type bag with hockey skates on it and skate laces for the arm bands. This bag came in handy that day as well. For a bigger purchase they had a bag with Luongo on one side and Datsyuk on the other side.

Overall, I would go back to the NHL store and spend more money. I advise all hockey fans to come with a couple hundred dollars to spend though. But, true hockey fans wouldn't mind spending the money.

NHL Store gets 4 stars out of 5. ****

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Blogger currently decided it was going to be fussy and not allow me to post pictures at this moment in time. Pictures will come soon.