ALONG FOR THE RIDE
Rangers’ siblings get taste of life on the road during two-game trip
DENVER — They all stood outside the locker room, chatting, some holding drinks, all smiling.
It was a joyous occasion for the siblings of the Rangers’ players, who were invited on this twogame road trip that started with a 6-3 win over the Coyotes in Arizona on Thursday night and now rolls into Colorado for Saturday’s contest against the last-overall Avalanche and segues right into the New Year’s Eve celebration.
After doing fathers’ and mothers’ trips over the past few years, the Blueshirts decided this was the time for the siblings to come along — and they are certainly enjoying it thus far.
“My older brother is here,” Rick Nash said Thursday morning. “He told me he’s been waiting 14 years for this.”
It’s funny to think Nash is starting to be considered an elder statesman in the NHL at 32 years old, but his brother, James, is 35, and in the real world, that certainly isn’t old. So now Rick is being called “big little Nasher” by his teammates, which cracks him up. His 2-year-old son, McLaren, now is just “little Nasher.”
But James has seen Rick play a lot over the years since he was drafted by the Blue Jackets with the No. 1-overall pick 2002. But coming from Brampton, Ontario, James never had seen the nitty gritty of Rick’s life on the road, and that is what has taken so long for him to witness.
“He wanted to see how we live, hour to hour,” Nash said. “He’s really excited.”
The Rangers stayed in Arizona after the game and canceled their scheduled practice Friday. Nash still is battling to come back from a groin injury that now has kept him out of four straight games and eight of the past 11, but he came along for the trip to skate lightly on his own and spend some quality time with his brother.
Franchise goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who likes to keep his private life very private, brought along his sister, Gabriella. As Lundqvist comes back from a stomach illness that has kept him from starting the past two games — but likely won’t keep him from starting against the Avalanche — Gabriella flew in from her home in California to see her brother’s day-to-day life.
“Growing up, it was all about sports, challenging each other, and she was part of that,” said Henrik, whose brother, Joel, played parts of three seasons for the Stars.
Gabriella, 39, was an athlete in her own right, playing some high-level tennis before going into finance.
“I loved watching her play tennis because she was a warrior out there,” Henrik told MSG.
Gabriella jokingly told the network she never thought her brother would be the fashion icon he has become, but she never faltered on her faith he would excel at hockey.
“Since I was little and he was even younger, I always knew that he was going to be one of the best in the world,” Gabriella said.
Even Matt Puempel, the 23year-old the Rangers claimed off waivers from the Senators on Nov. 21, has gotten into the sib- ling action. His brother, Mike, got to see Matt’s first career hat trick Thursday night, when Puempel scored three of the Blueshirts’ four power-play goals. The two games Mike attended this past season to watch his brother play for Ottawa, he scored his only two goals of the year.
“I think he’s good luck for me right now,” Matt said. “It’s nice to have the siblings on the trip, and it’s nice to get a win for them.”
Of course, the Rangers are going to try to focus on just the game when they take the ice at Pepsi Center and will try to recreate the emotion that has carried them on this short two-game winning streak to open up the post-Christmas calendar. But to finish off 2016 with another win will solidify for the families of these players how hard they work and what their lives on the road can be like.
“It’s just been amazing, how organized everything is. Every minute being planned just right,” Gabriella said. “I’m not ready to leave this trip any time soon. They might have to kick me off.”