MSG oozes history for Pacioretty
“Win New York elcome to Madison Square Garden ... the world’s most famous arena!” That’s how the public- address announcer welcomed fans Sunday before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarter- final series between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers. There’s no doubt MSG is a special, historic arena and a unique place to watch a hockey game.
Where else can you still hear a derisive chant about a player who retired 29 years ago? Sure enough, the “Potvin sucks!” chant was started a few times from the upper deck during the Canadiens’ 3-1 win.
The Canadiens lead the best- of- seven series 2-1 heading into Game 4 Tuesday at MSG.
The “Potvin sucks!” chant is directed at former New York Islanders captain and Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, who retired following the 1987- 88 season. The chant started after Potvin put what turned out to be a careerending hit on the Rangers’ Ulf Nilsson during a game on Feb. 25, 1979. Many of the Rangers fans who have kept the chant alive surely weren’t even born when Potvin retired.
Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty grew up in Connecticut as a Rangers fan and used to go to games at MSG as a kid. He was born a few months after Potvin retired.
“I remember everything about (the chant) and the whistling," Pacioretty recalled Monday after the Canadiens cancelled a scheduled practice at MSG. "Did they say it last game?” Yes, they did. “I didn’t see Dancing Larry, though,” Pacioretty said with a smile.
Dancing Larry is a baldheaded Rangers fan who fires up the fans at MSG with his moves while Strike it Up by Black Box blares over the speakers.
When asked what his favourite childhood memory is of MSG, Pacioretty didn’t hesitate to answer: “Dancing Larry … always Dancing Larry."
Dancing Larry hasn’t had much to dance about this season when the Canadiens come to town. The Canadiens beat the Rangers both times they met at MSG during the regular season and the Blueshirts have now lost their last six home playoff games.
The Canadiens were able to pretty much take the crowd out of Game 3 despite some prompting from tennis legend John McEnroe to fire the fans up on the giant screen. There was one fan in the upper deck who started chanting “USA! USA!” during the second intermission, probably unaware the Canadiens’ captain is American.
The Rangers were the best road team in the NHL during the regular season with a 2712-2 record, but surprisingly were only 21-164 at home.
“They have great support from their crowd,” Pacioretty said. "Our job is to try and limit that as much as possible and we saw that in the first game here. It’s our job to make sure we try to keep the crowd out of it because it could be a huge momentum swing, especially in the playoffs.”
Pacioretty played for the first time at MSG when he was an 11- year- old in the Junior Rangers program and his team hit the ice for a game before the Rangers played in preparation for the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
“It was always special," Pacioretty recalled. "We did it two years in a row. It’s weird, I guess, that it was before I was professional, especially in a building like this. But it was a lot of fun. The first year I played up a year with the ’ 87s ( players born in 1987). I don’t know if I even got one or two shifts. It was more of an experience and then the next year it was a different story.”
MSG has changed since Pacioretty was a kid with some major renovations, but it’s still a New York landmark.
“Coming here as a kid … the whole experience of taking the train in, sometimes taking the subway in ... the whole experience of being in Manhattan to see a hockey game or a concert, it meant a lot to me growing up,” Pacioretty said. "So it’s cool to be able to play in this place.”
Canadiens defenceman Jordie Benn grew up in Victoria, B.C., but used the word “awesome” to describe playing at MSG.
“It’s a great buzz here,” he said. "Obviously, this arena is pretty famous and it’s nice to be in New York and playing hockey.”
Dancing Larry and Rangers fans should be well rested after the Blueshirts’ poor performance in Game 3. They’ll be looking to change that in Game 4 Tuesday night.
It should be fun.